Yildiz 28 gauge SPZ ME

[JPShelton]

Gents:
After much mental debate, I finally broke down and bought my son his first shotgun as a kind of early 14th birthday present.  My son isn't much of a hunter.  He'll go if the weather is nice but he's not even remotely close to being as hardcore into it as I was at his age.  He likes to shoot, but his taste is for milsurps, more than anything.  And he doesn't want to be too hot, or too cold, or deal with biting stinging bugs -and as we're in eastern Oklahoma, that last bit is an issue for him.  No shortage of icky bugs here.  Sometimes I have to kind of prod him in to going with me.
But when he finds out I'm going to the sporting clays course, he's the one doing the "begging" to come along and it suddenly doesn't mater that it's an 18 degree day with snow flurries, or a 101 degree day with high humidity and plenty of nasty biiting bugs out.  And that has been for the privilage of doing my pulling for me.  He was hooked on sporting clays without firing a shot. 
The issue I've had is that he's kind of small for his age.  I wanted to buy him a Beretta 686 because I know it would be a long time before he wore it out and needed another -if ever..  But it's too heavy for him to handle comfortably.  I've debated waiting for another growth spurt, but he's a year ahead in school and may be going off to college when he's 17....   3 1/2 years isn't much time left with the boy.....
Anyhow, we went into Academy one day last year to stock up on rimfire ammo.  While there, he tried out the Yildiz 28 ga. O/U for size.....   And he really, really, really liked it.  It seemed to fit him okay according my significant other who knows more about these things than I do.  And it was light enough for him to swing well and move around.  I'd have bought it at the time, but I was kinda holding out for a growth spurt so we could try a Beretta 686 again.  I got tired of waiting last week and bought the Yildiz for him.
Boy, is that thing light!!!!
Overall fit and finish are good.  My significant other liked the flat black chrome exterior finish of the barrels a lot.  It looks upmarket but practical for clay target shooting because of reduced glare from the barrels.  The wood figure is stunning, and not just for a $450.00 gun.  All in all, the gun has a very upscale look and feel that belies its price.
I'm kind of envious, actually.  It looks and feels like a neat little gun.  It was cheap enough that when the kid finally does get big enough for a 686, I can get him one for his high volume target gun and he can use the Yildiz as a field gun.
One thing I didn't like was the marking on the choke tubes.  Little stars or lines on the ends that are hard this old geezer to see and hard for my calloused guitar player hands to feel.
I patterned it yeterday.  Both barrels shot to point of hold at 35 yards with AA #9 shells, which is all we had.  It did that with every choke tube in each barrel.  Everything worked like it was suppsoed to -safety, top lever, barrel selector.  Selective ejection was very forcefull.  I'd like to tone that down a bit.
We put a cylinder choke in the bottom barrel and an improved cylinder in the top and I tossed some clays for him with my MTM thrower, and my boy busted the first one, turning it into a black dust cloud.  Subsequently, he'd sometimes miss with the first shot, but usually nail it on the second.  He rarely let the ground break them.
So he's happy to have a gun that looks good and that he shoots well.  I'm happy that he's happy.
All that remains to be seen is how well what is obviously a field gun is going to endure 500 rounds a month from now until September.  We shall see.
The next big purchase is going to be a 28 ga reloader!
And its going to have to be because my significant other wants the same gun for her birthday.  She's leanin' 12 gauge, though, but she really liked the 28 and CLOBBERED the clays with it.  She hunts, but quail, chukar, and rabbits.  She's a sporting clays fanatic, but doesn't shoot registered targets yet.  So I'm leanin' 28 for her, too.  She seemed to do really with it also.
And its a fraction of the price of the Merkel 1620 that she formerly had her little heart set on.
I didn't bother shooting it, because I don't have room for it if I get one for my gal.  Her and my kid had a ball with it. 
We'll see how long it takes to wear out, I guess.
JP

[PowPow]

You were lucky to get one. I went in to Academy the other day intent on buying that 28 if it felt good. None. Guy checked the computer; closest one was 300 miles away. No more until at least the end of March I had the 20 and 12. Once in a while the 12 would give me both barrels. It got stolen so I replaced it with 20.  No complaints with the 20; only reason I sold it was that I needed a 3rd shot for doves and hate to own a gun that does not get used. Folks express concern over the life expectancy of Yildiz shotguns, but I think their concern is solely based on price alone and not experience.
Good purchase!

[JPShelton]

Thanks for chiming in, PowPow.  I cannot even imagine what a mess my shoulder would be in if I had a 12 ga. Yildiz double on me...  It ain't in the greatest of shape right now, thanks to an injury I sustained during my law enforcement career.  That must have really hurt!!  The 12 gauge doesn't feel any heavier to me than the 28 ga I bought for my son, though I'm sure it is.
If you like the feel of the 12 and the 20, I'm confident that you'll get on well with the 28.  To me, there wasn't much of a difference between the 20 and the 28, feel-wise. 
My concern over the life expectancy of the Yildiz guns really isn't born out of their low price tag.  Close examination suggests that it is largely a product of precise CNC machining, designed to keep tedious hand-fitting of parts to a minimum while still yielding a reliable, functional end result.  Cosmetic elements like the receiver "engraving" and wood checkering appear to be the work of lasers rather than hands.  The metal finish of the barrels looks to me like black matte chrome rather than matte bluing.  Add in the low cost of whatever Turkish labor is involved in the assembly of a bunch of CNC parts, and "how can they build a gun that looks and feels this nice so cheaply" starts to seem kind of obvious, at least to me.
I catch a lot of grief on shotgun and upland forums for admitting this, but I shoot a 26" barreled 12 bore Baikal IZH-43 and throughly enjoy it.  I like it better than the largely hand made Ugartechea Model 30 it replaced.  I bought the Baikal used but in pristine condition about four years ago for $175.00.  I doubt the original owner paid a whole lot more than that for it in 1992 when it was made.  I had no concerns whatsover about whether the Baikal would withstand a lifetime of me shooting it and having put over 15K through its barrels, I am totally convinced that it will outlive me, in spite of it being "cheap."
My longevity concern has to do with the aluminum alloy construction of the Yildiz's receiver.  It isn't the chunk of ordinance grade steel that my Baikal receiver is, and as far as I know, Yildiz isn't making double rifles off their O/U action like Baikal does with the IZH-43.
Still, there's no reason why a an aluminum alloy receiver couldn't have a long service life, I suppose.  I don't think he'll wear it out before he's big enough to shoot a 686 or similar.
I hope Academy does get more of them around the end of March because my significant other is convinced that she wants a Yildiz for her birthday, which happens to occur at the end of March.  I'd like to get her a 28 gauge Yildiz of her own.  She's pretty much resolved that she wants the 28 gauge version once I mentioned reloading the hulls.
JP
 

[Lonegun1894]

My 28ga is a muzzle loader, but it is probably the main reason that I have had to reconsider my previous opinion that anything less than a 12ga just isn't enough gun to be practical.  In fact, my 28ga is becoming my favorite shotgun for hunting and play use, and I really think that the 28ga is kind of a closesly guarded secret as it is a great little shotgun that does almost everything well.  I'm not about to get rid of my 12s, but the 28 gets more use nowadays, and I think you will love this little shotgun more than you realize once you get to use it for a couple years and really get a chance to give it an extended test, both on clays and in the field.

[JPShelton]

  I'm not about to get rid of my 12s, but the 28 gets more use nowadays, and I think you will love this little shotgun more than you realize once you get to use it for a couple years and really get a chance to give it an extended test, both on clays and in the field.

Thanks for the encouragement, Lonegun 1894.  It is appreciated.  But I didn't buy the gun for me an it isn't mine.  I bought it for my son as an early 14th birthday present and I hope I don't get a chance to give it an extended test, but would rather he do that.  Of course, I'll be there to see it getting tested, so it's all good.
It isn't the 28 gauge I need convincing or reassurance over, though.  I've never owned a gun in that gauge, but one of the uncles I hunted upland with in my formative years had an A y A #2 so chambered, that he had bought in the 50s.  It made the quail he hit with it look like a mid-air pillow fight and practically vaporized clay targets.  It did the same for me whenever I got to shoot the gun.  My uncle explained it thus:  my twenty gauge was like a stalled car on railroad tracks getting hit with the locomotive of a train, with the rest of the cars passing by harmlessly when the car was pushed off the tracks.  His 28, on the other hand, was that same stalled car getting it with the locomotive and each seperate car all at the same time.  Now that I am older and hopefully wiser, I think what he was trying to desribe was a difference in shot string between our guns, with his claim being that my gun shot an elongated string, while his shot a more compact one, with the results being more pellets hitting a moving target at the same time, even though it shot less of them.  I don't know how much stock I put into "square load" theorizing, but I know what I saw that 28 gauge of my Uncle's do, and not just in his hands, but also in mine when he let me shoot it.
I wanted to get my son a 28 gauge gun.  He's slightly built for his age and needs a light gun that doesn't kick hard, but is easier to hit with than a .410.  I wanted this gun to be a hinge-action, either side by side or over and under.  He wanted the over and under style because that's what he sees a lot of on the course when I shoot sporting and he's "pulling" for me. 
My concern with this gun isn't over gauge but in its long term durability, being made as it is with an alloy receiver rather than a steel one.  But I really don't have much of a choice for him and the Yildiz really is the only gun we've found that: 1) fits him well; 2) is light enough for him to swing properly; 3) is the over and under configuration that he wants; and, 4) in the 28 gauge that I wanted for low recoil and hitting ease.
My son has already shot the gun and he pulverized the first hand-thrown clay target he shot with it.  Very few subsequent targets I've thrown for him get broken by the ground.  He nails them on the first shot about 50% of the time, and when he has to shoot the top barrel, he's close to 100% on the second shot.  So far, it's working well for him.
My concern is how long that will continue, but as long as it sees him through to the point where he can shoot a heavier gun like a 686, Citori, or 101, I guess I won't complain too much.  The Yildiz didn't cost all that much compared to the value of having a couple or three years of sporting clays and upland shooting with my son.
JP