The New Turkish Delights
By Bill Hanus
www.billhanusbirdguns.com

Turkey, high on everyone’s list of Emerging Markets and a strong candidate for entry to Europe’s Common Market, has become a major player in America’s side-by-side birdgun market.

Kimber hit the jackpot with an out-of-the-book seven-pin English style sidelock and styled it for the American market and tastes. They did their homework and offered the Valier II in 20 gauge, with double triggers and fixed (IC/M) chokes, then put four-star (a mid-level Exhibition grade) Turkish Walnut on it with 30 coats of oil. These Kimber guns are built to their specifications by The Hatfield Company in Turkey.

The Kimber catalog says these guns are cast-neutral, although the Valier II’s are actually supplied with about .25" cast-off – which is essential to the instinctive shooting style most right-handed birdgunners employ on just-flushed birds.

Knowing the American birdhunters have a genetic inclination to want to hold wood in the palms of their left hands – a condition brought about by close association with over/under and semi-automatic shotguns for long periods of time – Kimber wisely threw tradition to the winds and installed a nine-and-three-quarters inches long forearm on the Valier II. Guys who try to hold an ordinary-length splinter forearm (like they are about to take a bite off a bratwurst) are going to shoot a short left arm; which leads to all sorts of unhappiness -- like jerky swings and lifted heads (the second most common reason for missing birds). Someone at Kimber knew this. The near ten-inch forearm is an invitation to shoot a longer left arm. To put the left side of your torso into the game. To keep your head down on the stock – and not least of all – take repeated retrieves from your adoring dog. This is a well-executed $5,000 birdgun with enough built-in prompts that most right-handed (and right dominant-eyed) shooters will shoot well, just as it comes out of the box. Going into their second year of production, Kimber will accept Special Orders to accommodate left-handed (and dominant left-eyed) shooters, with cast-on guns.
A sneak peak at Kimber’s follow-up program of the Valier product line includes a 16 gauge side-by-side built on the 20 gauge frame, due on America’s shores in late 2005; and 16 and 20 gauge sidelock over/unders down the road.

CZ-USA – the world class Czech Republic maker of pistols and rifles has added shotguns to their portfolio with exclusive distribution rights for Huglu, the primary, large volume producer of shotguns in Turkey.

Equally important, they wisely chose to work closely with Huglu’s American representatives – guys who knew how to connect what American birdhunters’ wanted in a side-by-side – to Huglu’s CDC equipment in Turkey. You can tell that those American reps are on the same page as the rest of us when they wrote the 2003 Huglu Armsco catalog:
. . . upland game in America is normally taken
over a pointing dog at the flush. Whether ruff
grouse from thick New England cover or bobwhite
in the Georgia pine, American upland game shooting
is as often as not the quintessential snap-shot.

The CZ Ringneck model with single trigger, Prince of Wales grip and false sideplates has a MSRP for 12 and 20 gauge guns of $869, while the 28’s and .410’s are $1,045. The CZ Bobwhite model with double triggers, straight English grip and case colored receiver has a MSRP of $$695 for the 12 and 20 gauge guns and $869 for the 28’s and .410’s. They are built on frames proportionate to the gauge, which means with 26" barrels the 12 weighs 7.1 pounds, the 20 gauge - 6.1 pounds, 28 gauge – 5.7 pounds and the .410 – 5.3 pounds. All gauges come with five chokes tubes: C-IC-M-IM-F except the.410, which is IC/M fixed. Stock dimensions are 1-1/2" x 2-1/4" x 14-1/2" with about 1/4" cast-off to a rubber pad. The pad has a hard-plastic horseshoe at the top that slides on a sweater or hunting jacket instead of hanging up like a lot of plain rubber pads do.

The Prince of Wales grip on the CZ Ringneck is an attractive feature because it gives your little finger something important to do. The round knob acts like the rudder on a boat. Your little finger’s job is to keep it on an even keel and prevent you from canting the gun.
The specially designed forearm deserves mention. Most American shooters have a terrible time coping with a typical 7" splinter forearm. It encourages shooting with a short left arm, a recipe for missed birds. CZ-USA puts a 9-1/2" modified semi-beavertail forearm with a little Schnable tip on their side-by-side models. A very nice touch that encourages shooting a longer left arm, which helps keep the head down and the game bag full. The raised rib does a good job in picking up the target and it’s not ventilated, so you won’t have to pick out the weed seeds when you get home. Top it all off with 3" chambers (not on 28 gauge), choice of 26" or 28" barrel lengths and good wood-to-metal fit.

These CZ-USA guns have extractors, not ejectors. When you consider that a handful of empties on the ground are a dead-giveaway to the location of a covey, roost, covert or other avian hideaway, it’s a good idea to put your empty hulls in your pocket anyhow.

Although priced more like "entry level" guns, these CZ-USA doubles possess a degree of design sophistication and manufacture not commonly associated with low-cost doubles.

Kimber Valier II Introduced in 20 gauge with 26" or 28" fixed choke
barrel lengths. A 16 gauge on 20 gauge frame is in production.


CZ-USA offers the CZ in 12, 20 and 28 gauge with screw-in chokes, as well
as .410’s (with fixed chokes) and choice of 26" or 28" barrel lengths.

Read more AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2005 online articles