A Pleasant Surprise - New Shotgun

[Jeff Higgins]

I stumbled upon a pretty nifty little shotgun the other day while my wife and I were out for a drive in the Boxster. We had the top down, it was a bit chilly, so we swung into Cabela's to grab her a pair of gloves. Of course, no trip to Cabela's is complete without a stop in their Gun Library...

So, I found this sweet little 12 gauge double, imported by CZ USA. It's made in Turkey, of all places, by a company by the name of Huglu. I had never heard of them. I pulled it off the rack and fell in love immediately - lightweight, very well balanced, and it shoulders like a dream. I couldn't believe how well made it appeared to be - fantastic wood to metal fit, great machining, and quite well finished. The receiver is stainless steel, it has nice walnut, interchangeable chokes - what's not to like? The real kicker was it was only $650. So, at my wife's behest (honest...), it followed me home.

I've had it out in the field a couple of times already, hunting the local pheasant with my new little hunting buddy, Ed, the Golden Retriever (actually, not so little anymore - at six months, he now tops 60 pounds). We've gotten on a few birds, and I've gotten one rooster, so we are off to a good start.

Anyhoo, if any of you are looking for a sweet little double that won't break the bank, I would recommend taking a look at these guys. I don't see this particular model, their "Upland", on their website, but they do have several variations available. The salesman said this was a "managers' special" and each store only got six. It's perfect for me, with the double triggers, rounded pistol grip, etc. Maybe your local Cabela's still has some - the guy told me most are put off by the double triggers. I like them - I normally hunt upland with my double muzzle loader, which not only has double triggers, but hammers as well. This thing is downright modern in comparison.

[Moses]

Clean lines! That's just beautiful.

[Chocaholic]

Nice find. My son just bought a 1896/1912 Swedish Mauser. Now, where to find 6.5x55 ammo.

[berettafan]

Hooray shotguns! Turkish guns seem to be getting more and more of the market.


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[id10t]

CZ makes and imports nice stuff. A 527 in 762x39 will be mine one day

[fred cook]

Very nice! CZ makes a lot of gun for the money. You will enjoy that one. This must be shotgun month. I just took possession of a Franchi 20 gauge over and under upland game gun. It only weighs about 5 1/2 lbs and the 20 ga recoil feels almost like a 12! Shotguns are fun!

[Tobra]

Bet it is light as a feather. Looks like the SS version of my father's old Ithaca, love that gun, could tote it all day and never get tired.

[speeder]

Nice looking gun!

[cabmandone]

Looks like my old Stevens double barrel only with the bling of stainless. Beautiful in its simplicity and a really nice looking gun you have!

[Eric 951]

Nice pick up. I have been using a CZ 20 GA O/U for several years. They are nice shooters.

[billybek]

"I've had it out in the field a couple of times already, hunting the local pheasant with my new little hunting buddy, Ed, the Golden Retriever (actually, not so little anymore - at six months, he now tops 60 pounds). We've gotten on a few birds, and I've gotten one rooster, so we are off to a good start."

Shouldn't the title of the thread be "A Pheasant Surprise"?
Looks very well put together at that price point.

How was Ed on the retrieve?

[Jeff Higgins]

Yup, I found it at the Tulalip Cabela's. Yes, we hunt on public land. Pheasant are not native to Western Washington, and do not survive in the wild. It's simply too damp around here for a ground nesting bird like this to make it. So, here on the West side, the Game Department operates a pheasant release program. These are, as a result, no more than farm raised "chickens" that happen to look like pheasant. It's kind of a stretch to call it pheasant "hunting"...

For me, it's just a way to start a young dog. It's local, so we can head out in the morning and be home by lunch. We do have "real" pheasant hunting east of the mountains, on the dry side of the state, and it can be pretty darn good. That entails a lot more effort, though, and as a result, fewer trips and less exposure for a new pup. Right now it's just important to get him out several times per week, just to "light the fire" in him, and get him on some birds.

Waterfowl open this weekend. Waterfowl hunting around here is excellent. We'll get the old pump gun out and go after them, which will get far more birds in his mouth than our Westside pheasant hunting.

As far as the retrieve, he did everything right. He marked where it landed, did not break until I gave him the command to fetch, and used his nose to find it in some tall grass. He didn't hold it until I gave the "drop" command, but he did bring it all the way back. Not bad for a newbie...

We work on his retrieving and general obedience every day. He has a pretty good vocabulary of both voice and whistle commands he understands already. Compliance is another thing, however. We've been doing the "fun" training since he is so young. He's about old enough for "boot camp" now, though, so the heavy discipline is going to start. Right now he follows my commands when he wants to, because it's fun. The next level up is following them when I want him to, whether it's fun or not. He'll be there by next year.

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Nice find. My son just bought a 1896/1912 Swedish Mauser. Now, where to find 6.5x55 ammo.

He will like that. A very accurate milsurp.

On Thursday night, I killed a coyote at 860 meters with mine. I was impressed with my previous 450 and 350 meter kills with this gun.

[berettafan]

Love to hear about good dog work. You should be quite proud for any dog to do that not to mention a pup!


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[tabs]

The last incarnation of LC Smiths were made in Turkey. Turkey makes some fine shotguns..