40 some years ago in the New Glasgow K-Mart, I walked up to the sporting goods counter to find my dad had a shotgun stripped to the bones as the pimple faced sporting goods guy looked on in horror. When he asked me what I thought, I told him I really wanted an 1100 or A5 like every other kid that dreamed of waterfowl.
"Nonsense!" was his reply "This thing has got the best of both designs only more thought out. Look, there is just nothing to go wrong here and the fit and finish is above excellent."
I didn't know what I was looking at but anything was a step up from a single shot Cooey that broke open every time you fired it if you weren't holding it right.
After thousands of trouble free rounds of Imperial magnums and many hours spent with a hunting partner that worked tirelessly keeping his 1100 running, I came to realize what dad had known all along; brand name and price does not determine quality.
Engineering the the perfect mouse trap may take years or even decades but reverse engineering and copying does not. That SKB from 40 years ago was made in Japan by some craftsman that understood quality and machining. It is still running today and has suffered more abuse than the law should allow.
Speaking of Japan, the nicest B gun I ever owned was made there as well. It was made in the era of the rusty Toyota but only a fool would paint an entire country with the same brush. The Browning Maxus I hunt now fits like a glove but it would never get by the quality controllers at SKB or Miroku for that matter. The stock to receiver fit is barely okay and I spent hours fitting the recoil pad properly. The trigger group looks like it would drop right in my old SKB but it is mostly plastic of course instead of finely machined metal. It does go bang, that is after the first year when a phantom, unrepeatable "click" occurred at the least opportune times.
And not to pick on B guns, but the 828u??? The ejectile dysfunctional O/U that answered a bunch of questions nobody will ever ask.
My point to this is that good and bad can come from lots of places. The Masai Mara, for all intents and purposes, appears to be a clone of the Benelli flagship Ethos. The Ethos is a fine shotgun that I had the pleasure of owning but moved down the road due to a couple of minor annoyances, that being the Benelli click and it's inconsistency in ejecting light loads in cold weather. According to reviews the Masai Mara has corrected both of these annoyances.
For field loads and pheasant hunting, there probably isn't a nicer auto loading shotgun than the Ethos but it is pricey. If the Masai Mara is in fact made off the same design as Ethos, it could be a fine shotgun in spite of what is coming out the doors of other Turkish factories. With the right recipe and ingredients a cake can be baked in any bakery and be equally delicious.
Another example of this is the fine Hardy reels now coming out of south Korea. Are they as good as the English made originals? No, they are actually better, as modern computerized machining leaves no room for error and can consistently produce finer tolerances. According to reviews the Retay factory where the Masai Mara is produced is as clean, modern and efficient as any Italian plant.
Anyway, I don't own a Masai Mara so my opinion should be ranked right up there with everyone else who has never owned one. It may very well be junk but I would like to try one or at least read some real reviews from owners. I don't think anyone doesn't get some bonus enjoyment from owning a prestigious brand name but sometimes the price of owning that brand name is unrealistic. I'd love me a Cadillac but drive an Impala, it is what it is.
"Nonsense!" was his reply "This thing has got the best of both designs only more thought out. Look, there is just nothing to go wrong here and the fit and finish is above excellent."
I didn't know what I was looking at but anything was a step up from a single shot Cooey that broke open every time you fired it if you weren't holding it right.
After thousands of trouble free rounds of Imperial magnums and many hours spent with a hunting partner that worked tirelessly keeping his 1100 running, I came to realize what dad had known all along; brand name and price does not determine quality.
Engineering the the perfect mouse trap may take years or even decades but reverse engineering and copying does not. That SKB from 40 years ago was made in Japan by some craftsman that understood quality and machining. It is still running today and has suffered more abuse than the law should allow.
Speaking of Japan, the nicest B gun I ever owned was made there as well. It was made in the era of the rusty Toyota but only a fool would paint an entire country with the same brush. The Browning Maxus I hunt now fits like a glove but it would never get by the quality controllers at SKB or Miroku for that matter. The stock to receiver fit is barely okay and I spent hours fitting the recoil pad properly. The trigger group looks like it would drop right in my old SKB but it is mostly plastic of course instead of finely machined metal. It does go bang, that is after the first year when a phantom, unrepeatable "click" occurred at the least opportune times.
And not to pick on B guns, but the 828u??? The ejectile dysfunctional O/U that answered a bunch of questions nobody will ever ask.
My point to this is that good and bad can come from lots of places. The Masai Mara, for all intents and purposes, appears to be a clone of the Benelli flagship Ethos. The Ethos is a fine shotgun that I had the pleasure of owning but moved down the road due to a couple of minor annoyances, that being the Benelli click and it's inconsistency in ejecting light loads in cold weather. According to reviews the Masai Mara has corrected both of these annoyances.
For field loads and pheasant hunting, there probably isn't a nicer auto loading shotgun than the Ethos but it is pricey. If the Masai Mara is in fact made off the same design as Ethos, it could be a fine shotgun in spite of what is coming out the doors of other Turkish factories. With the right recipe and ingredients a cake can be baked in any bakery and be equally delicious.
Another example of this is the fine Hardy reels now coming out of south Korea. Are they as good as the English made originals? No, they are actually better, as modern computerized machining leaves no room for error and can consistently produce finer tolerances. According to reviews the Retay factory where the Masai Mara is produced is as clean, modern and efficient as any Italian plant.
Anyway, I don't own a Masai Mara so my opinion should be ranked right up there with everyone else who has never owned one. It may very well be junk but I would like to try one or at least read some real reviews from owners. I don't think anyone doesn't get some bonus enjoyment from owning a prestigious brand name but sometimes the price of owning that brand name is unrealistic. I'd love me a Cadillac but drive an Impala, it is what it is.
