Trap shooters are an odd lot. While every kind of shooting has its own variations of guns and equipment, trap devotees and their tools seem just a little more out there than most. Whether it’s the glasses, the gear or the extra-long barreled smoothbores, shooting trap is its own animal. So when TriStar announced that they were introducing a new line of reasonably priced, nicely equipped dedicated trap shotguns, it was good news for those who like to bust clays but don’t have the cost of a used Kia to lay down on a gun . . .
Wait. It’s a single barrel shotgun, you say. What’s the big deal? The big deal is the price for the features the TT-15’s pack.
The phrase ‘inexpensive trap gun’ has always been a contradiction in terms. There’s nothing stopping you from shooting trap with a venerable Remmy 870 or Mossy 500. But if you get far enough in the sport and want to buy yourself a true trap gun, the price of admission for a new gun these days is no less than about $1500 – and escalates very quickly from there. So when you add up what the TT-15 gives you — features like a fully adjustable comb, raised adjustable rib, and fiber optic sight — you’re looking at a price tag of at least two grand.
The Turkish TriStars start at $1190 MSRP for the top single (as tested). Add another $75 for the unsingle version. If you shoot doubles, the over-under will run you $1350 and to do it all, the unsingle – over/under combination package is a relatively paltry $1725. Subtract about $200 to get the going street price of each.
Holy piggy bank, Batman! That’s still an awful lot of samolians, you say? Not if you look at similarly configured trap guns on the market.
The TriStar guns feature nicely figured Turkish walnut stocks and fore ends. It’s not A grade wood and isn’t finished like it either. But the satin finish is well done and the grain is attractive. Checkering is cleanly cut and effective.
Trap’s a rising target game so most shooters like to see a good percentage of the bird above the bead. How much? That varies, but the good news is, the TT-15 gives you a lot of options to, as Burger King used to say, have it your way.
First, there’s the adjustable stock.
The gun comes with an Allen wrench and washers to adjust the Monte Carlo stock for drop and comb as well as cast on and cast off.
Adjustment is a simple matter using the Allen wrench and as many washers as you need to adjust comb height.
Fitting the stock is a simple matter.
The other variable the TT-15 gives you to control is the three-position high rib. Tilting the rib to your preference is an easy process of inserting something (I used a thin allen wrench) in the sprung connectors on both ends of the rib to release and tilt it as needed.
The front sight is an red/orange fiber optic affair that stands out well. I’d have liked to have a mid bead on that high rib, but TriStar didn’t include one.
You’ll want to invest some time in patterning the gun when you adjust the rib to make sure she’s shooting where you want her to.
The only fit variable the TT-15 doesn’t allow you to change is length of pull. All three guns have a 14 5/8″ LOP. The nickel finished receiver has just enough engraving to add some interest and a little flair.
Fit and finish are nicely done, with clean wood to metal joining, especially for the price point.
The TT-15 comes with three extended Beretta/Benelli style extended chokes (modified, improved modified and full), a wrench and the required Allen wrenches and washers.
One thing to watch: while the TriStar supplied chokes fit the TT-15 and my other Beretta/Benelli Mobilchoke gun (and they patterned well), I had trouble getting a Briley choke in the TT-15. It fits, but only just. It seems the TT-15’s barrel — at least the one I tested — is a hair narrower than spec.
The TT-15 does what it’s supposed to do on the trap field — powder orange clay disks.
One hiccup: the ejector. Or is it an extractor? My money’s on ejector. About 60% of the time, the TT-15 launched spent shells over my shoulder as most smoothbores do. The other 40% of the time, the gun only extracted them. That’s actually my preference…I’d rather not have to pick shells up when I’m finished. Still, the gun should do one or the other all the time.
If you’re a trap shooter, this probably won’t be your ultimate shotgun. The TriStar TT-15 is a good step-up gun. A shotgun you buy your kid or yourself once you decide you really do love trap and want to move up from a sporting or hunting gun to get more serious in the sport.
Could you shoot the TT-15 long term? Probably. Dedicated trap shooters tend to run thousands of rounds through their guns a year. While there’s no way, given the limitations of a review, to know if the TriStar will hold up to that kind of long term use, I saw nothing to lead me to believe it won’t.
SPECIFICATIONS: TriStar TT-15 Top Single Trap Shotgun
Overall length: 52″
Barrel Length: 34″
Gauge: 12
Weight: 8.7 lbs.
Chokes: Modified, improved modified and full extended chokes included
MSRP: $1190 (about $925 retail)
Ratings (out of five stars):
Style: * * * *
An attractive, classic trap gun with nicely figured walnut, some strategic engraving and miles of blued steel. You won’t look out of place at the trap club.
Ergonomics: * * * * *
With a fully adjustable rib, palm swell, and customizable stock, the TT-15 will accommodate any (adult size) shooter. The only thing missing is length of pull adjustment.
Accuracy: * * * * *
White Flyers will tremble as you step onto the field.
Customization: * *
No. Then again, there’s almost no reason to. The TT-15 has just about everything you’d want short of LOP adjustment or maybe a release trigger. If you’re not happy with the chokes TriStar included, the TT-15 takes Beretta/Benelli aftermarket Mobilchokes (though snugly).
Overall: * * * *
TriStar’s hit a home run with the value-priced TT-15. The new line gives budget-minded shooters a fully equipped, extremely capable trap gun at a very affordable price. The balky ejector and snug choke fit are notable, if not deal breakers. If you’ve been looking for a way to get into the sport without securing a second mortgage, this is a great way to do it.
Sounds like a good started gun. My son shoots competitive trap and I wish this was out a few years ago. But a 34″ barrel? That’s really long. 30″ or at max 32″ is what you need.
Sorry HES
The 34 ” length is for handicap shooting where you can shoot as far away as 27 yards from the traphouse. It gives you a better aim and a smoother barrel flow. All competitive handicap shooters use 34-inch barrels for handicap and most use them for 16-yard singles as well.
Yep, we are a crazy lot but every bird counts in competitive shooting. For club shooting, you are correct a 32″ O/U is all you need to have fun.
That extractor/ejector issue really needs to be addressed. I could never understand the purpose for shell ejectors on shotguns in general.
I’ll give this a few years and see how they hold up in the real world.
You need ejectors especially for doubles
A lot of features but what you pay for in a high end trap gun is the ability to fire tens of thousands of rounds yearly without a hiccup. Not sure this is the gun for that.
If a gun like this isn’t ejecting all the time, odds are that the trip rod from the action into the forearm isn’t the right length, or there’s a problem along that path. The trip rod from the action up into the forearm is what trips the ejector sear to fire the ejector. If you want to convert an ejector gun into an extractor gun, you typically open up the action (or pay a guy like me to do it) and you remove the trip rods. Presto, extractor gun (in most modern O/U’s).
Trapshooters are the only people I know who will not hesitate to get a $25,000 Silver Seitz, Perazzi or Krieghoff, tool around in a $300,000 tour bus, drop hundreds of dollars on steak dinner, but throw a massive hissy when they can’t get the cheapest field-grade 12ga ammo that Wal-Mart stocks and have to pay $7 a box instead.
They’re odd ducks.
Well, if you’re shooting thousands upon thousands of rounds, the cost of ammo really piles up.
You have to tell the wife you’re saving on something. 😀
Yeah buddy
Made in Turkey, because North Korea is capacity-limited.
Good on the Turks. They make some good, value priced guns. TriStar is one of about 3 gun makers who are putting out good stuff. My Linberta semiautomatic has been flawless.
I love my Tristar TT-15. I have had it for 6 months with well over 2000 rounds through it. Have not had any problems.
For the same price you can get a Browning BT-99 … so why buy this gun?
I’ve got a BT-99 and I prefer this Tristar, also I can shoot doubles with the TriStar.
Affordable Turkish shotguns become more and more popular. The quality also becomes better.
I like it that the Turks seem to listen to what we want and make a decent gun. I think their quality will only go up. Most guns set up for trap will cost a person a couple grand or more and this Tristar is set very well for it. Someone compared it to a BT-99 and it is about the same price. Also if you want anything on the BT-99 that is adjustable, you have to go up to about 1400 $ and up. Tristar I see also makes a TT-15 DT Adjustable Trap gun. In addition to what this reviewed model has, it has a Length of Pull adjustment which is very important and allows the gun to fit both bigger and smaller shooters correctly for not much more in price.
they need to make a LH stock
I’m a lefty. I have the O/U with adjustable butt stock. It would have been nice to have a lefty’s palm swell option but I will live. BTW the barrels are not blued, they are black chrome plated. (Better rust resistance?) My ejectors work flawlessly.
I have heard that the included chokes shoot tighter than they are labeled. I am patterning the gun with a set of nicely machined Carlson chokes in it today. The supplied chokes seam to thread in very rough and don’t appear to be the best CNC machining. The Carlson’s are beautiful works of art. The O/U comes with 5 color coded tubes. All in all this is a beautiful shotgun for the money. Time will tell how it holds up but many guys are reporting thousands of rounds with no issues.
I have the O/U adjustable. I’ve been shooting it for about a month. About 350 rounds through it. There are so many adjustments, there is some trial and error to getting it to where you like it, but I had a very fun morning today. I think I have it dialed in where I like it.
As for the ejector issue. I just noticed it in the last time shooting it. About 20-30% of the time, it was extracting and not ejecting. When I took it home to clean it, I noticed that there was a substantial about of plastic fouling. I attacked it with a tornado brush and some solvent to clean it out. Ran it this morning and 75/75 perfect ejections. Not only did all of them eject, but I had grouping on the ground of my shells, they shot 8 feet behind me and landed in a 10″ circle.
I’ve had the tt-15 unisingle for about 4 months and have put at least 3000 rounds through it. Having recently gotten into Trap Shooting this is my first dedicated Trap gun – started out w Mossberg 500.
Overall I’m happy w the purchase but after using it for a while now you can see why some Trap guns cost 5,000+ and others cost 1200. The gun seems well made, is reliable (not a single misfire), is well balanced to hold and the components -stock, action, barrel, trigger mech – all appear sturdy and not made from flimsy / cheap parts you might find in an inexpensive gun. Def not the Walmart knock off of a more expensive item.
Where the tt-15 falls short is fit and finish. The stock is milled from a nice piece of walnut but the finish just doesn’t have the feel it’s more expensive counterparts. This might sound overly picky but the interior of the forend is unfinished – this isn’t a cosmetic issue – raw wood will warp and possibly crack when exposed to the elements and heat from the barrel. Same is true for any wood surface not visible – the interior of stock where the action fits and (less critical) the butt end under the recoil pad. I’ve read reviews where people have had problems with the forend cracking – this could be a reason. Personally, I gave it a good coating of wax to seal any exposed / unfinished wood.
The other issue, albeit minor is where the sock meets the action the fit isn’t perfect … you’d be pressed to notice it when picking the gun up for the first or even 10th time … it’s not shoddy looking but it’s ok as opposed to perfect craftsmanship. I can’t imagine it will have any impact on performance but the attention to details isn’t there. But hey, there’s got to be some trade – offs and if this is it then I’m ok with it.
The bottom line is you can’t beat it for the price.
After years of killing clays with my old Ithica O/U I finally sprung for a TT-15. Would have loved to buy that Beretta, but wife would have killed me.
Hell of a gun! Went immediately from 17-18 clays to 21-22 the first time I took it out. A little patterning and fooling with the chokes and I’m up to 23-24. That elusive 25 will come soon….
Bought my TT-15 combo with double and unisingle, broke 49 out of my first 50 clays at the trap field. I also shoot a Browning BT 99 and I prefer the Tristar.
I just bought the TT15 and Love it! I’ve put about 2000 rounds through it and NO Problems! I shoot left handed and have not had any problems shooting lefty! The only problem I’ve found was the shooter isn’t always on target! The weapon is NO BETTER than the shooter! Good Luck!
I just got a TT15 deluxe combo trap gun
Single barrel 36”-O-U 34” it is a good looking gun and has all the bells and whistles of a very expensive gun I am a AA trap shooter my problem with it can’t bring it down to shoot 70-30 it’s shoots 100% high I tried with my Gunsmith everything possible does tristar make different height ribs other than that for me its a wonderful gun
Purchased tt15 trap. Out of box, rib screws extremly tight. After a few rib adjustments rib screws rounded off. Contacted Tristar and requested to purchased 12 set screws in addition to the six original replacement factory rib screws. Contacted Tristar 6/1/20. Today 9/16/20 and no replacement screws. None in stock? Their response, You’ll get them when we do. 60 plus days? Very poor customer service. Do not recommend Tristar due to customer service.
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Have had a TT-15 for close t 2 years now. Great gun. No problems except sloppy trigger. Tristar service is non-existent. It’s lousy and they don’t care. Get a good gunsmith for trigger work. You’ll need it. Get your act together in North Kansas City.