Turkish shotguns - what do you know?

[HistoricBore]

As an older git I know a bit about English, Belgian and Italian shotguns, but I am confused about the various different makes of Turkish guns appearing on the market now. As I may be forced to buy a 'modern' gun for steel shot soon I would like to understand the differences between these makes. They all seem to have nice Turkish walnut of course.
Are they all from different factories? Does one maker make all the barrels for all of them? Is the Webley & Scott made in Turkey?

Three years back my gunsmith was repairing a gun and found that none of the internals of the action had been hardened, hence the trigger failed. He would not name the maker...

Historic Bore

 

[shakey jake]

i had a hatsan semi auto, fired the first shot them wouldnt cycle any load. utter junk, wouldnt have another turkish gun if it was free.

 

[levigsp]

All I can say is this. My brother has 2 yildiz uo. Both have great wood and wood to metal fit.
he has used one a lightweight game for 5 years, fired some 7-8 000 shells and its not missed a beat. oh it only weighs 5.5lb.
The other is a wildfowl model, looks great, handles great and weighs about 7.5lb. its a 3.5" chamber so can handle everything. Itss fired a 1000 shell without issue.
Yyldiz is an old in house gun maker, all parts are finished great, and barrels are black chrome so simply do not corrode.
Now if you look on Youtube there is a tet done on a yildiz sporter that fire many thousands of rounds at a clay ground, its then sent to a reputable gunsmith to look at without knowing what the gun had done.
He statess its as new inside and out! that says it all.
I have looked at Huglu, Koffs, Revo etc and none come close on looks, finish or balance.

 

[hammo]

I have a Huglu s/s hammer 12 bore. Superior steel proofed 3 inch magnum, with multi chokes.
It is a good solid 'future proof' gun. No complaints from me.

 

[User00040]

i had a hatsan semi auto, fired the first shot them wouldnt cycle any load. utter junk, wouldnt have another turkish gun if it was free.

You didn't take it back?

 

[Smellydog]

I've had a a hatsan auto, it was fine. A friend had one, his was fine. Same friend had a hatsan 20g auto and it broke a small part. Part sourced and fitted by self within days, sorted.

I know a few with Yildiz and they are good.
Kofs just don't come up well for me and the timber looks unfinished.
That's all I know.

 

[Rake Aboot]

They are cheap
They work
They are not really that fancy
They are absolutely value for money
Half of everybody hates them
The other half love them
If you shoot one you’ll likely buy it



Anything else ?

 

[bullet chucker]

My Hatsan auto, is in for Warranty repair at this very moment, will be several weeks until I know what the out come will be? They are cheap and it feels like that when shooting it.The trigger pull is awful compared to my Browning o/u. We have the odd auto shoot off on the clays just for fun, hense the reason for buying.

BC.

 

[Mr. Gain]

The Turks make a lot of guns because that's the nature of being at the budget end of the market. They can do this because they have low overheads, modern tooling, and most of the mechanical design has already been done by someone else.
Some makers have the necessary expertise to make reliable, long-lasting guns, too. Others, not so much. I just wish so much good walnut wasn't wasted on making odd-shaped stocks for low-quality guns. But maybe Beretta had already cornered the market in suitably drab planks.
The Hatsan semis are a mature and reliable option now, however; and the Yildiz guns can very much stand on their own two feet.
I believe Webley & Scott buy different grades from different makers (they certainly used to, though initially the higher-end Ines were Italian). They were also (one of?) the first UK firms sourcing guns from TK, so they probably know the trade there better than anyone. It's a shame, therefore, that they've not been able to leverage that knowledge into offering guns that could earn them an equal or higher place than Yildiz.
(Just my impressions - I'll be happy to hear where I'm wrong!)

 

[BenBhoy]

Using my hatsan escort today, no bother. I got it off here for free, and most days it's bouncing about on quad, it's got mud & sheep poo on the stock, the barrels a bit scratched, but I keep internals spotless. Mine cycles 24gram faultless every time, tightish choke & it just does it's job without looking pretty. Bit like me!!

 

[nun_hunter]

I've seen loads of ATAs at plenty of clay grounds and they all look way nicer than their price would have you believe. My shooting buddy bought the sporter with adjustable stock for about £720 new and it's lovely. Wood is better than my Beretta at twice the price, handles well, nice and tight and still feels just as good after about 1000 cartridges.

If I hadn't of just spent out having an adjustable comb fitted to my Beretta I'd have sold it and bought one and had enough to spend on shooting for a year!

 

[gr cz527]

i was in the market for a new 12g. looked at westlands and they have a large range of the turkish made guns. all very nice wood and engraving. the webley scott have a new model out and it looked very cesar guerrini like. was told they have got someone on board to help design and make. time will tell. i have an escort ( in fact i have had a few) and its horses for courses imo

 

[Heym SR20]

Two sides to the OPs question.

Firstly the Turkish Guns. I have shot the Koffs and the ATA. They work, and they are very affordable. Are they the sort of gun that will shoot several hundred cartridges a month and still be going strong in 10, 20 or 50 years time - probably not, but time will tell. Will they work and shoot well for most uses - almost certainly. They are on a par with the lower priced side by sides by AyA and other Spanish makers or many of lower priced Italian over and unders that filled this space in the market. There are multiple different makers, some related to other, others not. They are affordable principally as cost of labour in Turkey is much less than Spain or Italy.

Coming back to steel, the standard steel cartridges now on the market are perfectly usable in any shotgun that is in good condition provided the chokes are no tighter than 1/2 choke and that has been proofed after 1954. I have been using the Eley Grand Prix Steel in my side by side and really see no difference to ordinary Grand Prix cartridges - I hit and miss just as much as I used to.

My suggestion would be to give steel a try in your current gun. If its a very nice family heirloom and you are worried that steel will damage it, but you like shooting older side by sides, the market is being flooded with perfectly usable side by sides. Buy one - a boxlock, or something like AyA No3 or 4 and shoot it with standard steel.

 

[Franchi Matt]

I purchased a Revo one years ago.... straight out of the case the foregrip had a lose rattle fit, felt awful in the hand, it's now at the back of the cabinet seizing up and falling apart all by its self I now avoid those videos where a familiar face gets given the latest Turkush offering and does his video telling you how great value it is...... what we dont see is the gunsmith putting everything right before the director shouts "action".....

 

[Smellydog]

I purchased a Revo one years ago.... straight out of the case the foregrip had a lose rattle fit, felt awful in the hand, it's now at the back of the cabinet seizing up and falling apart all by its self I now avoid those videos where a familiar face gets given the latest Turkush offering and does his video telling you how great value it is...... what we dont see is the gunsmith putting everything right before the director shouts "action".....

The forend probably just needs the iron undoing and put some shim under it screw it back together and see if it's tightened it all up.
Easy job usually.

 

[Franchi Matt]

The forend probably just needs the iron undoing and put some shim under it screw it back together and see if it's tightened it all up.
Easy job usually.

Way past that stage now, I was more p issed off that said gun manufacturer had clearly never put the grip on before leaving the factory
Seriously need to offload it.... RNIB clay team?

 

[FISH BOY]

Believe the ATA O/Us use the same action design as the Beretta Silver Pigeons.

Bought an ATA Elegant last year - couldn’t believe what you get for £800 new! Does everything my EELL did, but without being so precious about it.

 

[stevec]

I have a friend with a Yildiz who really likes it, on the other hand I was working on an estate ten years ago when two Turkish guns failed catastrophically in a month. No one seemed to know what make they were though. Both burst a barrel on the same moor and both were about a month old. Could just be one faulty batch though.

 

[Sampo]

I have had a 'Akkar' o/u shotgun for about seven years now and it works just as good as any other shotguns I have used. Believe the stock is in Turkish Walnut and with multi chokes, its what I would consider a good shotgun for the price. I have also put many steel shots through it and after a clean, its still shining.

Akkar Shotgun - in case you want to have a look.

 

[Smellydog]

Way past that stage now, I was more p issed off that said gun manufacturer had clearly never put the grip on before leaving the factory
Seriously need to offload it.... RNIB clay team?

I do a gun disposal service, completely free except for postage to my RFD.
No seriously, it's free