The Yildiz Pro 20- bore in depth

I was a big fan of the Yildiz Pro 12-bore as soon as I picked it up a few years ago. The build quality, finish and handling were a step above any other gun I had seen produced in Turkey. So enamoured was I that I even bought one. Two years ago, Yildiz released the gun I am reviewing today, a scaled-down version of that same ‘Pro’ in a 20-bore. To look at, the Yildiz Pro 20-bore is truly simplified, with a slim action, reprofiled grip and fore-end giving a very pleasing line.

When you pick it up from its green velvet box, you feel that it’s a little heavier than other 20-bores. It weighs in at just under 7 ½lb in the 30in version. This is a giveaway that the Yildiz Pro 20-bore is designed for us more used to a 12-bore, unlike some of the whippier, super-light 20s out there that are next to impossible to shoot after a few sessions on a heavy 12.

Oil-finished

The stock is an oil-finished piece of beautiful grade four Turkish walnut, which looks far too nice for the price point of the gun. The length of pull is 14 ⅝in, with a butt pad of just under an inch, which is very soft and nicely finished into the stock. This will provide a little more comfort if you decide to put some bigger loads through this small bore.

The grip has no palm swell and is a non-committal shape somewhere between an open game grip and a tight radiused Sporter. This grip is one of my only gripes with the gun, and although it is just as good as others in the price bracket, I wish they had designed a scaled-down version of their palm-swelled 12-bore stock, which I think is fantastic. The drops of the comb on this gun are 35mm and 55mm, with 4mm of cast, all in all very vanilla and should suit most average people well enough.

The Schnabel fore-end is in matching walnut, and both stock and fore-end feature traditional chequering patterns. The balance of the gun is ¾in in front of the hinge pin, although this could obviously be adjusted post-purchase if you desire.

The steel-proofed barrels are 30in with a ventilated mid rib, 7mm ventilated top rib and lovely blued finish. The gun is fitted with a removable fibre-optic bead sight, which can be changed easily for your preferred sighting aid. The gun comes with a full set of internal chokes and two external ones, allowing you to set the patterns up to your satisfaction. The two extended chokes are finished with decorative machining on the black lower part and a blue metal ring right at the top. To finish it off, the gun is chambered in 3in magnum, so — providing you have the correct chokes in the gun — you can put pretty much any commercially available ammo through the Yildiz Pro 20-bore. (Read more on guns proofed for steel.)

Italian-inspired

The action and mechanism in general is 4.5mm shallower and 5mm slimmer than its 12-bore equivalent. In operation, it is pretty much identical to the 12, with its Italian-inspired action design. The action is blacked to match the barrel and is very plain, featuring a small border engraving as well as branding on the sides, bottom and top lever. It’s a classy looking gun, and I’d always rather there be no engraving than engraving of questionable quality anyway. This will divide opinion, but I am a fan.

Need to know

• Calibre 20-bore
• Mechanism Over-and-under
• Orientation Right-handed
• Barrel length 30in
• Stock length 147/8in
• Weight 7lb 7oz
• Chokes Multi
• Importer Raytrade UK

Field test

It took me a dozen shots to get into the rhythm that this gun required. When I first shot one of these, I assumed that because it was specced like a competition gun it would shoot a little more like a 12-bore, but I was wrong. This gun shot like most other 20-bores, with the same life and movement, but with the benefit of being quite a bit more controllable.

Taking one out again, this knowledge was long forgotten and the first pair of clays sailed away unbroken. With this shame in mind, I very quickly remembered to let the gun swing a bit more than usual, using less maintained lead-style shooting and more swing through.

Artistic style

Using this more artistic style of shooting, I worked my way around half a dozen stands, crushing my way through clays with the little 21g cartridges. Although this gun is extremely versatile, I found some areas in which it excelled for me and some that it made me work harder.

It seemed to destroy any of the lower crossers with such ease; in fact, anything that resembled a target from a round of Skeet was made short work of. The reduced overall weight and slight forward balance will be to thank for that. It also made a very convincing gun for game-style targets, from low grouse to high pheasant. This was a pleasant surprise, but given that this gun sits more in the ‘fast and reactive camp’ rather than the ‘slow and precise’ camp, it shouldn’t have been.

The only places I struggled were on a 60-yard looper and a 50-yard crosser, both going left to right. The crosser came off the trap arm under very little power, meaning the best option was to place your shot very precisely as the bird started to transition into its drop. I hit one of the five I shot at of these, which I ‘straighted’ with my 12-bore an hour before this. Not every gun is perfect for every target, and this is a particularly nasty target. Maybe after a few slabs I’d figure out how to tackle these sorts of targets with this gun? The looper was a big target, and although I hit the majority of these, it felt a lot of work to stretch out the 8ft of perceived lead. The gun wanted to run away from me, and that wasn’t ideal on this type of target unfortunately.

Conclusion

This gun clearly hasn’t been designed for the long-term 20-bore user; it’s too big and heavy. This is a 20-bore for people who are used to a 12. The transition between a 8½lb competition 12-bore and a 6½lb 20-bore is one that is usually not quick and fraught with misses; the transition between a heavy competition gun and this Yildiz Pro should be much easier. You still have 1lb of weight saving, so this is a great first competition gun for those who want the features of a competition gun but without the weight. Like any gun, I suppose, it’s designed for those who like it.

• Action and barrels 16/20 Good-quality machining
• Handling 16/20 An odd mixture of speed and control
• Trigger 17/20 Good for the price point
• Stock 16/20 Beautiful grain, would like to alter that grip
• Value 16/20 A lot of gun for your money
• Overall score 81/100 An odd gun but a great-shooting one