The most distinctive shotgun of the day was easily the only bullpup: the Rock Island Armory VRBP-100. The manufacturer sent along curved nine- and 19-round magazines along with the gun, but we had some trouble with jams, so we stuck with the standard five-round magazines, which worked great. I have never done much with bullpups, so I noticed that the VRBP-100 was extremely stock-heavy, but when you shouldered it, the weight wasn’t as noticeable. In fact, the shotgun felt quick and pointed naturally.
This VRBP-100 had very stiff recoil but the best ejection of all the guns tested. The trigger was described as “too heavy” and “stiff,” which is typical for bullpup firearms. Everyone liked the flip-up sights, however, and the VRBP-100 came in a close second as the most accurate shotgun of the day. We also liked the adjustable cheekrest that could be raised or lowered for each individual shooter.
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The AR-style safety was intuitive, but we all struggled to quickly lock the bolt back and eject magazines simply due to our lack of familiarity. If we ran the gun every day, it would get a lot easier. In the end, the biggest recommendations were to put a better recoil pad on the buttstock and improve the platform’s reliability.
