Posted By: HicksHunter
Yildiz SPZ ME 12 gauge O/U- First Impressions - 09/22/12 05:29 PM
Just picked up this shotgun yesterday from a man on TexasGunTrader .
The walnut, while nice, is nothing to get excited about. The checkering is mediocre, and seems like it was just put on there for the aesthetics.
The ejectors on this gun could shoot a shell probably 10 feet. I much prefer extractors vs ejectors, and I may end up cutting down the ejector springs. This will not only serve to reduce the force with which shells are ejected, but it will also ease closing of the action, as the ejectors are "pulled back" upon closing. The action is very stiff at the moment, and that should help it out until the gun is broken in.
The engraving is nice, and while I would have much preferred a plain-framed gun, I can deal with it.
These guns were a special for Academy Sports & Outdoors, produced by Huglu in Turkey, and they're marked as such. Although it's not like they're that special- all the Huglu O/Us use the same frame from what I can tell, and they aren't very different at all. However, these guns are serviced by Briley down in Houston, so it's nice to have a reputable company doing service.
The gun is very light (somewhere between 6-7 lb depending on where you get the information), and depending on how much it kicks today, I may be picking up a decelerator pad soon. The trigger is rough, and just sort of flops around under pressure from your finger after firing a shot. The safety also doubles as a barrel selector which can move from left to right to select the top and bottom barrel, respectively.
The Yildiz website claims that it can accept mobilchokes, but just by looking at the design, it's going to be proprietary. Good thing they've got Briley making the chokes. The rib has a single bead at the end, which I very much like compared to the double bead design. Not like I care much, anyway, because I hardly use the bead in the first place. The shotgun points well, and has a good fit for someone of my stature. I may just go ahead and get the recoil pad just to add another half inch or so to the LOP.
I'd say it's a buy, but I haven't shot it yet. It seems to swing well, and the 28" barrel is a good fit for most applications. If you placed it side to side, you'd definitely be able to see a distinct difference between the craftsmanship between this and a Citori, or god forbid a Kreighoff. Still, I'm impressed with what I've gotten for the money, and it should work very well for what I'm using it for.
The walnut, while nice, is nothing to get excited about. The checkering is mediocre, and seems like it was just put on there for the aesthetics.
The ejectors on this gun could shoot a shell probably 10 feet. I much prefer extractors vs ejectors, and I may end up cutting down the ejector springs. This will not only serve to reduce the force with which shells are ejected, but it will also ease closing of the action, as the ejectors are "pulled back" upon closing. The action is very stiff at the moment, and that should help it out until the gun is broken in.
The engraving is nice, and while I would have much preferred a plain-framed gun, I can deal with it.
These guns were a special for Academy Sports & Outdoors, produced by Huglu in Turkey, and they're marked as such. Although it's not like they're that special- all the Huglu O/Us use the same frame from what I can tell, and they aren't very different at all. However, these guns are serviced by Briley down in Houston, so it's nice to have a reputable company doing service.
The gun is very light (somewhere between 6-7 lb depending on where you get the information), and depending on how much it kicks today, I may be picking up a decelerator pad soon. The trigger is rough, and just sort of flops around under pressure from your finger after firing a shot. The safety also doubles as a barrel selector which can move from left to right to select the top and bottom barrel, respectively.
The Yildiz website claims that it can accept mobilchokes, but just by looking at the design, it's going to be proprietary. Good thing they've got Briley making the chokes. The rib has a single bead at the end, which I very much like compared to the double bead design. Not like I care much, anyway, because I hardly use the bead in the first place. The shotgun points well, and has a good fit for someone of my stature. I may just go ahead and get the recoil pad just to add another half inch or so to the LOP.
I'd say it's a buy, but I haven't shot it yet. It seems to swing well, and the 28" barrel is a good fit for most applications. If you placed it side to side, you'd definitely be able to see a distinct difference between the craftsmanship between this and a Citori, or god forbid a Kreighoff. Still, I'm impressed with what I've gotten for the money, and it should work very well for what I'm using it for.