Yildez Shotgun Opinions?

[3rdShot]

I have 2 12ga and a 20ga. Have used the original 12ga for two dove seasons. Liked it well enough to get a 20ga for my son for this coming year, and got the second 12ga due to the fancy Texas engraving, bought that one from another TBH'er.

[Double-O-Dave]

I bought an O/U 12 ga. Yildiz a few years ago as a back-up/loaner shotgun. They are made in Turkey, sold exclusively by Academy, and warranty work is done by Briley in Houston, TX. The Turks make an excellent shotgun. Mine has beautiful wood, and is well fitted. However, I don't think the Turks know or care about recoil pads. I added a Limbsaver recoil pad and a magnetic fiber optic bead sight and this is now my go to shotgun. I had problems in the first year of its life with the selector switch not functioning correctly, and Academy sent it straight off to Briley for warranty repair. No problems once Briley fixed the selectors. BTW, I called Briley and spoke with their warranty repair department to ask if they get a lot of Yildiz shotguns back for warranty work, and he said the number one repair they do is replacement of broken firing pins. He suggested using snap caps if you wanted to dry fire the piece. I'd love to get a Yildiz semi-auto shotgun, but I really only shoot doves and occasional clays anymore, so I really can't justify the cost of a new shotgun.

Good luck,

Dave

[meltingfeather]

They're fine get-the-job-done guns.
A space filler that won't disappoint you, not a "collection" gun.
If time is on your side, I'd wait a bit and get something like a Daly. Still great value.

[Raider4044]

I had a SPZ-ME 12 gauge a few years ago and had a bad experience. Every kind of shell you put through it would get stuck in the chamber about every other shot. I tried Cheapo Winchesters, Cheapo Remington, Remington Sure-Shot, Rio, some High-Dollar Federal, Remington Nitro-Gold, and Winchester AA's. I cleaned it really good multiple times and that did not help. So I sent it off to Briley's and included several of the hulls that had gotten stuck. I sent a couple AA's, a couple Nitro-Golds, a Sure-Shot, and a Cheapo Winchester. When I got the gun back a couple months later, they explained in a note that there was no problem, and that the gun was not designed to shoot budget ammunition. I understand that the $4.99/box Winchesters and Rios aren't the best quality shells, but the $8-10 AA's and Nitro Golds sure as heck aren't "budget"! They went on to say that they also cleaned the gun thoroughly. I took the gun outside and shot 5 Nitro-Golds and 5 AA's.... Only one ejected. I ended up taking the gun to academy and explaining the situation. They ended up refunding my money and getting that piece of junk out of my hands.

My shotgun was probably just a lemon, as I have heard many good things about them, but my experience was enough to steer me clear of the Yildiz Brand.

[Tony Pic]

I have been seeing a lot about Turkey and their firearm manufacturing in gun magazines the last few years. They have a few new factories working with state of the art tooling under license from many manufacturers.. They are making MP5 copies under the Zenith brand that are almost as good as the HK models. Also many copies of 1911's and the CZ75's.
Don't think you can go wrong with these guns. They are economy priced, but not cheap.

[meltingfeather]

They are economy priced, but not cheap.

If $429 for an O/U with a solid wood stock and engraving ain't cheap, what is?!?

[Blue_bonnet]

Bought my son who is now 13 the 28ga o/u for 4h when he was 11. He still shoots it for 4h and we haven’t had an issue. Good little gun!

[Tony Pic]

If $429 for an O/U with a solid wood stock and engraving ain't cheap, what is?!?

Cheap blows up in your face. Cheap in my experience has been Chinese firearms. The gun has to pass the proofing in order to get out of the factory....we hope. The labor cost to build these guns is the difference. If Turks were making the same gun in Italy you would gladly pay a grand for it. If Italians were making them in Turkey, you would only pay $429
I have shot these guns at the trap course and they performed fine. You can pay more, but 55 mph is 55mph no matter what vehicle your rolling in.
Gun goes bang, gun goes bang. Style is a horse of a different color.

[RobinHood]

I’m taking my 12ga to a school fundraiser skeet shoot this weekend. I’ll let y’all know how it does up against all the high rollers that have guns 4x the price [emoji16]

[kd350]

My parents bought me a 12 ga auto for my birthday a year or two ago. I’ve shot bird shot and 3” duck shells out of it and haven’t had any issues with it

[CWendling]

looking at the academy site, there is an SPZ ME for $429, ME steel for 499, and ME special for 679. Reading the description, only the steel has a steel receiver? Is that correct? Other differences?

[mobrien]

Good guns

I plan to buy one myself, shot a friend’s and really loved it.

[Wil Taylor]

Great guns for the price. If you are going to shoot 500-600 rounds a year they will last a long time. If you plan on shooting a couple hundred rounds ever week shooting clays it won’t last like other higher end guns will. Well worth the money

[Quackerbox]

Another satisfied owner of a 20. And yes I see a lot of them on 4h/ffa shoots

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[em12]

I have had a good experience with mine as well- a 12 o/u. It does kick a bit but nothing unbearable. I don’t use it much because I have other more sentimental guns that get the use and I went to an auto loader for duck hunting. I would sell it if anyone is interested, it’s just sat in the safe for 2 years now I guess.