Turkish shotguns, which are good, and which are not?

[lanis]

As heading of this thread states, I am looking for owners of Turkish shotguns and their experiences.
I was inspired by previous Turkish shotgun thread, that had a lot of good information, but we can not generalize that all of them are good or that all of them are cr@p.
We have had a lot of owners being very happy with their purchases, and some that thought that these are the bottom of the barrel.
I owned Hatsan semi, and it was absolutely an excellent shotgun for the money. Never a hiccup, accurate, reliable and good ergonomics, for a very little money.
I owned and prefer Brownings, Berettas, Bennelis, old school Wingmasters, and before someone chimes in that those are the only ones worth owning, yes... those are better, but this thread is NOT about them.
Turkish shotguns can be an excellent deal for the money spent, and that's that.

Aim of this thread is to recognize WHICH of the Turkish shotguns are worth buying, and which are NOT, and are garbage not worth owning at all.
To clarify, we can't generalize as we all know that not all American, or all Italian guns are brilliant, and same goes for Turks.

So let's compile a list of good ones, those that are still an excellent deal for budget oriented customers, that do not shoot high volumes yearly, and let's find out about ones that are not to be considered at all.

Lastly, please stay out of politics and which countries you like or not, and keep comments about shotguns.

Thank you.

 

[Sir Plus]

What I’ve noticed is, big surprise, the expensive ones are better. Turks can make a good shotgun if the price is there. Their cheap shotguns are pretty rough and I would rather buy used. You get what you pay for and sometimes the same company can make garbage and decent guns.
Armsan has been a solid brand and they are sold all over the world. They also cost more. They have made shotguns for Weatherby, Mossberg and others.
Everyone knows Huglu is fine too.
Stay away from cheap doubles.
When even a mossberg 500 will last 50,000 rounds I don’t see any reason to go any cheaper. I don’t like encouraging the disposable gun segment of the market, no matter where it’s made.
I will add that even the cheapest brand making the cheapest #### will always have fanboys (not just in the gun world)

 

[King0265]

The question should be which are NR and which are now prohib?

 

[The Kurgan]

As heading of this thread states, I am looking for owners of Turkish shotguns and their experiences.
I was inspired by previous Turkish shotgun thread, that had a lot of good information, but we can not generalize that all of them are good or that all of them are cr@p.
We have had a lot of owners being very happy with their purchases, and some that thought that these are the bottom of the barrel.
I owned Hatsan semi, and it was absolutely an excellent shotgun for the money. Never a hiccup, accurate, reliable and good ergonomics, for a very little money.
I owned and prefer Brownings, Berettas, Bennelis, old school Wingmasters, and before someone chimes in that those are the only ones worth owning, yes... those are better, but this thread is NOT about them.
Turkish shotguns can be an excellent deal for the money spent, and that's that.

Aim of this thread is to recognize WHICH of the Turkish shotguns are worth buying, and which are NOT, and are garbage not worth owning at all.
To clarify, we can't generalize as we all know that not all American, or all Italian guns are brilliant, and same goes for Turks.

So let's compile a list of good ones, those that are still an excellent deal for budget oriented customers, that do not shoot high volumes yearly, and let's find out about ones that are not to be considered at all.

Lastly, please stay out of politics and which countries you like or not, and keep comments about shotguns.

Thank you.

Read through the thread you refer to. People name the brand and model and give their opinions. No need to start another thread.

 

[LeePeterson]

Stoeger m3500 3 1/2" owner here. Great shotgun the only thing it doesn't like is less then 1oz loads. Shoots straight

 

[brybenn]

A major part of the equation is who brings them in and at what quality level. Id be more willing to take a risk on a cheaper turkish gun if it came from say corwin arms or prophet river. I know martin and clay will stand behind whst they sell and make any issue right. Other dealers i dont have as much faith in. Odell engineering has been great when my canuck pump needed warrenty. Corwin arms has sent me parts free of cost to fix issues myself with just an emailed picture of the broken parts. No questions asked.
That said ive had very positive experiences with turkish gubs and ive had horrible ones. Ive had a turkish semi go 40 000 rounds but it needed a new bolt lock and firing pin along the way. Another turkish gun lasted 9 shots before needing to be sent in for warrenty. Now that ive got it back its run flawless but i havent run very many rounds thru it. Only a few hundred.
Huglu. Akkar. Churchill. Webley and scott. Dickinson arms would be the top 5 turkish makers for me based on my experiences and seeing what guns last on the skeet field as im the chairman of skeet at my local club
I do own cheaper turkish guns that i like. Im loving my fedarms frx. The slide is a lil too oversized and smooth but it functions great. Very simple design.
Asena has been another very good brand in my experince.

Khan. Kral. Tristar id avoid. I have a tristar ou that has been a course in gunsmithing on its own. Fantasic bluing but thats the only positive. I fear to sell it because the issues ive had with it. Even with full disclosure i couldnt sleep at night knowing itll likely fail on the next owner

All guns that are mass produced are capable of making a gun that slips thru quality control and fails. Some companys go for the quick buck and disappear. Now with the turkish industry its as confusing as a family tree in a Tennessee trailer park trying to figure out who makes what but the turkish industry is only getting better. At one time the japs were thought to build crap and now look at where they are with browning and winchester. For years Italians were looked down upon and now theyre at the top with the best makers of fine guns. Same thing happened with spain and belguim. Turkey had a rough start but theyre getting there and theyre getting there faster with modern machines. Theyre not knocking out british bests but they can make some amazing guns to revival top makers and they can do it cor a fraction of the cost
I cant say all turkish guns are great or even good but if you shop thru and listen to actual owners youll get a good idea of the brands and names that are better built. Seems only the northamerican market is heading downward in quality whereas the rest of the world is rising. Long gone are parkers bakers lc smiths tobins and nid ithacas. They cost to much to make. Even unadored basic field guns. Once turkey becomes established and unionized production will again move to a cheaper labour force and we will have this conservation all over again

 

[The Kurgan]

I cant say all turkish guns are great or even good but if you shop thru and listen to actual owners youll get a good idea of the brands and names that are better built. Seems only the northamerican market is heading downward in quality whereas the rest of the world is rising. Long gone are parkers bakers lc smiths tobins and nid ithacas. They cost to much to make. Even unadored basic field guns. Once turkey becomes established and unionized production will again move to a cheaper labour force and we will have this con[versation] all over again

Excellent point. My poll thread will give us an idea of those names/brands of Turkish guns that are better built--the small percentage of those that have had bad experiences didn't hold back!

 

[lanis]

What I’ve noticed is, big surprise, the expensive ones are better. Turks can make a good shotgun if the price is there. Their cheap shotguns are pretty rough and I would rather buy used. You get what you pay for and sometimes the same company can make garbage and decent guns.
Armsan has been a solid brand and they are sold all over the world. They also cost more. They have made shotguns for Weatherby, Mossberg and others.
Everyone knows Huglu is fine too.
Stay away from cheap doubles.
When even a mossberg 500 will last 50,000 rounds I don’t see any reason to go any cheaper. I don’t like encouraging the disposable gun segment of the market, no matter where it’s made.
I will add that even the cheapest brand making the cheapest #### will always have fanboys (not just in the gun world)

I have never had experience with Armsan, but might consider it in the future.
You have pointed out inexpensive doubles, Huglu also makes side by side, two different models sold by Prophet and Canada Ammo.
Not much is posted about Canada Ammo Huglu short SXS...

 

[lanis]

A major part of the equation is who brings them in and at what quality level. Id be more willing to take a risk on a cheaper turkish gun if it came from say corwin arms or prophet river. I know martin and clay will stand behind whst they sell and make any issue right. Other dealers i dont have as much faith in. Odell engineering has been great when my canuck pump needed warrenty. Corwin arms has sent me parts free of cost to fix issues myself with just an emailed picture of the broken parts. No questions asked.
That said ive had very positive experiences with turkish gubs and ive had horrible ones. Ive had a turkish semi go 40 000 rounds but it needed a new bolt lock and firing pin along the way. Another turkish gun lasted 9 shots before needing to be sent in for warrenty. Now that ive got it back its run flawless but i havent run very many rounds thru it. Only a few hundred.
Huglu. Akkar. Churchill. Webley and scott. Dickinson arms would be the top 5 turkish makers for me based on my experiences and seeing what guns last on the skeet field as im the chairman of skeet at my local club
I do own cheaper turkish guns that i like. Im loving my fedarms frx. The slide is a lil too oversized and smooth but it functions great. Very simple design.
Asena has been another very good brand in my experince.

Khan. Kral. Tristar id avoid. I have a tristar ou that has been a course in gunsmithing on its own. Fantasic bluing but thats the only positive. I fear to sell it because the issues ive had with it. Even with full disclosure i couldnt sleep at night knowing itll likely fail on the next owner

All guns that are mass produced are capable of making a gun that slips thru quality control and fails. Some companys go for the quick buck and disappear. Now with the turkish industry its as confusing as a family tree in a Tennessee trailer park trying to figure out who makes what but the turkish industry is only getting better. At one time the japs were thought to build crap and now look at where they are with browning and winchester. For years Italians were looked down upon and now theyre at the top with the best makers of fine guns. Same thing happened with spain and belguim. Turkey had a rough start but theyre getting there and theyre getting there faster with modern machines. Theyre not knocking out british bests but they can make some amazing guns to revival top makers and they can do it cor a fraction of the cost
I cant say all turkish guns are great or even good but if you shop thru and listen to actual owners youll get a good idea of the brands and names that are better built. Seems only the northamerican market is heading downward in quality whereas the rest of the world is rising. Long gone are parkers bakers lc smiths tobins and nid ithacas. They cost to much to make. Even unadored basic field guns. Once turkey becomes established and unionized production will again move to a cheaper labour force and we will have this conservation all over again

Excellent post.
Thank you!

I was curious about Akkar and Churchill, because they quite appealed to me esthetically.
Turkish Webley? LOL... not familiar with that one.

 

[0faustus0]

...
Not much is posted about Canada Ammo Huglu short SXS...

They are the same Huglus that Prophet River is selling .... just with shorter barrels and no chokes .....

 

[Halfton]

Yildiz O/U are good quality from what I gave seen, wife loves hers. Huglu (hence CZ) are good O/U and S/S as well.....I have owned and shot a couple. I won't comment on their single shot, pumps or semis as I have no first hand knowledge of their quality.

Jim

 

[Prophet River]

Yildiz O/U are good quality from what I gave seen, wife loves hers. Huglu (hence CZ) are good O/U and S/S as well.....I have owned and shot a couple. I won't comment on their single shot, pumps or semis as I have no first hand knowledge of their quality.

Jim

We sold a lot of both. The Yildiz may not have as nice a finish but they are lighter with their Al receivers. (Huglu does have the 'Eagle model with a Al receiver) Have had almost no issue with either brand.

 

[todigy]

Someone told me my Winchester sxp is Turkish . . . its a decent gun.

I owned a DERYA MK12 for about a year. I sold it because I didn't use it much but I did put about 300 rounds through it. One jam and it was the second shell I ever fired. Shell didn't feed and got hung up. If I was in the market again for a similar gun I wouldn't hesitate to get one!

 

[brybenn]

Excellent post.
Thank you!

I was curious about Akkar and Churchill, because they quite appealed to me esthetically.
Turkish Webley? LOL... not familiar with that one.

The name webley and scott is alive and well. Just it found a home in turkey. I havent shot their higher end guns but they were selling in the $5-6000 with clear out sales of around 3000 to 3500

 

[Maritime Storm]

I was curious about Akkar and Churchill, because they quite appealed to me esthetically.
Turkish Webley? LOL... not familiar with that one.

Akkar makes the Churchill line, some markets they are sold as Akkar ours they advertise as Churchill. I've had 2, Churchill 206 Silver Hunter and a Churchill Semi(Altay 212 Silver) both are good quality, parts are available, but I am aware of no Canadian warranty dealer.

h ttps://www.akkar.com.tr/altay-212-silver-2-374

 

[FIMMICS]

Owner of 3 Churchills - 206 field, 206 trap and a 520 sxs - all have been very good with thousands of rounds through the o/u's.
The trap was very front heavy but easily remedied with some weight in the stock.
Did have a 820 o/u but it was doubling so we parted ways.
I believe North Sylva handles the warranty work for the Churchills.

Also have a CZ Sporting o/u with exceptional Turkish walnut but had to get trigger work done to get it down to a 4 lb break. No problems after 3000 rounds.

In semi's, had a Weatherby SA08 that didn't like 1 oz target loads so it went bye bye. Replaced that with an ATA Venza that eats everything but is a pita to clean.
My Turkish made Stoeger M3020 is ok but has a 7+ lb trigger.

All in all, my experience with Turkish guns has been very positive.
I prefer my B guns but wouldn't hesitate to buy another Turkish one.

 

[mpc15]

Someone told me my Winchester sxp is Turkish . . . its a decent gun.

I owned a DERYA MK12 for about a year. I sold it because I didn't use it much but I did put about 300 rounds through it. One jam and it was the second shell I ever fired. Shell didn't feed and got hung up. If I was in the market again for a similar gun I wouldn't hesitate to get one!

hickock has a good video on the SXP including discussion around it being Turkish

 

[fishslinger]

I haven't really looked into Turkish repeaters but have researched Turkish double guns. It seems that Akus is putting out some very nice quality stuff at good prices.
There is the Dickinson line being imported into the states with a real sidelock called the plantation grade being sold at a very attractive price with excellent reviews.
Cabelas in the US selling this line in there stores. Wish someone would start importing them into Canada.

 

[brybenn]

I have a dickinson arms ou. Its amazing. I dont think cabelas imports them any more however there are some dealers in the states and when the border issues clear up and my bank account gets some new life i will travel over to check out their royal line. Stunning looking guns

 

[K-Catch]

I would stay away from Tristars and Hatsan's unless you have an interest in gunsmithing. I have a Tristar O/U and a Hatsan pump that both have had hours of work to make them good guns but out of the box they didn't perform well. That being said I got a Hatsan semi that after initial break in has never failed and chugged along no matter what round it is fed.