The MAG-7 smoothbore combat rifle, the brainchild of the South African company Technoarms, can no doubt be classified as a weapon exotic. And not only because of the country of origin, but also because of its design and appearance. This 12 gauge police pump-action shotgun "copies" the famous Israeli Mini-UZI submachine gun.
According to the legend voiced by the marketers of Technoarms PTY Ltd, this is not an accidental similarity: they say, the South African police special forces, for which, in fact, the gun was created, wished it to be as similar as possible to the UZI PP, which was its main weapon, to which the fighters were accustomed.
MAG-7, targeting police officers and security officers, is designed for urban combat in cramped conditions - indoors, in slums. The minimum length (only 55 cm with a barrel length of 320 mm), combined with good balance for offhand and hip shooting, makes this compact weapon very convenient in such conditions. It can use ammunition with a traumatic, non-lethal effect - plastic buckshot and rubber bullets, as well as special cartridges for knocking out doors.
The MAG-7 is a pump-action magazine shotgun. Cartridges are fed from a detachable box magazine with a capacity of five rounds, located, like the prototype UZI, in the pistol grip. In order for such a handle to be held in hand, the cartridges had to be shortened. The sleeve length of the 12 gauge cartridges used in this gun is 55 mm.
Of course, such dimensions seriously limit the range of ammunition. In particular, the possibility of using magnum and semi-magnum cartridges, or, for example, equipped with a sub-caliber bullet with a long polyethylene container-stabilizer, is excluded.
However, the weapon is intended for shooting at distances not much exceeding pistol ones, which is due, among other things, to the short barrel. For which a cartridge with a weakened hitch is optimal.
The receiver is made of stamped steel with a thickness of about 3 mm, with stiffening ribs. The handle and forend are made of high-strength plastic.
The entire construction of the shotgun is simple and very reliable. On the company's commercials, the disassembly of the barrel of the gun is done not too quickly and in 20 seconds. On the same rollers, they shoot from a MAG-7 shotgun removed from a bucket of water or from under a layer of sand.
The gun is tenacious, with a large margin of safety, factory tests are carried out with a charge that develops a pressure of up to 100 MPa.
The manufacturer denotes a guaranteed shotgun resource of 40,000 shots, and there is no reason to doubt this figure.
The barrel, however, is not chrome-plated, "black", that is, it is more demanding to care for.
In the basic version, the shotgun does not have a stock, however, as an option, it can be equipped with a folding steel shoulder rest.
In general, the gun turned out to be quite thoughtful and successful. But not in time. MAG-7 was released in 1995, when violent skirmishes between white police and militants of the "Spears of the Nation" organization, the armed wing of the African National Congress, were taking place in the slums. A year earlier, the ANC won the parliamentary elections, and the country's image began to radically and rapidly change. And the novelty in the law enforcement agencies of South Africa turned out to be practically unclaimed.
Not wanting to give up on a successful development, Technoarms decided to explore foreign markets. First of all, the biggest ones are American and Russian. But due to its small overall dimensions and short barrel, the MAG-7 is legally prohibited from civil circulation. And the model MAG-7M1 was developed taking into account the requirements of American and Russian legislation. This gun had an integral wooden stock, and the barrel with a "cylinder" drill was lengthened to 500 mm.
The resulting weapon cannot be called elegant in any way: the forms seem to have been cut out with an ax. But there is in him a charming brutality, to which I could not remain indifferent.
The purchase of this unusual gun was not part of my plans, it just happened that it all coincided: the presence of an extra "green" (license for the purchase of smooth-bore weapons), some "free" amount of money and the fact that I went to the gun store "Perun" near the Moscow station Metro "Dynamo", which was the official dealer of the South African campaign.
Taking the gun in hand, I immediately noticed the uncomfortable wide grip and the heavy weight of the gun … and bought it. Along with the gun, for which 8 thousand rubles were paid (it was in 2008), I also bought several spare stores (fortunately, they cost a thousand apiece) and four packs of shortened Record shot cartridges, issued specifically for the MAG. I drove home, tormented by doubt: was it worth buying this strange device?
However, the very first visit to the shooting range dispelled some of my doubts. The shotgun was unexpectedly very comfortable to shoot. According to subjective feelings, the recoil is lower than that of the "Saiga-12", very convenient reloading and the location of the forend. Due to the short sleeve, it has a short stroke, which allows it to shoot very quickly. After some preparation, you can shoot at the speed of a semi-automatic. When fired, due to the large mass of the well-thought-out layout and the compensator (three slots are made at the end of the barrel), the gun practically does not take away from the aiming line, which also allows for tempo shooting. Even in the "fenced" version, the gun is quite compact - 96 cm, which is quite comparable to the size of the AK.
The magazine is fixed with the key on the left. Its change is quick and easy.
Sights - a massive front sight and rear sight located on the rear of the receiver. It is close to the eye for a diopter-like effect. It's a bit unusual at first, but when you get used to it, it becomes convenient, especially when shooting offhand.
The MAG store fits very well into the pouches designed for the AK store, which is also very convenient.
A specific patron made me become a "self-rotator", that is, to engage in reolding. The size of the case with a standard powder hitch makes it necessary to reduce the weight of the projectile. So, instead of the usual for a 12-caliber cartridge with a 70-mm sleeve of nine, 8, 5-mm canister shells for MAG have to be limited to six. By the way, you can shoot from a gun with a regular cartridge (the chamber is 70 mm long) by inserting it through the receiver window.
A serious advantage of the MAG is its omnivorousness - it works great with repeatedly overloaded casings. Some I used up to seven times (until the capsule began to dangle in the socket) and did not even calibrate. Other users of this device claim that it works great with metal sleeves cut to 51mm.
The gun gives very good results with the Poleva-1 bullet (it needs to shorten the walls of the container a little) and the cap type Lee.
Note that I did not even consider the use of the MAG-7M1 for hunting. At one of the weapon forums, the owner of this rifle, of which there may be 180 people in Russia (as many units have been sold), called on his “colleagues” to share their experience in hunting. But there was no response.
I must say that the civilian version of the MAG-7 has lost the main advantage of its prototype - compactness. While retaining all the shortcomings (large mass and low power of the cartridge, not very comfortable pistol grip).
Therefore, as a niche for the MAG-7M1, in general, a good and curious gun, only entertaining shooting and hypothetical "self-defense" are seen. This was the reason that the battle of the South African gunsmiths for the Russian market was lost.
Well, after playing enough, I sold my gun.
