I’m hunting with a second hand Tristar Raptor 12-ga. this year and enjoying it. I mounted a Konus Pro 1.5-5 scope on it. Previous owner had it outfitted with a Carlson’s .675 choke.
I like the set up and think it’ll make a jam-up thicket deer gun too.
It doesn’t like to cycle 1 Oz. Dove loads. But cycles the heavy stuff fine.
I do wonder how a kind of “off brand” gun holds up over the long haul. But I don’t have ton of money in the set/up.
I was told by a guy in the know at TriStar. He said if you’re going to shoot the gun over 5,000 times buy the higher grade. If not you will be fine. And I’m talking the different grades of TriStar. Not a different manufacture.
What’s the highest grade?
Honestly, I don’t know. They do a gun of the year for several folks, NWTF, DU, etc. It’s a “cheaper” gun. All the tolerances are the same just different metals. One is steel the other is aluminum, I believe. He said the steel was more expensive because it takes longer to cut. And they just don’t wear as much. But he told me that unless you’re trap or clay shooting a lot, that the average guy would never break or wear the aluminum one out.
