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Old November 13, 2012, 02:10 AM   #1
BlackWorksInc
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UTAS UTS-15, Personal Experience

So I purchased a UTAS UTS-15 12 gauge shotgun almost a month ago and I figured I'd throw together a little thread on how its been so far. (I will update with pictures soon, its night right now and lighting is poor.)

So lets start with construction and quality. The gun itself is made half polymer half steel, now before you start balking at that UTAS did a good job. The polymer is a good sturdy feeling composite and they put some thought into what needs to be steel and what could be lightened with polymer. For example, the main body of the weapon is one thick polymer component and they did a good 1/4" thick wall of polymer to make sure its sturdy.



But components like the bolt, slide rail, magazine tubes, top rail are all good ol' steel.

The whole gun weighs close to 8lbs unloaded, over all length with the tactical choke installed is about 27.5" long with a 18.5" smootbore barrel. It shoulders rather comfortably for me, but I had one person say they would have liked a longer length of pull (I believe UTAS or perhaps a aftermarket company will come out with thicker pads, if you look at the attached picture it wouldn't be too hard to swap them out.)


Trigger pull feels nice and crisp, I have a very solid, smooth pull when firing the weapon. The whole gun feels pretty comfortable when shouldered, my only real complaint has to do with my still getting used to the iron sights. It has an AR Style safety on the left hand side easily switched by the thumb, there is a button for the optional LED Light/Laser combo on the right side that can be engaged with your index finger easily. The LED/Laser combo is still in work by Cree LED I believe, UTAS said I'll get it around the beginning of December. Honestly, construction and quality get good marks in my opinion, its a well thought out and well built gun. (There were some issues with the first batch of weapons, but UTAS has been quick to correct them, I seem to have the superceeded model. They just starte production in the US in July)



Loading the UTS-15 can be cumbersome at first, but over time becomes natural, you pop open the loading gates and use your fingernail to push the plunger back into locked position, then load the rounds like a regular shotgun. Final step is to close the loading gate which engages the plunger and applies tension to the rounds. I'm right handed so its become pretty quick for me to load up 7 rounds on the right tube, I'm still practicing a more efficient process for the left tube. The UTS-15 will alternate one round from each tube with the selector in the center, if you wish to isolate the right tube you would push the selector to the left and vice versa. One complaint I have is that the pre-production models had a tab that stuck out for this purpose rather than using the corner of your nail, why it was removed I have no clue.



I haven't gotten as much range time as I would have liked due to my schedule more than anything. But I did put 50 Federal 1oz 2 3/4" Slugs through the gun to just get used to operation and target acquisition. The magazine tubes are on top so when its fully loaded it gives a little more weight on the barrel for recoil control. I found actual recoil to be comparable if not a little better in terms of force transferred to the shooter on par with most pump action shotguns; as for recoil control, its not night and day difference, but it is a noticeably easy to control weapon, even firing slugs. The only misfeeds I've had were due to me slowly racking the weapon, when I stopped babying it and did smooth, quick racks I had good results. As I posted in another thread, the Federal Slugs I am shooting seem to get more lead dust on the front of the gun, but it could also be because its an 18.5" barrel. My local outdoor range does not want shotgunners to use anything other than slugs on their range because too many people tore up their stands so I have yet to run some double ought through it yet.

That's about all I can think of off the top of my head, I just figured I'd share how the gun's been for me with you guys. Feel free to ask questions and such.

Last edited by BlackWorksInc; November 13, 2012 at 05:53 PM.
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Old November 13, 2012, 05:48 PM   #2
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Some additional pictures, Forum didn't like all of them in one post.

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Old November 13, 2012, 07:05 PM   #3
Nickel Plated
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Nice write up, that gun looks sweet. Better than the KSG if you're looking for something futuristic and different.
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Old November 13, 2012, 09:43 PM   #4
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I looked all over that site and I'll be danged if I could find any pricing, or "buy here" info. Can you shed any light on the going price on one of those and where it can be had?
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Old November 13, 2012, 10:22 PM   #5
BlackWorksInc
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Mine was the "Deluxe" model which came with the Iron Sights, Tactical Choke, and LED Flashlight/Laser combo (which hasn't shipped yet.) With taxes and fees, was about $1700 out the door, the shop I bought from said a bare bones model (no sights, no light/laser, and no tactical choke) was something like $1400-1500 with tax and all.

Its a good chunk of dough, but it seems to be worth it for now.
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Old November 14, 2012, 03:37 PM   #6
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Just curious, does it come with choke tubes?
Sorry, just saw the part about the tac choke.
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Old November 14, 2012, 05:04 PM   #7
BlackWorksInc
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No its okay, I included the stock choke tube and the tactical (Optional) to show the difference. If you look at the second post with the torn down pictures you see the tactical and right underneath it the standard one.

I believe the UTS-15 uses a Beretta style thread for the choke tubes, but one member on the bullpup forums said its a special Beretta thread, what ever that means.

But there is also an optional 7.5" barrel extension (I don't know if they released it yet...) that will be availible for those that wanna do trap shooting!
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Old October 2, 2013, 01:50 AM   #8
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I would also like to update this thread real quick since I almost forgot about it...

Had the gun sent in to UTAS a couple months back; nothing really wrong with the gun to be honest with you. It was due to UTAS coming out with a new design for the upper magazine tubes that are more enclosed, easier to load, and feed a bit better than the old design. This was done free of charge since UTAS was working on these as they released their first batch and they said they would upgrade those who wanted them when the new design was done.

I know a lot of magazines and youtube videos have tried to knock the gun and make the KSG look better (honestly from what I am hearing, KelTec is having similar issues in terms of first release, but customer service isn't as quick or good as UTAS from what I personally have heard.) The gun shoots great and has been a solid weapon, a hand full of people have had varying issues from serious concerns to minor ones but UTAS has taken the guns back quickly and fixed them up and taken care of the customer, so in my book that's them really ironing out the kinks in their product.

Its not for everyone, but if you have the money to spend and you want a unique but capable 12 Gauge Pump; I wouldn't overlook this weapon.
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Old October 2, 2013, 03:55 AM   #9
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Thanks for the review.

I've been fascinated by the UTS-15 and the KSG, as it's about the length of my SBS Saiga or an SBS 870, but without the NFA paperwork and horrible muzzle blast.

But for $1700, I think I'd run out and get a Benelli M4 over either one.
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Old October 30, 2013, 08:13 PM   #10
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Hey BlackWorksInc, That's a very good writeup! I purchased mine about 30 days ago and I haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. I will try to get a chance this weekend. There aren't many ranges in SA,TX that allow shotguns.

I purchased mine with the iron sights for $1100. The prices vary (if you can find them). I plan on purchasing the light/laser combo in the near future.

This shotgun is definitely not for everyone, but I love the look and feel of it.
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Old October 31, 2013, 08:38 AM   #11
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http://www.claytargetsonline.com/list.php/TX

You might look there for shotgun gun clubs in San Antonio

They might even have a pattern plate you could use
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Old November 11, 2013, 07:38 AM   #12
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Thanks Big D !!
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