EDIT:  Added some pics of the internals in a post below

EDIT:  Added some pics of the barrel and gas block

I haven't seen much on these floating around, but they are just starting to hit the market and keep their availability.

I picked one up tonight that I ordered online. I really like the idea of an AR-style shotgun that is patterned off an a "mil-spec" AR-10 receiver. The current "AR-style" shotguns just don't do anything for me. This one hits most of the marks (on paper at least);

-"Mil-spec" AR-10 reciever. I spoke to their US customer service and they are currently testing running AR-10 308 uppers on the lower. I don't know where that really stands through...
-All billet upper and lower receiver
-Ambi-controls (except bolt-release)
-Standard AR-10 trigger group
-bla bla bla

Initial impressions are good, it feels very well made and solid. However it's not without it's quirks...

-The bolt and firing pin are spring loaded, which makes the carrier stick out slightly when assembling...makes it a bit more tricky but not hard
-The rear take-down pin is recessed...it's pretty much impossible to push out without some sort of tool/punch
-The bolt release doesn't stick out as far as I would like so it can be hard to work until you get used to it
-The charging handle has an latch on each side...so you MUST use two fingers to pull the charging handle back (an AR10 charging handle wont quite fit with the 12 gauge bolt without slight modification...I tried already)

The trigger is nice, fairly light with little creep. The furniture is solid and it has a nice thick rubber butt-pad on the stock.









After a quick range trip;

As a disclaimer, I did NOT clean or lube it out of the box...just put it together, wiped it down and ran about 50 rounds through it.

The ammo I brought was;

-Estate 00 Buck
-Wolf Slugs
-Federal Trueball slugs
-Remington rifled slugs (1800FPS)
-RIO Low Recoil 00 buck
-Winchester PDX

The gun did NOT like the Remington slugs, it would jam on just about everyone when feeding by catching the case on part of the chamber. However, that was the only one that showed consistent problems.

The gun has zero failures with;

-Wolf Slugs
-RIO low recoil buckshot
-Winchester PDX

I had one failure to eject with the Federal Truball, and two failure to ejects with the Estate 00 Buck.

Overall, I am happy so far. I think a little bit of break in, some cleaning and oil and I'll hit the range again next week to see if anything has changed.

EDIT

Here are some pics with the handguards off;









Here's a pic of the ejector;



EDIT:  

Added A Holosun red-dot, Magpul AFG and extended receiver pins

Pretty slick, but You're going to make My wife angry now

That would be sick suppressed with a Silencerco Salvo 12 in 6" configuration with an SBS.

I wanna turn one In to a "firearm" and do the shockwave nfa hack... Virgin lower, SIG brace, then chop barrel sub 18 to get a min of 26" overall. Prob be a 14" barrel.

Will they run cheap birdshot

Just the first one i saw.

Not bad for pricing if it performs good.

Let's see some internals. Pretty sleek looking. The Turks make pretty good guns for really cheap too.

Barrel definitely needs to be shorter, i like it.

Vepr or this, which would you choose?
I already have a vepr. Filed a form 1 on it.

That's a hard choice!  If the UTAS performs as well as the Saiga I have in terms of reliability then I think I would go with the UTAS because it really does have a much nicer build quality.  However, it if gets too picky with ammo or starts to show that it's a bit or a maintenance whore, then the Saiga will win.

One big plus for the VEPR/Saiga right now is the aftermarket support for them.  This model has nothing available for it right now.  I would like to those a decent brake on the end, similar to what I have on my Saiga, but there is simply nothing available, and I have no idea if anything will ever be.

Also, IF it turns out that you can throw on a .308 upper on this lower, then that'll be a BIG win for the UTAS.  Right now it's just a waiting game.

The internals are actually very nice.  I'.ll see if I can get a few quick pics snapped at some point.

This runs a short-stroke piston gas system, and one thing I do NOT like is that the piston is not captured.  If you take the bolt carrier and charging handle out the piston will fall right out as well.  If you don't realize that happened, you're dead in the water.

It's not perfect, but it certainly handles well, and f the reliability is there it'll be a winner.

I have a real weakness for mag-fed shotguns, and as mentioned earlier, would love to see a pic of the internals.

Looks promising, hope it works good, if it proves itself this might push me over the edge to getting a mag fed shotgun someday!

I like it.  Not enough to sway me from my Vepr 12s, but it still looks good.

Here are some quick pics of the internals;







Here's a picture of why a standard 308 charging handle will not work.  A "key" was cut that allow it to pass between the lugs in the bolt

Zix,

Thanks for the write up and good quality pictures. I am tempted by this beast!

Can you show us how that upper lines up with an AR-10 receiver? The mag well appears wider for sure (compared to a standard AR-10 receiver).

I have an RAS-12 I've been trying to convert to standard 12 gauge ammo.

G.

Awesome write up. I got a dp12 and love that, but I have been waiting for their new semi bull pup to come out so now I have to put some serious thought into this as a contender

Nice, now I want one to SBS...
Has anyone chopped one down yet?

I just had a buddy from work bring in his POF AR10.  The magwell is pretty much identical, and his magazine easily clicked in the UTAS lower and fit really well;





His upper would not quite fit, but I'm not sure to what specs POF makes their billet upper and lowers.

Supposedly, this lower will work with DPMS patterned uppers...at least that's what I could currently find hunting around the web.

Anyone in Phoenix have one that we can test fit?  

Interested

Thanks for posting photos and the write-up. Any more photos of the upper?

Any testing with birdshot and what's the magazine capacity?

Factory mags are 5-rounds, the factory 8-round magazines should be out in 2-3 months per UTAS.

I have not tested any birdshot, because its damn hot here in Phoenix and indoor ranges only ket me shoot 00 Buck and slugs. However, there are good reports from other people stating no issues with birdshot loads.

What other aspects of the upper are you looking to see?

Photos of the barrel, bcg and op rod

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If it is fully DPMS type compatible I would be interested in upper only availability as well.

POF receivers are different from DPMS. I think theres a sleeve of some kind to use a POF upper on dpms lower, or it might be vice versa. They do not interchange without extra stuff.

You'd need to try Aero, CMMG, DPMS,  Spikes, etc etc. But even then, many recommend using both receivers from one company.

I wonder what the handguard specs are. If you can change it out or not.

I'm curious for a full break down as well. New stuff is always intriguing.

Any more detailed pictures of the upper.  Looks like the ejector is held in by two screws from the outside.  How is the barrel attached?  Flange and barrel nut?  What is the gas system like?  How is the feed ramp?

Zix,

Once again thanks for the info you are providing us.

I was surprised when I found out that a 3" 12 ga. shotshell fits into a Magpul (AR-10) magazine. The trick is the follower.
I purchased an MKA 1919 magazine just to take the follower out of it, and to match the geometry of the feed lips and front of the magazine.

I genuinely believe an AR-10 shotgun is possible, and it will just take some tweaking to get it right.

G.

I would get one for $700.00.

Oh, indeed.

This is the cheapest I have seen;

https://lanbosarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=24_29_32_37&products_id=35269

$835 plus shipping for the black one

I bought mine from here, first time I bought anything from them and I would recommend it based on my single experience.  Very fast shipping and order processing.

VEPR. Of course I may be biased.

OP, thanks for posting the review. I have a love for mag fed shotguns. Have yet to try an AR style and this one looks interesting for sure.

You have my interest...

that magazine looks a whole lot like the magazine for my akdal mk 1919 .  do you think they would interchange ?

Sweet pics, interesting design. Thanks, OP!

Mmmmm, suppressed SBS

Suppressed shotguns are like dogs who have been debarked. They just sound sad.

Interchangeable chokes and 10+ round mags and the Open division 3 Gun shooters will be all over this.  

Oh my....

I want this.

Sounds like cheapest price is 800

http://www.mrgundealer.com/product.utas-xtr12-12ga-black-185-xtr-12-xtr12bm-98-1047

The barrel is threaded on the outside, no provision for Chokes?

Yes it is threaded on the outside to accept a muzzle break that is available through utas.
I have recently acquired an xtr12  but mine is made in the US based factory in Illinois I called them up and asked them about extra/other magazine options
They said that they have 2, 5, and 10 round magazines(they dropped the 8 round mag) the 5 round mags should be available in September and the 10 round mags should be available in a few months.
Also I agree with Zix the pins are a pain to push out without a tool so,I asked if they had extended pins and they said no but told me they use a dpms lower and I measured the pin diameter with my calipers and came out to .277" so if that's any help.

The MKA 1919 magazine is not interchangeable, the mag release is in the wrong location from what I was told

My buddy's is made in Turkey, he sent his upper off to poly choke to have an adjustable breacher choke installed. I'm interested in the USA made one, especially if it will fit on my aero lower.

Good information on the magazines!

Oddly enough, after about 50 rounds my rear pin got a bit looser, so I can get it out with my hand...but it's still a pain.  I'm going to order a set of extended AR10 pins and see if they fit.

the hand-guard is MLOK compatible (barely).  I put on a rail section and the Magpul AFGII from grip today.  I had to bevel the front side of the rail section though so it would fit flush, and the hand guard is almost too thick to use the screws that come with the rail section.

I'll get some new pics up in a couple days once I kick this head-cold.

Eddo 504 can we see some pics of your USA made one? Really interested in this.

bummer for the guys buying one since 10 rounders are avalible for the mk1919 . If I wasnt so heavy into my akdal I would be all over the utas

Tooth and nail Armory is making mag extensions for this, I think 12 Rd. Just got an email from UTA's saying all future guns will be made in Turkey.

I saw that, not too sure I like them though...seems to require a good deal of fitting on the follower to make it work.  I'll wait for the factory 10-round magazines and see how they work first.

I will I'm at work today but I'll try to get some up tomorrow

I'm real interested if you can use a virgin lower to .make the non nfa Sub 18" barrel "firearm". Just depends on if these things catch on

Wow this is very interesting.
I really appreciate  the OP taking the time to write this one up and post the  pictures. I now need to see one of these in person.

Very interesting pictures.

The machining on the uppers look just about identical, but the lowers are VERY different!

Bit of an update...I added a Magpul AFG 2 along with the MLOK rail, a Holosun Red Dot, and some extended pins.

This is the first Holosun I have picked up, so I figured I would see if it could last on a 12 gauge.  If it can put up with the recoil on this, then they should last just fine on my 5.56 and 7.62x39 rifles!

The MLOK rail had to be trimmed a bit to allow it to fit flush, but that only took a couple minutes.  The AFG fits well, and the mid-spot on the rail works well for me...we'll see how it does on the range.

The extended pins are from AR15Extreme.com, I have a few of them on my AR15 lowers and they work well and don't get in the way at all.