By Mike Yardley
Thursday, 08 January 2009
Turkish shotgun maker, Huglu, produces over 40,000 guns a year, and this .410 is a good example of the quality of their work
This time, we are looking at a nifty little .410 side-by-side by Huglu of Turkey.
It is a side-plated non-ejector with 3" chambers, side-clips, and a flat file-cut pigeon-style rib, an excellent choice for this sort of gun.
There may be no ejectors but there is a single trigger, and the stock is of English straight-hand style.
This is combined, unusually, with a semi-schnabel beaver-tail fore-end.
The gun comes to the shoulder very well and looks very pleasing with its colour case hardening and border engraving, save perhaps for the slightly crude engraving on the side-plate screws.
You don’t get much more gun than this for £600-£700.
Huglus are brought into the UK by Edgar brothers of Macclesfield, now one of our best known and longest established importers.
They also handle, among others, CZ and Remington. Huglu is Turkey’s most respected gunmaker, with an annual production exceeding 40,000. It makes them a global player, only really eclipsed by giants like Beretta who now make more than 150,000 shotguns a year.
The Huglu range is truly impressive. Everything from single barrels and semiautomatics, to highly embellished over-under and side-by-side guns are available, not to mention plainer grades of all descriptions.
Just about all bore sizes are available too - at least as far as double guns are concerned. Our test gun, for example, has slightly bigger brothers in 28 and 20-bore.
In fact, I have really had a lot of fun with their little 28-bore - it really is as well sorted as any side-by-side of this gauge that I have shot recently.
And, I’m a sucker for 28s.
The test gun gets full marks for finish at its price point. It has monobloc barrels, which bear British proof marks. The coil-spring powered boxlock action has a full-width detachable cross-pin, a reliable single trigger, a modified Purdey double bite lock-up system and side plates.
These are engraved by hand and look good, with traditional colour case hardening. The gun has a non-automatic safety catch.
General build quality is sound. The barrels are well put together and reasonably straight. Action machining and fitting are good and the wood work is up to standard, only let down by a little excess finish in the checkering.
The top lever and top strap safety are well conceived and comfortable in use. I have not made up my mind about the large double-headed silver eagle on the top lever. It is distinctive though.
Although there are a few slightly eccentric details, the basic spec of the Huglu is excellent. I don’t remember the early budget Spanish guns coming into the UK as being any better. I especially liked the proportions of the rib, and the stock, although the length of pull was a little short.
The timber quality, as in all the Huglus I have seen, is good, though I have seen some of these guns with absolutely outstanding stocks. Turkish walnut provides much of the world’s best stock wood, of course.
VISTING THE HUGLU FACTORY
I visited the factory six years ago. It is, in fact, a co-operative that was founded in the early 1960s, although there is a tradition of gunmaking in the region that goes back much longer.
Huglu are located near Beyşehir in south central Turkey - up in the mountains and a long way from just about everything. One drives along treacherous mountain roads and eventually comes to this quite modern town where just about everyone works for the big gunmaker, one way or another. The factory is surprisingly modern too, with plenty of modern machinery in evidence, but it is supported by a significant number of artisan outworkers as well.
SHOOTING IMPRESSIONS
This is one of the better .410 side-by-sides that I have shot with. It has enough weight and barrel length to be controllable.
The slight schnabel lip on the semi-beaver-tail fore-end is an unusual feature for a side-by-side, but it is comfortable in use and gives the little gun a bit of extra character.
On the close stuff the Huglu was great fun to shoot - though I tended to miss in front initially, as I often do with a small bore.
There is also a tendency to miss behind on longer birds because of the reduced gun mass - quick to start, quick to stop. The trick is to use the hands well, and keep the upper body rotating on crossers.
Recoil is low and the handling is lively, but not excessively so.
Is this a practical proposition for serious game shooting?
I am of the opinion that the .410 is a bore too far for most British shooting. Some people use them with good effect, but it is an expert’s gun if truth be told.
Even then, it is a much tougher gun to use well than a 28. I don’t want to put you off, though. This gun would be great for walking-up snipe or woodcock.
It would also be a good boy’s gun with a suitably modified stock. Now, as far as the 28 version is concerned I only have one piece of advice: buy one.
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