doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Turkish Clunkers !

I'm looking at a Kimber Valier SxS online and it looks nice. However I keep seeing comments calling the Turkish guns as CLUNKERS ! Has anyone seen and handled one of these and could give me some guidance before I purchase ??

It would probably be inappropriate to call a $4500-5000 gun a clunker, even a clunker from Turkey. However, that same money will buy a lot of guns that I would prefer. Guns with some history of longevity and well established reputations. Give it some real study before you leap on the camel's back.

I agree with Jim Legg, those Kimbers are far from being called a "clunker". Turkey has however produced its fair share of clunkers in the past. Nowadays factories over there are making decent guns, especially when you compare them to similar graded guns of Spain and Italy. Would I buy one? No, simply because I would rather own an American or European classic.

I'm with Jim and Channing. The Turks will have to prove themselves over time before I'm convinced of their quality. Right now, I don't feel like being a test subject. Let someone else blaze that trail. $4k is a lot of money to throw at a gun that the country of origin has a history of producing clunkers, even if the Valier may be controlled better. It takes a long time lots of good product to loose a bad rep. I'd rather spend that on a Spanish gun than Turkish.

I would rather spend it on a German,American, Italian,or london gun before Turkish. To each his own.

I agree. At this piont, I would only buy a Turkish gun at a garage sale, or at least, garage sale prices. Imagine the depreciation of a new Turkish gun.

I will buy a Turkish shotgun when they are equipped with an ignition system that does not involve a "trigger".

You will be much better off spending $400+/-100 (prices in Turkey) on one of their gorgeous wool rugs. Maaan, even those Chinese and Indian ones are more expensive here and not as nice.
I would not buy one of those expensive Turkish guns, because I don't like to be dunked in freezing water at resale time. Hey, I'm no polar bear club memeber!

This thread is a serious lesson in brand value. Hop in a time machine and this thread would fit Belgium in the first 1/4 of last century, Italy in the 3rd and Spain in the 4th. As pointed out, the market does have a long memory.

Most threads on the subject stress the fact that the "Dehann" Huglus are backed by the "Dehann reputation" or the "Dehann warranty". A lot of good that does if the first year of the gun's life is spent in a UPS truck. Just this week a proud owner of a Dehann Huglu mentioned that his new gun was in the shop for "some adjustment of a malfunctioning trigger". He had taken it to a local shop rather than sending it to Dehann for warranty work because of the inconvenience and shipping expense. When an unsuccessful repair finally convinces him to return it to Dehann, they will probably make an excuse about unauthorized repairs being the cause of the malfunction. Warranty void!