I was watching some videos on YouTube the other day and saw a neat trick from James Yeager. He took some sticky back industrial strength Velcro and used it to attach an SOE shotgun card to his shot gun. My first thought was that thing looks super simple, I’ll just grab some Velcro and elastic and make a shotgun card. I figured it would be a nice DIY article. If you notice the title though this is not a DIY article but a review of the SOE card. That’s because my project failed miserably. The thread kept breaking in the Velcro. After a few hours of frustration I decided to order the SOE ones. When I saw the quality of the SOE ones I knew that ones I had tried to make would have been crap compared to them anyway. So instead today I’ll be reviewing the SOE 12 gauge card and how to make a quick and easy side saddle.
Quality
Like all SOE gear the quality on this thing is built like a tank. The Velcro was stitched to a rigid nylon webbing and semi rigid elastic. The one I tried to make was flimsy. The elastic loops stand up making putting in the shells easy. The elastic holds them very tight with no worries about the shells falling out. I could not find any loose stitching in the card. I like how stiff the card is so that the cards can stand upright in mag pouches. Being that they are Velcro backed they will stick on any gear you have with the soft backed Velcro.
Easy Side Saddle
This is a super easy project. I had a long strip of Velcro I bought from Walmart from the project I was working on. Use the SOE card to measure out how long to cut the fuzzy side Velcro. Once your Velcro is cut it’s time to clean up the shotgun. Normally I use the Frog Lube for everything But for this you want to remove all oil and lubricants. I was afraid that the Frog Lube would prevent a good adhesion. So I cleaned up with some Hoppes #9. I lined up the Velcro with the line at the bottom where the shotgun curves. Peel back the backer to expose the sticky side of the Velcro and press firmly. Continue to peel back and rub the Velcro until its all stuck on. Rub the Velcro to ensure you have a solid contact for maximum adhesion. You will need to leave it on for at least 24 hours before trying to remove a card from it. I went ahead and stuck the card on it. That’s it, for a few bucks and a few minutes you have a shotgun side saddle.
Time is Money
You might be better at sewing than me and could do this project right. However that time and investment got to high for me. The SOE Cards only cost $15 for me that is a steal for the quality and utility you get from them. I can’t wait to get out to the range and put my sidesaddle to the test.
Do you have an SOE Shotgun card? Do you have a sidesaddle from another company? How do you carry extra shells? Let me know in the comments!
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I tried something similar to this. I have the plastic side saddle that everyone had at one point. ATI maybe? Anyway, I removed the plastic part from the metal plate they give that bolts to your gun. I applied a positive locking “velcro” type strip to each the metal plate and the plastic side saddle. Unfortunately, with no shells in the saddle, it wants to curl, which caused it to pull away and at the end of the stage, the range officer had to hand me my gear that fell off with 3 shells still in it. I do like the concept of the cards and using AR15 mag pouches. I’d think a version with a flourecent orange loop on the end would help to locate all your gear in the woods (thats where our shotgun Jungle Walks are held.).
I used to industrial strength Velcro and wont try to pull on it for at least 24 hours. I’ve not tried it in the mag pouches yet personally but have seen it done.
I’m gonna give this one a try. I e-mailed SOE; I was told this carrier works for 20 g. as well as 12 gauge. That’s a good thing, as our new weatherbys are 20.
I searched your blog quick and didn’t find a follow up comment or article on how this S.O.E. side saddled tested at the range. Can you give us an update on how it performed? Awesome? Not awesome? Issues? Etc?
Thanks.