TriStar

HDRider said:

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I always wanted a side-by-side. I looked at CZ and liked TriStar better. I got the one in the pic yesterday. It is the Bristol model. I was not looking to spend a lot. I paid a little less than $1,000.

I have a Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon over/under. I just looked at the price. It is $2,500. Wow, I stole that gun for $500 from a guy moving to Germany. It was in almost new condition.

I just shot the TriStar. It's recoil is more noticeable than the Beretta. Their weight is about the same. It might be because my shoulder is sore. I bought a trap machine last week and shot the Beretta a bunch earlier this week.

I'd agree with your quality comment. The Beretta resets the safety when you break the gun. The TriStar does not.

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The recoil on that gun may be because it’s lighter (though the Beretta Silver series is already pretty svelte), or it may be a function of it not fitting you quite as well.

Either way, I certainly wouldn’t call the Tristan junk. They’re generally perfectly serviceable shotguns. I’d venture the guess that, if you were a 5-10k/yr shooter, you’d end up having to have a gunsmith weld up that locking block more frequently than if it was the CZ or Beretta.

I’m of the school that unless I’m buying a truly “fine” double gun (which, for the record, is not my forte and I’ve rarely done), I like the heartier, less embellished models. To this day, my favorite O/Us are the Browning Superposed (Field Grade), the Citori (same), the Winchester 101, and, for SxS, the Savage 311. Frills on a sub (today?) $5k? double gun just seem like gloss paint on a rat rod.

Funny thing on the auto-safety: they are such a common feature, and disabling them was such a common request, that we ended up adding that as a standard line in our services catalog- two options depending on if it was one that could be removed altogether or if it had to be cut off and reinstalled. In the case where it could be removed, we’d put it in a baggie and tape it to a void in the stock for future use

To put my dislike for LC Smith’s in perspective for anyone who reads this later: I LOVE a true side lock gun, but they have to be done right. A box lock (like a Parker or the savage mentioned above, or basically anything made today) is mechanically superior, but you can’t top the class of a real side lock double gun.

Unfortunately, with the LC Smith design, half the frame is steel and half is wood. When built and timed, they work perfectly but 50-100 years of gun oil turns the back half of the frame from wood into plant mush. Eventually the gun stops working, and even becomes dangerous.

The issue can be corrected, but it involves so fairly major surgery of gutting the mush, rebuilding and re-inletting it epoxy or something similar, and adding a set of steel pillars (like you would in a pillar-bedded rifle)…. and then re-timing the locks to receiver and trigger plate.

An LC Smith can be adjusted to function properly on a cursory inspection, masking damage that can only be found on a full takedown. If you can do the work needed to repair it yourself, it’s no big deal other than 8-10 hours worth of your time. If you have to pay a professional to do it, expect it to cost up to half the value of the shotgun.

That’s a lot of trouble for a pretty shotgun when a box lock can be had for a fraction of the repair price.

HDRider said:

I put the Beretta O&U next to the SxS. They are identical in stock length; overall length and the hold feels similar.

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A lot of folks subscribe to checking a shotgun fit by putting the butt in your elbow and seeing where the trigger lies in relation to your finger. That’s widely accepted but really just bunk.

The best way to see how a shotgun fits you takes a second person.

Unload, check and triple check that it’s unloaded. Then check again. Pick a target and take a stance like you’re going to shoot that target, with the shotgun in the low-ready. Focus on the target, close your eyes and mount the shotgun. Now, the second person gets right on the muzzle of the shotgun, tells you to open your eyes, and then notes where your pupil is in relation to the front sight. Repeat that 5 or 6 times to get a consensus.

If your pupil is low to the front sight, the stock is too long or low. If it is high to the front sight, the stock is too short or high. Left and right are respective issues with cast.

Checking length with the elbow trick doesn’t tell you much because it doesn’t take into account the drop in the comb of the stock. Two shotguns could be different lengths, but a better fit-match than two shotguns with the same length stock but different drops.

HDRider said:

I am no expert on guns like you, so I have a question about this comment.

I assume the Chapuis classic shotguns in this article are not "rat rods". The classic Chapuis shotguns and the Tristar are both laser engraved. I don't know what you call that treatment on the steel, but it looks similar.

Is it the wood or the mechanism, or what, that makes the Chapuis classic shotguns cost five or seven times the TriStar?

Chapuis Chasseur Side by Side Shotgun – 12ga, 20ga, 28ga - Chapuis USA

Discover the Chapuis Chasseur side shotgun, a premium gun ideal for upland hunting and available in 12, 20 and 28 gauge.

chapuis-usa.com

An Official Journal Of The NRA | Savoir-Faire: Chapuis’ French Invasion

Chapuis is a nearly century-old French company in the business of making fine guns—double rifles, side-by-side and over-under shotguns, and even an innovative straight-pull. So, why have you never heard of it?

www.americanrifleman.org

Chapuis
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TriStar
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Long story short, I just like the looks of a side-by-side double barrel, as I also like the looks of an old long gun.

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Firearms for Sale

www.lodgewood.com

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Chapuis are fine guns. When you’re comparing prices, make sure you’re comparing shotguns to shotguns and not rifles, as a properly made double rifle is considerably more complicated to make than its scattergun cousins.

Putting aside any extra price paying for a name, the difference in price between any two otherwise similar guns are going to come down to about 10% in material choices (closer to 30-40% if you’re talking about graded wood) and about 30-40% in labor.

Right out of the gate, Chapuis is paying for French labor where Tristar is paying Turkish labor rates. That’s compounded by the fact that Tristar/Huglu whoever you will in Turkey, their production is viewed as a low-skill factory job, where a company like Chapuis is going to have a lot of skilled laborers building their product.

Also, on the labor front, Chapuis is going to have a higher level of hand finishing/fitting and refinement of the locks. That labor isn’t cheap.

On the materials front, it’s hard to say if the Chapuis is going to have better steel. That used to be a significant divide in the quality of products between countries, but that divide has largely been closed by everyone sourcing milled materials from China and India. But, because we’re talking about double guns, there is going to be a huge divide in cost of the wood. For most of the Tristars I’ve seen/handled, the stocks came from a roughly $50-100 flitch. A $2k Beretta is going to have a stock that came from a $3-400 flitch, and the flitch for a $5k double gun could readily be $800-1000.

Meaning- the stock blank in that Chapuis might well cost as much, at wholesale, as the entire Tristar shotgun fetches at retail.