TexasCHLforum.com

New tactical

...where's it made???

The one pictured is a model 350, manufactured by Sun City Machinery Co., Ltd. in PRC and imported by Savage Arms. Essentially, it is modeled after the Ithaca 37 (bottom eject) but has a short barrel and nice ghost ring sights.

...I miss the old Ithicas...I'll have to look for this one...is the quality at least even with Norinco???

I don't really have a reference point to compare quality with Norinco. Overall, I would say quality is not bad, but not on a par with the 1950s-70s Remington 870s we have. Many more rough edges and machine marks. Seems to work OK in general, though. I had some old Activ shotshells (plastic to the base on the exterior, and they consistently try to double-feed, binding the gun up until the barrel is removed. Brass headed shells don't seem to do this and run OK in it.

Middle Age Russ wrote:The one pictured is a model 350, manufactured by Sun City Machinery Co., Ltd. in PRC and imported by Savage Arms. Essentially, it is modeled after the Ithaca 37 (bottom eject) but has a short barrel and nice ghost ring sights.

Good eye

Looking at Cabelas Doorbuster sale ad I got in today's mailbox I saw the photo and knew I saw the same photo here

Savage 350 "save $60.00" Sale price $199 was $259

...fellas, not trying to be snobbish, but a great-shape Rem 870 or Winch 1200 or 1300 or Mossberg 500 can be had for that money or less...and it's American and parts readily available...I gotta say pass on this one...like the bottom-shucking and sights, though...

speedsix wrote:...fellas, not trying to be snobbish, but a great-shape Rem 870 or Winch 1200 or 1300 or Mossberg 500 can be had for that money or less...and it's American and parts readily available...I gotta say pass on this one...like the bottom-shucking and sights, though...

True, plus the benefit of easier to find / cheap barrels for those... to drop a long tight choke goose hunting barrel in, then back at home drop your Home Defense barrel in. One Rem 870 is like owning several guns when you have other barrels.

I mean one can probably find barrels for a Savage, but the number of 870 barrels out there assures they'll be easy to find for a long time.

Do you guys want me to move this to the Rifles & Shotguns Category? I think we have a nice little conversation going that pretty quickly stopped being a test post. Better chance of others finding the Topic if we move it.

...great...I never noticed it was a test...just saw that scattergun and we were off!!!

For the record, my test is now sitting in my safe with about 100 rounds, no jams or problems, through it, purchased for $199!

...now THAT'S the way to do the test...keep the sample!!!

*grin* I cut my bird hunting teeth with my Dad's 16ga Stevens 520. Still my favorite shotgun to shoot, though that may be a bit of sentiment speaking. The old gun was built sometime prior to 1932 and still gets the occasional skunk or grackle when dad gets a burr under his seat ;)

Kinda nice to see the name still around.

I bought this gun at the end of summer from Academy for $199, their everyday price. There were two things that kept running through my mind at the time.

1) It can' t be worth much if it's $199.

2) What a sweet set-up for $199!

I bought it and was immediately impressed with it's weight, ghost ring rear / green fiber optic front sight, bottom feed/eject and built in sling posts. Finish is about what I expected from a $199 Chinese manufactured shotgun and the stock did have a very noxious, plastic-y smell that was off-putting to say the least. It does go away after a few days out of the bock and plastic though.
I put 20 rounds of 1oz slugs through it the day after I bought it and at 25 yards, I was super impressed with out of the box accuracy. I know the rounds that I sailed out of the nine ring were most likely the 4th and/or 5th rounds due to flinching, but I have been working on that at our lease with a mix of buckshot and slugs.
Back to the finish of the stock. I have a mustache and goatee, and I noticed where my cheek weld on the stock had some "scratches" on it. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what the heck it was until I picked up the gun and sighted (unloaded and safety checked) on a practice target in the garage a few days later when it dawned on me that my scraggly chin whiskers were making the scratches on the stock. Now that leads me into the "cons" of the gun. NO Aftermarket replacement parts. However, I'm sure if I keep digging, I can probably find some somewhere on the vastness of the internet.

I own and have owned Winchester 1200/1300's and Rem 870's and agree about finding a good quality used shotgun in those flavors with a variety of aftermarket barrels and accessories, but for a first home defense, truck or just totin' around the deer lease gun, I think it's a winner.