As a suggestion made in other threads, I decided to contribute this review of what I believe to be one of the best values in the gun market: the Weatherby PA-08 pump action. I bought mine - a 26" Upland model - a few years ago for $399 from Lanz, who was also selling the Rem 870 Express for $379. I'm glad I went the way I did. Incidentally, Lanz advertises the PA-08 as having a laminate stock. It isn't. It is walnut. All walnut, no glue.
So without further ado:
The shotgun as it normally resides in my safe; wearing a 18.5" PA08-TR barrel.
I bought this barrel from Weatherby directly and sent them the shotgun. A Weatherby authorized gunsmith must check headspacing before they'll let a barrelled action out the door. If I recall correctly, I paid less $75 for the barrel.
The Weatherby features beautiful wood. Much nicer than on many other shotguns, and certainly nicer than the laminate on the 870.
The chamber, bolt and bore are all chromed. This is before the cleanup
The receiver has a nice blued finish. The Upland has a gloss finish, others have a matte finish. Note the two pins holding the trigger group in.
Pull the mag tube end cap off, pop those pins out and you can disassemble the whole gun in less than 20 seconds. Cleaning this thing is dead simple. Note the chromed bolt.
The 26"/28" barrels have vent ribs, a nice gloss blue to match the receiver and a brass bead sight.
The 18.5" barrel has a blade sight with a white dot and a matte finish which matches the TR series guns.
My PA08 has been completely reliable, but this review would not be complete without mentioning a few things:
So without further ado:
The shotgun as it normally resides in my safe; wearing a 18.5" PA08-TR barrel.
I bought this barrel from Weatherby directly and sent them the shotgun. A Weatherby authorized gunsmith must check headspacing before they'll let a barrelled action out the door. If I recall correctly, I paid less $75 for the barrel.
The Weatherby features beautiful wood. Much nicer than on many other shotguns, and certainly nicer than the laminate on the 870.
The chamber, bolt and bore are all chromed. This is before the cleanup
The receiver has a nice blued finish. The Upland has a gloss finish, others have a matte finish. Note the two pins holding the trigger group in.
Pull the mag tube end cap off, pop those pins out and you can disassemble the whole gun in less than 20 seconds. Cleaning this thing is dead simple. Note the chromed bolt.
The 26"/28" barrels have vent ribs, a nice gloss blue to match the receiver and a brass bead sight.
The 18.5" barrel has a blade sight with a white dot and a matte finish which matches the TR series guns.
My PA08 has been completely reliable, but this review would not be complete without mentioning a few things:
- The Upland does not come with sling swivel studs. Every other model of PA08 does. I bought the mag tube cap with the sling swivel studs and had my local guy install a rear sling swivel stud. If this becomes my primary HD gun, I will buy the accessory rail component which fits onto the mag tube cap so I can mount a light. It costs all of $20.
- Your sight options are pretty extensive if you're looking for a grooved receiver and bead or blade. Anyone else is out of luck. No rifle sight, ghost ring or reflex/scope on this sucker.
- The gun ships with the mag tube limiter in place. There is no optional mag tube extension. You get the 4+1 rounds God and Ed Weatherby decided is enough.
- The PA08 does seem to be the exact same shape as the 870 receiver, so any furniture which fits the 870 should fit the PA08.
