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I saw Academy has a Yildiz O/U for $400, and the guy behind the counter couldn't stop telling me how good a gun it is. He said it is made in Turkey exclusively for Academy. The only thing I thought might get annoying is that it is extremely light and recoil may be pretty bad. Does anyone have any experience with these guns? Any opinions either way? Are they worth the $400?

I'd like to know as well! They seem reasonably priced...

I looked at these shotguns and really liked them, however I bought a Stoeger Condor Supreme and love it. The Yildiz weighs 6.4 lbs and the Stoeger 7.4 lbs. Condor Supreme is about 450 dollars and the Condor Field Combo(28" 12 ga and 26" 20 ga bbls in the same package) for about the same price. If you buy one let us know as I am looking for a 20ga for the wife.

Yildiz shotguns are exported to 45 countries from Turkey.

I've looked at both the Yildiz and Stoegers and if I had to pick one I'd go with Yildiz:

1) The wood on the Yildiz is much, much better. Comparable to higher end O/Us.
2) The wood to metal finish on the Yildiz is excellent. Looks like a $1k gun. The Stoeger looks like it was finished with a grinder. Looks like a $400 gun.
3) Yildiz are exclusive to Academy. Academy sells some nice guns and seems to be a stand-up establishment (O/Us, semis, ARs, pistols, decent priced ammo, etc). Never heard anything bad about Academy. Stoegers are readily available at Dicks (same place that advertises Benelli O/Us that are really Franchi, doesn't sell any handguns, and overprices their ammo). Don't know a single person that has bought a gun at Dicks.
4) Anytime I've looked at a Yildiz at Academy the guys behind the counter are glowing and will let you hold every model. The guys typically know guns and mention that Yildiz is warrantied through Briley. Anytime I've looked at the Condor at Dicks the guys behind the counter could care less and know as much about guns as they do shoes.
5) The Yildiz is very, very light. If I were to buy one, I'd go with 20g over 12g. From what I hear, the 12g has bad recoil due to lightweight

I almost bought a Condor in .410 awhile back just for the heck of it. But even at $400, I couldn't get past the terrible workmanship.

I considered the Yildiz, but wound up buying a Lanber (Spain). CDNN still carries the models 2087 and 2097.

I would suggest Googling the Yildiz and both Lanber models.

The Lanber is about $200 more, but I don't regret my decision.

Mike1951 wrote:I considered the Yildiz, but wound up buying a Lanber (Spain). CDNN still carries the models 2087 and 2097.

I would suggest Googling the Yildiz and both Lanber models.

The Lanber is about $200 more, but I don't regret my decision.

All the Lanbers I've looked at are pretty nice. I almost always see them on the used rack at Bass Pro.

I bought Dad a 20 gauge as a surprise 75th birthday gift. He loves it. I know only a little about shotguns, but Dad's hunted with shotguns since he was 12 and he's pretty impressed. He was thinking of getting a Stoeger but he likes the Yildiz way better for the same reasons already mentioned. We shot clays in Florida with it and his old 12 ga O/U. Recoil is nothing. To complain about it you'd have to be a real nancy boy. Dad's only complaint about it is he can't pronounce Yildiz!!

I went ahead bought the 12 gauge last night. The guy at the gun counter got a little annoyed when I asked him to open up some of the boxes so I could pick my favorite one. He rudely informed me they were all the same. He was pretty embarrassed when he realized even the engraving on each was different, but didn't apologize or even admit he was wrong. I won't be going back to the Academy on Forest & 75 again, but at least I got the gun I wanted.

I'll let everyone know how it does the first time out. Hopefully that will be this weekend.

aggie06 wrote:
I'll let everyone know how it does the first time out. Hopefully that will be this weekend.

Looking forward to a report!

JLaw

JLaw wrote:

aggie06 wrote:
I'll let everyone know how it does the first time out. Hopefully that will be this weekend.

Looking forward to a report!

JLaw

Can't wait to get your impressions of this gun. How about some pics?

I will get pics up soon, but until I can get those up, I thought I'd share my thoughts with everyone. I went to Elm Fork on Sunday after church with my girlfriend. I was thinking about eventually getting the 20 gauge for her to use when we dove hunt (and I needed someone to push the button to send those clays flying). She was a good sport about it, but really wanted to shoot the new LCP instead of a shotgun. I guess I'll have to take her to the pistol range next weekend.

Wood to metal fit was amazing. The engraving was more detailed than I would expect from a $400 gun. It took some work to open and close the action. I had no problem, but the girlfriend couldn't close it easily. I imagine it will loosen up as a use it more.

I honestly didn't find the recoil much worse than my Benelli pump. I'm sure some of the nicer, more expensive O/U guns out there probably handle the 12 gauge loads a little better than the Yildiz, but I have never experienced those and have no frame of reference.

It ate everything I fed it. I didn't have any shells not fire, and I shot 4 boxes of different brands. The one complaint I had was the ejectors. On 3 different occasions, the spent shells did not eject. The ejectors did not come out of the barrels. If this continues to happen after cleaning and oiling, I might have to send the gun back to the manufacturer to fix it.

So, overall I was pretty impressed with the gun. It will definitely be my primary dove gun this year, but it's much too nice to carry into the pond come duck season.

Well, I think I may have spoken a little too soon. I went out this morning for a quick dove hunt and had 4 shells fail to eject. The ejector on the bottom barrel got stuck 3 times and the top barrel got stuck once. That's a little concerning since I only went through 1 box of shells. I guess I'll let y'all know how well the company deals with the problem.

that's a shame the gun failed. I hope you get it fixed.

Now, the details..... how was the bird population? Where were you hunting?

I'm headed to Rotan (North of Sweetwater) next Thursday-Sunday hoping for as good a crop as we've had the last 5-6 years.


surv

My brother has owned one for two years now. He has shot many pheasants and doves without any issues.