ATA Turqua - Unbeatable Value

The ATA Turqua is available in multiple stock formats, and I was pleased to get hold of the Thumbhole Walnut, as it’s a little bit of a traditional change from the more common polymer rifles that I see these days.

Black steel
The Turqua starts with a 24” button rifled barrel, with a neat crown and a 15x1 thread under a matching barrel cap. The threads are cleanly cut, along with the sharp crown, and I had no doubts about the machining standards after seeing these. The barrel shows a 1:8” twist rate, and the 24” length should get the best out of the cartridge. However, you can have a 20” tube if you want. The barrel diameter at the muzzle is 18mm, which means a fractionally heavier profile than most.

No faults
The barrel free floats for its full length along the forend, which is rigid enough to prevent intermittent contact interrupting harmonics. The reinforce enters the long front end of the action, to which a Picatinny rail has been fitted for easy scope mounting. There is a right-side 70mm ejection port with radiused ends, and the matte black action shows facets to break up its radiused upper surface.
The bolt shows a silver finish which contrasts against the black outer, while also allowing the bolt to run exceptionally smoothly within the action. Three lugs span the bolt face and enable a 60º lift to cock the action on opening. There are flutes machined into the bolt’s circumference and the overall stroke length is 109mm. It’s a push-feed bolt face with a right-side extractor claw and a plunger ejector. There is also a distinctive ramp around the bolt handle cutout which aids the primary extraction of fired cases. The bolt’s handle also has a silver finish and features a subtly angled round bar extending 62mm, with a conical tip measuring 18mm in diameter. This is a really good design, as it presents the handle with ease to your hand, allowing the base of your thumb to direct loading force without applying excessive torque. There are a few other manufacturers who should take note of this because ATA clearly has.

Glitch free
A red cocked action indicator, that’s visual and tactile, emerges from the bolt’s shroud to indicate status, and the 3-position safety catch is tucked alongside, on the right, behind the bolt handle. This operates quietly, with forward for FIRE, middle for SAFE with bolt operation, and rear for SAFE and bolt lock. The bolt release catch is on the left-hand side of the action and operates without any glitches.

Two stages
ATA has decided upon a weight-adjustable 2-stage trigger, which was predictable and 99% crisp in operation. The adjustment screw is addressed via the base of the trigger guard, and I was perfectly happy using the rifle as it was supplied at 875-grams. This is toward the bottom end of the 800 to 1600-gram range. The slim, blacked blade shows a gentle curve and there is sufficient space within the guard to operate the unit with gloves, when necessary.

Three plus five
Two magazines are supplied with the rifle; a flush-fitting 3-round unit and a slightly larger 5-rounder, either of which will offer a +1, as they can be fitted with one round already chambered. The release catch is ahead of the magazine well, and again, it seems to offer perfect simplicity and reliability. Seemingly, it’s impossible to get the magazine to jam when going in, and it seems to have just the right tolerances to slide freely into your waiting hand.

Pleasant surprise
The ATA doesn’t suffer from a hopelessly short length of pull (LOP) like a lot of cheap US rifles. The oil-finished walnut stock boasts a 14.5” LOP including one 5mm spacer, and a second is also supplied. It’s a lot easier to take material off a stock than to add it. The recoil pad is 20mm thick and has a firm feel, and it also features a small polymer insert at the heel to avoid snagging on clothing.
There is a slight RH Monte Carlo ramp towards the comb, although the gun certainly didn’t feel uncomfortable to shoot left-handed. The sling stud on the underside is solidly anchored, and the grip shows some neat chequering and a slight right-sided palm swell. The reach to the trigger from the throat is 80mm, so well-proportioned to the rest of the rifle. The chequering on the sides of the forend provides good grip and there is plenty of hand space so that your fingers do not encroach onto the barrel. The underside has a flatter radius,
making it stable on quad sticks or a rest bag, but I fitted a bipod, which remained firmly anchored.

Branding
The ATA logo is seen on the underside of the grip and remains subtle. There is a more distinctive ATA Arms logo engraved below the ejection port, which I don’t have a problem with, although it seems to polarise opinion. The other engraved logos and branding on the steelwork have been kept subtle, and I was glad not to see gaudy safety warnings rolled into the steelwork.

Under pressure
I unscrewed the two 5mm Allen screws spanning the magazine well. The action lifts out to reveal its flat bottom and large recoil lug that interlocks with the inner bedding block. All the inner workings and trigger components are visible and similarly, display excellent machining and finishing standards. The two action screws have metal tubes wrapping them to prevent compression, and although some might doubt the use of a polymer magazine well/trigger guard on the underside, it was smart and neat, and a very good fit into the underside inlet. It’s worth noting that there was no zero shift after the barrelled action was re-installed and the screws were torqued back up. No action stress was perceived.

Paper test
Before shooting, I cleaned the bore and found no residual dirt or residue in the barrel from manufacture or proof. The first 20 rounds were used for zeroing and a gentle run-in before the test groups were shot. Chronograph data was collected and the groups on paper easily met the 3-round MOA promise.
In use, the magazine feed was smooth, and single rounds dropped into the ejection port also slid nicely into the chamber without snagging, which is a handy factor for an emergency follow-up shot. The trigger was predictable and consistent, the bolt handle easily operated, and the recoil was both linear and mild. It’s worth noting that there is slight spring pressure to overcome as the bolt handle closes, so it does need a little bit of forward pressure along with the ‘down’, but I only noticed it when using a supporting hand under the stock and never felt it with two hands directly on the rifle.
I reviewed the Turqua directly after a lighter polymer-stocked rifle of the same calibre, which was also a satisfying performer, although it did cost more. It’s worth mentioning just how well the walnut stock deadens both noise and recoil, even compared to a good polymer unit. The cheekpiece was comfortable and its height suited the rifle’s geometry. The grip is almost vertical in stature, and with a gently raked underside to the stock, this is a very stable rifle to shoot prone from a bipod with a supporting hand. Although not marketed as a long-range or varmint rifle, it certainly provides what is needed to shoot very well from a mechanical and ergonomic perspective. The straight grain of the walnut is pleasing, and because of the excellent price, you won’t cry if you scratch it.

Conclusion
As a new name to rifles, ATA has certainly hit the ground running, with no downsides or disappointment. After personally shooting the rifle and appreciating the results, I can’t think of any rifle that can beat it in terms of value for money, and I’m keen to shoot other synthetic and timber variants as well as some of the target-oriented builds, which will soon appear. I wonder if a .223 will also appear because that would be fantastic.