TriStar Raptor 20 gauge auto

I had one that I bought new for trap and five stand. It was terrible. FTF, FTE, light strikes and twice on light strikes it locked up solid.. so no bolt release after the hammer fell. It was embarrassing to be at the club with it. I don't have the skills or patience to deal with such things and couldn't find any field ammo to break it in. Sold it at our gun show with full disclosure. Beautiful looking gun though. A 3 dressed up as a 9 if there ever was one.

I went back through the records: purchased in 2022 from Al Flaherty's for $550.
 
Arcosdad said:
I had one that I bought new for trap and five stand. It was terrible. FTF, FTE, light strikes and twice on light strikes it locked up solid.. so no bolt release after the hammer fell. It was embarrassing to be at the club with it. I don't have the skills or patience to deal with such things and couldn't find any field ammo to break it in. Sold it at our gun show with full disclosure. Beautiful looking gun though. A 3 dressed up as a 9 if there ever was one.

I went back through the records: purchased in
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Arcosdad said:
I had one that I bought new for trap and five stand. It was terrible. FTF, FTE, light strikes and twice on light strikes it locked up solid.. so no bolt release after the hammer fell. It was embarrassing to be at the club with it. I don't have the skills or patience to deal with such things and couldn't find any field ammo to break it in. Sold it at our gun show with full disclosure. Beautiful looking gun though. A 3 dressed up as a 9 if there ever was one.

I went back through the records: purchased in 2022 from Al Flaherty's for $550.
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Yicks 😬 thats sucks but hopefully you had a lemon 🍋 but that still sucks you sent good money and had major issues with it. Knock on wood 🪵 the one im getting works better 🤞🏼
 
Daughter has one I bought her several years ago exactly the same as the one described ,20g .The gun itself has worked pretty well only shoot duck loads through it never missed a beat in 7-8 boxes of Kent #2 in 3".Now the flip side the choke was literally bent out of shape. Had a heck of a time getting it out (was modified) but got some advice from a good guy on this website ordered a beretta choke and voila no more issues. Got the gun for a great deal so that's why I went with it ,probably would have gone in a different direction now but it does serve the purpose and I have a couple Turkish that work well couple others that are now gone.
 
Clay Huntin' Canuck said:
Well here my review on the Tristar Raptor:
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Hey Clay,

Thanks for posting your video review.

As a former dealer, I used to sell both the Tristar Raptor and the Viper shotgun models. I never had any warranty concerns on the firearms I sold. Approximately 20-30 shotguns over a three year period.

The Tristar Viper model is definitely a nicer shotgun and of course it's more expensive.

Over the years I have shot both these models. I can tell you the manufacturer states right on the inside of the box lid that 3" magnum shells need to be fired through the shotgun in order to break it in and mate-up the moving parts. On the ones I tried out, we fired approximately 20 plus 3" shotgun shells in order to accomplish the manufactures instructions.

Any customers that had the odd cycling issues, were told to fire a box of 3" magnums through their guns and any/all issues disappeared. I did not hear you say you had followed these directions. Hopefully you did, or you will.......:)

The design where the action does not lock back when the action is cycled when empty is the way these shotguns are made. I do not know the reason why though. One has to dry fire it in order to lock back the action/open. Or use the small button on the bottom of the gun to lock the action open.

Thanks again for the review, I hope your gun breaks in and will cycle any and all 20 gauge ammunition.

Kindest regards,

John (TH)
 
I bought one for my daughter, it's the youth model, so it is the same shotgun but comes with 2 stocks. standard LOP and short and the barrel is 24"
It came with a barrel extender, about 3" i'm guessing. You can also screw chokes to it.
For the first 400 rounds it would not cycle target loads without the extension, now it cycles just fine.
 
Thunderhog said:
Hey Clay,

Thanks for posting your video review.

As a former dealer, I used to sell both the Tristar Raptor and the Viper shotgun models. I never had any warranty concerns on the firearms I sold. Approximately 20-30 shotguns over a three year period.

The Tristar Viper model is definitely a nicer shotgun and of course it's more expensive.

Over the years I have shot both these models. I can tell you the manufacturer states right on the inside of the box lid that 3" magnum shells need to be fired through the shotgun in order to break it in and mate-up the moving parts. On the ones I tried out, we fired approximately 20 plus 3" shotgun shells in order to accomplish the manufactures instructions.

Any customers that had the odd cycling issues, were told to fire a box of 3" magnums through their guns and any/all issues disappeared. I did not hear you say you had followed these directions. Hopefully you did, or you will.......:)

The design where the action does not lock back when the action is cycled when empty is the way these shotguns are made. I do not know the reason why though. One has to dry fire it in order to lock back the action/open. Or use the small button on the bottom of the gun to lock the action open.

Thanks again for the review, I hope your gun breaks in and will cycle any and all 20 gauge ammunition.

Kindest regards,

John (TH)
Click to expand...
Ill have to try a box of 3" thought it bit no problems with everything but challenger ammo , still might try 3" for the hell of it.
 
Thanks for the review Clay Huntin Canuck, much appreciated 👍 I may pick one of these up for myself as I don’t have a 20g semi myself. The wife’s 20g Viper is functioning perfectly so far, just keeps eating shells and spitting hulls 😁
She is going to try it out next week in a Two Gun event for the first time, I just grabbed some 20g buckshot and slugs for her. I need to get out this week and run a few thru it to see how it handles them.
I hope your Raptor breaks in nicely with those 3” shells and eats everything you feed it, they are certainly a good looking gun for the money.
 
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