TriStar Over Under Shot guns?

[rundrave]

Late last season I purchased a TriStar Hunter Ex Model over/under shotgun. I hadn't seen a lot of info about these guns other than they are imported from Turkey. They are pretty cheap the model I have on the TriStar HSOforum says this gun retails for $619 and I only paid $350 for it from Cabelas.

Has anyone had any experience with these guns? I probably haven't even fired a full box of shells through it and now I am having issues.

It is firing both shells at the same time no matter what barrel I have selected. This gun has a single selective trigger so it has a button that allows you to select the barrel to be fired first.

I also notice that after firing when I open the action that the gun breaks open on its own, but not enough to set off the ejectors. I almost have to manually force it to open far enough to get the ejectors to eject the fired shells.

I was wondering if I used it some more and 'break it in' will it start to open easier?

I am now starting to wonder if I should have taken the advice that was given to me a while ago to not go cheap on an over under. I am not out anything, I paid for the entire gun in gift cards. But this gun fits me perfect and shoulders nice so that was one of the main reasons for giving it a try. Some of the other more expensive guns just didn't feel comfortable.

Any advice before I call the manufacturer?

[fishlakeman]

My roomate won a tristar at a DU Banquet, it was a semi-auto. Almost right out of the box the thing didn't work right, was ejecting shells out the bottom of the gun and jamming. He hasn't tried calling tristar, but took it to a gunsmith and they wanted $50 just to look at the thing.

[rundrave]

well I emailed them yesterday and received this email:

I apologize for the inconvenience. This is not a usual problem for the gun to double fire. The one thing that I think maybe happening is that the gun is not being broken open all of the way. It is being open partially which is causing the hammers to connect to the sears, but only slightly. Once the first shell is being fired, the second hammer is slipping off of the sear causing the hammer to fall which hits the firing pin, striking the primer. This could be one of the problems, but without taking a look atthe gun, we can not be for sure. We can replace and adjust anything else that needs to be repaired so we can get the gun up and running properly. We will mostlikely need to take a look at the gun. You will need to send it in to usand then we will take care of everything else after that.

well looks like I will be sending it in. I will follow up with any news, and hope for the best

[R OTTER]

I had the same thing happen to my tristar o/u, i called and they told me the recoil from the first shot sets the trigger for the secound shot and the gun had to be adjusted, I sent the gun in and it works fine now.

[rundrave]

well I mailed my gun off last friday. They received it on Monday, I have been traveling for work and I returned home late last night to find a box waiting for me.

That was crazy turn around time! I will be putting this gun to test on some roosters later this evening. Wish me luck.

[kentuck_ike]

that is awesome, must have been an easy fix. Hope it works great.

[Mike J]

Sounds like they have some pretty good customer service. Did they tell you if they found a problem or what they fixed?

Let us know how it goes.

Mike

[rundrave]

i was hoping for some sort of invoice explaining what had been done, but there was nothing.

I also mentioned to them that I have handled and transported this gun with care and it has also been transported in a case. On the stock of the gun immediately behind the trigger guard there was a stress crack on each side of stock. They also replaced that as well.

[tipup]

I have the same gun and have not had any problems with mine? I would rather beat around a cheap O/U then the $1000 O/U i would like to have!!! Still kills the birds!!!

[rundrave]

took it out tonight and it worked great, it breaks open much easier, ejected both shells after firing each shell individually

I am going to hunt 2 full days this weekend with it and hopefully its got all the bugs worked out. so far so good, I still cant believe they got it back to me that fast.

[CJH]

Sounds like good customer service - if its fixed and holds up for you.

Good Luck!

[rundrave]

well I unfortanetly I have to revist this thread. Went out on Wednesday and shot at a bird and both shells fired. Figured it was just a one time deal and when the next shot was fired later that day it shot both shells again. Was nice and loud and those late season roosters knew I was close

Tinkered with the gun for a bit and made sure I was breaking it all the way open. Both shells are ejecting etc but this is identical to what happenend last year. This is getting to be very frustrating. Not to mention I dont like pheasant hamburger, or birds in multiple pieces after getting hit.

Now I even tried with the gun unloaded, it will fire(click) twice as expected with the top barrel selected to fire first. But if I choose the bottom barrel it will only click once. With the gun loaded and top barrel selected

I have shot maybe half a box of shells through this gun since getting it returned last year. I am going to contact them again and see what happends.

[Brad B]

the double firing will happen on some of the cheaper o/u shotguns if you don't have it against your shoulder tight enough. I had a kahn o/u and a bird got up once and I shot without having tight to my shoulder and it double fired. kahn's are now sold as mossberg silver/onxy reserve models.

[Ufatz]

Why not check around and see if you can find an old Browning Superposed. It does not have to LOOK pretty but it will shoot properly all the time....even if it is 60 years old.

When you buy cheap you get cheap. Sometimes it's all a guy can do and I'm not insulting you when I say that, but those botttom-of-the-barrel shotguns are just NOT going to be as reliable mechanically.

[PoorWordUsage] thing!!

[troutned]

If the recoil of the first shot is what sets-up the trigger for the second shot as they said, then the gun has what is known as an inertia-type switching device. In this case, when you dry-fire the gun, you should get the first click (fire), but not the second. If you pull the trigger twice in succession and get it to "fire" both times, that is a malfunction. With an inertia switching device, you should get the first click, but not the second, until you simulate recoil. This can often be done by hitting the butt of the gun with your hand, or dropping the gun, vertically and butt-first, onto something non-damaging (a hockey-puck on the floor works great). This simulated recoil will switch the gun over to the second barrel, and you should be able to get the second barrel to "fire".

There are "shelves" attached to the inertia block (which is linked to the trigger). These shelves engage and lift the sears. If any of the shelves are rounded-off, they can cause problems. But this will usually cause a "failure to fire" scenario. More likely, the end of the sear that engages the hammer is rounding-off. Your story of the company fixing it and then it failing eventually does not surprise me. The parts in "affordable" firearms are often made of relatively soft metal, and it will eventually round-off. Case-hardening will make the steel harder, but only to a depth of 20-50 thousandths of an inch. If the manufacturer filed the hammer-end of the sear back to a distinct edge, they probably filed beyond that depth, and reached soft steel (assuming it was case-hardened to begin with). Then, they SHOULD HAVE case-hardened the part after the fix, giving the steel a very hard shell and dis-allowing the edge to round-off again.

Hope that at least gives you some insight into "why". As for what to do, find a GOOD gunsmith to get the job done right.

[Ufatz]

Good explanation of inertia triggers. The "thump" on the floor will work on all the GOOD triggers and is of course the mechanism on the Super-posed I suggested. IT is relatively easy to find a DECENT O/U on the used market rather than play Shotgun Roulette on today's market with its myriad "entry level" appliances.

As suggested, try to get it into the hands of a competent 'smith.

[rundrave]

I understand what your saying, the gunsmith I talked with on the phone referred to it as phantom fire. It makes sense, but why would the gun consistantly work with no issues, and that all the sudden do it everytime. It also does it when its unloaded when I fire it(no kick). So its probably something getting weak or wore down inside.

I get the point with the cheap gun aspect, but I only paid $350 for it (way under its retail ) and it fits and shoulders me perfect. I have no problem going out and spending $2k for a gun but if it doesnt fit me I am not buying it. If I found another O/U that fit me like this gun does I would buy it, believe me money is not the issue with my purchase its all about the fit.

After speaking with their gunsmith I will give them one last try, and if not ask for a refund. They have a 5yr warranty so its no cost to fix other than the hassle I have been through.

[troutned]

Rundrave, you're absolutely correct about things getting worn down. As for your question of why it worked perfectly, then suddenly malfunctioned every time, think of it like this: where the sear engages the hammer, it must have a very good edge, like a knife. When the sear edge begins to "dull", it can no longer engage the hammer properly. Just like when a knife begins to dull, it wants to slide sideways on a tomato rather than "get ahold" of it. When your knife begins to dull, you know that it must be sharpened, or it will only get duller and fail to cut the tomato. When your sear begins to round-off (get dull), it will only get worse and continue to fail holding the hammer.

As this dulling gets worse, it will (or has from what you're saying) get to where any little disruption or vibration will cause it to release the hammer. When it gets even duller than that, it may not hold the hammer back at all. At that point, your gun will no longer double, but it won't fire that barrel, either.

[rundrave]

thought I would update this thread. Had TriStar do some more work on this gun and I can now say that I have about 150 rounds through it shooting trap and no double fires yet. Maybe the 3rd fix was the charm....too bad it cant help me shoot any better lol.

I am going to try and get out once again before I hunt any birds with it and try to get another hundred shells through it. Wish me luck

[Outdoor Authority]

rundave, I know what your saying about the fit of the trystar. I bought mine from a guy needing money bad. I payed 200 for mine. I havent had a problem with it at all, I use it for jumping pond, turkey hunting and riding around in my truck. I didnt care for the gun at first intel I started to use it and then fell in love how it fit and felt, way better than those more exspensive over unders. I havent had any problem with mine but two others I knwo have and it took multiple times sending it in before they got them fixed but after they got the problem solved it has worked flawlesly.

[shawn1982]

Funny you all should bring this up....Last year I bought a Tri-star O/U at a Gun Show. I was looking for an offordable gun! It will only shoot the over barrel. I have to smack it hard on the ground in order for it to "reset" to shoot the 2nd shell. So I sent it to Tri-star and it took nearly a month to get it back. The bad part is they didnt fix it...still only shoots the top barrel so I called and explained to them the situation and this was the ladys exact words..."we cant fix it then, have a good day" So I replied with a nice !%$@&#@! %@!$! to you to !$#@$. I will be trading it off in the near feature for a semi auto as I found out I need more then one shot!!! I will NEVER purchase another gun from them.

[gspman]

Internal parts are generally not given what is called a case hardening. They can be heat treated but that is different. True case hardening is more of a cosmetic thing for the metal on the outside of the gun. I love case hardening colors.

[Ufatz]

Find a nice used Browning Superposed and shoot it for the rest of your life. Then somebody else can shoot it for the next fifty years.

You don't GOTTA buy new to get a good O/U shotgun ya know. And you don't gotta buy a semi-auto either.

Go simple. Go classy. Go double. Go quality.

[Pinusbanksiana]

I agree with Ufatz. Buy a good quality shotgun and shoot it. Don't worry about treating it badly, that happens to all guns and real hunters. When you have pride in your shotgun, you take care of it. I despise chunky wood, heavy, unbalanced, cruddy quality shotguns. And auto-loaders. A nice nimble, quick double gun has class, character, and will be something you are proud to pass on.

[rundrave]

Funny you all should bring this up....Last year I bought a Tri-star O/U at a Gun Show. I was looking for an offordable gun! It will only shoot the over barrel. I have to smack it hard on the ground in order for it to "reset" to shoot the 2nd shell. So I sent it to Tri-star and it took nearly a month to get it back. The bad part is they didnt fix it...still only shoots the top barrel so I called and explained to them the situation and this was the ladys exact words..."we cant fix it then, have a good day" So I replied with a nice !%$@&#@! %@!$! to you to !$#@$. I will be trading it off in the near feature for a semi auto as I found out I need more then one shot!!! I will NEVER purchase another gun from them.

thats a bummer to hear, I have had great customer service and couldnt ask for a faster turn around time from TriStar despite repeated issues. Did you buy it new or used, I dont understand why you dont have a warranty? Is it because you got it used at the gun show?