Tristar shotguns...any good?

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adbramsay

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anyone had any experience with Tristar shotguns. It is a new line that we have started to carry and want to hear what people think. are they a good gun or just crap, they are pretty cheap and feel pretty cheap, but that is just how they feel, how are they from a performance aspect. cause a mitsubishi evo feels cheap and looks cheap but goes like stink, so I am wondering if it is a case similar to that.
 
The difference is cars have to meet DOT standards and guns just have to pass proof testing (that is a pressure test on the barrel). And it all depends on the country of origin -- thier standards and quality control.

There are reports of guns from Turkey that had soft locking bolts, you could shoot 1-2 box's of shells before they failed.
I'm not saying this is the same but usually quality of metal and fit/finish go hand in hand.
 
TriStar

My son and I each bought one last fall to use duck hunting. They go bang everytime you pull the trigger and kill ducks. That being said, we have only put 2-3 boxes of 3" magnum 12 ga. shells through each gun. They may fail this season, but we may also tip our duck boat over. If we do and we loose 2Tristar's we will be unhappy, but we will not be crying like we had lost 2 Benelli's.
 
i have had the tristar viper 12 ga semi auto for a couple of years now without a problem. it is the shorter home protection version and i am very happy with it, no problems, have put a few hundred rounds thru it.
 
Heard good things....

Two guys I know have had TriStars for a couple of years. They use them pretty rough and haven't had any issues. I don't know how long they will last but for two years of hard use, they do pretty good. Like Shutzen said if you tip the boat and lose a TriStar you don't cry as hard as if you lost your Benelli. I've seen these guys use their old 870's to row the boat, so TriStar is probably as fancy as they will ever buy.
 
One of the managers at Cabelas told me last season ....they were getting a lot of them back for warranty issues...but as far as I know they were being repaired..and I didn't get any details on what the issues were ...but some of it was ribs coming off, trigger problems ( both barrels doubling - on one trigger pull) ....fairly typical issues on a lot of the Turkish guns.

I think they're probably worth a look as a low usage gun - with a good 5 year warranty. I wouldn't consider them a good option for a long term "target grade" gun ...like one of the higher end models from Browning or Beretta...where you're going to expect 250,000 shell or more usage with no problems ...but that's a whole different price point around $ 3,000.
 
just got them in the store a few months back and have sold well for the price. here in the bahamas we have to pay 80% duty on the guns and another 7% for stamp tax so we basically have to sell guns at twice the US price so guns here are a big investment. we have not had any problems yet but just wanted to get a basic idea of what everyone thought. dove, pigeon, duck, and quail season start next month and I want to know how many problems to expect. thanks everyone.
 
I have a 20 ga O/U Setter & so far after 550 reloads not a problem !!

It is Turkish & fit/finish is a lot better than 1 would expect on a entry priced shotgun !!

The Setter has a stainless engraved receiver , red bead front site, recoil pad & MOBIL style screw in chokes.

Now , the trigger is serviceable 4#s , the safety was a bit gritty but smoothing out . On the safety, it is the barrel selector also ,sliding left to rite for upper/lower barrel , but doesn't return to "SAFE" upon opening the action.

Barrels cross somewhere between 42 & 45 yds, best I can tell.

No auto ejectors, which is fine for claybird games, but I prefer auto ejectors for hunting, buts that`s just me.

I removed the wood at 500 rnds to see how it was doing as far as wear & general fit/finish was better than I expected for what I paid.

Found a crumb of wood in the safety asm so I removed it all & cleaned/lubed since I had it down.

Would I buy/recommend a TriStar Setter?? Yes ,nice entry level O/U , not a "B" gun but has done very well so far.

I have no personal exp with the automatics but hear their finicky about shooting the low powered/low brass shells.

GP
 
Sorry to dig up this old thread, but I'm hoping for some more data points. I'm browsing through gunbroker's semi-auto shotgun section and came across TriStar. Never heard of them. I'm assuming they're made in Turkey.

How would a TriStar semi-auto compact shotgun be for someone who rarely shoots shotgun (like 3-4 times a year)? Their compact models are about 1/2 price of the next closest priced semi-auto youth shotgun.
 
Kind of in the same boat. I see them at all the gun shows but I don't see them at Cabela's or Scheel's.

I see Stoeger a lot, they are also Turkish. Are they related in any way?
 
It's prolly worth what you pay for it. Anyone ever put 25,000 round thru one? If you are only gonna shoot 500 rounds a year they're prolly fine. I think my nephew has one, he recently bought a Citori. As I recall the Tri Star is very light weight and kicks like a mule.
 
for a hunter I think they may be ok, but for any extended clays game use you may be pissen your money away. I just worked on a Mossberg silver reserve 20 ga o/u that was junk from day one.
 
Tristar shotguns...any good?
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How to say this in a non-offensive way? Mmmm. Oh, yeah. No, they are not good. The current iteration of the company does not support Tristar shotguns sold 5 years ago. Since firearms are "durable goods" and designed to last more than a few years, not supporting something sold just a few years before is probably a violation of the Consumer Protection Act, or at least a poor business plan. Spend an extra $100 and get a Remington or Mossberg or Benelli or whatever.
 
I had a Charles Daly Turkish-made gun once, probably won't buy another made-in-Turkey gun again. I can buy used Moss/Mav/Rem in pawnshop for same $$ and get better gun.
 
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I am only posting here because this:

Suddenly, I felt a desire to own an over/under shotgun.

With time, I discovered that, for some reason, O/U are on average more expensive then pump or semi-auto... Hence *my* interest in tristar, stoeger, etc, because they make them.
 
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