Yildiz or Mossberg Silver Reserve O/U

[petew]

I have a 12 ga Silver Reserve that has never given me any issues or trouble. My brother pounded geese and ducks with it for a few years in Manitoba without a hitch before I got it..
A good friend has a Silver reserve in 20 / 28 combo and is very happy with it and hasn't had any problems..

[openfire]

Originally Posted by silver

Yes there are, I bought a 12 guage o/u, happy as a clam with it. A friend had one, I shouldered it and it fit. I was at Prophet River, had my choice of five, picked the best wood. It is a light gun, chambered for the three inch mag, recoil isn't bad, because I think it fits well.

Here is the real testimonial, if mine was lost or stolen, I would buy another without even thinking about it.

Are you talking about the yildez ?

[silver]

Originally Posted by openfire

Are you talking about the yildez ?

Yes I am, sorry for not being clear.

[Halfton]

I have 2 CZ Redheads in 12 and 20 and a CZ Wingshooter 12ga which in all reality is just a slightly fancier Redhead. I enjoy all of them...and find they are pretty well made for an entry level O/U Shotgun. Never having shot a Yildez I can't comment what they are like personally but hear they are pretty good too, and the one I did handle felt good to me. My understanding is they are about 1 lb lighter than the CZ's. (Translation, may kick harder)
They both run about the same money so not much to choose between there. I think I would pick one of these 2 makes and go with it.

Jim

[old dog]

I have a 12 and 20 gauge yildiz side by side. Love them both. Come up to the shoulder beautifully and great instant sight alignment.

[wwbirds]

Nothing wrong with CZ or Yildez as I sold plenty of both when I was behind the gun counter. My personal notes Yildez was light due to alloy receiver so I could see it being a great hunting gun for upland but I had concerns about how the alloy receiver would stand up if I decided to use it for sporting clays trap or skeet. Also recoil in light guns makes them uncomfortable for 100's of rounds in an afternoon. Cz was quite a bit heavier but to me felt unbalanced and front heavy. Fit and finish was what you would expect from entrance level o/u.
Now after you find a shotgun that fits the next order of business is to spend time shooting it. Not sure I would want the pounding a light gun would hand out so would need a heavier gun for 3 inch mags and duck and goose hunting anyway. A poorly balanced firearm when shooting trap skeet or sporting clays is not a lot of fun to shoot as the shooter must compensate for the imbalance of the firearm instead of the firearm doing a lot of the work.
Everyone has to buy what they can afford and if the budget dictates entrance level is all you can afford so be it. consider another factor though. Many people buy entrance level and after a a year or two decide they would like a smoother more balanced shotgun or something that will take thousands of rounds. Because there are so many out there a $900 entrance level gun is likely going to fetch $400 -$500 by private sale (less on trade in, $250?).
However buying a quality used Browning Citori or Beretta for $1000 to $1500 will likely be worth the same amount in a few years should you wish to trade up. Every Citori and Beretta over under I have ever handled had superior balance and workmanship to the entrance level guns so could be used for hunting as well as shooting sports for many years.

If at all possible buy once and cry once. The one and only entrance level shotgun I bought as a teenager lasted less than a year and warranty was 90 days. Manufacturer was one of those named in the title of this thread.

[jpohlic]

I bought a used silver reserve 20 ga about 5 years ago and got it for a good price. I use it as a field gun for grouse and shoot a dozen rounds of trap per year. No problems so far and it was cheap enough that I don't mind the dings and dents that come with hunting. With that said, I've handled quite a few Yildiz o/u and would buy one in a heartbeat if there was room in my safe.

[dgl1948]

I have used both the Yildiz and Silver Reserve in the 20 gauge. I found the Silver Reserve to be very poorly balanced. There was just to much weight forward. The Yildiz was a far nicer shotgun. In my mind there was no comparison. The Silver Reserve was my buddies. He no longer owns it. The Yildiz is still in the safe.

[nrsmatth]

I've got a yildiz and a beretta silver pigeon. The yildiz sees about twice the days in the field come hunting season. Not sure why, it just feels right

[grinr]

Originally Posted by jungleboy

Have a look at the Stevens 555 ou they are such a nice light gun .I haven't got one but I handled one at Cabelas and was impressed .

I was at BP today and handled the 555,the Mossberg SR,and some other hardwood club with pipes protruding from it...maybe IGA...maybe Stoeger....maybe one in the same??Yuk regardless.
I liked the Stevens best in that price range of 20ga O/U.The Mossberg is slightly "prettier",and $100 less,but after reading the reviews I'm really leery of the reliability,firing pins and double discharge seems to be all too common a complaint.Really liked the featherweight of the Stevens at 5.5lbs.The selector/safety was smoothest of the three,as was the break lever.Im not opposed to throwing a few more bucks for a Yildiz or CZ,or at least having a good look at them,but to be honest,for my purposes at this point,I think the Stevens will suit me fine as a utilitarian/bang around the truck/bouncin' on the quad/stroll thru the hardwoods grouse gun.Im hard on gear and I know it.Sure,I'd love to have a $2k Beretta,Ruger or wutever,but it would be a shame to put a nice gun through the abuse that I know I'm likely to dish out.Maybe some day when I have the time for another bird dog it'd be worth buying a higher end gun,but for all the bird hunting I do these days,can't really justify it?
I'm tempted to get the 555 in 28ga,it'd be a sweet lil bird gun me thinks,but maybe I'll save the 28 purchase for that day when I'm ready to toss some real money at it?For now,I think the 20 suits my purposes just fine,not at all concerned with the recoil of a 5.5lb field gun,it's not like I'd likely put more then a few boxes a year through it anyhow.The 555 reviews are a bit mixed(as always with any entry level gun?)but generally quite favourable for the most part?Not that I'm exactly an "entry level" gunner,I had both Labs and Springers for many years,but again,I don't need anything too fancy at this point,it'd be a crime against a nice gun,and I'll probly just hand this one down to the young feller when I have more time and ambition to get my next dog and a pretty gun to match.

[Mulehahn]

I really don't understand the hate for affordable O/Us. If you are just going out hunting, beating the bush and blasting clays with friends they are great. I own a Browning and a Baikal. One goes to the range, the other to field. After thousands of rounds through each, neither have ever fail me. But then again I don't see the point in having a gun just for looks. A corvette was built to be driven, not ogled. A truck was built to work. But the funny thing is, both driving and working will leave scratches.

[sns2]

Seems to me there are a fair number of mid-level over unders available for a fair price that would only need a barrel reamed to shoot steel shot. I have handled many of the so-called budget guns. Some felt like pure garbage. Real, pure garbage. Others felt quite nice. Buy what feels good, but don't overlook the bargains that are out there either.

[catnthehat]

I've owned and shot both the Mossberg and the Yildiz.
I roil not hesitate to buy another Yildiz and sell it up done one I know .
I would not do that with Mossberg ,
Cat

[curtz]

Originally Posted by bearb8er

You boys have any experience with the Stoeger condor line of o/u - or the CZ o/u?

thanks

I have a CZ Redhead Deluxe O/U and I love it, my wife has a Silver Reserve and she loves it, no problems with ether.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by curtz

I have a CZ Redhead Deluxe O/U and I love it, my wife has a Silver Reserve and she loves it, no problems with ether.

How many rounds through the Mossberg?

[Halfton]

Well since this thread keeps coming back I will update things since my last post about the CZ shotguns. In my last post I stated I hadn't used a Yildiz, Well since then things have changed...I bought my wife a Yildiz SPMZ 20ga to go with her CZ Redhead 20ga. She absolutely loves it and to both of us it just seems to point and shoulder better than the CZ, which is still excellent but the Yildiz just has that intangible "it fits factor".
I sold both the CZ Redhead and CZ Wingshooter I had in 12ga and used the money to buy myself a Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon 1. Now since this thread is about impression of of shotguns I will say that mechanically I think the Beretta 686 is built far better than either the Yildiz or the CZ's...BUT...They both have much better wood to metal fit and the finish is nicer with better grained stocks then the Beretta, again especially on the Yildiz...so ya they impressed me that way and the Beretta was a disappointment to me to say the least in that area....I am sure after 10,000 rounds or more that you would be able to see the mechanical differences showing up in favor of the $2500 Beretta...but for $800/900 dollar shotguns the Yildiz and CZ are extremely well done.

Jim

[curtz]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

How many rounds through the Mossberg?

Probably only about 300 rounds, she has had it for 3 years, we shoot grouse and recreational sheet twice a year. For the price and what she is using it for its a nice gun.

[elkhunter11]

With such little use, she may not have any issues for years to come. Most failures seemed to start between 500 rounds and 1500 rounds fired, which is only a month or a few months for some people. For anyone that is going to use the gun a lot, the Mossberg Silver Reserve has been very unreliable.