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Yildiz project continues - Hot barrels problem fixed


Marshal Hangtree

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Well, a few months ago my cheap Chinese hammered double crapped out on me.  So I began looking at inexpensive hammerless shotguns.  After a lot of research and handling several makes and models, I settled on the Yildiz Elegant A3T sold only at Academy Sports.  It has full 28" barrels and a single trigger.  Those pards who are knowledgeable of the Yildiz all say that the single trigger version holds up really well, and I figured I'd trust their opinions on it.

 

I picked it up Friday afternoon at Academy.  Price was $479 plus tax.  Straight out of the box, the barrel opening action and cocking lever were stiff as a brick.  A little squirt of Rem Oil didn't help much at all.  So I took it up to my property with intentions of running about 100 shells through it to loosen it up.  Thanks to a serious thunderstorm shortly after I arrived, I only managed to get 25 rounds through the tubes.  It did loosen up slightly, but it is still a pain in the saddle to break open.

 

Shooting the double gun was a pleasure.  Even though it is a fairly light double compared to others, the recoil was no different than many heavier guns.  Perhaps the LOP and drop of the comb are dead on for what fits my body type.  There is no flat central rib running the length of the barrels.  When sighting, the shape of the barrels give a scalloped appearance with the bead in the center.  To me the sight picture was enhanced over that of a flat central rib.  The safety, barrel selector, and single trigger all operated as expected, although a tad gritty.  This too should get better the more it is shot.  Overall, I'm pleased with how the shotgun mounts and shoots.  Extraction of the spent shells was no problem once this thing was broken open.  Needless to say that with the effort necessary to break it open between volleys, I didn't practice a lot of shell-shucking during this range trip.

 

I emailed Papa Dave this afternoon to ask his advice.  I'm hoping to have the Yildiz match-ready (by my standards anyway) shortly to shoot in Chipley with the Panhandle Cattle Company at the end of December.  I'll keep y'all posted on the progress of this project, as well as well the gun holds up under SASS conditions.  Here's a stock photo:

Yildiz.PNG

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One of the local gun shops here has these doubles imported by Gibbs (division of navy arms) and they have "Artemis" stamped on them. The dealer says they are Turkish but I can't find anything on then... I wonder if they are the same gun, they look the same...

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  • 1 month later...

After about 300 rounds through the Yildiz, it only loosened up slightly.  Still way too tight for SASS purposes.  So I contacted Briley's in Texas and they said that, Yep, that "repair" was covered under warranty.  So I took it back to Academy on Dec. 17th and it was returned to me yesterday.  The adjustments that Briley's made to it made a significant difference.  It is still a little tighter in opening than I'd like, but I know that will loosen up a tad over time.  I can live with it now.  I fired 50 more rounds through it this morning, and this shotgun is a pleasure to shoot.  I plan on leaving the barrels the full 28" length.

 

The only drawback to this shotgun is the rather skimpy splinter fore end.  Personally, I think the splinter style is more appealing on this style of shotgun, but boy do those barrels get hot after about 6 rounds.  I wish I could fashion a beaver tail fore end for it just for SASS matches.

 

Any suggestions on how to deal with hot barrels?

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You are allowed under the rules to have a leather heat shield that fits over the barrels, say about where you are hanging onto the forearm.  Check with some local leather makers for a double-gun "cuff" (shield).   That would be the fast and conventional way to deal with it.  Usually folks only complain about splinter forends when they shoot BP loads, as those generate a lot more barrel heat than do smokeless.

 

Good luck, GJ

 

 

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Mr. Loophole beat me to it. A leather wrap is the way to go with BP and splinter front ends. Several shooters I know made their own. I once traded a SKB 200 with a splinter front end for a 200 with a beavertail. Yes, they did make 200's with splinter front ends. They also made 100's with beavertail ends because I own one of those also.

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Thanks for the tips on the leather barrel guards, y'all.  I also found these for a very reasonable price.  I sent them an email to see if they're still available.

 

http://www.jeffsoutfitters.com/_HAND1005_Leather_Hand_Guards-12__20__16__28GA___.410.aspx?productid=161&categoryid=73

 

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I've taken these alloy frame, Turkish shotguns and loosened them up very nicely by coating the works with toothpaste, installing a set of snap-caps and sitting in front of the TV for a couple hours simply opening, closing, firing, repeat....a few hundred times. 

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Excellent idea, Rancho Roy.  I was wondering if there was some kind of slightly abrasive lube I could put around the hinge pin area that would smooth out any rough spots without doing any damage.  Now that I think of it, how do you think rubbing compound would do?

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Rubbing compound is to abrasive for these alloy receivers. We did use it on steel 1911 pistols. And I might use it on a steel O/U. But not on an alloy frame. Hope this helps.

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1333936151_Winchester1887Sept2018.jpg.900b14e271c825a43bd30642d6b3a5c6.jpg

 

Has anyone made a forend leather wrap for a 1887? 

 

I'm on the fence on the direction to go with this former wallhanger.  The buttstock has a chunk out of the toe but I can replace that.   But the forend slabs are mighty beat up.  And I had to get heavy handed to get the escutchoun nut out. 

 

I'm pondering making a leather wrap that is laced up to cover up the forend slabs.

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  • 3 weeks later...

So I ended up scouting through my old leather scrap box and found a small piece of black suede.  Cut it, punched holes, and laced it up.

 

I shot the Yildiz in its first full match last weekend.  The shotgun performed flawlessly and the suede hand guard did its job as well.  The suede adds a little grip factor to keep it from sliding around, but it's easy enough to pull off at the end of the day for gun cleaning chores.

 

Overall I'm very pleased with the Yildiz.  I might cut the barrels down to about 20" or so sometime in the future, but for right now she works great.

 

 

IMAG0149.jpg

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I believe that the Bores are Hard Chromed , So don't just take a Hack-saw to them ....

I'm shooting their hammered Cowboy Deluxe  and it works great ....

 

Jabez Cowboy

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  • 2 months later...

Update:  I cut the barrels down to 20 inches and shot my first match with the shortened barrels.  The Yildiz is working great.  Glad I bought it.

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