Turkish shotgun marked 36 guage 3 inch

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au_prospector

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Hello I have a Turkish built side by side left to me by my father.
He always used .410 2 1/2 inch shot shells but usually had problems getting the gun to fire. The left barrel would fire most of the time and the right barrel would fire sometimes. He replaced the firing pin springs twice to no avail.

Anyway I took it to the range and also had problems getting the .410 shells to discharge. Usually the left barrel shot, but the right only about 20% of the time. The primer on the right was always struck, but apparently not hard enough.

This is when I noticed the following stamp on the left barrel.
36 GA 3 inch
The right barrel says
ARMSCO Des Plains IL.

Under the forearm it says the gun is made by HUGLU in Turkey.

I will say it is a VERY appealing shotgun. I believe my father paid $800 for it at a LGS. The wood is gorgeous and the scroll work is detailed and just looks great.

Anyway, I was at a local gunshop and they had some shotshells tucked away in the corner of a display. I do not know the brand, I didnt recognize it. They appear to be similar in size to a .410 but they are marked 36 Cal 3 inch.

Anyone have info on the HUGLU shotguns imported by ARMSCO of Illinois? All I know now is this is a CZUSA product. Is it possible my barrels are reallly 36 calibre and not .410? The shells are only $9 bucks so it wont hurt too bad to just give it a shot. literally.... will it?

Thanks!
 
Yeah, if the barrel is stamped 36 gauge, buy and use the proper ammo.

Turkish shotguns are pretty decent, I had the opportunity to get my hands on a lot of them in the 2 1/2 years I lived there.

Some people have complained about the QC on some of the older ones, but the ones I held were very functional and very nice.

Typically, the importer of the gun doesn't fiddle with them. Century being one that tends to fiddle, or build from parts kits. Shotguns typically don't get imported as kits so yours will probably be fine given the right shells. But since it has been used with the wrong shells for awhile it seems, it wouldn't hurt to have a competant smith check it out.

ETA: the 3" chamber will fire shorter shells without any issues. Just don't try to run a longer shell as it can be dangerous.
 
As far as I know, "36 gauge" is simply the European designation for .410. Perhaps the European version has fatter rims? You could simply eyeball how the shells sit in the chamber.

If that isn't the problem, then you may just need to find some longer longer firing pins?
 
I thought a .410 was technically a 67 gauge. Could be the Europeans call it a 36 gauge, I've never heard it as such, but I'm far from being an expert.

They appear to be similar in size to a .410 but they are marked 36 Cal 3 inch.
Click to expand...

A .410 is technically a caliber, as is .36 (I'm thinking cap and ball here) but I've never heard of anything like this. Again, it doesn't mean anything other than me being misinformed.
 
.410 is a caliber. 36 is a gauge.

The common sizes descend through 10, 12, 16, 20, 28, 36 (also known as .410 in North America).

The question then becomes; does a European 36 have a thicker rim than a North American manufactured .410? I don't know the answer to that, but it can be answered by the OP - do .410 shells lie even with the rim of the chamber? If they do fit as they should, then something is wrong with the shotgun. That something could be anything from a weak hammer spring to bad (short) firing pins.
 
Well I purchased some 36 gauge shells manufactured by a company called RIO.
They are very snug in the breech where as the .410 easily dropped into the breech.
I have neither tried to close the breech and obviously not fired them. I shall go to the range on Friday to test. My worry is now if I had to push the shells in (there was resistance) and I had to grasp the rim and give a good tug to get them back out.
Wont they expand a bit when I fire them?

Guess I better have pliers. It doesnt seem right. This gun might have to go to a smith.
 
36 is a thicker rim than the US 410s, the 410 shells are probably too deep in the chamber for reliable ignition.

41036ga.jpg

A friend of mine uses very thin O rings on 410 shells to add a bit of thickness, they compress and make for a good tight fit against the face when closed.
 
Okay like I said the 36 guage shells have to be 'pushed' into the breech whereas .410 simply dropped in. The breech closes easily. To remove the shells I have to grab the rim with my fingernails and pull against resistance as they are SNUG. After two tries, I already had one painfully ripped fingernail.

The box of shells I bought is RIO which is a Spanish company. The boxes are printed in Spanish and English and are marked C36-76 which is 36 guage 76 millimeters. When I took the forearm off the shotgun, low and behold marked on the barrel frame is 36-76.
I hope we have a winner. Unfortunately I also noticed the firing pin on the right barrel is a hair shorter than the firing pin on the left barrel (that is the part that sticks out when the breech is opened).

The gunshop had only 2 boxes of 7 1/2 shot, a couple boxes of #6 shot and 3 or 4 boxes of #4 shot. If it works, I will buy the lot, if it doesnt work I will take it to a smith and have him work on the right firing pin and then probably just shoot .410 since I can buy those anywhere. I have been shooting 5 stand trap and am itching to give it a try with the smaller .410, oops I mean 36 gauge.
 
This shotgun is at the smith.

Called RIO, they say 36 gauge is same as .410 save for some minor differences in the hull and brass/rim which apparently are within tolerances of .410. Agent at RIO was curious about having to 'push' my shells into the breech and asked for pictures. The thought is maybe bulging hull due to over packing and maybe too much pressure on the crimp.
 
Back from the gunsmith last week. Took it to a range this afternoon. Used RIO C36-76 3 inch magnum #8 shot shells.

Shot 26 shells in the left barrel and 24 shells in the right barrel. No misfires in the right barrel, but the right one was never a problem.

3 misfires in the left barrel, shot #6, #15, and #23.

I suppose it is a leap in the right direction to have only 3 misfires in 26 shots. Before the smith I would expect 20 misfires in 26 shots. Given the cost of the work preformed by the smith, I should like to expect zero misfires.

Already left a message with my favorite gunsmith...
 
This shotgun is back at the smith. Going to try yet another spring on that left barrel. This will be the final trip to the smith on this shotgun. It will either break clay pigeons or the clay will escape unharmed due to a misfire and that will be that.
 
RIO, which is made by UEE in Spain is excellent ammo. They are one of the larger ammo makers in the shotgun business.

Huglus have had a spotty rep for quality - they also make the CZ shotguns - some are good, some are not.

Hopefully, yours can be fixed
 
My gunsmith is not impressed with my Huglu shotgun.
I believe he used the following phrases.
'sloppy, soft metals, poor workmanship'

Ah-well...
 
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