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New Tristar Viper G2 Black Synthetic, 12 GA

19K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Redhat 
#1 ·
So after much reading, here and elsewhere, I finally picked up a Viper G2 12GA synthetic w/ 26" barrel. It sat here for about a week before I finally had time to disassemble, clean and inspect all the basic parts. Disassembly was a bit interesting as the trigger assembly could not be removed by hand. I had to give it a few taps with a nylon faced hammer and wedge a pair of needle nose under the shell lifter and gently pry it to get it to rock out of the receiver. Other than that, everything came apart easily enough and all parts appear to be in good working order.

On inspection, I found a few points of the design interesting. First, the ejector is a small (really small) rectangular protrusion on the inside of the barrel extension that passes through a small cut-out on the left side of the bolt face. Very simple but I wonder how it will wear? If it goes bad do I have to get another barrel? Second, in order to lock the bolt to the rear, there are no buttons or levers to push...just pull it back. I'm not sure how this works internally yet but I will eventually take a closer look to figure it out.

My initial observations:

- I like the "soft touch" texture of the synthetic forend and stock. They're "grippy" but not tacky like a Hogue rubber over molded stock popular on the Ruger 10/22. Don't know if they'll collect dust yet but we'll see. I'm not sure how durable these will be but as a precaution, I will try to keep any cleaning solvents off those parts. LOP also seems good for me...but will have to see when I shoot it.

- Finish - receiver and barrel finish is flat black, which I don't mind but again, durability is what I'm hoping for. The bolt is not smoothly polished on this model and truth be told, I would prefer it to be and chromed would be nicer still. Hopefully it will wear in and work without much fuss.

- Trigger is okay. While I don't make much fuss over a shotgun trigger like I would a rifle, it still should be smooth and not so heavy it makes holding the gun on target difficult. This one feels fine with no hitches and has relatively short travel. I don't have a trigger pull gauge so I did the old "hang it from my finger" test popular around here and it worked. One thing I notice; to me, the trigger guard seems a bit small, with my hands at least.

- Balance- the gun with 26" bbl, is balanced near the front of the receiver and feels light enough when I shouldered it and swung left and right. I'm a beginner on shotguns so I could be doing things wrong but that is my impression FWIW. I will say I don't care for the red front sight. Probably because I'm used to shotguns having a bead and not some type fiber optic. I'm willing to try new things though so I will leave it as is until I shoot it a few times.

Overall, at this point, I'm satisfied with it. I like the simplicity of the design, ease of take-down and the look and feel. Hope I'm as satisfied after my first trip to the range next week!
 
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#2 ·
Redhat said:
Second, in order to lock the bolt to the rear, there are no buttons or levers to push...just pull it back. I'm not sure how this works internally yet but I will eventually take a closer look to figure it out.
This is exactly like every SA shotgun I have ever handled, from my dad's A5, to my Mossbergs (9200 and 930), and friends' Berettas, Remingtons, Brownings, etc.
 
#5 ·
oyeme said:
Good thorough report. Enjoy your new toy!
Thanks.

Just took it to the range today for function fire. Tried different shells, weight, shot size and everything worked fine. Probably put 25 rounds total through it.

Later today, I'll disassemble it and see what it looks like inside. One thing for sure, I don't care for the red front sight and, as I understand it from reading here, I shouldn't be able to see the rib...which I did. I also might put a piece of tape over the magazine plug to hold it in when I take the gun apart for cleaning.
 
#6 ·
Redhat said:
oyeme said:
Good thorough report. Enjoy your new toy!
Thanks.

Just took it to the range today for function fire. Tried different shells, weight, shot size and everything worked fine. Probably put 25 rounds total through it.

Later today, I'll disassemble it and see what it looks like inside. One thing for sure, I don't care for the red front sight and, as I understand it from reading here, I shouldn't be able to see the rib...which I did. I also might put a piece of tape over the magazine plug to hold it in when I take the gun apart for cleaning.
I always use a plug in my gun so I put a small drop of Super Glue on the plug to hold it in place. If I needed to get it out, I am sure I could with a sharp knife blade like on a box cutter.
 
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