TriStar TT15 Trap Shotgun: First Look

Sporting shotguns often times conjure up images of English gentlemen shooting birds while decked out head to toe in tweed caps and regalia. This isn’t necessarily a true representation of shotgun sports but it’s one that many people have. The other thing about shotgun sports like trap and skeet shooting is that the shotguns used tend to be very expensive and made out of high quality materials that feature lots of oak or walnut stocks. While that much is generally true, there is hope for the shooter who wants to get into the shotgun sports and doesn’t want to spend a fortune but still have a quality built gun, and that is the TriStar TT15 Series of shotguns.

TriStar Arms is located in  North Kansas City. Missouri and imports the TriStar shotgun line from Turkey and has managed to combine quality materials, and a laundry list of features all into one gun that is relatively easy on the wallet. The thing I’ve learned about trap shotguns while doing research for this article is that one of  the common complaints I have heard from many shotgunners is that finding a gun to fit the individual shooter can be difficult. With the TriStar TT15 that problem becomes a little easier to solve because the rifle has an adjustable Turkish Walnut stock that allows the shooter to customize the comb and rake of the stock.

There is a lot to like about this Turkish built shotgun even if you aren’t a regular shotgun shooter, just handling this shotgun with its 30″ barrel and Walnut stock feels sophisticated, especially in a world where most guns today are black polymer and some form of sci-fi inspired uber finish. Lets take a quick look at the specifications of the TriStar TT15 and what makes it stand out.

Specifications

Manufacturer: TriStar Arms

Headquarters: Kansas City, Missouri

Place of Manufacture: Turkey

Model: TT-15 Double Tab Adjustable (TT-15DT)

Caliber: 12 Gauge

Chamber: 2.75″

Capacity: 2

Barrel Length: 30:

Overall Length: 47″

Weight: 8.7 Lbs

Finish: High Polished Blue

Stock Material: Turkish Walnut

Action: Over/Under

Safety: Tang Mounted

Sight: Red Fiber Optic

Chokes: 

• Full (F)
• Improved Modified (IM)
• Modified (M)
• Improved Cylinder (IC)
• Skeet (SK)

Features: 

• 5 Year Warranty
• Adjustable Rib
• Adjustable Comb
• 4 way fully adjustable stock
• Affordably Priced

Handling and Impressions

As you can tell from the specifications, the TriStar TT15 is not a small gun by anyones standards, but at 8.7 lbs it doesn’t feel overly heavy either. Most of the weight is in the receiver and the stock despite the 30″ long twin barrels that come standard on this shotgun. I spent some time practicing moving from the shotgun from the low ready to the high ready positions and just generally moving around with the shotgun to get a feel for the size and length. This was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be, considering that I generally spend zero time with shotguns. A twice, soon to be thrice rebuilt rotator cuff as stopped be from being a shotgunner.

Since I am not exactly able to shoot hundreds of rounds of shotgun ammo if I want to use my arm for long periods of time, I have found a few very qualified shooters to act as my substitutes. When we take this shotgun to the range in the very near future, I have convinced two female junior olympic trap shooters to put this shotgun through its paces and compare it to their regular shotguns. One of the great things about this part of the evaluation is that our two shooters possess a level of skill that I don’t have, so they will be able run the shotgun like they would in a competition.

Closing Thoughts

While we are still at the begging of out test and evaluation period on the TriStar TT15 Trap Shotgun, we are excited and hopeful that this shotgun will shine once it is put in the hands of our capable evaluators. We feel the combination of materials, craftsmanship and customization options on this shotgun will make it huge hit for shooters wanting to break into the shotgun sports. As we have seen time and time again in the firearms market, you don’t need to spend all your money on gear in order to break into a particular style of shooting. The firearms market isn’t what it once was with only three or four mega companies dominating the market across all types of shooting sports. It’s  2017 and quality firearms are coming out of Turkey and Eastern Europe that are every bit and just as well built as their domestic competition but at a fraction of the price.

We want to hear from our skeet and trap shooting readers, what do you think of the TriStar TT15 series of shotguns ? Do you own one ? or would you consider testing one out at the range if their was a demonstration day ? The world of shotgunners is a foreign one to me, so I’m even more curious to hear people’s opinions. Drop us a line in the comments section below and sound off on this or any other article we have done, or a picture of your particular skeet or trap gun, we like seeing other shooters favorite guns.