It was time for a 20 gauge auto

S

scott county vizsla

Member
I've been eyeballing the 20 gauge tristar viper/mossberg gas semi-auto for a few years now and my dad unknowingly pushed me over the edge. With pheasant season coming up, he told me his old 1100 12ga might finally be too heavy to lug around. He bought it at age 18 in '74 and has been essentially the only shotgun he's used for the last 46 seasons, save a bolt action .410 for rabbit duty. He was asking about 20 gauge autos at a reasonable price and I told him I had one in mind. Ten minutes later, tri star viper g2 purchased (the internet is a hell of a thing) and I picked it up today. For $540 I am quite impressed with the gun, especially the cast shim and the slick plug removal. I disassembled, cleaned, and lubed the gun, slipped in the IC choke, replaced the trigger spring with the m.carbo spring, dug out some old 1oz no.6s. I also ordered a case of boss 1¹/⁸oz #4 bismuth shells for non-tox areas. Ready to rock for pheasant opener tomorrow in Iowa, did some scouting today and found a few birds everywhere I went. The challenge tomorrow will be finding a place to hunt without too much company. The 12ga cz bobwhite will be in the truck in case the shooting doesn't go well. Luckily my dad doesn't hunt without me anymore so the gun gets to stay with me, it might be seeing a lot of use in the next few years.
 

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That 20 got its first rooster today, happened to be my limit filler, first 2 fell to my cz bobwhite. If remington made a wood stocked 6lb 20 ga that reliably cycles heavy loads I'd buy two, but they don't. Hard pass on an old A5.
 
scott county vizsla said:
That 20 got its first rooster today, happened to be my limit filler, first 2 fell to my cz bobwhite. If remington made a wood stocked 6lb 20 ga that reliably cycles heavy loads I'd buy two, but they don't. Hard pass on an old A5.
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Exactly. I love Remingtons, I've shot 870's and 1100's my whole life. But 4 years ago I got one of the new Sweet 16's, it weighs 5 lbs 14 oz and was a game-changer for me. Can't imagine going back to carrying heavy guns around.
 
scott county vizsla said:
That 20 got its first rooster today, happened to be my limit filler, first 2 fell to my cz bobwhite. If remington made a wood stocked 6lb 20 ga that reliably cycles heavy loads I'd buy two, but they don't. Hard pass on an old A5.
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Yes they do. The 11-87 20 gauge field gun.28 inch.Ive had one for 8 years.Around 8 bones.Cycles flawlessly on all loads. Light, well made.Fiberoptic white bead sight.
 
I’ve got a 20 Bronze Viper. Trigger sucks but will be fixed. I plan on buying a 28 I like it so well.
 
scott county vizsla said:
The trigger spring is like $12 from mcarbo, buy 2 and save on shipping, it worked well on my gun.
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My factory trigger was 7.5 lbs. I put the mcarbo spring in and am still seeing 6.75 lb pull. I’ve read many reports of it dropping down to around 4 lbs with the spring, but several like mine where it did nothing.

in fairness, I’m fussy. Rifle triggers with creep and breaking over 3 lbs are a non starter. I know a shotgun isn’t a rifle, but I will do some polishing on it.

Several reports of sending the trigger grouo off to a smith (forget the name, but easily searchable) and for $75 getting it back in great condition, creep free and acceptable pull weight.
 
cheesy said:
My factory trigger was 7.5 lbs. I put the mcarbo spring in and am still seeing 6.75 lb pull. I’ve read many reports of it dropping down to around 4 lbs with the spring, but several like mine where it did nothing.

in fairness, I’m fussy. Rifle triggers with creep and breaking over 3 lbs are a non starter. I know a shotgun isn’t a rifle, but I will do some polishing on it.

Several reports of sending the trigger grouo off to a smith (forget the name, but easily searchable) and for $75 getting it back in great condition, creep free and acceptable pull weight.
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I also like a light crisp trigger on my shotguns and if I can’t find an aftermarket fix for heavy sluggish triggers,gun goes to gunsmith for rework. Nothing worse than a stiff mushy trigger for bird hunting.
 
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