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.

Made by Huglu in Turkey. Have been around at least 20 years. Good US service dept. They (Huglu) make many private label brands.

if trigger pull is important to you, I would not recommend buying one without dropping in snap caps and checking. CZ will reduce pull weight to the weight of the gun.

Are they dependable? Will they last as a hunting gun??

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 shoot with a friend that owns several. His son shoots the O/U that has held up pretty well. He shoots the heavy 12 model and has sent it back so many times he knows the service mgr by name. The last time the rib came loose and for a fee they replaced it with a new gun. He also owns the light 20 and shoots it rarely, but loves it for carrying / hunting. He still thinks they are great for the $.

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

They seem to be a very good place to start. For the money, I'm not sure you can improve much upon them. The triggers seem to be their only true weak point (heavy & creepy) but once they've been serviced (which is free for the original owners) they're very serviceable. I bought one for my son as a beginner all-around gun (a Bobwhite G-2 in 12). The doublegun version of an 870, and useable for just about anything (with choke tubes and steel tolerant).

like a lotta post ww2 made guns, these do not have the fit, finish, look or feel of a good pre war made gon...

I have a 12 g Bobwhite G2. The quality is better than a Stoeger. The gun is very tight when you get it. From what I have read, the wood ranges from appropriate to the cost of the gun to pretty good. Comes with 5 chokes and a decent plastic case. I think it is a pretty good price for what you are getting, if this was made in the US, it would probably be at least a $1000 dollar gun. As already mentioned, triggers can be heavy to people used to higher end guns, I'd guess them at about 6-8 lbs. The gun MAY not like all brands of ammo. Mine doesn't like soft primers. I certainly don't regret buying it and it's nice having a gun that isn't going to cost a small fortune if something breaks.

Two shooting friends bought one of the CZ Hammerguns. They both like the gun and it's a good looking gun. CZ is making inroads into the Cowboy shooting crowd and there are new gunsmiths who are offering CZ guns set up for Cowboy shootings.

I just gotta ask. What kind of a dog is that in the cage. Is it a dog? Thanks.

I was wondering wat kind of dog is that in the cage?

I had a Huglu hammer gun that was finished and imported by Pedersoli, not CZ, but it was identical to their current Hammer Classic. It was a pile of steaming garbage and I sold it very quickly.

I'm glad you said steaming garbage. I thought you were going to say steaming ---- (something else). Ha-ha!! But thanks for your reply and opinion.

Hey all, I have a CZ Hammer Classic that I used for duck hunting last year. When I got it the trigger pulls were horrible! CZ lightened them up, good to go now. It's a good weight for a duck gun, wouldn't carry it in the uplands. Balance is good. The only issue I have is the bores are not .729 (at least mine) the left bbl is .732 and the right is .735. Had to adjust the choke tubes around to get the gun to pattern what I wanted. Bbl regulation is spot on, no complaints. Overall, I'm happy with mine.

Best,

Greg

I've really enjoyed both my Bobwhites in 20ga and 28ga. No problems with either out-of-the-box.
The 20ga I've taken to Africa and Canada, shooting everything from geese to dove and sandgrouse with it over nearly 20 years.
Thousands of rounds thru it and it has held up.

JImmy, that is one of Gil's French Brittanys, either Abby or Willa, both fine woodcock/quail dogs. The older is Abby, but she's quite aged now and may not have been on the last hunt this past season.

Gil may not be on the board this morning. We had a pretty stout hurricane blow through yesterday and I've heard that Savannah got hit pretty bad, where Gil lives. Maybe he'll be on soon and elaborate.

CZ has been importing for 20 years? How did I miss that?

I had an early Huglu 20 GA, brought back from the sand by a soldier prior to any US imports. A simple 20 ga 2 trigger extractor gun. I shot it until the solder came loose at the muzzles, then gave it to a gunsmith who fixed it and he used it for years more.

Floyd's camera shy Brittany, Sadie. My two were in my truck when photo taken. Gil

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 still can't post anything on here or I would put my springer spaniel's picture on. I tried those two websites that everyone gave me but they won't let me register for some reason. So, I'll just have to enjoy everyone else's pictures. Thanks guys. Great looking dogs.

I have a stock Sharptail in 28 and a 12 Ga. Hammer Classic that has had a gripectomy, lightened triggers, and stock "upgrade"by Mark Larson. I also had a 20 ga. that I sold for no good reason and still miss that top fastener.
CZ SxS are what they are, good work guns that are fun to shoot, they are not hidden gems that are a H&H in the rough.

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?

CZ-USA has a warranty program that does work. Stuff can happen-but it has been my experience it will be fixed or replaced.

I had Mark DeHaan lighten the triggers, but I doubt he's still doing it. Again, CZ SxS are what they are, Not Terrible-Not Great. You'll be satisfied if you go in
with that mindset, if not, you'll be disappointed.

Damning with faint praise...

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.

Given the propensity of cowboy action shooters around here to take a hacksaw to their guns, you've provided a very practical list of candidates. Although, I'd hope the (original) Stevens would be spared. Since CZ USA is a few miles down the road, I've seen a lot of their guns being used. I was involved in an informal trap league a few years ago where we shot two rounds per week during the summer. A lot of the young/newer shooters were using CZ O/U's and the majority seemed to eventually develop issues: Triggers, ejectors, broken firing pins, and other assorted gremlins. The local joke is that CZ has excellent warranty service because they get so much practice. Glad to hear your experience has been different.

Not long ago I bought a used Ithaca SKB Model 150 12ga from a local gun store for $950. I thought that was a good price. Don't know if it was unusually good. But unless you have something against single triggers, I'd say that's a better gun than a CZ. But then maybe you won't find many of those--or comparable doubles--for under $1,000.

Jimmy, my answer to this question has to be a tiny bit roundabout, as I have never owned a CZ. But I do own two other Turkish doubles .......a Dickinson and a Yildiz. Both came with hard triggers, in the 9 lb. range. Being anal about triggers I had to do something about them. My Dickinson went to the best shotgun trigger man I know of in the USA, Phillip Crenwelge in Emory, TX. I did the Yildiz myself. The Dickinson has double triggers and the Yildiz has a single trigger with barrel selector. I had done considerable trigger jobs in the past and felt confident I could do the Yildiz, and it being such an inexpensive gun I didn't stand to lose much monetarily if I failed. It turned out beautifully and has stood the test of time for some 12 years, or so, of use. The Dickinson came back from Phillip with great trigger pulls, much more in keeping with what i wanted in a lightweight .410.

If someone can get an acceptable trigger job from the CZ service center I'd go for it, if it's free. If not, I'd not hesitate to send it straight to Phillip. He's just consistently great at what he does.

👍 I'll probably have to do that. I'm barely qualified to shoot the gun. Let alone repair it. Thanks for taking the time.

If you have seen them in stores then you know how they feel, but for me, they are too heavy, balanced poorly (muzzle heavy), and have swells in their barrel profiles to accommodate choke tubes. "for the money", I think used guns like the Ithaca SKB's beat them badly. And even a nice English gun from someone like @battle will throw shade on the CZ every time.

But that's just my opinion. I've only handled the 12 gauge Bobwhites.

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

It probably is a better gun, but the Cowboy shooters found the SKB's and prices, that I have seen, are in excess of $2000 used and that's before the gunsmithing work to make them race guns.

Interesting. I sold one a couple of years ago for $1000 ( the more desirable 27+" 20 gauge), and have another 25+" 20 gauge left to go. Good to know it's now a $2k gun, because I've never heard of $2000 SKBs nor of Cowboys cutting them down. They are good guns and 12s used to be abundant enough to be a nuisance when shopping for a 20. I haven't followed them in years, however.

I've seen them, but I never picked one up. The store near here had several of them on display a few months ago, but I just didn't pay that much attention to them. I guess I was more interested in the Model 21 that was on consignment next to them. But you are probably right. I should maybe just stick to getting my next 21? Ya think? Thanks.

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.

I agree 100%. I would rather have blued steel. Even the silver receiver on my Beretta is great. But, I'm not a fan of black receivers any more than black wheels on a car. (I'm a chrome guy) (I hope that comment doesn't tick somebody off. I already had KY Jon run down my bellbottom pants for cryin' out loud. ) But yeah, I'm with you on the blued receivers. Take care.

To do a quick price check on Ithaca SKBs, I pulled up Guns International. With the exception of one dealer and a couple other guns, most of the rest were priced under $2,000. A few even came in under $1,000, with a couple beating the $950 I paid for my 12ga 150.

Most cowboy shooters aren't interested in 20 gauge shotguns regardless of make. Fewer ammo choices for those that don't reload and a 20 gauge on 20 gauge sized frame with short barrels has a reputation for kicking badly.

They bought up the 12 g SKBs, had gunsmiths shorten the barrels, polish the chambers and if they had inertial triggers, the gun was modified to make them mechanical triggers.

And a casual search shows SKB 12 g SxS running between $1500-$2000 on a couple of the gun auction sites. I think I got the $2000+ amount from cowboy shooters selling them on the SASS Wire

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.

Are the CZs made by the same firm that makes the Dickinson guns? I’ve looked at those and they seem to be well made. I can’t find anything about them not to like.