I have one and love it. I can get on the fiber optic sites faster than anything else I own. It is an 870 clone but it does have a tang safety. I plan on buying a couple more of them.
This article from January 2008 Guns Magazine will tell you every thing you need to know.
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Moving into the general defense shotgun market is an interesting new model designed by Steve Kahaya of Century International Arms. Based largely on the Remington 870 platform, CIA's model has some refinements even Remington overlooked. The best part is the new Ultra 87 is retailing for less than $240.
The last time I looked, Remington had delivered their 9 millionth Model 870. With its double-action bars, a breech bolt locking into a hardened barrel extension, a self-contained, quick-detachable fire control system, and endless gauge and model options, the Model 870 has been the most successful pump-action shotgun in firearm history.
Hot Number
I still remember the day my father traded in his beautiful Fox Sterlingworth for a Model 870 Wingmaster and then had the Remington barrel shortened to 25" and finished off with a Polychoke. Today, can you imagine trading in a genuine Sterlingworth for a Model 870? But that's the level of impact the Model 870 had on shooters during the early 1950's. It was a hot number.
No wonder when it came time for Century International to design the Ultra 87, they selected the most important elements of a time-tested system and then added some improvements of their own.
The Ultra 87 is all business. It's no upland field gun and doesn't handle like one. It's made to be tough, handy and reliable. Its purpose is to place buckshot, shot and slugs downrange with some precision--and it does--So it also rates high in the survival gun category.
Set Apart
At least three features set the Chinese-made Ultra 87 apart from its Remington parentage. Gone is Remington's cross-bolt safety button at the rear of the triggerguard. It was usually too small and too stiff anyway, and it single-handedly created the aftermarket for jumbo head safety conversions. What designer Kahaya did was to replace the triggerguard safety with a tang safety, much like the one found on top of the pistol grip of the Mossberg 500.
In the rear "safety on" position, the Ultra 87 button cams a metal locking block up against the back of the trigger effectively immobilizing it. Pushed forward and taken off safety, the tang button reveals a red dot on the receiver indicating the Ultra 87 is good to go. The tang safety is a vast improvement over the cross-bolt safety. It's handier, faster and ambidextrous.
Given the corrosion problems associated with plastic wad and lead fouling, European shotgun makers, in particular, have done an excellent job in adding that next degree of protection by chrome-plating their bores. Our domestic makers have not. Before and throughout WWII, the Chinese certainly recognized the value of the chrome-plated bores incorporated in Japanese small arms and have continued the practice in much of their own small arms production. Yes, the bore of the Ultra 87 is chrome-plated, offering both improved corrosion protection and ease of cleaning.
The Ultra carries a set of highly visible, red, fiber-optic, open sights. The rear sight is fully adjustable for windage and elevation, producing a clear sight picture of the red front bead snuggled down between two opposed red dots of the rear sight. They're great sights and were dead-on when I slammed slugs downrange. However, I hate to see that strip of daylight beneath the front fiber-optic rod. The fiber-optic rod should be snuggled down against a metal base to reinforce it. The current suspended rod is just too fragile on a serious business gun.
Scope Ready
The Ultra 87 also is drilled and tapped for a Weaver-style base packaged with the gun. I screwed the base right on. It doesn't interfere with the open sights, and it proved ideal for mounting my tried-and-true, tough, old Ultra-Dot. The factory supplied optics base on the Ultra 87 is a real plus in my book.
The black, pebble-grained, synthetic stock is solid, thick-walled and well dimensioned. The molded-in checkering on the forearm and pistol grip could be a bit coarser or sharper and the ventilated, recoil pad would look nicer and stay cleaner if solid-walled, but otherwise, I give the stocking a thumbs-up. One very nice addition to the gun is it comes with factory-fitted sling swivels.
The Ultra is supplied with a clear owner's manual. As I read through it, two items caught my attention. One is a warning the inner receiver surfaces are sharp and not polished off. Yes, they are sharp! I can attest to it. Secondly, in the disassembly/reassembly section, one critical piece of information is missing. If you remove the bolt and slide assembly for cleaning, to reassemble it into the frame, you must depress the right and then the left shell stops in that order as you pull back the fore-end. You will have to disassemble and clean the Ultra 87 because it is factory packed in a heavy preservative.
First, I function tested it by running through a box of 7-1/2 shot at hand-tossed clays. From its 5-shot magazine, it fed, fired, extracted and ejected without a hitch. The synthetic magazine follower is bright yellow, by the way, and provides a good visual check on whether or not there is another shell in the magazine tube.
I've been wanting to try Winchester's new Power Point, 1-ounce Foster-type slugs, with a stated velocity of 1,700 fps. With its open sights and cylinder-bored barrel, the Ultra was a natural test bed. Offhand at 25 yards and without any adjustment to the sights, I placed the first three slugs into a 1-1/4" group in the 10-ring of a B-27 target. My wife is my witness. It doesn't get much better than that.
Century International Arms will be upgrading the Ultra 87 with a 28" fixed choke, sporting barrel plus optional folding buttstocks, pistol grips and heat shields. Combining a time-tested design with improved features and competitively priced, the Ultra 87 fills an important niche in the defensive and survival smoothbore market.
ULTRA 87
Maker: Century Arms international:
430 South Congress Ave., Ste. 1
Delray Beach, FL 33445
(800) 527-1252,
www.centuryarms.com
MECHANISM: Pump action
CALIBER: 12-gauge
MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 5
OVERALL LENGTH: 39"
BARREL LENGTH: 19"
CHOKE: Cylinder bore
SIGHTS: Adjustable fiber-optic., Weaver-type base for optics
STOCK: Black synthetic
LENGTH OF PULL: 13-7/8"
DROP AT HEEL: 2-3/4"
DROP AT COMB: 1-1/2"
AVERAGE WEIGHT: 7-1/2 pounds
FINISH: Blued
PRICE: $239
