I have an itch for one, and had thought the CZ Bobwhite was about the only choice in a side-by side under $1,000. Then I started seeing positive comments on the cheaper Yildiz sold in the Southeast by Academy Sports. The Yildiz comes with screw-in chokes and a single selective trigger. Not sure about ejectors. Price is under $500 and it comes with a three-year warranty.
The Huglu/CZ has double triggers, extractors and fixed IC/M chokes and a five-year warranty. I have seen many comments on the Huglus needing a trigger job.
Anyone familiar with both these guns? I wish we had Academy out here in the Northwest, as they seem to be the only importer of the Yildiz .410.

I have an addiction to .410 SxS guns.

I have a couple Huglu SxS .410 shotguns; one SST and one DT:





Bought both new. Maker's choke claims were nonsense, both guns were choked full/fuller. After having Colonial Arms cut them for choke tubes they have been a lot of fun.

Another venue, if you don't mind buying used, would be Spanish SxS .410 off Gun Broker or Gun Auction. Here are some examples I've picked up:





These can generally be had for under $500, condition ranging from VG to EX.

Or you can go whole hog, pick up a used gun in Spain, have it restored, and stocked to your measure:







Whichever way you go, be careful. The darn things are addictive.

Kyrie, having Colonial cut the CZ for chokes makes huge sense. I think the wood on that last double of yours is some of most stunning I have seen. Thank you for sharing.

I was very lucky on that stock blank - first in finding it and second in finding gun it would look well on.

I screwed up the photos, above. The coin finished Huglu isn't a .410, it's a 12 gauge. Here is the pic of the SST Huglu .410 I had meant to put up:

Bill,

Academy is the sole importer of Yildiz guns at this time. Briley in Houston does all the warranty work. I know of four, but do not know of one having to be sent for warranty work/repairs. I am a big fan of the Yildiz Elegante 4, and contrary to what some may think, I DO know real quality when I see it. I shoot a Perazzi in competition, and even one London sidelock gamegun.

http://www.yildizshotgun.com/en/detay_35.html

Mine has served me well on doves and bobs for several years, now. It is easily the most gun for the money I have ever seen. One of these days I am going to pull the buttstock off and take some pics of the trigger and locks just so I can show people how well finished they are. It defies all reason that they can produce and sell a gun of this quality for $489. Mine was $50 off, due to a brief sale. You need to buy one cheap if you plan to buy many shells for them!



SRH

About 2 years ago I posted on this board with my Sow's Ear Project. I also did a write-up for the fourten website, here it is http://www.fourten.org.uk/My410RossiSquireProject.pdf BTW the fourteen website looks as if it could use some traffic.

Steve

Kyrie

That is a gorgeous piece of wool and a beautiful stock!

Who did the work?

Who was the maker of that Spanish gun?

Thanks

The gun maker who did the stock work (as well as the restoration) was Diego Godoy. The .410 is an Ugartechea model 41, proof year code B*1 (1956). Don Diego also restocked and restored a Martin Ugarteburu model 115 for me. I sent him the blank and it turned out just spectacular:

Kyrie, that's a beautiful piece of wood, but it looks too much like a rattlesnake to suit me. I'm afraid that I'd jump away from it every time I noticed it leaning against a fence post with the stock at my feet!...Geo

Kyrie- That Huglu .410 has a nice piece of wood! All the Huglus I've seen have a really dark stain, with no figure. Is that an extra option, or was that hiding under the mud?

I was very lucky on that Huglu. That's one of their higher end, custom guns. For some reason Chuck at TR Imports had it listed with the more common guns and I snapped it up at a very good price.

It couldn't hurt you - it already has a mouthful of shotgun :-)

+1. I really like mine (it's a 20ga). Compared to a CZ it's a better gun IMO, nice trigger pulls, ejectors are very well timed and strong. No problems with the SST either. As Stan said, it's a quality gun.

About the only way to get one is thru the used market or if you have someone you know down south, buy one for you and ship it to your FFL, all legal of course.

Good Luck!

Greg

GJW: I see the nearest Academy to Oregon is in El Paso. Looks like I am going to have to ask one o' my Tejas buddies to help me out with this.
I could easily scare up one of the CZs, but by the time chokes and triggers are sorted out I would be looking at close to $1,000 for the Bob White and $1300 for the Ringneck.
Bill

Bill,

If the Texas deal doesn't work out let me know. We've bought three of the .410s from the Academy near me. Wouldn't be too big a deal to get anuther'n and have it sent to you.

All my best, SRH

My question is has anybody done any patterning on these 410's to see how they are actually shooting? I can see that Stan's must be shooting OK with that pile of Georgia doves.

Hi Mike, while I can't speak on the .410, I can tell you that the bbl regulation on my 20ga and my sons 12ga O/U are pretty damn good. Mine shoots a tad low (about 45/55), but not much that you can notice all that much. My sons O/U shoots about 50/50. Have not really patterned them yet, but shooting clays they sure do work. Took them out and we fired about 100rds each, and when we did our part, the guns busted clays with authority.

A couple things I should mention on these guns is the actions are alloy, so they are pretty lightweight. My 20 weighs 5-10 and my sons 12 weighs 6 1/4. But they are not whippy at all. They swing well and the balance is very good.

The other is, while the wood is very nice for a gun of this price point, it could do with some more oil, but that's a minor thing IMO.

Best!

Greg

Stan, I really appreciate your offer. Thank you.
GJW: Barrel regulation is another issue I have heard of with the twice-the-price CZs. Good to hear your Yildiz shotties seem to be properly built.

I have patterned this Bobwhite four-ten. It puts the pellets close enough for the birds to fall.

Snipe Hunter, I cannot imagine a more perfect tool for hunting Wilson's. Glad your CZ is working for you.

substitute "difficult" for "perfect" and I agree with you. At least in my hands. YMMV.

I bought a 1976 Ugartechea .410 Mod. 30 SxS in good condition, with ¼ choke in both barrels. I stripped off the factory varnish and found a nice piece of walnut underneath. After applying an oil finish I have a good-looking, easy-shooting small bore.



Stock part-stripped



Stock after oil finish



Fore-end after oil finish

Nigel, she looks svelte and lovely -- what we can see of her. How about a photo of the whole gun?

I've been following this thread and IMO it's really hard to fault a Stevens 311 in 410 as a low end gun. The other thing is they have actually started to appreciate in value. I've had one for several years and honestly they're built like tanks.
Jim

Jim, are they built on a .410 frame or on a 20-gauge frame? Looking for that light-as-a-wand feel.

Bill:
I don't think the frame on my example is large enough to accomodate a 20 ga. set of barrels. I just put mine on the bathroom scale and it weighs in at around 5 lbs.
Jim

Nigel,

Nice refinish on your M 30. I would like to see the completed gun, as well.

How much does it weigh?

The Stevens 311 will be somewhere around 6# 5 oz. with 26" barrels, the Yildiz much more of a "wand" at 4# 13 oz. with 28" barrels. Big difference. But, ............... you MUST consider the RECOIL!!!

SRH

This description jives with all the Stevens 410's I've ever seen. The frames are 12 gauge frames and are so wide that they have no side balls. The barrels sit on a platform to raise them up high enough to align with firing pins. Jim I'd love to see photos of the Stevens 410 you're describing.


Here's a picture of one I found on the internet.

Rockdoc, that's the Stevens .410 I keep finding too.

Did a quick look at gunsinternational and the range in weights for Stevens 311 .410's that posted weights ranged from a low of 6 lbs., 4 oz. to 7 lbs., 7 oz. Several model designations of the 311 were included. One was described as Newport CN, another as a C and another as an F.

I managed to damage the cable that connects my camera to the computer. I have a replacement on order and I'll post a picture when it arrives. If anyone else has a picture of a 311 - 410 breech I can compare it to mine in the meantime.
Well there's another caution at Indy so I did some measurments. The 410 Stevens frame measures 1 9/16" across the breech so I grabbed the 12 ga sitting next to it for comparison and it measures 2 1/2 across the breech.
N.B: I could be wrong about the weight because, as I said, I used the bathroom scales.
Jim
I think serious consideration ought to be given to re-timing this race as the Indy 350. The last quarter of the race is usually a monumental screw up as evidenced today!

For what it's worth....
My 'Sears' Ranger model (Stevens) measures 1.685 at the widest point of the breech balls.
I'd be interested if somebody has a set of 12,16,20, barrels that will fit!