I just got a Carina AS12 delivered this week....I watched a #### load of YouTube vids before plunking down $$. I couldn't do the Lion due to the goddamn huge LION writing on the barrel lol.
Function/reliability seems to be very good, but time will tell right...
For $389....I can live with it, you get a lot more good then bad. Barrels are very nicely blued, bore is very nicely chromed (could pass for higher end stuff easily here), receiver is nicely machined and even dovetailed for rings if you choose that route. Action bar is solid steel, piston/bolt are solid looking with no weak parts in the design I could spot. 5 choke tubes all color coded, well made as well.
Trigger pull is pretty bad, but OK for a bird gun, housing is plastic and cheap/ugly. Fiber optic is no good....poor quality on mine anyway, more like a piece of red plastic then fiber rod.
Wood is OK, not really well oiled, and the butt on mine is poorly fit to the receiver on the top and bottom. Sides are flush, top and bottom are proud 1-2mm. Forestock is fit good, but awfully thin wood. Mag cap is gross...casting marks, painted by the looks of it, like it doesn't belong on the gun. Same with sling swivels, mimmed and looks almost case hardened, but not really.....just poorly blued. My charging handle has casting flaws in it and I expect it to snap off within 100 rounds...I'll make a decent one when that happens, they are pretty simple.
So overall my first impression is that it doesn't quite pass for a steal of a deal.... It's not a $400 gun that could pass for an $800+ gun...well maybe from across the room, or just the barrels might stand up to more expensive barrels on their own. I'd also say these need to be completely torn down and cleaned/lubed before use....mine came soaked in thick preserve oil...like dripping.
Also when they say "features may change without notice" they are not kidding.
I was expecting this....
Mine came with the "Lion" flat butt pad, and this ugly style trigger housing....
If I was to do it all over I would probably #### can the idea of getting a "nice traditional looking wood" shotty from Derya and opt for one of the camo versions...I imagine it would hide the flaws better and likely be more durable in the long run.
Now, the reason I personally don't buy super duper nice expensive things to hunt with is I tend to use and abuse them while hunting. If I added up all my hunting guns (rimfire/center fire/shotgun) the $$ I got into them is less then a single target rifle that only sees the shooting range.
