This Yildiz isn’t just Elegant by name, says John McDougall
It comes as no surprise to see the Turkish Gun Works in Burdur also making an elegant range of double (side-by-side) shotguns for distribution worldwide. At first glance the Elegant A1 E Special looks a very nicely produced sporting arm, though for a 3.25kg gun it certainly set my shoulder back when using the 76mm cartridges it was designed for. The spritely Saga loads supplied for testing also had my jaw rattling but later, changing to 21gram 67mm loads or even 1200fps trap loads, the gun was a delight to use either in the field or over the sporting traps.
I haven’t quite worked out why it was chambered for semi-magnum loads but that’s the situation. Of course you don’t have to use semi-magnum for great results, as lighter loads performed extremely well, particularly with trap steel shot now mandatory for all game shooting in Victoria. My good friend and hunting companion Henryk shot quail with steel shot trap loads and found them deadly through the Yildiz, so let’s take a closer look at what’s on offer with the Elegant A1 E Special.
Barrels
At just over 76.5cm these are slim and well suited to the lines of the gun. As with most interchangeable choke tube shotguns, the muzzle’s slightly ‘belled’ to accommodate the choke tubes of which five are supplied along with a flat spanner for installation, a bit fiddley but nothing a Briley speed wrench couldn’t fix. The tubes are 37mm and notched on the end for ready identification.
Blueing on the barrels is faultless. Twenty years ago as Turkish gun manufacturing was evolving, it was common to see flux along the ribs of their guns. Thankfully this has been resolved and the barrels produced, especially by Yildiz, experience no such result on blueing (I did like the semi-matte finish as well as the colour of their blueing). At the muzzle end is a single brass bead while the top rib is ‘swamped’, starting level with the receiver then dropping below the barrel line only to be level again at the muzzle. There’s no mid-rib sight though the top rib is treated with a non-glare finish.
At the breech end as mentioned, the Yildiz Elegant A1 E Special is chambered for 76mm cartridges of 12-gauge configuration, the bores identical at 0.728”. There didn’t appear to be any forcing cone modifications so I assume they remained standard. The lengthy monobloc lump is quite significant in length and would assist in keeping the barrels perfectly aligned from twisting, even when firing the heaviest semi-magnum loads. Automatic split ejectors work perfectly with the opening of the barrels.
Receiver
According to the Yildiz catalogue the engraving here is hand-cut and has been tastefully completed, depicting an English Pointer flushing a partridge. This engraving features on both sides of the receiver with a Pointer’s head on the underside. The silver nitride finish complements the gun superbly, set between the barrels and high-grade walnut stock, all inletting completed to perfection and the metal-to-metal fitting faultless. Beautiful scroll engraving is somewhat deeper than on the game scenes but provides an excellent border around the dog and partridge. The trigger guard, fore-end iron and top tang are also nicely engraved to complement the receiver.
Most double guns of yesteryear sported twin triggers and didn’t have a barrel selector, you either pulled the front or back trigger first to activate the left or right barrel. The Yildiz Elegant has a single selective trigger that’s mechanically operated as opposed to inertia, whereby the first barrel must fire before the second firing mechanism can be operated. With mechanically operated trigger mechanisms, if there’s a misfire with the first shot the second barrel can always be fired, unless you have two misfiring cartridges.
The trigger guard isn’t overly large but sufficient to accommodate those who choose to wear shooting gloves. The single trigger’s non-adjustable for increasing or decreasing the user’s reach for the triggerfoot when the pistol grip is firmly grasped, so any adjustment must be made by moving your hand up or down along the neck of the pistol grip. Weights of the triggers are quite safe at around 2kg each and there’s little between them, with the right barrel having 200g more. One thing I did find with the firing mechanism is the first trigger has to be completely released to fire the second barrel.
Design of the top lever is perfect and activated to release the barrels for fast reloading, which many may not recognise as one of the virtues of a double gun (or side-by-side). The reason they can reload faster is due to the horizontal configuration of the barrels, which don’t require to be dropped down so far as with an over-and-under shotgun. Some shooters also like the wider horizontal sighting plane a double gun offers and remain dedicated to their side-by-side for those reasons (there are now also competition shoots offered specifically for them). The Yildiz Elegant A1 E would be perfect for such events, especially with those interchangeable choke tubes.
Stock and fore-end
This is where Turkish guns shine, given all mechanicals are in perfect working order. The stock work here is grade three walnut, chosen to suit the Elegant for character of the grain in the matching stock and fore-end. I’d expect to see such nicely-featured woodwork on a gun costing at least $1500 to $2500 more. Design of the stock is standard, without an adjustable comb or similar and features a full pistol grip and standard comb line. Thankfully, as the gun’s proofed to fire 3” semi-magnum shells, it has a reasonably solid rubber recoil pad fitted.
Design of the fore-end is quite novel and appears to be a cross between a ‘splinter’ and ‘beaver-tail’. The release catch is located on underside of the fore-end and chequering on both pistol grip and fore-end wood ran out to around 20 lines per inch, both pieces of woodwork being oiled finished.
Over traps and in the field
The Yildiz Elegant A1 E Special was a delight to use over the traps at Frankston Gun Club. While many of my targets were completely destroyed using a combination of quarter and three-quarter choke, I may have been even more successful with quarter and half chokes. Nevertheless there were plenty of targets which visibly disappeared. As it’s a while since I’d used a double gun it took some time to become accustomed, though performance-wise I couldn’t fault it.
For those who enjoy the challenge of using a side-by-side over the sporting clays grounds, the Yildiz Elegant A1 E Special would be perfect, especially since it has a barrel selector and interchangeable choke tubes. The gun swung well and felt balanced between my hands. The sighting plane was obviously different but head down on the stock produced reasonable results.
I was also delighted I had the gun to test during quail season. Although birds were scarce in our hunting area, the Yildiz managed to bag six or seven during two outings. Once again, the interchangeable choke tubes were a bonus as quail succumbed to steel shot trap loads which were made mandatory this season using more open chokes of cylinder and quarter.
In conclusion, I was most impressed with the Yildiz double in 12-gauge. For around $2779, cased and with all accessories and five-year warranty I found it excellent value, ideal for sporting clay competitions and well suited to hunting. The finish of Turkish guns has come a long was during the past 20 years and, with excellent back-up from distributor OSA, it would be difficult to find better at this price.
SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: Yildiz, Burdur, Turkey
Distributor: OSA, Melbourne
Model: Yildiz Elegant A1 E Special
Barrel length: 76.5cm
Barrel weight: 1.54kg
Overall length: 1208mm
Overall weight: 3.25kg
Chamber and gauge: 76mm, 12-gauge
Bore sizes: Both barrels 0.728”
Trigger pulls: Left barrel 2000g, right 2200g
Drop at comb: 42mm
Drop at heel: 65mm
Length of pull: 370mm
Chequering: About 20 lines per inch
Warranty: Five years
Price: Around $2779 with ABS case and accessories