Been kind of wanting one A trench style Shot Gun

[New Guy]

I have seen a few Retro Grade shotguns out there, but just for recreational use the price is a bit steep.  Just wondering if anyone had any experience with the Turkish made shotguns?  Seems like reviews are all over the place.

 

thanks 

[DocHawk]

The Turkish guns are really nice, and terrible. They are all over the place. I own half a dozen, just to understand what they are, and I've sold a few hundred through my shop. We very, very seldom get any in for gunsmithing work, which tells me that generally they hold up well for the kind of shooters who buy them - mostly, they sit in the safe.

I have a Benelli clone that shoots birds lights out, **gorgeous** wood, and great finish quality. And the adjustable cheek rest screws are made of literal pot metal, so if you tighten the wobble out of it, they strip out and they are unfixable. No spares available. 

I'm a gunsmith, so it's an excuse to tinker, but it was a lot of work - the way they engineered it (badly), anything straightforward that I did would either split the wood, or be unsightly. So I installed inlays and undercut the cheek piece to make  a stronger mounting bar. Extremely tedious, time consuming work. It would have been several hundred dollars for a customer.

I have a Turkish double barrel Over/Under that is, again, excellent in fit and finish, build quality, and materials. No issues there; they have been building them for over 100 years, so they know what they are doing there and there are no fiddly bits to confuse their engineers. However, it has the most obnoxiously deep, rough dot-pixel serialization and make/model markings in triple-oversize blind Braille lettering that makes the barrel completely fugly to look at and skin-churning to touch.

They are hit and miss. Their plastic modern shotguns are cheap, fun, and dependable. When they break, you can't get spares, so throw them away. Good loaner/ranch vehicle guns. Or buy one of the pretty ones, like I did, and be prepared to invest a lot of time making it right.

 

Doc

Edited August 13 by DocHawk

[Scotty]

Doc thanks for the insight. It’s always hard to navigate internet commenters who go “turk####, buy an 88” ad naseum. nice to hear from an actual smith.

 

@new guy, if you’re ever bored you can YouTube Turkish shotgun burn down. James Reeves I find entertaining. I think only one of the Turkish shotguns has made it through his 500 round rapid fire burn down test, and even then there were concessions made. 
 

I picked up a cheap Gforce arms as a back door 12ga for critters as that’s where my compost is and it maybe made it through 300 rounds before it stopped ejecting spent shells. I didn’t bother messing with it yet and swapped it with an 88. Could be an easy fix but for the price it served it’s purpose. 

[leroy]

One thing ya might want ta do is to look at the shotgun forums to pinpoint the most reliable makers. 

Lotsa these shotgun guys put a bunch of rounds thru these guns and have a pretty good handle on the reliable brands.  

Havin said all that; I'm partial to the " American " makers.  It's mostly a nostalgia n history thing for me.  Ya can buy pump guns for a reasonable price for the most part, but the semi autos are a bit more pricey, and that's the lure of the Turkish guns. 

I'ma thinkin ya can find aftermarket handguards for Mossberg n Remington 870s pretty easily... Ya might want ta " home build " ya a trench.  

I find myself likin the old riots the most.  There are several in our safe; all old timers..

Hope this helps ...

leroy...

[Grayfox54]

Mossberg 590. Excellent guns at reasonable prices. 

[D B Cooper]

For a truck / trench shotgun, I'd go with a Remington 870 pump if that works for you. Mod it to fit your needs. Cheap to buy, lots of parts, which are also pretty cheap. I'm partial to Italian shotguns - Benelli specifically. Not cheap, but not the most expensive either. They fit me perfectly, go bang every time, and look good to boot.

[Tony]

From what I'm gathering finding a police trade-in Mossberg 590a1 or Remington 870 police magnum is a good way to go. Looking for one myself