doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - CZ side by sides......?...

I have seen quite a few of these lately in the gun stores. The Sharptail and the Bob white. I have also been reading about them, but there are a lot of mixed reviews. For the price, I was wondering if they are okay. They look pretty nice but you can't tell without shooting them. I guess I don't really expect much for that price, but I am assuming they should be okay for bird hunting. I imagine that they are on the quality of a Stoeger type shotgun. So I was wondering if any of you guys have purchased any CZ side by sides. And what are your thoughts about them? Thanks for any opinions.

Stan, Abby and Willa are American Brittanys. Snap is the Frenchie. Big difference is that American Brittanys "pee". French Britts "oui". We weathered okay. Lost power from 430 pm to 130 a.m. House was lit up like a Christmas tree when it came on. Need to start turning off lights when not in use... Gil

I would not buy one of their single trigger guns, I owned several and had problems with all.
The double trigger guns seem to have less problems.

I had a Bobwhite 28 ga. 1st generation. A wonderful gun. I had a local smith lighten pull. The gun weighed 5 lbs. 5 oz. It was on a scaled 28 ga. action. Good little woodcock gun. Last spring I gave it to a friend's grandson and replaced it with an Iside 28. Here's my little Bobwhite in the middle of the photo taken on the last day of SC woodcock season Jan. 2023. Gil

So, if you have to get them serviced or worked on, where do you send them? Is there a service department here in the United States? And so many of you spoke about the triggers.....do you just take them to the local gunsmith to have trigger work done? Or do you send them back to the factory customer service shop?

I've been a Cowboy action shooter for 25+ years, I've seen a lot of new and used entry level SxS guns (Stoegers, Baikal's, TTN's, Stevens 311) in the under $1000 field.

I haven't seen a better shotgun than the CZ SxS in the under $1000 field and I can't think of a regularly available used SxS under $1000 that is better than the CZ. I own the Bobwhite G2 and know shooters who own their Hammer Classic, semi-auto and O/U and all are happy with the guns. The build quality of all them is better than one would expect for the price.

Damning with faint praise...

I know it’s silly, but I just don’t like the black paint finish on the ones I’ve seen. I know it’s not paint…

They may work perfect and be great bad weather guns. I’m just at a phase in life where I want wood and blued steel. A SxS is a classic and I prefer a classic finish.

All that said, if I found a great deal on one I wouldn’t hesitate to pick it up.

Years ago, a Canadian did an in depth comparison of the Bobwhite 28 and 20 ga versus a Brit 20 ga. Evans (I think that was the gun) and was not surprised to read that the Evans was superior in quality and balance. However the 28 ga. CZ was very close in most attributes. At the time the CZ was close to $1000 Canadian in cost. This didn't reflect the actual LGS price but was suggested retail. The link is no longer operative. Gil

Talking used guns, a comparable 12 will generally cost less than a 20. The latter are more sought after by bird hunters, and there are usually more used 12's available. The Ithaca SKB imports included a variety of choices for buyers: Pistol grip or straight grip. Ejectors or extractors. Beavertail forend or splinter. 26" or 28" barrels. Yes, the trigger is inertial. However, of all the SKB sxs I've owned--going back to the first one I bought in 1972--I haven't experienced any trigger problems. I'm more particular than some about pull weight, and I've never had to have one adjusted by a gunsmith.

Good luck getting over $2,000 out of a 12ga Ithaca SKB unless it's in close to mint condition.