A little less Vang… – That Shotgun Blog

I haven’t made any secret of my preferred approach to a shotgun side saddle being a Vang shell card and some industrial strength velcro slapped on the side of the receiver. (See HERE for a how-to). The one kinda sorta issue with this approach is that Vang shell cards are one size fits all. They are only available as 6 round cards. Sometimes, a shorter card is needed.

I saw it mentioned on P-F if anyone had shortened a Vang card. I watched the thread for a bit, not real useful action. I decided that since I had just started using a Q-DC, I should fill the void with some experimenting. I could slap the shortened cards on my 870 anyway and not have to worry about modifying the forend.

One of the things that makes the Vang card so good is that it has a kydex stiffener in the backer. This helps the card keep its shape when loaded with shells and not curl like other cards. It also means you probably need something more than a pair of scissors to cut the backer. I used a pair of tin snips, worked like a charm. I used scissors to cut the actual elastic part.

Tools that I used. Scissors for the elastic, tin snips for the backer, a lighter to melt the edges so they don’t fray.

I made certain to leave a little room between the new end of the card, and the last row of stitching for the elastic loop. A little heat with a lighter to melt the end of the elastic and the backer to keep it from unraveling. It doesn’t look as clean as a factory end, but this definitely a function over form endeavor.

Seems like this modification should end up working just fine. The kydex stiffener, even though it is now visible, has been stitched through in several places so it should stay put in the backer and not slide out. If someone wanted to take the time to do it, you could probably finish the end a little better than just lopping it off and taking a lighter to it. A cleaner look might be possible, but it would come with extra work too.

Forends on sporting guns, or what started life as sporting guns, often times overlap the receiver. This prevents the use of 6 round shell cards without modifying the forend. The other option is run a shorter shell card.

The now 4 shell carrier and 5 shell carrier retain all the good things that Vang does better than anyone else, but now it will fit better on some guns. Vang shell cards are still the best, even when you don’t need a 6 round shell card. 😉😉

Published by Nate