MacPapRonin
CGN Regular
- Location
- Toronto, ON
Picked up a HG-105 while it was on sale at G4C for $499 CAD. Figured at that price I couldn't go far wrong. I've heard that if you want to go Turkish semi-auto bullpup the Canuck FD12 is a better choice, but for $500, I was curious. I also liked the "look" of the HG-105 a little better. I know, that's the wrong reason to buy a firearm, but... the heart, she knows what she wants.
I don't have a lot of experience shooting semi-auto shotguns, but I have shot a Benelli M4, and this is definitely nowhere near the quality of a Benelli. That said, it isn't terrible either.
FORM, WEIGHT, FUNCTION
Weight is up there at 8.6 lbs/3.9kg empty. Balance is rearward, which is a big change from my rifles and most of my shooting experience (I have shot bullpups, just not often). As a bullpup, it's pretty short and handy. Handling and operation is not too bad - charging handle is very large and easy to find and can switch sides - it shipped with the handle on the right side which is a bit tricky to get used to - I'll probably switch it to the left side at my next opportunity. Standard AR-style safety, nothing special - if anything feels a little bit cheap. AR-style bolt catch release lever sticks out quite a bit - I startled myself when I set down the shotgun on its left side and the bolt went into battery - the lever sticks out enough that if you set it down on its left side without paying attention it can get depressed and release the bolt. No magazine inserted when I set it down, fortunately. Mag release is a bit awkward, definitely not as intuitive as the X95 or MDR.
MAGAZINES
The Hima OEM mags are super chunky/heavy and have a weird tac rail slot on the bottom - apparently that's so you can attach a spare mag to the front rail in place of the forward grip (??) - that configuration doesn't seem practical to my mind. $50 a pop for the OEM mags, not cheap, but not super-expensive either. I've read differing opinions on whether they're compatible with AS-46 magazines. Some people say they are, some people say they aren't. I saw one video where someone seems to be using an extended AS-46 mag with the HG-105, but again, not sure. Perhaps other HG-105 users can chime in (?).
OUT OF THE BOX
Shipped in a very basic box with manual, chokes and choke tool, a entirely adequate AFG and BUISs. No carrying case was included, which I didn't really care about, but some videos mention an included case so I'll mention it in case other people buy it from G4C expecting a carrying case. Didn't test the irons; I have heard that they're not great, but I will test them next time. I slapped on a SIG Sauer Romeo 5 sight right away. Seems to be shooting lower than I expect, but that may be an issue with me not being as used to shotguns as I am to rifles. The gun was very heavily oiled out of the box - no bone-dry firearm here. Field strip (not detail strip) was very easy and fairly intuitive.
SHOOTING
I tried out Federal Power-Shok-12 3" 00 Buck rounds - some shooters had mentioned it needs to shoot 3" for the first hundred shells or so for it to "break in". I shot 10 shells of the 3" and had one FTF on each magazine. In each case I just worked the charging handle again and it fed properly. I wasn't sure if that was a function of the fact that they were 3" shells, or the brand, or that it wasn't broken in yet - I'll buy another brand of 3" later and see what I get.
As an experiment I switched to 2-3/4" Challenger 00 Buck rounds and it cycled fine for all 20 rounds that I tried.
Loading the magazines was a tiny bit challenging because without high brass ends the rim of the loaded shells after the first round loaded digs into the plastic of the shell below a bit, so you have to guide it a little more than I might otherwise. I got the hang of it by the time I was loading the third or fourth magazine, so it wasn't an issue in the end, but something to keep in mind if you're choosing between high brass and low brass shells.
Magazines inserted and dropped easily - straight insert, no tilt required. Again, the mag release button is in a bit of an awkward position, but it's not terrible. Didn't get any over-inserts, and I didn't have to smack the magazine to get it to seat properly. It seemed to be fine with both a gentle insert or a more rapid "smack it in" approach.
Aside from the two FTFs, which were very easily cleared, it shot fine. Romeo 5 sight seems a good budget sight for a cheap firearm like this.
FIRST IMPRESSION
30 shells is by no means enough of a sample to judge a firearm - I had other firearms to shoot on my range day - but I thought I'd share how I felt about it on first impression. Overall impression is that it is a handy, easy to manipulate firearm with a lot of controls that are familiar to AR shooters, and is fun to shoot. Defintely not a high tier shotgun, but not garbage quality either.
Feel free to fire questions at me, keeping in mind that I'm a novice shotgun owner and have very little (aside from shooting a Benelli M4, an 870 and a break action a few times) shotgun shooting experience.
I don't have a lot of experience shooting semi-auto shotguns, but I have shot a Benelli M4, and this is definitely nowhere near the quality of a Benelli. That said, it isn't terrible either.
FORM, WEIGHT, FUNCTION
Weight is up there at 8.6 lbs/3.9kg empty. Balance is rearward, which is a big change from my rifles and most of my shooting experience (I have shot bullpups, just not often). As a bullpup, it's pretty short and handy. Handling and operation is not too bad - charging handle is very large and easy to find and can switch sides - it shipped with the handle on the right side which is a bit tricky to get used to - I'll probably switch it to the left side at my next opportunity. Standard AR-style safety, nothing special - if anything feels a little bit cheap. AR-style bolt catch release lever sticks out quite a bit - I startled myself when I set down the shotgun on its left side and the bolt went into battery - the lever sticks out enough that if you set it down on its left side without paying attention it can get depressed and release the bolt. No magazine inserted when I set it down, fortunately. Mag release is a bit awkward, definitely not as intuitive as the X95 or MDR.
MAGAZINES
The Hima OEM mags are super chunky/heavy and have a weird tac rail slot on the bottom - apparently that's so you can attach a spare mag to the front rail in place of the forward grip (??) - that configuration doesn't seem practical to my mind. $50 a pop for the OEM mags, not cheap, but not super-expensive either. I've read differing opinions on whether they're compatible with AS-46 magazines. Some people say they are, some people say they aren't. I saw one video where someone seems to be using an extended AS-46 mag with the HG-105, but again, not sure. Perhaps other HG-105 users can chime in (?).
OUT OF THE BOX
Shipped in a very basic box with manual, chokes and choke tool, a entirely adequate AFG and BUISs. No carrying case was included, which I didn't really care about, but some videos mention an included case so I'll mention it in case other people buy it from G4C expecting a carrying case. Didn't test the irons; I have heard that they're not great, but I will test them next time. I slapped on a SIG Sauer Romeo 5 sight right away. Seems to be shooting lower than I expect, but that may be an issue with me not being as used to shotguns as I am to rifles. The gun was very heavily oiled out of the box - no bone-dry firearm here. Field strip (not detail strip) was very easy and fairly intuitive.
SHOOTING
I tried out Federal Power-Shok-12 3" 00 Buck rounds - some shooters had mentioned it needs to shoot 3" for the first hundred shells or so for it to "break in". I shot 10 shells of the 3" and had one FTF on each magazine. In each case I just worked the charging handle again and it fed properly. I wasn't sure if that was a function of the fact that they were 3" shells, or the brand, or that it wasn't broken in yet - I'll buy another brand of 3" later and see what I get.
As an experiment I switched to 2-3/4" Challenger 00 Buck rounds and it cycled fine for all 20 rounds that I tried.
Loading the magazines was a tiny bit challenging because without high brass ends the rim of the loaded shells after the first round loaded digs into the plastic of the shell below a bit, so you have to guide it a little more than I might otherwise. I got the hang of it by the time I was loading the third or fourth magazine, so it wasn't an issue in the end, but something to keep in mind if you're choosing between high brass and low brass shells.
Magazines inserted and dropped easily - straight insert, no tilt required. Again, the mag release button is in a bit of an awkward position, but it's not terrible. Didn't get any over-inserts, and I didn't have to smack the magazine to get it to seat properly. It seemed to be fine with both a gentle insert or a more rapid "smack it in" approach.
Aside from the two FTFs, which were very easily cleared, it shot fine. Romeo 5 sight seems a good budget sight for a cheap firearm like this.
FIRST IMPRESSION
30 shells is by no means enough of a sample to judge a firearm - I had other firearms to shoot on my range day - but I thought I'd share how I felt about it on first impression. Overall impression is that it is a handy, easy to manipulate firearm with a lot of controls that are familiar to AR shooters, and is fun to shoot. Defintely not a high tier shotgun, but not garbage quality either.
Feel free to fire questions at me, keeping in mind that I'm a novice shotgun owner and have very little (aside from shooting a Benelli M4, an 870 and a break action a few times) shotgun shooting experience.
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