`Turkish Shotgun experience

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tark

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Bought this the other day at the LGS. Made in Turkey. It had something I've not seen before, a return spring for the fore end. You can see it in the third pic. I kind of like it. Yank the fore end back, eject the empty and let go. The fore end chambers the round by itself. Anybody have any experience with these guns, or Turkish shotguns in general?

I will say, up front, that I know less about shotguns than a dead person. I only own two and I never shoot the one that isn't broken. I live in the country, however, and a good shotgun is almost a necessity. I think I got a good one.

When I bought the gun the very honest person selling it to me said that it may require some "breaking in" before it functioned reliably. It didn't. I have cycled (not fired) a couple of hundred shells through the thing with nary a bobble. Ran a box through it this morning. Smooth as butter. Kicks like a mule, but hey!, you expect that with a fairly light 12 gauge shotgun!

I'm pretty pleased with the thing. $289 bucks.
 

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To quote Paul Harell: "Pullrack is one word". Not "Pull, half rack and let go". :D

But seriously, I've never heard of that feature, it's kind of cool if it actually works. I like the semi auto shotguns that can also be manually racked.
 
We spoke a couple a few years ago. One came back, owner didn't like the feature. Never heard anything from the other buyer. I thought it was too light also.
 
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I read/watched a few reviews on them...apparently the spring is removable if the feature becomes a nuisance, without affecting the function of the weapon.
 
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There is nothing in Khan’s previous production history to instill confidence. Historically, Khan has been at the bottom end of Turkish gun production. However, TriStar has cultivated and developed a good reputation for its semi autos, so if they are willing to market the gun, perhaps they have stipulated quality levels above Khan’s previous offerings. Having said that, the economics of a $289 retail gun do not entirely instill confidence…
 
How hard is it to rack against the return spring pressure?
I'm 73 and I have no trouble. But like I said, the spring is removable. Or, you could go to a hardware store and probably find a lighter spring that would work.
There is nothing in Khan’s previous production history to instill confidence. Historically, Khan has been at the bottom end of Turkish gun production. However, TriStar has cultivated and developed a good reputation for its semi autos, so if they are willing to market the gun, perhaps they have stipulated quality levels above Khan’s previous offerings. Having said that, the economics of a $289 retail gun do not entirely instill confidence…
Well, you don't expect excellence for under $300. ;) And I don't plan on using it very much, it probably won't be fired more than a couple of hundred or so shots a year. It does operate quite well and that's good enough for me. I won't be using it for self-defense, that's what my AR is for. I live in the country and I couldn't hit my two neighbors if I tried, so accidental injuries caused by flying rifle bullets aren't a problem. I have pistols for inside the home defense. I would have bought a cheap single shot but I wanted a repeater and something short and lightweight. I'm happy with it! I do know one thing...at least whoever wrote the instruction manual had an excellent command of the English language. That wasn't always the case with gun's made overseas. I bought a Chinese AK in the 80s and the wording in the manual was laughable.
 
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Having a hard time understanding the benefit or purpose of this feature. It just makes ejecting the spent shell harder as you pull against the spring's resistance. Pushing the forearm forward is the easy part of the cycle so why is the spring assist needed? You also have to take your hand off the forearm so it can freely spring forward and then re-grab the forearm.
 
You don't have to take your hand off of the fore end if you don't want to. It can stay right where it was. The more I use this thing, the better I like it.
 
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Bought this the other day at the LGS. Made in Turkey. It had something I've not seen before, a return spring for the fore end. You can see it in the third pic. I kind of like it. Yank the fore end back, eject the empty and let go. The fore end chambers the round by itself. Anybody have any experience with these guns, or Turkish shotguns in general?

I will say, up front, that I know less about shotguns than a dead person. I only own two and I never shoot the one that isn't broken. I live in the country, however, and a good shotgun is almost a necessity. I think I got a good one.

When I bought the gun the very honest person selling it to me said that it may require some "breaking in" before it functioned reliably. It didn't. I have cycled (not fired) a couple of hundred shells through the thing with nary a bobble. Ran a box through it this morning. Smooth as butter. Kicks like a mule, but hey!, you expect that with a fairly light 12 gauge shotgun!

I'm pretty pleased with the thing. $289 bucks.
Good info to know
 
I'm 73 and I have no trouble. But like I said, the spring is removable. Or, you could go to a hardware store and probably find a lighter spring that would work.

Well, you don't expect excellence for under $300. ;) And I don't plan on using it very much, it probably won't be fired more than a couple of hundred or so shots a year. It does operate quite well and that's good enough for me. I won't be using it for self-defense, that's what my AR is for. I live in the country and I couldn't hit my two neighbors if I tried, so accidental injuries caused by flying rifle bullets aren't a problem. I have pistols for inside the home defense. I would have bought a cheap single shot but I wanted a repeater and something short and lightweight. I'm happy with it! I do know one thing...at least whoever wrote the instruction manual had an excellent command of the English language. That wasn't always the case with gun's made overseas. I bought a Chinese AK in the 80s and the wording in the manual was laughable.
Plus weren’t 500s and 870s very inexpensive before the craziness? Like isn’t there something cheaper about making pump action shotguns than rifles?

I feel like I remember 500s being like only 300 or so before Covid
 
Most of my shotguns cost north of $1k when purchased, FABARM, Benelli(since sold), Browning and Winchester. In addition I have a couple of Franchi’s that weren’t cheap to purchase. At the bottom I have two Turkish made shotguns, and my daughter has one, all Weatherby’s. I’ve been impressed and have had them long enough for things to start breaking, ten years, and they haven’t. I also know a few people with TriStar’s and based on their experience I wouldn’t be hesitant in the least to purchase one.
 
Quite happy with my limited experience in Turkish shotguns. The two I've shot a bit were reliable and nice, the Ringneck I just got is really pretty and handles very well.....

I used to use pump assist on a couple of my pump paintball guns. I didn't care for the effect, tho other folks in know loved it.
 
I did a little research and was surprised to discover that Turkey has a LOT of shotgun manufactures, over 20 !! They make a lot of pretty high end guns that are sold under familiar names like Weatherby and others.
 
I don’t think you grasp the economics of gun manufacturing and sales. Take the $289 retail price and work backwards, subtracting the several taxes, retailer and importer margins, distribution and import costs, import duties, freight, port costs, and manufacturer margin.

It doesn’t leave a lot for cost of manufacture…
And yet they still turn out pretty decent guns for 100 bucks! :D
 
That some Turkish guns are quite good does not mean that all Turkish guns are good.

The fact is that the cheap guns Khan have made historically have been cheap because they were poorly made.

Not all the Turkish makers are the same and even a good manufacturer can make a poor gun if it has to be made cheap. AyA makes some very, very nice guns these days. But the Matadors they made for Sears were renowned as doublers that broke springs with abandon. And the Mossberg Silver Reserve, made by Khan, has not enjoyed a very good reputation.

TriStar, which is an importer/distributor, not a manufacturer, has done a good job of marketing good looking, value for money s/a guns and apparently backing them up with good customer service. So, one hopes that despite a price that does not instill confidence, TriStar is onto something.

And we can look forward to range reports, which we must hope are positive.
 
When I was in Turkey for the war, many in my unit were buying Turkish shotguns and shipping them back. I got a Linberta a few years ago. It is a shooting machine. Wish the stock was higher quality. It shoots anything I feed it.
 
There is no hoping TriStar is on to something. They definitely ARE on to something and have been for some years.


And yet, nothing in the manufacturer’s (Khan) history instills us with the confidence you display in TriStar, an importer/distributor…
 
a hundred rounds a season is a lot of shooting for the normal hunter at small game, oh i know i,ll hear about a few who say they shoot hundreds of rounds a year at small game and it may be true. but if your in the first group the turk shotgun will do, i myself judge by what i see at the clay games for long shooting shotguns and use their hunting models for hunting, i just don,t see them being used very much(hardly at all) at the clay games where their round counts would be far greater and being a better test of their durabilty.
 
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