Should you take some time to read through various gun forums (notably Shotgun World dot com’s – Shotgun Opinions Forum, Huglu Lovers Forum etc) – you may note that there is a love/hate relationship associated with CZ (Huglu) products.
The reason being, those firearms that work well from day one really continues to tick along but there are also many of those that become prone to trouble from the onset. Some of those get fixed and the trouble doesn’t recur. However, many have gone back repeatedly for warranty. BTW, CZ does offer a 5-year warranty on their products.
You may further uncover that the majority of such issues lay within CZ’s (actually Huglu’s) QC realm more prominently in the form of defective SST (read single trigger assembly), fragile firing pins, heavy trigger etc. You will also read that the majority of those issues involved shotguns introduced by CZ (in the US Markets) prior to 2005.
Judging by the later production shotguns (and most feedbacks/reports in the aforementioned forums), it appears that CZ has managed to redress that QC “weak link in the chain” to a major (if not full) extent.
An important thing to keep in view when shopping for a CZ shotgun would be the true application of that firearm because aside from one particular O/U model (as far as I’m aware) the rest of the CZ shotguns (i.e. both O/U and obviously, SXS) have been designed as Field models (read carry more, shoot less kinda scenario
).
And, therein, rides in the Trojan Horse as those shotguns generally will not sustain high volume use (read regular and heavy clay shooting duties). Occasional/informal range use shouldn’t be a problem. It may also not be entirely out of place to mention that some of those very field models have had multiple thousands of rounds (even exceeding 10s) shot through those at the clay targets without any trouble. However, those, IMO, are/were more exceptions than the norm. Besides, the CZs haven't been around long enough to safely issue any verdicts on the endurance aspect.
Now, if the intent is to acquire an O/U purely (or mostly) for the purpose of range duties – then I must strongly recommend that you to look into a used/new Beretta or a Browning (dependant obviously on budget and gun fit).
Bear in mind though that while a $3-$4k gun will be better built end-to end – that factor alone shouldn’t auto translate into the fact that it will make a better shooter (I meant the shotgun) in every sense of the term. There are many variables to consider in this aspect – the question of appropriate gun fit being the most important.
FWIW, I’ve found the Huglu made shotguns do have very well regulated bbls and equipped with good quality of wood in a product within its price range. Personally, I've owned/still own a few CZ SXS (12/16/20/28) with DTs and haven't had problems with any since 2005.
Your call…….
