The Turkish Invasion

Four Imported Candidates For Your

Next Practical Shotgun
(A multi-part series)
Beretta-style con- Company, these guns are quite a sur-
trols. If you prefer prise to those of us who have handled
inertia-operated some of the lower-priced Turkish
guns, the new sporting arms. These gas-operated,
Stoeger has a lot in self-loading shotguns are well thought-
STORY AND PHOTOS BY common with the out and work very well indeed.
PATRICK KELLEY, A-14401 Benelli. However, when you take them
apart, the guns reveal unique inner My initial impression of the Escort

T
hinking about buying a new
works. These aren’t “knock-off ” guns, was favorable despite my snobbish dis-
shotgun to turn into your 3-
and while they’re not completely like for guns not made in the USA and
gun shotgun? Want a lot but
unique, they do have some interesting not of Western European descent. The
only want to pay a little?
features that may prove to be the equal Escort series features a matte-finished
Well, your ship may have just come in
of the American and Italian designs. lightweight alloy receiver with a profile
from Turkey.
Over the next several issues Front Sight reminiscent of the old Browning Auto
Thanks to the fall of the iron cur- and Dave’s Guns have asked me to dis- 5 or the Franchi AL 48 with a distinc-
tain, various “new” names are appear- sect the new Turkish imports one at a tive hump at the rear. I have always
ing on the international firearms mar- time, run them through their paces, liked that look and it does offer a
ket – names like Hatsan, Matsan, Sar- and come back with a heads-up report. longer and more definitive sighting
silmaz and Huglu.
With the help of U.S.-
based importers, these
unrecognized Turkish
manufactures are in-
vading U.S. shores un-
der the cover of more
western-sounding
brand names. Most of
these manufacturers
offer hunting class The Escort ships complete with all the items shown:
over-unders and have 7+1 extension, stock adjusting shims, extra O-rings,
been trying to break choke tubes, wrench, and of course, a gun lock.
into the market share
long dominated by
Beretta and Brown-
ing. Now these firms, along with sev- Before we get too far along I would plane, let alone adding a touch of class.
eral others, are going after the au- like to point out that www.daves-
guns.com is the supplier of the four Dave’s Guns supplied both a wood-
toloader market with gusto.
shotguns in this series. No ringers or stocked sporting model and a more
So far I’ve identified four new shot- gun writer specials here, just a gener- “practical” synthetic-stocked gun to
guns that may work out well for USPSA ous offer from a local businessman experiment with. The stocks on both
3-gun shooting. Not only are the who deserves at least a point and click. models are nicely fit and proportioned
names on the barrel unfamiliar, the ac- and make the gun feel balanced be-
tions themselves are (in most cases) a tween the hands. Pistol grips on both
departure from the norm. From a dis- LSI “ESCORT” – The All- models have noticeable palm swells
tance, the PMC/Verona auto looks like Purpose Import? and are more vertical, such as those
a Winchester SX2. The Legacy Sports Legacy Sports International is im- you would find on a “clays gun.” Both
Escort looks a bit like an Auto-5, and porting from Turkey a new line of self- guns come with another “sporting
the Traditions looks alarmingly like a loading shotguns, dubbed the “Es- clays” feature... stock adjusting shims!
Remington 1100 until you see the cort.” Manufactured by Hatsan Arms You can adjust the drop of the stock up

46 FRONT SIGHT • November/December 2002

 told me that the recoil pad will be re-
placed with a “real one” and the sling
mounts will be gone altogether on fu-
ture units.

Internal works:
As the gas system goes, it is dead
simple. The gas piston and rings are
made of stainless steel. The twin action
bars and bushing are assembled from
carbon steel (you can relate these parts
to those of the Remington 1100). The
Escort gas system revealed. It’s simple, but effective. Notice how the recoil spring gas piston itself is made up of three
winds around the magazine tube? Using the mag tube eliminates the need to put parts pieces: an inner sleeve, an outer sleeve
in the stock (a la the Rem. 1100).

FOBUS
Roto 3 Roto 3

www.fobusholster.com
6 6 NEW!

0º
0º
or down with the pair of shims pro- ROTO
vided. The fore ends are as thin as pos- DOUBLE
MAGAZINE
sible considering the gas system must POUCH
reside underneath. In fact, those thin
High riding, low profile with
fore ends make the Escort feel more unbelievable retention, comfort and less than half the weight of
like an over/under than a self-loader. other holsters (1.8 to 2.2.oz). Impervious to hot or cold conditions.
The satin finished wood on the sport- Lifetime warranty. Holsters for all popular models.
ing model actually has some character
to it and the synthetic stocked ver- ! SPRINGFIELD XD HOLSTER
rti
cal
1
NEW
sion is very “business” like. Gri
p

On the minor complaint side, we TACTICAL FSIRST

AMCO
MADE IN USA

*Patent

ACCESSORIES
pending
have rock hard recoil pad and a lame *Patent
pending
excuse for sling mounts. The recoil pad
neither softens recoil nor resembles a COMBAT M-33 HANDGUARD SET G-27
VERTICAL GRIP TACTICAL GRIP
pad, and why drill holes in the stocks if M16 / AR15 CARBINE ONLY Rugged Mill Spec,

79.99
Improves handling,
you are not going to fill them with a de- sight acquisition, & $ comfort & durability.
Hollow handle with
cent sling swivel? The sling mounts are controlability plug for storage area.

small and do not detach. Both are sim-

ple fixes, but I gotta call them as I see
$
49.99
VG1 Retail
*Patent
pending
Sold as set upper and lower handguard
sliding top covers included
$
19.99
G-27 Retail
‘em. I called LSI and talked to Pat rd
ua
• Accepts all Picatinny & Weaver Base Accessories

Wheeler, their on-site gunsmith. He

*Patent
pending
dg • Stainless Steel Heat Shield MAG COUPLER
• Protective Removable Rail Cover
joins two
• Easy Installation– No Gunsmithing Required magazines
• Fits all M-16/AR-15 style Carbines for the
.223
LIGHT HOLDER • High Density Polymer Construction
M16/AR15
Improves handling, • Lifetime Warranty and mini
sight acquisition, 14. *Pat.
and controlability EQUIPMENT MOUNT $
36.
pending
99
$
29.99
$
9.99
Use of this mount allows
the attachment of a
bipod, or other equipment BP1 Retail
*Patent
FAS2/3 Retail requiring a mounting stud. pending M16MC Retail

www.firstsamco.com
™
*Patent pending

SAVE
STARTING AT
$
2.49 RETAIL 9MM, 40CAL, 45CAL, .223 RIFLE
Gas Buffer. Note the spring at the base A LIFE
of the Escort’s gas piston. The spring lets • TRAINING DEVICE • CHILDPROOFS GUNS • DRY FIRE PRACTICE • SAFE STORAGE • SAFE DISPLAY
the piston telescope in on itself, acting as FOBUS USA is a division of First Samco
a shcock buffer for the gas system. 1300 Industrial Hwy., Suite B-3, Southampton, PA 18966-4029
TEL: (215) 355-2621 FAX: (215) 322-9223

November/December 2002 • FRONT SIGHT 47

 duce the battering of the action works. The only “wear
item” in the gas system is an easily replaced “O” ring seal,
and an extra is provided with the gun.
Another feature of the gas system is a two-position gas
valve that is quickly adjustable. Set it to “Normal” for most
all loadings up to and including 1-1/4 ounce payloads and
“Magnum” for all loads over 1-1/4 ounces. The valve is
made of brass and the position detents are vague, but it
works. There are more sophisticated methods of accom-
plishing gas adjustment (without adjustment) but other
than the poor material choice and cheesy feel of the brass
valve, again, it works.
Another departure from the norm is the location of the
recoil spring. Like the Sage conversion for the 1100 Rem-
ington or a SPAS 12 the recoil spring coils around the mag-
Fruit salad. The Escort digested everything from 3 1/4 dram, 1 1/8 azine tube. This makes making changes to the stock sim-
pler, and might be helpful to those who want a very short
trap loads on up to 12-pellet 00 buck.
stock or even a “Tommy Tactical” pistol grip sans stock.
that holds the rings, and a heavy coil spring. These are per-
Both the synthetic and wood-stocked guns sport 28”
manently assembled into one unit. The inner and outer
vent rib barrels with screw-in chokes. Although mis-marked,
sleeves are designed to telescope, one over the other with the
the chokes measure out close to improved cylinder, modi-
spring acting as a buffer or shock absorber between the two.
fied, and full choke. The fire control system (trigger group)
When the gas vented from the barrel slams into the piston,
is laid out much like a Remington 1100. The carrier and trig-
the pistol telescopes into itself, buffering and softening the
ger are made of chromed steel and the trigger housing cast
transmission of energy to the action bar and bushing. This
from aluminum. The safety is a round push-button located
may soften the initial recoil impulse but it really serves to re-
behind the trigger. The magazine cut-off and carrier re-

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48 FRONT SIGHT • November/December 2002

lease are located on opposite sides of
the receiver — magazine cut-off on the
ejection port side and the carrier re-
lease on the left side. Yes, I said maga-
zine cut-off; another neat extra you did
not pay extra for.
On top of that, both guns come
with a magazine tube extension bring-
ing capacity to 7 plus 1, but if that
won’t quite satisfy you, the plated alu-
minum magazine tube will accept
1100/870 magazine extension tubes.
You will need a spacer, as the extension Look familiar? The Escort’s fire control system works
I tried ran out of threads before mak- like an 1100, only with fewer parts.
ing firm contact with the fore end, but
with that little fix, an extension tube in 25 rounds Winchester Super Speed poured onto the tailgate of my pick-up
the length of your choice is probably as (super cheap) 7/8 ounce, 3 ¼ dram and stirred into what my editor calls a
close as your local sporting goods 25 rounds Winchester SuperX 1 “fruit salad” of shotgun shells. I then
store. ounce, 3-¼ dram stuffed mixed shells into the magazine
25 rounds Remington High Speed and chamber as fast as I could and then
On the range 7/8 ounce, 1,390 fps. (Also cheap) ran them out of the gun, much, much
OK, so how do they run? Since this 25 rounds PMC Heavy Dove Load faster. (I have an obsession with speed
is a test and comparison of four differ- 1 1/8 ounce, 3 1/4 dram shooting.) The gun got way too hot to
ent self-loaders and I am on my own 10 rounds S&B 00 buck 12 pellet (1 touch but only failed to eject twice.
dime for expenses, I have a short test ¼ ounce)
5 rounds S&B slug 1 ounce. Both times I induced the failure.
that usually lets me know whether a
A handful of assorted Winchester Both times it was on the lightest ammo.
gun has potential malfunction prob-
AA target and Remington Nitro You have heard of limp wristing, right?
lems. If the gun passes this “short test”
target ammo. Well, I have a hard time recreating that
it would warrant further testing and
with the shotgun even near my shoul-
evaluation.
Test Procedure: der, so I simulate it by holding the gun
First I fired five rounds of each load at arm’s length and firing it with my
The “short test”: except the slugs to see if all would func- right thumb. Both arms are out-
130 rounds fired in 8 minutes (about tion. All did. stretched with the gun parallel to my
as fast as I can load and fire into chest. This offers very little resistance
the dirt), including: All the remaining ammo was
TURKISH INVASION continued on page 60.

November/December 2002 • FRONT SIGHT 49

 TURKISH
INVASION continued from page 49.
to recoil and will make most any self-loader cough. Re-
member, it only failed to eject twice and it was fully expected
to. With any semblance of shouldering, the gun ran flaw-
lessly.
How does the “Escort” fit into practical shooting? Keep-
ing in mind that reliability is the foundation to build on, we
seem (in our short test) to have that covered. Next we have
Two Turkish hybrids. While the Escort, top, looks like a
Franchi, its inner workings operate more like a SAGE Remington
1100. The Traditions ALS 2100 looks and feels like a Remington
1100, but works more like a Beretta 391. Tune in next time for de-
tails.
to keep the thing running, and for that we need replacement
parts. A quick call to Legacy Sports customer service took
care of that question with a positive response: parts are avail-
able. Beyond that, what do we need to make this a suitable
action shotgun? Something shorter than 28” barrels would
be nice but they are not currently of-
fered. Add that to the minus column or
add $85 to have it cut and choked. Corrections, Omissions, Goofs
Sights? If a smooth bore slug barrel BY ROBIN TAYLOR, TY-19724, USPSA STAFF
were available, we would have the barrel
length and sighting problem covered.
Sadly we do not, so add another $25 to
attach sights to the vent rib. (Again, Mr.
Wheeler gave me the heads up that
shorter barrels are in the works, as is the
possibility of a slug barrel.)
We still have another problem that
could be overcome. This gun (like a
Remington 1100) has a locked shell car-
rier (loading gate). To load, you must
depress the carrier release button. This
is not an unusual manual of arms, many
older shotguns are loaded this way.
Some are a little more user-friendly, like
60
the Remington 1100 that has its release button attached to
the carrier, which practical shooters replace with the elegant
EZ-Loader for a big improvement. So how do we overcome
this? If you reload your shotgun using the “flip and burn”
technique you can manage the button just fine with a little
practice. Alternately you may be able to modify the carrier
release system. This too must be added to the minus column.
At only 7 pounds I would not call this gun soft-shooting, but
adding weight is a lot easier than shedding it.
I had to come up with some kind of data to take home
with me, so while I was burning rounds into the backstop, I
decided to see what kind of shot-to-shot splits the gun would
do. Using an audible shot timer and rolling rounds off as fast
as I could, this gun proved to be the equal of a Benelli M1
Super 90 in the pure speed department, with a number of
.12 splits recorded. How’s THAT for a “cheap import?!”
(The Benelli gags trying to shoot .12 second splits.)
In conclusion, this first offering from LSI seems to be a
good one. Reliable, well engineered and (other than the
items mentioned) soundly constructed, the Escort may have
a future with USPSA. Most of us have a propensity for
tweaking and tuning our “race gear” and this self-loading
shotgun should be a good project platform to build on. With
an MSRP of $400 and a street price of around $360 this gun
may be the budget blaster you are looking for.
Tune in next issue for a look at the Traditions ALS 2100
and the PMC/ Verona SX401. I will give you a sneak peak
of what is in store. The ALS 2100 is a handsome lightweight
upland field gun with a polished receiver and barrel. The
Verona SX401 has already been to the USPSA 3-gun nation-
als. Can either of these measure up to the Escort?
Look for it here in Front Sight!
Wrong Woman At Area 4
In our last issue, Front
Sight incorrectly reported Re-
nee Tyson as top lady at Area
4. Tyson finished high LIM-
ITED Lady at Area 4. Accord-
ing to match director Ken
Hicks, top honors went to
Athena Lee (high lady over-
all), while Julie Goloski fin-
ished second.
Our apologies to all con-
cerned.
FRONT SIGHT • November/December 2002