1300_stainless
Regular
- Location
- Nova Scotia, Canada
A few months ago I picked up a CZ Hammer Coach from a CGN sponsor. I could find very little information when researching this gun so I wanted to whip up a quick review. This gun was priced at slightly over $1000 to my door. I know that’s not a lot compared to some firearms, but it’s a significantly large purchase to me. I’m going to give an honest review based on my own opinions and expectations. Perhaps it will help someone out.
The CZ Hammer Coach is a short barreled, side by side shotgun. It has 20” , chrome lined, barrels chambered for 12 gauge 3” . Specs say it is choked cyl and cyl. I haven’t had the time to measure the bores to confirm constriction, but I plan to sometime. The stocks are Turkish Walnut, the barrel is finished in “black chrome”, and the receiver and other small parts are case colored. This shotgun has true functioning external hammers. It also includes a manual safety. (Not sure why seeing as it needs to be cocked) The shotgun is manufactured in Turkey for CZ-USA.
Fit and Finish
This is a pretty gun.
The color case hardening is very nice, and not a common feature on new firearms. It also features small little engravings here and there.
The wood is Turkish walnut and has very nice dark figuring. I must mention that this is the 2nd shotgun I received during the purchase process. The first was just as lovely as the one I have now, except I was not at all impressed with the finish on the wood. It looked as if someone had not wiped the excess oil off when finishing the stock, and had allowed it to dry. It was rough to the touch, and frankly the best description is that it looked like it had dried boogers all over it. Fortunately the retailer I purchased from was great to deal with and sent me a replacement ASAP. The firearm I have now has a lovely finish on the wood. Nice and smooth with well cut checkering.
The “black chrome” is not what I expected. It’s not black chrome at all actually. A bit of digging on the CZ website reveals that it’s actually a powder coat type finish. Although CZ uses lots of bigger, more impressive, words to say that. It’s more of a matte black in appearance. It does have a nice sheen after a light application of oil. The barrel finish is growing on me, however I feel it’s not right to call it black chrome, as it’s not.
Everything seems to be well fitted. The action is nice and tight. There’s no slop anywhere. Parts seem to mate nicely. It’s a little bit stiff to operate out of the box, but I’m predicting that means it will wear in nicely and last for quite a while without getting loose.
Packaging
The documentation leaves a little to be desired. The manual is a basic, general, shotgun manual with very little specific info. In fact there isn’t even a parts schematic for this model in the manual it comes with. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure if this model is even mentioned in the manual at all
The packaging could be better. The gun is separated into 2 sections in the box. Stock/action and barrel/fore-stock. These pieces are each in a fabric bag. The parts can be heard sliding from one end on the box to the other when you tilt the package. IMO they could have added one or two more pieces of cardboard to protect the customers investment.
Shooting
I’ve only shot it once, and didn’t get to this review until much later than I had hoped. I’m going from what I can remember.
This shotgun is a blast! It’s relatively heavy and I found the recoil quite manageable for a short barreled 12 gauge with a steel butt plate. I was even able to shoot some 2 ¾” slugs without being uncomfortable. (I wouldn’t want to shoot a box, but a few was no sweat). I shot mostly light bird shot and target loads. I was able to consistently hit a 700 mil pop bottle at about 25 yards. A firearm of this type was never meant for long range shots, so considering I was using small target shot I’m pleased with that. To my recollection the left barrel shot to POA more accurately than the right. I didn’t shoot enough slugs to comment on accuracy, but IMO a shotgun with a bead isn’t ideal for slugs anyway. The gun functioned well right out of the box. The hammers are a bit heavy and take a good bit of force to ####. They did improve slightly after only about 30 rounds, so they will probably break in a bit more over time. The triggers are a bit on the heavy side as well. I do not have a pull gauge to give a reading.
The shells can be extracted easily. In most cases they would fall right out if you turned the gun over. I did have a few instances where I had trouble breaking open the action. However I attribute this to ammunition. It only happened when I started shooting cheap Winchester target loads. I believe the steel head was expanding on the cheap ammo and causing the opening issues. I had no issues with the Federal shot, Winchester buck shot, or Challenger slugs.
Conclusion
I think that CZ could supply a better manual. If the economy firearms makers can do it, it should be feasible on a gun in this price range. That is my only real complaint. If you’re looking for this style of shotgun, I think the CZ is an excellent choice. The case hardening and nice wood make it pleasing to the eyes, it seems to be built quite solid, it works well, and it‘s just plain fun to play with.
Hope this helps someone out. If anyone has questions I will try my best to answer them.
The CZ Hammer Coach is a short barreled, side by side shotgun. It has 20” , chrome lined, barrels chambered for 12 gauge 3” . Specs say it is choked cyl and cyl. I haven’t had the time to measure the bores to confirm constriction, but I plan to sometime. The stocks are Turkish Walnut, the barrel is finished in “black chrome”, and the receiver and other small parts are case colored. This shotgun has true functioning external hammers. It also includes a manual safety. (Not sure why seeing as it needs to be cocked) The shotgun is manufactured in Turkey for CZ-USA.
Fit and Finish
This is a pretty gun.
The color case hardening is very nice, and not a common feature on new firearms. It also features small little engravings here and there.
The wood is Turkish walnut and has very nice dark figuring. I must mention that this is the 2nd shotgun I received during the purchase process. The first was just as lovely as the one I have now, except I was not at all impressed with the finish on the wood. It looked as if someone had not wiped the excess oil off when finishing the stock, and had allowed it to dry. It was rough to the touch, and frankly the best description is that it looked like it had dried boogers all over it. Fortunately the retailer I purchased from was great to deal with and sent me a replacement ASAP. The firearm I have now has a lovely finish on the wood. Nice and smooth with well cut checkering.
The “black chrome” is not what I expected. It’s not black chrome at all actually. A bit of digging on the CZ website reveals that it’s actually a powder coat type finish. Although CZ uses lots of bigger, more impressive, words to say that. It’s more of a matte black in appearance. It does have a nice sheen after a light application of oil. The barrel finish is growing on me, however I feel it’s not right to call it black chrome, as it’s not.
Everything seems to be well fitted. The action is nice and tight. There’s no slop anywhere. Parts seem to mate nicely. It’s a little bit stiff to operate out of the box, but I’m predicting that means it will wear in nicely and last for quite a while without getting loose.
Packaging
The documentation leaves a little to be desired. The manual is a basic, general, shotgun manual with very little specific info. In fact there isn’t even a parts schematic for this model in the manual it comes with. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure if this model is even mentioned in the manual at all
The packaging could be better. The gun is separated into 2 sections in the box. Stock/action and barrel/fore-stock. These pieces are each in a fabric bag. The parts can be heard sliding from one end on the box to the other when you tilt the package. IMO they could have added one or two more pieces of cardboard to protect the customers investment.
Shooting
I’ve only shot it once, and didn’t get to this review until much later than I had hoped. I’m going from what I can remember.
This shotgun is a blast! It’s relatively heavy and I found the recoil quite manageable for a short barreled 12 gauge with a steel butt plate. I was even able to shoot some 2 ¾” slugs without being uncomfortable. (I wouldn’t want to shoot a box, but a few was no sweat). I shot mostly light bird shot and target loads. I was able to consistently hit a 700 mil pop bottle at about 25 yards. A firearm of this type was never meant for long range shots, so considering I was using small target shot I’m pleased with that. To my recollection the left barrel shot to POA more accurately than the right. I didn’t shoot enough slugs to comment on accuracy, but IMO a shotgun with a bead isn’t ideal for slugs anyway. The gun functioned well right out of the box. The hammers are a bit heavy and take a good bit of force to ####. They did improve slightly after only about 30 rounds, so they will probably break in a bit more over time. The triggers are a bit on the heavy side as well. I do not have a pull gauge to give a reading.
The shells can be extracted easily. In most cases they would fall right out if you turned the gun over. I did have a few instances where I had trouble breaking open the action. However I attribute this to ammunition. It only happened when I started shooting cheap Winchester target loads. I believe the steel head was expanding on the cheap ammo and causing the opening issues. I had no issues with the Federal shot, Winchester buck shot, or Challenger slugs.
Conclusion
I think that CZ could supply a better manual. If the economy firearms makers can do it, it should be feasible on a gun in this price range. That is my only real complaint. If you’re looking for this style of shotgun, I think the CZ is an excellent choice. The case hardening and nice wood make it pleasing to the eyes, it seems to be built quite solid, it works well, and it‘s just plain fun to play with.
Hope this helps someone out. If anyone has questions I will try my best to answer them.
