Wyoming shooters on a budget increasingly can’t resist Turkish guns that can cost a fraction of similar firearms made by mainstream American, Italian or German manufactures.
“I certainly saw a Turkish revolution at the SHOT show,” Scott Weber, owner of Gunrunner Firearms & Auctions in Cody, told Cowboy State Daily.
He was referring to the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) show last month in Las Vegas.
The annual SHOT show is a premier gathering for firearms enthusiasts, and Weber said there were “rows and rows and rows of new Turkish manufacturers” at the event.
Jason Crotteau, who runs the Riverton-based Wyoming Tactical shooters’ training company agreed that the Turks have made huge gains in the American firearms market, with no signs of slowing.
“The (Turkish) guns shoot just as well. They’re forcing a lot of these bigger manufacturers to take a step back and try to figure out how to compete,” he said.
The price point of Turkish guns has certainly gotten shooters’ attention in Wyoming and across the country.
For instance, a Turkish clone of a high-end Staccatto 2011 pistol has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $749. Whereas the actual Staccatto might cost nearly $3,000.
Old Soviet Facilities And Expiring Patents
The Turkish firearms industry has seen a dramatic turn-around in recent years. Guns from Turkey used to be a rare in America, where they were largely regarded as absolute junk.
Two things might have changed, that, Crotteau said.
First, the Turks might have gotten more access to old manufacturing plants once run by the Soviet Union.
Also, some company’s patents on popular gun models, like the 2011 pistol and its iconic predecessor, the 1911 pistol, started to expire.
That’s how the SDS Tisas 2011 pistol – that $749 gun – came to be, Crotteau said.
“He (a Turkish gunsmith) took the Staccatto apart, and basically reversed engineered all the parts,” he said.
Crotteau has worked with SDS and other Turkish companies, which has enabled him to pass the savings along to his customers.
The company offers a package that allows customers to choose their firearm, optics and accessories, and then train with that equipment. At the end of the course, the customer keeps their customized gun.
And if the package is based on a Turkish firearm, that can cut costs dramatically, he said.
“The last few years, the firearms industry has been in survival mode. Nobody’s got the disposable income,” he said. “People are looking at more budget-friendly guns.”
Guns Would ‘Explode After One Mag’
Weber said he’s also seen a surge of Turkish guns in the world of shotguns – used for hunting or sports like skeet and trap shooting.
Turkish guns used to have a horrible reputation as pieces of junk that would “explode after (shooting) one mag,” Weber said.
That’s not the case any longer, although he wouldn’t recommend Turkish guns for serious competitive shooters.
In trap shooting competitions, shooters might put hundreds of shotgun shells through their guns per week, and the Turkish guns can’t stand that sort of strain, Weber said.
“They look good on the rack, but they don’t hold up,” he said. “Those guns shoot loose pretty quickly, at least the shotguns.”
What’s more it’s still difficult to get replacement parts for Turkish firearms in the U.S., he said.
“They’re very hard to get work done on stateside,” he said.
Average hunters and casual weekend trap and skeet shooters should do just fine with a Turkish shotgun that might cost a few hundred dollars, he said.
But serious competitors should stick with top-tier brands like Beretta and Benelli, Weber said.
Mixed Models
Major U.S. firearms companies are probably feeling the pressure from Turkey and other countries that can offer affordable imports, Crotteau said.
Some big-brand companies are starting to work with smaller companies from Turkey and elsewhere on collaborative projects.
That’s good news for buyers, in terms of lower prices for better-quality guns, he said.
For example, major American gunmaker Ruger recently partnered with an import company to make the Falcon 9X pistol. The quality of that pistol, which goes for about $380, might rival the comparable mainstream Ruger model, which costs nearly $600, he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
