If you can`t get it done with 15 rounds of 12

If you can’t get it done with 15 rounds of 12-gauge,
better bring reinforcements. With the UTS-15,
firepower will never be your problem.
By Robert W. Hunnicutt
Photos by Mike Anschuetz
[Cont. to page 9]
The UTS-15 from UTAS offers 15-round capacity with
23/4-inch 12-gauge ammo. It’s a very unusual design
that uses a lot of lightweight materials.
[Cont. from page 5]
uch to the disgust of the Andrew Cuomos of the world, large-capacity
magazines are here to stay in rifles and pistols, but what’s a shotgunner to
do? You can get some honkin’ big magazines of up to 20 rounds capacity
for Saiga variants, but they weigh a ton and are pretty clumsy, as well. What if
you could have enhanced capacity in something a little more shotgun-like?
The first example of that thinking was the Kel-Tec
KSG (7/1/11 issue), which combined a bullpup configuration with dual seven-round magazines located
below the barrel. The KSG was an instant sensation,
with about the only complaint against it being that the
shooter is required to switch manually between the two
magazine tubes.
If that bothered you, the solution is here in the form of
the UTAS UTS-15, which alternates feeding between its
magazine tubes. Since this is a shotgun, you will not be surprised to hear that UTAS is a Turkish company, relatively
unknown until now because it mainly did OEM work.
The story of the UTS-15 starts with a South African
gun called the Neostead. It was a large-capacity pump
gun, but was very complex and pumped forward, rather than to the rear in traditional fashion. Nevertheless,
Smith & Wesson was intrigued by the possibilities and
asked its Turkish partners to reengineer the Neostead
into something a little more user-friendly.
That process took a lot more time and effort than anticipated, and S&W lost interest. The Turkish manufacturer, which had bought the Neostead patents, eventually
abandoned the design and started from a fresh computer
screen. The result has almost nothing in common with
the earlier gun.
While it was originally hoped to use modified parts
from existing guns, the need to keep weight down meant
the UTS-15 evolved into an entirely distinct creation. And
though UTAS is a Turkish company, the Turkish content
is limited to the bolt, slide, trigger assembly and a few
other small parts. The bulk of the gun is made of plastics
and other lightweight components that are sourced and
assembled in this county.
While the Kel-Tec carried its magazine tubes below the
barrel, they are above it in the UTS-15. This gives the gun
a very unusual silhouette and a peculiar feel. If you think
“Purdey” when someone says “shotgun,” you won’t find
the UTS-15 all that shotgun-like.
It reminded me of certain experimental military arms
like the HK G11 or the OICW, whose general outline was
a box with a pistol grip at the bottom. You can tell it’s a
gun, but you might not necessarily identify it as a shotgun.
That said, many prospective buyers will like the cool
factor imparted by the overall flat black finish and sundry vent and cartridge counter holes. The UTS-15 has a
bright future as a star of action films and video games,
I would say.
The heart of the UTS-15 is a monobloc that looks like
a large double-barrel shotgun’s. It is a one-piece magnesium casting made by a process called thixomolding.
Magnesium chips are heated in an argon atmosphere to
a semisolid state about the consistency of dough, then
injected at very high pressure into a steel mold. This process allows the production of complex parts with very
thin walls.
Magnesium has been used sparingly in firearms production, one recent exception being the Taurus Model
856 revolver, but as the metal is 30% lighter than aluminum, the weight savings are significant, especially in a
relatively massive piece like the UTS-15 monobloc.
On each side of the monobloc is an outward-hinged
door with a central latch. Opening the doors allows
magazine loading. When you open the door, you’ll see
the magazine follower plunger; push the plunger forward
until it catches against the latch at the front of the door
opening. The follower and plunger must extend all the
way to the back of the monobloc to power the last shell
of a magazine.
Closing the door pivots the latch, allowing the magazine follower assembly to drive
shells rearward into the action.
The magazine tubes insert and lock with
studs into the front of the monobloc. These
are aluminum extrusions with a prominent
V-shaped channel to accommodate a guide
rib on the magazine follower. Each tube has
14 lozenge-shaped viewing ports that allow a
white patch on the follower to show through.
White numerals on the side covers indicate
the rounds remaining in each tube.
The parts crucial to letting the UTS-15 do
what it does are the shell release gates at the
bottom rear of the monobloc. These are deceptively simple pieces that control the shell
as it passes through and out of the monobloc.
The gates are operated by a curved track in
an aluminum part below the monobloc called
the shell release plate. The plate is in turn is
controlled by two protrusions from the bolt
The business end of the UTS-15 shows a breach- carriage. One moves it back as the fore-end
ing choke tube and combination laser-flashlight. is retracted; the other pushes it forward as the fore-end is
A Troy folding front sight fit the rail perfectly. returned to battery position.
against the rear of the bolt. It serves there only to
keep the bolt from opening if the muzzle is pointed up;
locking is by a rotating bolt head that engages the barrel
extension.
When the trigger is pulled and the hammer falls, the
latter carries the release out of its position against the
bolt, freeing the bolt to move rearward in preparation for
firing another round.
The receiver has an AR-like dust cover that is held
closed by a magnet that contacts the bolt. When the
bolt is retracted, the magnet loses contact, allowing
the dust cover to rotate downward away from the
ejection port.
What is called the lower stock incorporates the trigger
blade, which is connected to the trigger assembly in the
receiver by a hooked link. A coil spring surrounding the
link returns the trigger blade to normal position after firing. The pistol grip is an AR type and can be replaced by
any aftermarket AR grip.
At the front of the lower stock is a short section of
magazine tube that has two functions: it’s the support for
the barrel ring, and a mounting place for a combination
flashlight/laser that is controlled by a lever above the right
front of the trigger guard.
The barrel and magazine tubes are held together
by three supports that in turn retain the plastic side
covers and the top rail, which is molded magnesium.
At the front of the whole assembly is an end cap that
attaches to the front barrel support. The end cap has
two guide posts that support the magazine springs and
the follower and plunger when the magazine is fully
loaded. With six rounds in the tube, the spring follower assembly telescopes down to the length of a single
23/4-inch shell.
If there’s a lower stock, there must be an upper stock,
Hunnicutt would have liked a little rougher surface on the buttpad; the UTS-15 is butt-heavy and and in this case it’s an injection-molded piece pivoted at
will tend to slide down the shoulder under recoil. the top rear of the butt. Resembling an M60 machine
a hinged cover and a shell-handling assembly called the
mousetrap.
Once a shell has passed through its four stops in the
monobloc, it is ejected forcefully rearward into the receiver.
There it strikes the mousetrap trigger plate, tilting that part
out of engagement with the mousetrap spoon. The spoon
snaps down on the shell, pinning it against a platform
molded into the receiver and aligned with the chamber.
Pushing the fore-end forward chambers the shell,
returns the mousetrap spoon to its cocked position,
and rotates the bolt release into a position propped
The lower stock assembly allows installation of
any AR-style pistol grip. The safety lever works
exactly as it does on the AR-15 for a familiar feel.
The gate pivots at the rear of the monobloc, and controls each shell at three different positions. In the first position, the gate is pivoted up at the front and blocks the
shell rim. In the second, it is tilted down at the front and
the shell stops against an angle in the gate. In the last, the
shell comes to rest against a hook at the rear of the gate.
From there, it is ejected into the action.
In the middle of that process, the shell is stopped a
fourth time by a pivoting interrupter that alternately allows a shell from one magazine tube or another to move
rearward. There’s also a manual cutoff pivoted at the top
of the monobloc that allows either magazine tube to be
blocked, so that feeding is out of one magazine tube.
The receiver is a large injection-molded plastic piece
that incorporates the trigger assembly, the rubber buttpad,
Magazine follower plungers extend into the loading ports. Push them forward to latch before starting to load ammunition into the magazine tubes.
gun cheekpiece, it has two functions. It gives your cheek a
place to rest, and it funnels shells from the left and right
magazine tubes toward the center of the gun.
The barrel is a complex unit with attaching points for
the magazine supports. The sample UTS-15 came with
a ventilated breaching tube, almost a visual requirement
for defensive shotguns these days, and a 7.5-inch extension tube. The extension tube has male threads at the
back and female threads at the front, allowing you to turn
in the breaching tube or any other Beretta-pattern choke
tube. Installing the extension tube stretches overall length
of the gun to 39 inches.
Internal bore diameter was .726", a little below the
nominal .729". The extension tube had a slightly tighter
bore of .719". So you’re getting about a skeet choke with
the extension tube, though I would doubt that was the
intention.
The sample UTS-15 didn’t come with iron sights, and
we found a set of Troy Industries AR sights were OK
for some users, not tall enough for others. I dug out a
Lucid red dot sight that, with an aiming point about 13/4
inches above the sight rail, was perfect. With 19 inches
of rail space available, you should be able to mount just
about anything in the scope department, though I would
wonder how the magnesium rail might stand up to heavy
night-vision scopes.
So now that we know what’s inside, how does it work?
To load, press up on the bolt release in the bottom of
the butt, retract the fore-end and open the loading port
doors. Push the magazine follower plunger into the magazine tube until the catch retains it. Then load six 23/4inch or five 3-inch shells in each tube. Insert one more
into each opening in the monobloc.
Closing the doors will pivot the latch, allowing the
column of shells to move rearward under pressure
from the magazine springs. If you want to load a full
complement of 15 rounds, drop a round into the receiver
[Cont. to page 12]
Loading is through doors on either side of the monobloc. Push the latch in the center to swing them
open and allow access to the gun’s magazine tubes.
The magazine tubes are above the bore line. Shells
are thrown back against the mousetrap assembly and placed on a platform in line with the bore.
The mousetrap assembly works exactly like its namesake. The shell travels rearward against the mousetrap trigger, allowing the spoon to drop onto the shell.
[Cont. from page 10]
through the ejection port and slide the fore-end forward
to chamber it.
The safety is in the AR-15 pattern in exactly the
position you would expect. The magazine cutoff is on
the top centerline of the monobloc: move it to one side
or the other to cut off that magazine. It is quite easy
to move when the action is open, quite difficult when it
is closed.
When finished firing, lift up the upper stock (it just
snaps to the receiver at the front) to inspect the magazine tubes and monobloc to ensure the gun is empty. The
manufacturer doesn’t suggest any special method for unloading. Just apply
the safety and pump any unused ammo
through the action, being sure the cutoff is in its central position allowing alternate feeding from the two magazine
tubes.
The manufacturer suggests sharp, vigorous pumping to prevent jams caused
by weak ejection. Keep in mind that
there are a lot more moving parts drawing power from the movement of the
slide than there are in your trusty 870.
Given the preponderance of lightweight
parts, it’s probably a lot more flexible,
too.
I patterned the UTS-15 with results shown in the accompanying table, and function-fired it with a variety of
23/4-inch and 3-inch ammunition. Just as the manufacturer stated, I had continual failures to eject if I didn’t pump
vigorously. If you really rack back hard, the empty will go
6–8 feet, but that’s about the limit.
Like the Kel-Tec KSG, the UTS-15 has a very unfortunately located sling swivel at the left front of the fore-end.
This will jam your thumb every time if you let it stray far
forward. It’s in a great spot for carrying, not so great for
shooting. You can take it off or switch it to the right side,
and you will want to do one or the other.
When loading the magazines, angle the shell into the
tube; you don’t want to get it all the way in the monobloc
in line with the tube, since there will be almost no clearance for the thumb.
Be careful about crawling the stock or the magazine
cutoff lever can grab your cheek. Having sights or a
scope tall enough to allow an upright head position is
vital here.
Because the UTS-15 is butt-heavy, even with a full
ammo load, it will tend to slide down on the shoulder if
you don’t maintain a very secure grasp. A rougher surface
on the rubber buttpad might help, but a hard choke hold
on the gun is ultimately the answer.
Recoil is not bad at all with managed-recoil buckshot
loads; it is snappy with 23/4-inch hunting loads and pretty
unpleasant with 3-inch loads. Why exactly you’d ever
shoot waterfowl loads in the UTS-15 is unclear to me, but
you can if you insist.
The trigger pull is actually not too bad by bullpup
standards, and was no barrier to accurate slug firing.
There has been a lot of internet chatter about the UTS15, much of it predicated on its potential use as a military
arm. The answer to that is simple; it is not one. Any shotgun with 153 parts, many of them held together with hex
socket screws, is not intended to be humped up the Hindu
Kush. It’s a very interesting gun with clever engineering
that is fun to shoot, but judging it by the same criteria
you’d apply to an M1 Garand is ridiculous. The maker
doesn’t claim it’s a military shotgun, and judging it as one
is silly.
Having seen a lot of cops handle guns, I would not
think it a candidate for wide-scale law enforcement use
outside certain special units where the ability to switch
quickly between different ammunition types could be a
benefit.
My guess is the vast majority of buyers will be civilian
shooters who just want the chance to whale away 15 shots
of 12-gauge at a sitting. There’s not a thing wrong with
wanting a gun that impresses your buddies at the range,
and the UTS-15 will do that admirably.
UTAS UTS-15 CYLINDER BORE
= point of aim
UTAS UTS-15 SHOTGUN
Manufacturer: UTAS Makine, Ltd.,
Caglayan Mah. 2001 Sok.
Ugur Apt. No:11/1 07230
Antalya, Turkey
Importer: UTAS-USA, 1247 Rand
Road, Dept. SGN,
Des Plaines, IL 60016
Type: Pump shotgun
Gauge: 12, 3-inch
Magazine Capacity: 14
Weight: 8.5 pounds
Overall Length: 303/4 inches
Barrel Length: 22 inches
Length of Pull: 121/4 inches
Drop at Heel: 1/2"
Drop at Comb: 1/2”
Trigger Pull: 5 pounds
The false magazine tube at the front of the lower
stock supports the combination flashlight-lower,
which is controlled by a lever on the right side.
Accessories: Barrel extension
Price: $1,200
1
0
2
2
NobelSport Law
Enforcement Buckshot
1200 fps, 12 00 Buck
Pellet count: 12
2
2
1
1
ON THE
COVER
Like the power
of a shotgun,
but looking for
rifle-like magazine
capacity? The
UTAS UTS-15
has 15 rounds of
12-gauge on tap.
Photo by Mike
Anschuetz.
Average of 10
shots at 25 yards
21¼" inner circle:8 (67%)
30" outer ring:3 (25%)
Total: 11 (92%)