Turkish Shotguns Pt.1

The Turkish Invasion Four Imported Candidates For Your Next Practical Shotgun (A multi-part series)

STORY AND PHOTOS BY PATRICK KELLEY, A-14401 hinking about buying a new shotgun to turn into your 3gun shotgun? Want a lot but only want to pay a little? Well, your ship may have just come in from Turkey.

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Thanks to the fall of the iron curtain, various “new” names are appearing on the international firearms market – names like Hatsan, Matsan, Sarsilmaz and Huglu. With the help of U.S.based importers, these unrecognized Turkish manufactures are invading U.S. shores under the cover of more western-sounding brand names. Most of these manufacturers offer hunting class over-unders and have been trying to break into the market share long dominated by Beretta and Browning. Now these firms, along with several others, are going after the autoloader market with gusto. So far I’ve identified four new shotguns that may work out well for USPSA 3-gun shooting. Not only are the names on the barrel unfamiliar, the actions themselves are (in most cases) a departure from the norm. From a distance, the PMC/Verona auto looks like a Winchester SX2. The Legacy Sports Escort looks a bit like an Auto-5, and the Traditions looks alarmingly like a Remington 1100 until you see the 46

Beretta-style controls. If you prefer inertia-operated guns, the new Stoeger has a lot in common with the Benelli. However, when you take them apart, the guns reveal unique inner works. These aren’t “knock-off ” guns, and while they’re not completely unique, they do have some interesting features that may prove to be the equal of the American and Italian designs. Over the next several issues Front Sight and Dave’s Guns have asked me to dissect the new Turkish imports one at a time, run them through their paces, and come back with a heads-up report.

Company, these guns are quite a surprise to those of us who have handled some of the lower-priced Turkish sporting arms. These gas-operated, self-loading shotguns are well thoughtout and work very well indeed. My initial impression of the Escort was favorable despite my snobbish dislike for guns not made in the USA and not of Western European descent. The Escort series features a matte-finished lightweight alloy receiver with a profile reminiscent of the old Browning Auto 5 or the Franchi AL 48 with a distinctive hump at the rear. I have always liked that look and it does offer a longer and more definitive sighting

The Escort ships complete with all the items shown: 7+1 extension, stock adjusting shims, extra O-rings, choke tubes, wrench, and of course, a gun lock.

Before we get too far along I would like to point out that www.davesguns.com is the supplier of the four shotguns in this series. No ringers or gun writer specials here, just a generous offer from a local businessman who deserves at least a point and click.

LSI “ESCORT” – The AllPurpose Import? Legacy Sports International is importing from Turkey a new line of selfloading shotguns, dubbed the “Escort.” Manufactured by Hatsan Arms

plane, let alone adding a touch of class. Dave’s Guns supplied both a woodstocked sporting model and a more “practical” synthetic-stocked gun to experiment with. The stocks on both models are nicely fit and proportioned and make the gun feel balanced between the hands. Pistol grips on both models have noticeable palm swells and are more vertical, such as those you would find on a “clays gun.” Both guns come with another “sporting clays” feature... stock adjusting shims! You can adjust the drop of the stock up FRONT SIGHT • November/December 2002

told me that the recoil pad will be replaced with a “real one” and the sling mounts will be gone altogether on future units.

Internal works: As the gas system goes, it is dead simple. The gas piston and rings are made of stainless steel. The twin action bars and bushing are assembled from carbon steel (you can relate these parts to those of the Remington 1100). The gas piston itself is made up of three pieces: an inner sleeve, an outer sleeve

Escort gas system revealed. It’s simple, but effective. Notice how the recoil spring winds around the magazine tube? Using the mag tube eliminates the need to put parts in the stock (a la the Rem. 1100).

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On the minor complaint side, we have rock hard recoil pad and a lame excuse for sling mounts. The recoil pad neither softens recoil nor resembles a pad, and why drill holes in the stocks if you are not going to fill them with a decent sling swivel? The sling mounts are small and do not detach. Both are simple fixes, but I gotta call them as I see ‘em. I called LSI and talked to Pat Wheeler, their on-site gunsmith. He

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or down with the pair of shims provided. The fore ends are as thin as possible considering the gas system must reside underneath. In fact, those thin fore ends make the Escort feel more like an over/under than a self-loader. The satin finished wood on the sporting model actually has some character to it and the synthetic stocked version is very “business” like.

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Gas Buffer. Note the spring at the base of the Escort’s gas piston. The spring lets the piston telescope in on itself, acting as a shcock buffer for the gas system.

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duce the battering of the action works. The only “wear item” in the gas system is an easily replaced “O” ring seal, and an extra is provided with the gun. Another feature of the gas system is a two-position gas valve that is quickly adjustable. Set it to “Normal” for most all loadings up to and including 1-1/4 ounce payloads and “Magnum” for all loads over 1-1/4 ounces. The valve is made of brass and the position detents are vague, but it works. There are more sophisticated methods of accomplishing gas adjustment (without adjustment) but other than the poor material choice and cheesy feel of the brass valve, again, it works. Another departure from the norm is the location of the recoil spring. Like the Sage conversion for the 1100 Remington or a SPAS 12 the recoil spring coils around the magFruit salad. The Escort digested everything from 3 1/4 dram, 1 1/8 azine tube. This makes making changes to the stock simpler, and might be helpful to those who want a very short trap loads on up to 12-pellet 00 buck. stock or even a “Tommy Tactical” pistol grip sans stock. that holds the rings, and a heavy coil spring. These are perBoth the synthetic and wood-stocked guns sport 28” manently assembled into one unit. The inner and outer vent rib barrels with screw-in chokes. Although mis-marked, sleeves are designed to telescope, one over the other with the the chokes measure out close to improved cylinder, modispring acting as a buffer or shock absorber between the two. fied, and full choke. The fire control system (trigger group) When the gas vented from the barrel slams into the piston, is laid out much like a Remington 1100. The carrier and trigthe pistol telescopes into itself, buffering and softening the ger are made of chromed steel and the trigger housing cast transmission of energy to the action bar and bushing. This from aluminum. The safety is a round push-button located may soften the initial recoil impulse but it really serves to rebehind the trigger. The magazine cut-off and carrier re-

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lease are located on opposite sides of the receiver — magazine cut-off on the ejection port side and the carrier release on the left side. Yes, I said magazine cut-off; another neat extra you did not pay extra for. On top of that, both guns come with a magazine tube extension bringing capacity to 7 plus 1, but if that won’t quite satisfy you, the plated aluminum magazine tube will accept 1100/870 magazine extension tubes. You will need a spacer, as the extension I tried ran out of threads before making firm contact with the fore end, but with that little fix, an extension tube in the length of your choice is probably as close as your local sporting goods store.

On the range OK, so how do they run? Since this is a test and comparison of four different self-loaders and I am on my own dime for expenses, I have a short test that usually lets me know whether a gun has potential malfunction problems. If the gun passes this “short test” it would warrant further testing and evaluation.

The “short test”: 130 rounds fired in 8 minutes (about as fast as I can load and fire into the dirt), including:

November/December 2002 • FRONT SIGHT

Look familiar? The Escort’s fire control system works like an 1100, only with fewer parts. 25 rounds Winchester Super Speed (super cheap) 7/8 ounce, 3 ¼ dram 25 rounds Winchester SuperX 1 ounce, 3-¼ dram 25 rounds Remington High Speed 7/8 ounce, 1,390 fps. (Also cheap) 25 rounds PMC Heavy Dove Load 1 1/8 ounce, 3 1/4 dram 10 rounds S&B 00 buck 12 pellet (1 ¼ ounce) 5 rounds S&B slug 1 ounce. A handful of assorted Winchester AA target and Remington Nitro target ammo.

Test Procedure: First I fired five rounds of each load except the slugs to see if all would function. All did.

poured onto the tailgate of my pick-up and stirred into what my editor calls a “fruit salad” of shotgun shells. I then stuffed mixed shells into the magazine and chamber as fast as I could and then ran them out of the gun, much, much faster. (I have an obsession with speed shooting.) The gun got way too hot to touch but only failed to eject twice. Both times I induced the failure. Both times it was on the lightest ammo. You have heard of limp wristing, right? Well, I have a hard time recreating that with the shotgun even near my shoulder, so I simulate it by holding the gun at arm’s length and firing it with my right thumb. Both arms are outstretched with the gun parallel to my chest. This offers very little resistance

All the remaining ammo was TURKISH INVASION continued on page 60.

49

TURKISH INVASION continued from page 49. to recoil and will make most any self-loader cough. Remember, it only failed to eject twice and it was fully expected to. With any semblance of shouldering, the gun ran flawlessly. How does the “Escort” fit into practical shooting? Keeping in mind that reliability is the foundation to build on, we seem (in our short test) to have that covered. Next we have

the Remington 1100 that has its release button attached to the carrier, which practical shooters replace with the elegant EZ-Loader for a big improvement. So how do we overcome this? If you reload your shotgun using the “flip and burn” technique you can manage the button just fine with a little practice. Alternately you may be able to modify the carrier release system. This too must be added to the minus column. At only 7 pounds I would not call this gun soft-shooting, but adding weight is a lot easier than shedding it. I had to come up with some kind of data to take home with me, so while I was burning rounds into the backstop, I decided to see what kind of shot-to-shot splits the gun would do. Using an audible shot timer and rolling rounds off as fast as I could, this gun proved to be the equal of a Benelli M1 Super 90 in the pure speed department, with a number of .12 splits recorded. How’s THAT for a “cheap import?!” (The Benelli gags trying to shoot .12 second splits.)

Two Turkish hybrids. While the Escort, top, looks like a Franchi, its inner workings operate more like a SAGE Remington 1100. The Traditions ALS 2100 looks and feels like a Remington 1100, but works more like a Beretta 391. Tune in next time for details.

In conclusion, this first offering from LSI seems to be a good one. Reliable, well engineered and (other than the items mentioned) soundly constructed, the Escort may have a future with USPSA. Most of us have a propensity for tweaking and tuning our “race gear” and this self-loading shotgun should be a good project platform to build on. With an MSRP of $400 and a street price of around $360 this gun may be the budget blaster you are looking for. Tune in next issue for a look at the Traditions ALS 2100 and the PMC/ Verona SX401. I will give you a sneak peak of what is in store. The ALS 2100 is a handsome lightweight upland field gun with a polished receiver and barrel. The Verona SX401 has already been to the USPSA 3-gun nationals. Can either of these measure up to the Escort? Look for it here in Front Sight!

to keep the thing running, and for that we need replacement parts. A quick call to Legacy Sports customer service took care of that question with a positive response: parts are available. Beyond that, what do we need to make this a suitable action shotgun? Something shorter than 28” barrels would be nice but they are not currently offered. Add that to the minus column or add $85 to have it cut and choked. Sights? If a smooth bore slug barrel BY ROBIN TAYLOR, TY-19724, USPSA STAFF were available, we would have the barrel length and sighting problem covered. Sadly we do not, so add another $25 to attach sights to the vent rib. (Again, Mr. Wheeler gave me the heads up that shorter barrels are in the works, as is the possibility of a slug barrel.)

Corrections, Omissions, Goofs

We still have another problem that could be overcome. This gun (like a Remington 1100) has a locked shell carrier (loading gate). To load, you must depress the carrier release button. This is not an unusual manual of arms, many older shotguns are loaded this way. Some are a little more user-friendly, like 60

Wrong Woman At Area 4 In our last issue, Front Sight incorrectly reported Renee Tyson as top lady at Area 4. Tyson finished high LIMITED Lady at Area 4. According to match director Ken Hicks, top honors went to Athena Lee (high lady overall), while Julie Goloski finished second. Our apologies to all concerned.

FRONT SIGHT • November/December 2002