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I put my shotgun to paper on the weekend and was getting very tight patterns at 21 yards, so I measured the constrictions with a bore-gauge and calipers - here's what I have:

1. Full - .382" - .028" constriction from .410 bore
2. Imp Mod - .387" - .023"
3. Mod - .390" - .020"
4. Imp Cyl - .395" - .015'
5. Cyl - .399" - .011"

Kinda tight, to say the least! The alleged Cyl choke is more like Mod or Full in other brands.

Anyway, I phoned Savage to see what options they have - and they want the whole gun and chokes shipped to them. I'm not in the mood for all that, so I ordered a few of their in-stock chokes ($8 each) which, if they're not already closer to spec, I can attempt to modify myself with some sandpaper/dowel.

Shotkam designed by a Scottish engineer - helps us save money, you see ;)

.410 can sure smack 'em, it's obviously just harder to do.

The ShotKam speed allows me to see the shot-cloud and exactly how I missed - here's Station 8 Low House:

I took the day off today to de-stress but primarily to go shoot this thing. There was no wind at my home but 25 miles away at the range it was gusty between 10-15 mph.

Still, onwards and upwards - I had my ShotKam all set up and went ahead. Here are a few quick merged clips - bear in mind the video plays at 1/3rd of true speed:

puma guy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 14, 2022 4:02 pm Almost Purdy!

I see what you did there

Just another pic because she's pretty - got a .410 Shotkam adapter and mounted it, ready to shoot some clays:

Depends where you can find them, but that was around $800 all in - tax, shipping, etc, etc.

She arrived with pretty wood:



Dimensions:

LOP: 14.5"
Drop at comb: 1.25"
Drop at face: 1.5"
Drop at heel: 2.0"

I was wanting the Elegant when I bought my Yildiz sxs 410 6 or so years ago, but Academy wouldn't/couldn't order one for me.

Ejectors - nice for hunting (and dare I say HD) but in my case, specifically for .410 as a reloader, I will just be catching my cases on ejection.

puma guy wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 2:01 pm Nice that it has a scaled receiver. The Turks are making some quality guns now a days.

Yes - nice to have a true 410-sized receiver and not, like, a big honking 20-ga receiver with .410 barrels.

Here's what I found so far about Turkish O/U shotguns:

Yildiz and KOFS seem to be the 2 brands that are well-respected - and Khan Arms almost universally hated. Panzer and Merak seem to have little market-share and info on their quality is scant.

Mossberg Gold Reserve (26") - extended chokes - almost certainly Khan Arms
Mossberg Silver Reserve II - Khan Arms
Tristar Trinity LT (28") - 5-yr warranty - Khan Arms
Charles Daly/Chiappa 930.218 model (26") - short LOP 13.9" - Merak Arms
Stevens 555 Enhanced (26") - rebranded KOFS Sceptre XSE
ATI Cavalry SXE/SVE - ATIGKOF410SVE (26") - KOFS (same as Sceptre XSE but diff engraving)
ATI Crusader Sport SGD - ATIG410CRS26 (26") - extended chokes (CRS likely indicates Panzer Arms)
Yildiz SPZ ME (26") - everyone seems to love them (but sole retailer is Academy who rarely have them in stock).

Purchased new via GunBroker - I hate buying shotguns online but the dearth of examples to fondle in real life gave me little option.



The Enhanced, compared to the Standard 555 model, comes with ejectors, engraved receiver and a slightly higher grade of wood - it's also a rebranded shotgun, known in the UK as the KOFS Sceptre XSE - and very popular there.

Now KOFS is a Turkish gun-maker and reviews are very positive - I sure went down a rabbit-hole trying to sort out the local importer names from the actual manufacturers. Interestingly the same shotgun is also known here as the ATI Cavalry - the engraving is different but the gun is the same (and cheaper).