doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Eating Crow - Turkish shotgun ala carte!

In my view there are two issues to this post:

-Patriotism/chauvinism
-Aesthetics, functionality and price

On the first not a lot can be said; it is more of a feeling.

On the second: it has very classic looks, plain but not really ugly. As has been recorded by owners/users they do the job; on this the phrase used by Mr. S. Bell can be applied to some out there: "My mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts". Price is clearly very adequate.

In the not distant future there will be doubles made in China and if the requirements are right they can surely be very adequate. They have the manpower and the skills to do whatever they want and have been doing it for a long time. Cloisonné is an example.

I would much rather have a double by A&S or a second hand Purdey, but...

JC

I bet Last Dollar looks good from a distance..

Even though only a "Spring Chicken" of 70 I think my 107 yr old Lefever is going to out last me. However I would buy one of these for a "Tool" before one of them "Pumps" & I don't care how "American" a pump is. For a "Tool" though, I might just look for a good H&R Topper or IJ Champion, hard to buy more gun for the money than them, & they're both American.

Kinda like falsies.Looks like the real deal and may even feel close to it but just ain't the same in the field or on the beach.

Are you implying this gun came from Turkeys silicon valley ?

Well: Most guys when they're hankering after Turkey go right for the breasts!!
Jim

I had some issues based on appearance myself. I didn't care for the schnabel forend but it was the cut on the back edge of receiver that turned me off the most. On the small gauge guns it has a squarish cut at something other than a ninety degree angle. Had they just made the edge straight (and maybe decided against the side panels) it would have looked much better to me.

Otherwise, beauty is as beauty does. If the tool feels right, functions without flaw, and has regulated barrels, does anything other than bias enter into the discussion?

Skip

Just bias really. One of mine is I hate a staight back edge on a boxlock. But it's probably just me.

Pump shotguns are tools- I have- a Mossberg 835 12 ga. Ulti-Mag which I won at a DU event about 5 years ago-this "Mossenburger" is an ugly Black scattergun- but it drops High Candadas like "gangbusters" and is the only shotgun I would entrust to the Airline's "Baggage Gorillas". But the Winchester Model 12- that is a "whole 'nother Ballgame" in my opinion. Even F&S rifle "guru" Petzal wrote about the Model 12- Sporting Classics magazine may/June l985- said something that might also apply to the "Old men with files" at Parker, Hunter Arms, and Fox (and other too)- "The Winchester M12 existed because skilled machinists worked for low wages back then"--I also heard that a noted English shotgun expert and writer complimented the Model 12 as being "functional and ergonomic"- high praise indeed from someone used to Purdey and Hollands.

Actually, there are two Mossberg 500s in my safe, that have most of thirty years of time between production-a late 60s vintage gun that was left here by a neighbor, and a late 1990s gun that I purchased for gun safety class for kids. Neither gun has ever had a bit of trouble, and the old one used to live in a duckboat, or, a pickup truck box, full-time. The trigger guard is not plastic per say, it is structural nylon, and contains the complete fire control mechanism in an assembly that needs no lubrication or maintenance. I could demonstrate it's superiority to the unit on a Huglu with my maul, if you would like, however, various branches of armed services have deemed quality sufficient. I never look down my nose at anyone shooting a pump, even a cheap one, like a Mossberg, since I figure it's a pretty safe bet they haven't joined Greenpeace, and likely share a few interests of mine. In other words, they are a friend. I've witnessed a few folks over the years treating a kid, woman, or new shooter with a Mossberg, or, something similar, like a leper, and it really ticks me off.
Barrel rugulation on lower cost doubles, from any country, is the most vexing problem I've noted, and, when we are talking tools, a pump or other single barrel gun side-steps this issue quite nicely.
Anyway, yes, as long as big green and Mossberg have a plant somewhere in the US, turning out guns that have a reputation for being reliable, I have some warm fuzzys, and a slot in the safe for an example, or two. I've never introduced a kid to shooting sports with either of my doubles, but I've introduced lots of 'em with my Mossbergs.
They are the right tools for the job.
Best,
Ted