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Opinions and experience with CZ guns.....I'm looking for a 12 or 20ga gun for casual shooting for my grandkids to use when I take them shooting and for myself on occasion. Thanks
I am not a fan of Turkish shotguns, having owned one and known several others who also have, but for your intended use it would probably be more than satisfactory.
 
Let me say I had a CZ over/under a few years ago. First one had some problems, they send a new one right away. Which I enjoyed a lot.
So many here dis guns made in Turkey. I always wondered was SKB degraded when they were made in Japan?
 
I shot several models at the Grand two years ago. Seemed like a quality firearms for the price. However, I can not attest to its longevity.
Bingo! From what I've seen, the few I've handled were not bad guns, but their longevity (thousands and thousands of shells) is unproven, at least in numbers enough to be statistically relevant.
 
I can remember long ago when I purchased a Winchester 101. Many of my friends razed me saying it was made from american beer cans.I still have the gun and still shoot it. T hey said it was junk because it was made in Japan.I think the Turks are on their way to building great guns. Remember we have the right of choice to buy what we like.I have a cz o/u target and a tristar semi sporting.Both have been dependable. Yes I have K guns and other high end guns. I just love shotguns! Just my humble opinion!
 
I'm way late to the party here, but just wanted to toss in a good word for CZ. I have done a lot of pheasant, duck and goose hunting in my life and my 1999 SBE2 still serves me well in the field. Then I joined a trap club (and now skeet too) and decided to jump into my first O/U. My budget was $1000 and my research quickly led me to either a used Browning or a new CZ. I found a new 12ga CZ Wingshooter Elite all-in for $900 and pulled the trigger. The wood is beautiful and I used some clear-coat polish to remove the "mud" appearance and now I think it looks better than the B's at my club. The engraving is really well done as well. I would guess that I've put 5000 rounds through it so far - a mix of everything from 3" steel to 3" heavy upland to 2.75" #9 skeet - and I've not had a single issue with it. I took a lot of crap at the club for a CZ but now the "regulars" know that it shoots and has held up well. I still occasionally take some grief but instead of having to defend it myself, others usually jump to my defense now before I can ;-)

When my wife decided to try trap and do some bird hunting with me, I found a new 12ga CZ 712 G2 with a bronze barrel and receiver, and very nice light-colored wood. It was about $450 on sale out the door at Cabela's and I've since cut the stock down for her. It looks great and she loves it, and we've not had any issues with it either, although maybe only 1000 rounds through it so far.

Some day I'll pick up a more expensive (I stopped calling them "nicer") Silver Pigeon or White Lightening, but in the meantime, I'm a fan of CZ's shotguns. Plus, if you do happen to get a rare lemon, their 5-year warranty makes it right with either a new gun or a refund. Tough to beat that, even with one of the household names.

$0.02
 
Some times u need to look at the company u are purchasing from and the CZ rifles were a great buy for the money when they were making the 453's and 452's but the company thought they could switch from a good quality rifle and started to make changes. The 455's and 457's have some great changes made but the wood and barrel treatment's, in my option are junk!! Some times this rubs off company wide. Be aware!!
 
  1. Long running CZ Canvasback durability test over on Shotgunworld is at 33,711 rounds.
  2. CZ service in the US has a good reputation.
  3. I'm thinking that these Huglu made guns offer fair value for dollar. This comment from a 50 year Browning owner. Absolutely cannot knock a lightly used Browning Citori as value for dollar either.
 
Let me say I had a CZ over/under a few years ago. First one had some problems, they send a new one right away. Which I enjoyed a lot.
So many here dis guns made in Turkey. I always wondered was SKB degraded when they were made in Japan?
I bought two SKB O/U's made in Japan. IMHO they are great quality, my go to O/U is still used bi-weekly on the range. Someday I may buy another 0/u, and would buy a used japan made SKB if it was a low use one in unaltered condition.
 
Opinions and experience with CZ guns.....I'm looking
for a 12 or 20ga gun for casual shooting for my grandkids to use when I take them shooting and for myself on occasion. Thanks
Think I might have an answer for you. I bought a CZ 712 ALS 12 gauge semi auto which has been
bulletproof once I removed the stock and put red loctite on the main stock screw before retightening. That educated me on the gun's heavy durability, basically waterproof synthetic, black and fully-adjustable ATI Akita stock. The stock collapses in on itself so you can change the length of pull from 12-14" with the push of a button. (It grabs one four notches). It also has three comb height positions with a screw based adjustment(you pull off the screew covers oneithe side of the stock, loosen then, slide the atached also synthtic comb to he hight nothc you want, retighten the screws and covers, and off you ago. As their verbiage says "This makes the ALS perfect for women and kids, as well as making it ideal for waterfowl and turkey hunting. Both the 26-inch and 28-inch barrel configurations accept 2Âľ and 3-inch shells. "

I have had no mechanism failures on this nor a shorter 712 "Utility" meaning 20" barrel one I had. It actually shot actually very well so long as I used Rem Clay and Field shells which I saw a demo of on UTube and confirmed their patterning with several different shells myself. Like ti or not, I was shooting as well as the Bs and Ks(example si a 24 in wobbles) with this short gun.
As far as I saw, your pattern uniformity and spread is from your choke and shell, not the length of the barrel, but that besides the point. The 712 is a steal as it is adjustable for both big and little
people and hardy, being composite.

It is out of production but CZ told me they have plenty in their warehouse. You can get it here at
Bud's for $516 witha 28" barrel:CZ-USA CZ712 ALS G2 12 GA 28 and see it here at CZ USA at
CZ 712 ALS G2 - Discontinued 2018 - CZ-USA.

PS I'm retired from computers and not oin any kind of comission \ whatever. All the best.

If you want the trap version you may want the 712 Target but its got a 30" barrel and may be heavier.
 
I have a CZ Redhead 28 ga. over/under that I purchased 14 yrs. ago.
Use it every year for dove hunting and a 12 week long skeet league.
Over 6000 rds. thru it, never had a problem with it, still locks up tight,
Great wood to metal fit, blueing still looks new.
 
I have a SXS CZ -- read Hulu. It is a very serviceable gun, points well, and have never had a malfunction. One thing not mentioned is that it has a horrible trigger -- heavy pull, lots of creep. If you're experienced you can work through the bad trigger but I would not recommend it as an intro gun for a teenager,
 
Lots of opinions here but no negative experiences expressed on the O/U's. Several of my club's youth shoot CZ O/U's and I've heard of no issues. While all of my O/U's are Berettas, I personally would not knock the brand until I knew of actual issues. Guess we have lots of "experts" with no personal experiences or knowledge. Based on my own personal experiences, I would never recommend a Stevens, Mossberg, Tri-Star, Savage, etc. for "casual shooting for the grandkids" as the poster wants and for that purpose one of the B guns is over kill. A new CZ O/U for $600-700 might be all that's needed. Save the money for shells -----
Mr. Sennorric:

Please, respectfully, would you state why you stated "I would never recommend a Stevens, Mossberg, Tri-Star, Savage, etc. for "casual shooting for the grandkids". I'm honestly interested on your reasons or opinions. I can
only guess you think they are more lekely to malfucntio and a new shooter wont know it or what to do - is that
it?
 
While looking for a new gun last month, looking at Berettas and Brownings mostly, the young male clerk asked (off the record) what the difference between what I was looking at and a CZ over and under they also sold, for about $1,700 less (I can't remember the model, but the CZ was less than $700. I inspected the CZ and was looking for cheap engineering and design all over the gun. I am not an armament engineer, nor a gunsmith (though I was an Ordinance Division officer in the Navy as a part of my career).

The action had conical locking lugs, just like the Beretta, the barrels were ported (not my cup of tea, but still an engineering cost), the sights were very acceptable, it felt great to me when shouldered. Were there tool marks within the action? To be sure. But the beauty of the wood, the depth of the blueing, the common sense action design, the decent trigger attested to a decent gun at an even more amazing price point.

I've owned CZ rifles (I understand they are not made in the same place as CZ shotguns) and they were impressively built Mauser actions and very accurate and consistent with wonderful set triggers. I'm not saying the CZ is a Beretta, but to a young man who makes barely above minimum wage, the CZ is absolutely a valid option for an over and under. Not all of us can afford a $2,400 plus shotgun.

I knew the kid wanted the CZ because he couldn't afford the Beretta. After inspecting it, I set it down and said something like: "It is a fine shotgun for an impressive price." I saw a big smile on his face. My dream gun was a Beretta, but that doesn't mean I should destroy his dream. The CZ was the right choice for him and the Beretta was the right choice for me.
 
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