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ATA bronze


Jacko3275
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This one seems to keep coming up; so I thought I’d get my thoughts down.  Keep in mind that I’m relatively new to shotguns, and that I’m only 8 weeks into ATA SP ownership.

I was advised to put my money in a second-hand Berretta or Browning rather than one of these.  All very well, but I could only find those starting at £800++ , and that’s more than I wanted in a gun.  Yes I know I’d get that back if I sold it; whereas I’d get not much if I sold the ATA, but the aim is to avoid the need to sell it.

I should add at this point, that I bought my Hatsan AT44-10 air-rifle new 5years ago for £400, and although I covet something better (HW100), the prices anything superior commands is more than I want to spend. After all, it will plant pellets into the same holes in the cardboard all day provided the trigger-interface-unit is working correctly.

Back to the ATA:  the other thing was, I shouldered, and indeed fired quite a few alternatives, and the ATA seemed to ‘fit’ me the best, even better than say Bumpy22’s silver pig.  And don’t get me wrong, the difference in fit and finish is obvious if you look at a Pig or a Browning.

I was also offered a Baikal double-trigger O/U for <£100.  This is the other route people advise newbies to go down, learn on something ‘rough’ and upgrade once you’ve learned to shoot properly.  Good idea, but I decided to buy once, cry once.  Maybe that was the wrong decision, but I’m committed now.

So I bought the ATA SP in black, 28” barrels.  I’ve used it on the clay ground and doing some walked up.  Not found a problem with the weight yet, in fact I quite like it.  Though I have noticed with better cartridges felt recoil is appreciably less, but I don’t think the gun has as much influence here. 

Frankly my biggest complaint is that the ‘black’ on the action appears to scratch easily, it looks to be powder coated.  The barrels appear to have something a lot tougher, some kind of phosphating in a matt finish.  Wish they’d treated the action similarly.  Don’t know how the bronze model will hold up, but I would imagine you could polish any scratches out easier, even if it is just a thin plating.

After a while I’ve realised the comb could be a touch higher, not much (~5mm), but I need make sure my sight picture is consistent, and my head has a tendency to wonder.  I’ve got a neoprene stock sock thing, and some foam inserts and will experiment.  I’m not sure I like this solution as it appears to hold the moisture against the stock, but it’s not too hard to remove after a ‘damp’ outing.

 

Like a lot of people, my greatest enemy is consistency/lack of muscle memory, and the rifle shooter’s habit of stopping the barrels dead.  Practice at home with snap caps will help alleviate both.  Neither of these is the gun’s fault; I merely mentioned them for the sake completeness.

 

So I would say you could do far worse, they’ve certainly caused ructions in the market, and RFDs appear to be shifting a fair few.

But the mantra here is buy whatever fits you the best.  Incidentally, I suspect the reason ATA fits me relatively well is that I’m 5ft 6ish male, and they know their market.  If I was a strapping 6ft-er with shovels for hands, it might be different.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Matt

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A new gun,as have written before includes a margin for gunshop(fair enough) and 20% v.a.t. so say you spend £600 by the time 'its off the forecourt' you've lost @ £200.

In a year if you get into shooting you will shoot clays at least once a month say £30 entry + £20 in cartridges;you will need full cleaning kit/gunslip etc so so in reality going to spend @ £700 p.a. on shooting. In this context 'saving' @ £200 on your 1st gun is not great idea...by well buy once; I would strongly suggest buy second and lots of good guns on the market you won't throw away @ 30% and if you buy a miruko/beretta/browning you will have a gun you will want to keep...I don't know the ATA/but at the money and bear in mind it has been shipped/imported/taxed it is in reality about £300 's worth of underlying gun......yes it will go bang but I would bet within 2 years you will want to change it.

Spend £800-900 now and get a proven gun I truly think it is a false economy a)buying new b) buying 'cheap'. Also as a new shooter,despite the huge temptation I would suggest not rushing to buy a gun,go try a few at your local club/seek a few opinions but folk you know.

I am not knocking ATA but new guns come along every year but very few last and very few regular or experienced shooters would buy/use one.

atb.

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18 minutes ago, dougall said:

A new gun,as have written before includes a margin for gunshop(fair enough) and 20% v.a.t. so say you spend £600 by the time 'its off the forecourt' you've lost @ £200.

But I don't treat guns as cars; the resale value has little bearing on my decision.  I've never bought a new car, either.  Hence my mentioning the Hatstand air rifle.  Yes I know there are nicer upgrades out there, but I'm not going to upgrade, even after 5years ownership.  More money than I want in that particular hobby.

 

14 minutes ago, dougall said:

In a year if you get into shooting you will shoot clays at least once a month say £30 entry + £20 in cartridges;you will need full cleaning kit/gunslip etc so so in reality going to spend 

More like £5 for 30 clays (BYO cartridges)  in my case but I appreciate I'm lucky to find a place that cheap.

 

9 minutes ago, dougall said:

@ 30% and if you buy a miruko/beretta/browning you will have a gun you will want to keep...I don't know the ATA/but at the money and bear in mind it has been shipped/imported/taxed it is in reality about £300 's worth of underlying gun

My point was, I heeded this advice and tried many, including putting cartridges through a few different ones at places that will let you do so.  I came back to the ATA having done this exercise.  I certainly didn't rush.  Precisely because I liked the fit and it seemed to offer better value to me than sticking £800++ into a gun.  And I'm still unlikely to sell the that, only I'd have £200 less in my bank account to spend on cartridges. 

Another example, I have a Mondaine Swiss Railways watch, £150.  A couple of my friends have are into watches and are always coveting more lavish models.  My watch tells the time too and I can wear it to job interviews etc without looking like a pauper.  The ATA, when I do the things the instructor taught me, kills clays and live quarry.  I just can't see me wanting to change to anything nicer, despite having fired guns costing 2-3 times more.

I've been wrong before, however, & fully accept I might be this time.

But I was offering the OP the benefit of my actual, limited, experience owning one.

As for the middleman taking their cut...exactly how far do you extend this logic?  You know that the 'landed cost' of most goods is 33-50% of retail, right?

Am not trying to come across as confrontational, or even appearing to suffer the whatever the opposite of 'buyers remorse' is. :lol:

Another tidbit, my missus bought a secondhand Bettinsoli for £450.  This is about...what £1200 new?  Quite well made, but again she found it was the one that fitted her the best, of all the ones she tried.  This Includes a tidy looking Beretta for £900.

 

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Just to put my penny's worth in, I bought an ATA lightweight 12g brand new, loved the gun and its reliability was faultless. I did very little hunting with it so sold it back to the original dealer who gave me a very fair price for it. I would buy another but it would be steel action-a little heavier so more of an all rounder and suitable for clays.

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Hi

I have a the ATA laminate. I have had it a year, done about 3.5k shots over the course of the year on clays and all good. No issues. Early days i know whether it will last 5-10 years only time will tell. But like most things in life you deal with it when it happens. 

I like the look of my gun and every time I get it out the slip it makes me smile. That's what it's all about. 

Best of luck

G

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15 hours ago, tharsus said:

I would be looking at a Winchester select for around £600 second hand if I could not afford browning/beretta/miroku. I have owned  a 525 and now have a Winchester English field, not much in it.

 

15 hours ago, Westley said:

Having seen and handled a Winchester Select, it would get my vote in that price bracket.

Not asking about these or berettas or Brownings just would like to know about ata ... cheers to all who have commented about ata 

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17 hours ago, Genplumb said:

I like the look of my gun and every time I get it out the slip it makes me smile. That's what it's all about. 

Ditto.  

Also might have something to do with the fact that work+other commitments are taken care of for time being, and I've got an hour or so to just wonder round the countryside.  But let's not get too philosophical  :beer:

 

20 hours ago, bigroomboy said:

Maybe look for a second hand ATA. it was a high selling gun last year so probably plenty around and them best of both worlds if you can pick it up at £300? 

I tried this without success, but that's not to say you won't find one.  I saw 2 local to me, both for £450 and they were gone quickly.

 

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I was interested in getting an ATA at one time. Thought that at around £600 depending on model and spec it was a good deal. It is to be fair but then I started to read about the trigger failing etc and the gun having to go back, yes under warranty but none the less a new gun having to be returned.  As a result I have decided to stick with my old Lanber for now and if I do buy again I would buy a S/H Winchester, Browning or Miruko or even another Lanber. With the amount of money you have to spend you should be able to by a decent S/H gun with a proven track record.

Oh and don't be fooled into the thinking its a beretta copy. 

Edited by Jbob
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12 minutes ago, Rewulf said:

+1 

The fact is though , there are very few of these around 2nd hand, that to me says something.

No don't get me wrong I was chatting with the local rfd the other day, he said you wouldn't believe how many we have shifted, still early days reliability wise though. 

I wouldn't have thought as they are so cheap to start with resale value wouldn't be great, probably better to hold on to it? 

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18 minutes ago, Farmboy91 said:

I wouldn't have thought as they are so cheap to start with resale value wouldn't be great, probably better to hold on to it? 

There was a few on guntrader for between £450 -500, which for a £600 gun is a fair price 2nd hand, by the time Id arranged to go over , they were gone.

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5 minutes ago, Farmboy91 said:

Not to bad if your selling it privately, I was more thinking if you were trying to sell it too or via an rfd

In that case they will take another 25 % or there abouts, depending if you are buying something from them.
Keep in mind guntrader is a mix of private and trade.

Heres a few. https://www.guntrader.uk/Guns-For-Sale/results/5aab-7eae-0309-9ba3

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I think in your position if I was definitely going for one I'd go new anyway, for the saving I think it's worth it, let me know how you do get on when you take the plunge though 👍 

5 minutes ago, Rewulf said:

In that case they will take another 25 % or there abouts, depending if you are buying something from them.
Keep in mind guntrader is a mix of private and trade.

Heres a few. https://www.guntrader.uk/Guns-For-Sale/results/5aab-7eae-0309-9ba3

 

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2 minutes ago, Farmboy91 said:

I think in your position if I was definitely going for one I'd go new anyway, for the saving I think it's worth it, let me know how you do get on when you take the plunge though 👍 

 

I most likely will, Ive already shot several different ones (they are very popular at my ground) so I know I like the gun.
Im just wondering if i NEED one 😃 Ive already got a S/A and an O/U , its a case of WANT !

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You can never have too many, ask the missus haha

46 minutes ago, Rewulf said:

I most likely will, Ive already shot several different ones (they are very popular at my ground) so I know I like the gun.
Im just wondering if i NEED one 😃 Ive already got a S/A and an O/U , its a case of WANT !

 

Edited by Farmboy91
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2 hours ago, Jbob said:

I was interested in getting an ATA at one time. Thought that at around £600 depending on model and spec it was a good deal. It is to be fair but then I started to read about the trigger failing etc and the gun having to go back, yes under warranty but none the less a new gun having to be returned.  As a result I have decided to stick with my old Lanber for now and if I do buy again I would buy a S/H Winchester, Browning or Miruko or even another Lanber. With the amount of money you have to spend you should be able to by a decent S/H gun with a proven track record.

Oh and don't be fooled into the thinking its a beretta copy. 

Don't think he wants to hear this  ?

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