well, after 5 1/2 months it finally arrived. never used a pump action before and a friend thought I was mad to order one without having tried one (maybe). intended use is for rough shooting as I didn't real comfortable walking about with a very expensive Miroku o/u that weighs a ton.
decided to go for the 24" barrel to keep the overall length down and so pleased I did, you can get a 26 or 28" too if so wish (or an 18 or 20" in USA or I guess on a sect 1 SGC in the UK but these are slug barrels aimed at home defence in USA)
first thoughts........ tacticool looking
nicely balanced and it came with a ventilated butt plate which I wasn't expecting, Hatsan's web site seems to indicate this only comes on the junior model, but hey, a bonus.
comes with 5 choke tubes cyl, 1/4 1/2 3/4 & full, not the cyl imp/cyl mod imp/mod & full the manual and web site says, plus manual says the tubes are notched so you can tell which one is installed, seems they have changed the design as no notches (except for the two the key uses to screw them in). each tube is etched on the side saying what it is so you can't tell once installed. comparing these Hatsan chokes with my Miroku, I would say like for like the Hatsan's are slightly tighter by a gnats. the 3/4 & full tube are also etched saying no steel shot or slugs.
web site says for use with 2 3/4 & 3" cartridges, this was where I was keeping fingers crossed as I like the Hull Imperial game carts in 6's (26grm) which are 2 1/2" yes it cycles them perfectly
being much lighter than my Miroku, so I was wondering just how much it would kick, maybe it's the balance (would imagine a longer barrel might be very slightly front heavy) or combination of this and the ventilated butt pad, but it's like a pussy cat, even a friend who tried my o/u and his comment then was f...... h... said this Hatsan didn't kick much at all
the UK models do not come with sling studs installed, why... who knows. the shotgun comes with an accessory box housing the chokes, the choke key, 3 shims to change the stock cast and 3 shims to change the butt length if you so wish.
loading it.... easy. personally I don't like walking around with one up the spout, so I load 2 in the mag and rack it when needed. racking it is real easy but make sure you fully push forward the forend until it locks in place. if it hasn't been fired, you need to press a release lever (in front of trigger guard which sounds awkward to use located here but really isn't) to release the lock, once fired there is no need to do so.
having never ever fired a pump before, I can honestly say cycling it for a second shot (or 3rd) came very naturally without it coming off the shoulder. it doesn't throw the empty carts miles and is dependant on the speed you pull the forend back during the cycling, if too slow the cart may not be thrown out.
dissassembling.... real easy. unscrew nut on front of mag tube, pull out barrel, pull forend forward and off the mag tube, the bolt comes out with this too (watch it doesn't fall off the 2 bars) takes around 10 seconds if not less. no pushing out pins etc (unless you want to take the trigger assy out. to re-assemble you'll need to hold the action release button in and don't put the forend to its extreme rear position, maybe half way or so which aids putting the barrel on.
I gave mine a good lube as parts seemed a little dry, took the bolt fully apart too including taking out the firing pin, no special tools needed at all.
that's it, for the price and with 3 years warranty, I'm not complaining, it's a tool for a job and it does it well and not expensively. shop around for a good deal, got mine for around the £350 mark (new)
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