If you’ve been in the competitive or defensive shotgun world for a bit, you’ve probably come across a match saver once or twice. As someone who didn’t use them, I had mixed feelings on match savers. Part of me saw their value, and wanted to add one to my guns. Then another part saw them as a cheap gimmick, particularly when losing to someone using a match saver!
Then in early 2026, Adam from Aridus Industries came to me with a prototype match saver he was looking at selling through his shop. Being in the process of testing the Imperium, we decided this was a great opportunity to put another product through its paces at the same time. Here is my review of the ATO Design CHP-3Y Spare Round Carrier from Aridus Industries.
For those unfamiliar with match savers, let me give a brief explanation. In very simple terms, these hold a single shotgun shell attached to your handguard. This is to facilitate an extremely rapid emergency reload, being scooped or swiped out of its carrier and dumped into the open ejection port by the support hand. In a competition setting, this can save your match by getting a quick shot to make up for a miss or other failure, hence the name. Historically, many of these products were simply PVC pipe which had been modified to attach to a shotgun. This results in widely varying quality.
The Aridus Industries is a fairly simple design. This is a purpose-built match saver, not something repurposed from the hardware store. It mounts via a single MLOK slot, which is fairly straightforward to attach to the gun.
Unlike most match savers, which hold the shell at an angle, this lines up almost perfectly with the ejection port. This allows a straight-back motion into the receiver, simplifying the process, and theoretically reducing the potential for errors during your reload. Additionally, the Aridus match saver is much more open, giving you more real estate to grasp the shell, again improving reliability.
I used the Aridus Industries match saver over the course of several months, firing 1,115 rounds through my A300 with it mounted to the Imperium handguard. This was used in standard drills, as well as for trap and sporting clays to help vary my use. Below is a breakdown of rounds fired with the match saver mounted.
At roughly 160 rounds into the review I began to experience loosening of the match saver. I removed it, degreased the threads, reapplied Vibratite, and remounted it to the gun. Since then I’ve had zero issues with loosening or wobbling, staying firmly locked into the gun. With over 1,000 rounds fired since then, I believe this initial issue was likely user error, not a failure of the product itself. Even when repeatedly getting the barrel too hot to touch the match saver as shown no signs of warping or loosening.
Shells stay firmly in place throughout my range sessions. For a few trips I mounted a slug or round of buckshot, and left it there throughout the day, waiting to see if recoil could dislodge it from the gun. No such issues occurred during normal shooting, nor during movement for certain drills.
I did experience intermittent ejection of shells when shooting from the short-stocking retention position when loaded with heavier slugs or buckshot. I believe this is due to the lack of resistance on the gun, allowing more force to be transmitted to the gun and its components rather than to the shooter’s body.
After reporting this feedback to Adam from Aridus, a few changes were made to the design of the match saver. These updates should provide improved retention of the shell during short-stocking, thereby avoiding the intermittent ejection of live rounds. While I have not tested this personally, I have seen significant footage of the updated match saver being fired with virtually zero resistance applied. No shells were lost during those tests.
The results were almost immediately apparent, this thing is quick. From the beginning my emergency reloads with the match saver were roughly 0.50-0.75 seconds faster compared to coming from my side saddle. On the first range session my quickest reload from the match saver was 1.77, with an average of 2.04 performing a 1-reload-1. This is compared to a 2.44 average coming underneath the gun from my Esstac side saddle. Later my speed quickened to roughly 1.49 fastest from the match saver, which is about where I hover as of this writing.
This is a big deal, as I have hundreds, if not thousands of repetitions coming from this side saddle. Starting from nearly scratch with the match saver and instantly being quicker was a huge surprise. Of course my match saver reloads were far from perfect, as this new motion requires dedicated practice to nail down. However this should be no surprise, as any new technique needs work to become reliable. The potential for incredible speed is here, so long as the work is done to stay consistent.
Overall I am very pleased with the Aridus Industries Match Saver. This has been an excellent introduction to the type, something I’ve been meaning to try for nearly a decade. From the ease of mounting with the Aridus Imperium handguard, to the more direct geometry, this seems to be a winner for those looking to add a match saver to their gun.
MSRP on the Aridus Industries Match Saver sits at $40.00. You can find yours >>HERE<<.
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