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Yildiz 410 Lux

Yildiz 410 Lux

There is always something very pleasing and fun when you shoot a 410 shotgun, especially a well-made and pretty one like this Yildiz SPZ ME Special Lux. I like vermin shooting and a 410 gauge with the right ammo and good-handling o/u is ideal for some backyard shooting.

Yildiz has a very good reputation and have managed to maintain this amongst a mass of Turkish shotguns, as they are always made to the same high quality yet offer very good value for money. They make some really nice single shots and sideby- sides, but this o/u SPZ ME model, with ejectors and special engraving and high-grade wood, is extra special indeed. These Special Lux are made to order and have hand-engraving and grade 4 wood (grade 5 optional).

Barrels and choke

This model featured the 28- inch monobloc type barrel system, although 26- and 30-inch multi choked versions are available, 26-inch sounds useful. It is a multi-choked barrel arrangement supplied with five chokes of 1.75- inch length, and I had fitted the ½ bottom barrel and ¾ choke top barrel, so a good spread for a 410 load.

Yildiz always make very good quality barrels, well-finished, polished inside with minimal machine marks and very true. Overall finish of the barrels is a lovely deep, even satin black bluing which is both smart and practical for field in my case. The barrels are struck off well and have just the right amount of barrel wall thickness to look elegant but still remain strong. There is also a top and mid rib, both ventilated with the top rib having 12 and the mid rib nine vents of one-inch lengths to just under the forend wood, then completely free vented to the receiver thereafter. The top rib was 7mm width in game style with a semi-turned serrated edge and single red dayglo sight which is not as nice as the gold bead I had on the 20-gauge version.

This is an ejector gun with forceful ejection of spent cases, which is what you need on a 410 due to the higher pressures exerted. The chambered are 3-inch magnum and can therefore handle any 410 cartridge length and are steel shot proofed too, not that I have seen steel shot 410 cartridges.

Action, trigger and safety

This SPZ action is sized to the class of calibre it shoots, so with this little 410 gauge the overall size matches perfectly with the cartridge it shoots. This does away with any excess weight making for a lightweight and excellent handling o/u.

Made from high-grade 7075 grade aluminium, which ultimately is to save weight, strength is not compromised at all as all the stress and wear areas have steel inserts, i.e. pins, pivots locking bar and action face for firing pins. These can all be replaced if necessary, therefore making the SPZ timeless.

Typical monobloc design, the SPZ is a side-plated gun with a single selectable trigger, mechanical not inertia system. This gives a nice predictive trigger pull and, more importantly, if the first barrel fails to fire the second trigger pull will shoot the second barrel. The barrel lumps engage around the front action pivot to swivel and open the action and rear set to engage the locking bar that slides forward when the action is closed, ensuring the barrels are tightly held down, back and in place; it’s a simple design with few moving parts to wear and go wrong.

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What makes this SPZ model stand out is that the satin silver action body has been profusely adorned with very ornate acanthus leaf and rose scroll work. It’s actually handengraved, which is amazing given the price point of this gun, and is done well. You can choose your own design, but this model came engraved all over the action in swirling and intertwined acanthus leaves with the Yildiz logo on the bottom of the action.

The action was new and very tight, so it needed a few rounds to settle it in, as the top lever stayed right a few times when the action was closed. The safety is automatically activated as the top lever is opened and small “S” indicates safe and when pushed forward to fire a red dot is exposed. Barrel selection is also made on the safety by pushing left or right as usual, it was a bit stiff, but has a raised serrated button to grip.

The trigger blade is smooth, narrow and crisp and light for an inertia system. The trigger guard is quite roomy and nicely rounded and again engraved adding a touch of class and has enough room in front of the blade for a gloved hand.

Stock

Yildiz seem to excel at producing shotguns with excellent quality walnut and also very well-designed stocks that exhibit both visual appeal and always seem to absorb more recoil than most similar guns. 410 shotguns are always light-framed, and this SPZ ME Special lux handles very well as the stock is trim and light and fits perfectly.

The quality of wood is superb, with grade 4 or grade 5 options. It has a really deep overall colour and figuring that matches the stock and forend alike. It does look a million dollars and with its oil finish will only improve as it gets used, with deep hues and tones becoming apparent, very nice indeed. Fit and finish of the wood around the metal work is equally as good.

The length of pull is a good 14.25-inches and has a slim plastic recoil pad which is one area I dislike – it looks smart but too cheap for this gun. There is a small amount of cast and the low comb height naturally allows the cheek to “weld” nicely to the stock giving that all important natural swing and sighting down the rib.

The forend has a nice narrow tulip-type shape and is slim at 1.5-inches width and 10-inches long, but again with the straight sided walls and generous checkering panels giving a good hold. The forend metal that holds it to the barrels is also very well engraved.

Field test

I have plenty of 410 ammunition, subsonic and supersonic, and everything shot very well, only the Gamebore Targets and some older Eley 3-inchers showed any sign of hard extraction. Hull Cartridge High Pheasants shot some nice patterns, and I used these to play around with some different chokes at 25-yards as these were the best 410 cartridges tested. 18-gram loads with fibre wads in 3-inch cartridge in both No 6 and No 7 shot sizes. With the 3/4 choke fitted to the top barrel we had a superbly even dense pattern on the boards of a total of 132 and 197 for the No 6 and No 7 shot, respectively. That equated to 61 inner and 71 outer pellet strikes for the No 6 shot load. The No 7 shot 88 inner and 109 outer hits. Excellent performance from the Yildiz and Hulls. Interestingly with the ½ choke bottom barrel I only had a 5% reduction in pellets hitting for each shot type.

Conclusion

It’s very hard to find fault with this trim little Yildiz, unless you are a connoisseur or snob. The Yildiz SPZ ME Special Lux is a really pretty little 410, and with all the hand-engraving good value too. It patterned extremely well and handled even better, enough said.

  • Yildiz 410 Lux - image {image:count}

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  • Yildiz 410 Lux - image {image:count}

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  • Yildiz 410 Lux - image {image:count}

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  • Yildiz 410 Lux - image {image:count}

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  • Yildiz 410 Lux - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Yildiz 410 Lux - image {image:count}

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  • Yildiz 410 Lux - image {image:count}

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gun
features

  • Name: Yildiz SPZ ME Special Lux
  • Calibre: 410-gauge
  • Barrel: 28-inches (26- and 30-inch also available)
  • Chokes: 5x (Cyl, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, Full)
  • Weight: 5lbs 5oz
  • Length: 44.75-inches
  • Length of pull: 14.25-inches
  • Chamber: 3-inch
  • RRP: £2250
  • Contact: Raytrade Ltd: raytradeuk.co.uk
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