I have heard mixed things about them, some guys have put hundreds of rounds through them without any problems, but some have been hit or miss on quality, but with that said, that can happen to any manufacture, regardless of price, quality control is still mostly controlled by humans, and we do make errors.

I think if you plan on putting a low volume of shells through it, then go for it, they do make affordable semi auto's, which is a blessing.

 

Don't touch it with a ten foot pole!
They are nothing but Crap!!. Used to sell them when I worked at Cabelas. For every three we sold, we got two back within a week. The third one usually showed up later
Richard :mrgreen:

 

Used to sell them when I worked at Cabelas. For every three we sold, we got two back within a week. The third one usually showed up later

Sounds like a perfect record to me. :wink: :wink:

 

the price and features of the tristar can be a little hard to resist, but it's one of those things, I have heard mixed things about them as well, some guys say they have had nothing but terrible luck, some guys have put hundres of rounds through them, it might be one of those brands where you either got a good one or a bad one, I held a semi auto model the other day, a G2 Viper something or other, it felt nice, but the guy at Cabelas said that for the money there are better semi auto's out there, either used or new, he recomended to save up and get a Beretta or Benelli

 

Hello
Please tell us about the SA-08 you bought, how do you like it?

 

There is a write up in this months "Sporting Clays" about the autoloader they are calling a TriStar "Viper" or something like that. A sporting auto. I read it, the author is making it sound like the next best thing to sliced bread for the money but,................. I'll never know because I wouldn't ever take a chance on it. I own a Beretta Urika Trap Optima and a Urika 2 Sporting Optima. This TriStar is a Beretta poser looking gun with cheap tacky looking graphics on it. Just my opinion.

 

Hello
Please tell us about the SA-08 you bought, how do you like it?

It has been great so far. Shot it 500 times so far. Took the plug out and it holds 5 + 1. "Machine gunned" it as fast as I can pull the trigger to see if will jam. So far, not a problem of any kind-It will keep up cycling as fast as I can pull the trigger. Good patterns too.

 

i've put over 1000 rounds through my tristar and no problems

 

I had a NIB Tristar Viper Delta Waterfowl edition. I shot about 30 shells and was impressed by the light recoil and the perfect functioning. Then I patterned it. It shot over a foot to the left at 25 yards! Everything looked and worked perfectly, but it would not put lead where you pointed. They have a simple gas system and are very easy to clean.

 

I have put about 500 rounds of target load (factory 1-1/8oz.) through my viper G2 so far flawlessly. This is my first shotgun and I have found it to be extremely user friendly. I shoot it as well as any other gun I've shot. Both my buddy and I shot it as fast as we possibly could without the plug (5+1). It shot fast enough for me to question it being all 6. Everything seems to be holding up upon inspection during cleanings.

I have the 12g 28" matt finish model. The gun is super light and feels good mounted. For being so light the thing is a dream on the shoulder, even for a semi. It uses the Beretta/Benelli chokes too! It Comes out of the box with mod, IC, and full.

I have yet to give it an honest pattern check (this weekend hopefully) though. One thing I'm not a fan of is the finish. While I like the looks of it. I am doubting it durability. It's definitely not a fan of the BF powder blast... I'll keep it clean and oiled and see I guess.

Overall I'm stoked on the thing. Especially for 400$ out the door at Cabela's. The salesman at my Cabela's had nothing but good things to say about it. And that's after he walked me out the front door with the thing.

This weekend I should be putting some 7/8oz. reloads through it. I'll let you know it it cycles them.

Joe

 

My only experience with a Tristar Viper has been to handle one at Cabelas .
It was a 20 gauge sitting in the used gun rack .
Picked it up and it felt nice , looked it over and it had one small scratch on the receiver .
Didn't look as if it had been shot much .
Then I looked at the hang tag and saw a bright red "NO RETURNS !" written on it .
None of the other guns had anything other than a price on the tag .
Didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling , and it ended up back on the rack.... :mrgreen:

 

Good luck with it Joe. The price seems excellent, SC magazine had it up there around $800 with and adj. comb.. They did give it a great review. And so are you.

 

Thanks. I hope it stays solid for me. Only time will tell I guess.

 

I have the Viper 20 gauge from Cabelas and so far so good. Never has had a problem in close to 500 rounds. I will tell you that just like with a new Mossberg or a Bowning the first thing I did was tear it down and clean that rust retarding sticky packing grease out of it and relube it (lightly!). Be particularly aware of the recoil spring and tube. They load those up with that sticky stuff. Also be sure to remove and lube the choke tubes. Man, right out of the box the tube was exasperatingly tight!

Oh yeah ...I haven't patterned it but we seem to agree on where its supposed to shoot.

Dog

 

I shot about 150 rounds of 7/8oz loads through my gun Thursday. Cycled every one like a dream.

 

The Weatherby was made innTurkey, probably on the same line as the tristar, jost branded differently.

 

i've put over 1000 rounds through my tristar and no problems

Miakka & TriStar. Seems to go together. Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

Well if a minimum wage salesman at a chain store says it's a good deal it must be the real thing. Don't waist your time checking with people who really hunt or shoot clays. They just want you to spend $2500 or more and wouldn't know a good inexpensive gun if they owned one themselves.

 

old,

Although this is a 2-year old thread, I bet when you saw "TriStar" you just couldn't stop yourself from giving an opinion. Am I right?

It's OK though. SS couldn't resist either.

 

Whatcha say'n Griz? Did Try&StartIt make an engineering and quality control breakthrough that made it a decent gun in the last 2 years? I think not. Anyway, my poke in the ribs had to do with Miakka. You would have to be familiar with Florida Crackers to know about Miakka and Miakkans. Kinda like the toothless West Virginia woman who married her brother and protects the family shack while sitting in a rocker on the front porch with a single shot hardware store gun with a forend held on with duct tape.

 

Only you could make a connection between a TriStar gun and a toothless old Indian woman. I thought you were using the word to label their guns as POS. I guess I was wrong. :?

Any, as I offered in the spirit of peace, love, and harmony, the instant responses from you and old to a 2-year old TriStar thread struck me as demonstrably Pavlovian. :wink:

I applaud both of you for your consistency.

 

Yeah, well you got me. Perhaps I would display operant conditioning if the facts warranted such a response. But when junk is junk and the junk keeps getting even more junky, I'll stick with being Pavlovian. That's going some too, for I don't like Russians either!

 

I own a SA-08 20 gauge. It is the least expensive shotgun I own. I would definitely buy another one - wait, I did for my daughter. Of the turkish made shotguns I feel it is the best. Bought and sold a CZ 720 and a Mossberg SA-20. Plus the SA-08 is backed up by Weatherby customer service which in my opinion is the best in the business.

The Weatherbys are in the middle.

 

Nobody can say you don't like semi-autos!

 

You have a point Alan.