Hatsan Supreme Escort Max

[RockySpears]

  Searches only seem to turn up posts from 2012 or older, so I will ask this afresh. (If mods want to move me to here

 or there abouts, fine.)

  I have been offered a new Escort Supreme Max, that's a 3 1/2" chamber, 4 chokes and 1 year warranty (It is an Edgar returns gun but the return reason given is a mark on the stock).

 All boxed and shiny new - £350. 

I want it for clays and wildfowl, but really want to cover both as I am not flush with cash.

Ok, there have been issues, but people seemed to say things were improving so what is todays opinion? 

Thank you,

RS

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Buy it, Edgar brothers will hopefully give you a garuntee

[sam triple]

Got a Hatsan Escort magnum from Branthwaite Gunsmiths £260 new 3 yr Edgar bros warranty only fault so far it doesn’t like 65mm cartridges it’s fine with 2 but fouls up with 3 ,they recommend 70 mm 

[Rob525]

I have one, good gun. Nice smooth action BUT the odd 70mm 28g glay cart will catch as it's about to chamber. I will have maybe 2 over 100 but mines mainly for 3inchers

Edited April 5, 2019 by Rob525

[The Burpster]

My only gripe of owning a Hatsan Escort was the quality of the design and finishing. In reality it did what it was supposed to, was cheap and EB back up was as good as any others in fact better than some! (2 minor parts needed replacing, replacements sent by next day post FOC) did have a tendency to dislike some carts but once a good one was found just kept doing what it should. 

They represent great VFM, just mind your fingers when stripping and cleaning there are a lot of sharp edges. Other than that - no brainer! 👍

[Dekers]

I understand they have improved, but after the barrel blew up on the Escort I bought for my lad some years back I would never go near one again!

[RockySpears]

29 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Buy it, Edgar brothers will hopefully give you a garuntee

I've got at least a years gaurantee already so no worries for my first season.  Will be clay bashing to get used to the gun itself and cartrige preference, although shooting geese will mean using a hefty load anyway,

Good news so far, think I will be busy in the morning,

Thank you,

[Fen tiger]

I dont own a supreme max but know two lads have them, and they have had zero troubles with them, i have an escort 20 bore had that ten years never had any trouble with ammo i use mostly steel and 3 inch reloads HW 18 and bismuth. has been perfect and fits me like a glove.  Way i see the Hatsans lots hate them, but i see so many more who use them and use them hard who get no trouble at all.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

2 minutes ago, Fen tiger said:

I dont own a supreme max but know two lads have them, and they have had zero troubles with them, i have an escort 20 bore had that ten years never had any trouble with ammo i use mostly steel and 3 inch reloads HW 18 and bismuth. has been perfect and fits me like a glove.  Way i see the Hatsans lots hate them, but i see so many more who use them and use them hard who get no trouble at all.

The most annoying thing with the whole Hatsan Escort saga was that most of the "Haters" had never owned one!

[figgy]

Got to be better than the single shot auto you brought out last weekend 😋

Nothing against hatsans as I've said, for not a lot more you could get a SX3 or Franchi Affinity used. SX3 has 31/2 chamber same as the escort and the affinity 3" chamber both have no troubles with clay carts or wildfowling loads.

Edited April 5, 2019 by figgy

[Rob525]

That would be the normal escort magnum cheapest new of these is £490 that I can see 

https://www.sportsmanguncentre.co.uk/hatsan-escort-supreme-max-wal-gls-12g

Edited April 5, 2019 by Rob525

[Fen tiger]

1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

The most annoying thing with the whole Hatsan Escort saga was that most of the "Haters" had never owned one!

I Agree  not saying there will not  be rogue guns from time to time, that is not exclusive to low budget  guns the big names get them too.

What you get with Hatsans is a no frills workhorse that keep on working for years. I have grown quite fond of my old 20 bore escort its still going after ten years and  many thousands of rounds its not showing any signs of wear apart from a few scratches and scrapes as you would expect with hard use.

[figgy]

At less than 400 your not going to cry if it gets a mark or two. It's nice to have a cheap beater gun to take out in bad weather and conditions that are not ideal for guns.

[RockySpears]

  ... Just when you think you are sorted ...

Up until 2 hrs ago I was about to get an Escort Magnum Supreme 3 1/2", gas piston.

Went in this morning and the gunsmith (not the owner this time) said I would be unlikely to get the clay cartridges to give enough Ooomph to cycle the Hatsan.

So he offered up the Stoeger Peregrine M3000, £350 new, chokes, inertia operation and 3yr warranty, should I?  From what I can see here, no one has many complaints on Stoeger (unless you buy an air rifle of theirs),

Cheers,

RS

[Rob525]

I have the exact same gun and like I said I have maybe 2 clat carts (chedite28g7s) out of 100 catch. It's a case if pull the bolt back and push in with your finger takes 2 seconds. Annoying but it's only my mrs that uses it, it's my goose gun

 

[wraivi]

I have an extreme max(basically a synthetic stock supreme) about 4 years now and it cycles 28g  clay loads just fine.....I p/x'd my stoeger 2000 (earlier version)for the hatsan.

My own experience is the hatsan has been more reliable, less cartridge fussy and being gas operated, it exhibits less recoil. 

 

[B B]

You might not get every 24 and 28 gram load to work in the hatsan, you will have to try a few different ones until you find a powerfull type of cartridge.

I am sure something will function it, try RC SIPE they go well.  Remember gas semi auto guns have lower felt recoil than the inertia driven guns, benelli have those springy rubber cush drive stocks (comfortech) to try and adsorb recoil in the SBE models these days, their attempt to help reduce the felt recoil in inertia driven gun shooting magnum ammo.

 My experience with inertia guns is that if you have them cleaned and oiled right they work fine, i have to admit though i have seen A benelli M2 hang up more than i would have wanted in a pigeon hide, they were using hull high pheasant and that gun did not like that ammo at all. So i dont feel Inertia guns are as full proof as they are often said to be.

In the cheap semis i would get a Baikal myself but nothing wrong with hatsans and some others, you want to shop around see whats available, there are other options these days, young bloke in our club as a ATA he likes it and never seen it jam yet.

The armsan A 612 and 620 get good reviews some on this forum have them they seem popular.

My advice is Semi auto Baikal ..

 

 

 

[Trippyhippy]

Mc Avoys have them for sale at a special price £295

 

https://www.mcavoyguns.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d145_Hatsan_Arms_Escort_Shotguns.html

Edited April 7, 2019 by Trippyhippy
add image

[RockySpears]

11 hours ago, Trippyhippy said:

Mc Avoys have them for sale

  ... they also say they will cycle the 70mm 24g, which is what I need for clays, to pracice using the gun.

It's supposed to fun and exciting buying a new gun, isn't it?

I think I will give them a ring.  Mind you, I still need to add RFD to that price too.

They also Have the Stoeger M3000 at £425, £75 + RFD more than I can get it here!

Cheers,

RS

[Fen tiger]

10 minutes ago, RockySpears said:

  ... they also say they will cycle the 70mm 24g, which is what I need for clays, to pracice using the gun.

It's supposed to fun and exciting buying a new gun, isn't it?

I think I will give them a ring.  Mind you, I still need to add RFD to that price too.

They also Have the Stoeger M3000 at £425, £75 + RFD more than I can get it here!

Cheers,

RS

Dont get hung up about this not cycling super light loads, It will cycle SOME> you just got a little research and development to do until you find the right LIGHT ammo. Most of the loads it wont cycle are not worth using any way just cheap clay fodder.

[Trippyhippy]

I bought one a few years ago  last time they had them on offer but have only ever used Hull Superfast 27g 70mm  and Fiocchi TTone 28g 67mm both fibre wad and have only had a few non cycles.

[RockySpears]

OK, so just to cloud the issue, I was talking at work when I realised I have a Winchester Ranger Model 120, on the barrel it says "Winchester proof steel", this has a 3" chamber, and as it is a pump, it will fire whatever goes in the chamber.  It does not take chokes, does take slugs, is currently FAC 5 +1, so need to change that, less than £350?

  Is this the same as "Steel proofed" ?  There is no Fleur de Lys, but it is an older gun, so maybe the stamp was not around then.

Thank you once more,

RS

[JJsDad]

23 minutes ago, RockySpears said:

Is this the same as "Steel proofed" ? 

No its not !  The US is not signed up to the Permanent International Commision (CIP) for proof of firearms. The term `Winchester Proof Steel` is indicating they have conducted cetain in-house testing, it is no assurance that the weapon is safe and suitable for use with steel shot. I had a Winchester 101 about 40 years ago, long before non-toxic shot had ever been envisaged, that stated exactly the same wording on the barrel.

Edited April 8, 2019 by JJsDad

[motty]

2 hours ago, JJsDad said:

No its not !  The US is not signed up to the Permanent International Commision (CIP) for proof of firearms. The term `Winchester Proof Steel` is indicating they have conducted cetain in-house testing, it is no assurance that the weapon is safe and suitable for use with steel shot. I had a Winchester 101 about 40 years ago, long before non-toxic shot had ever been envisaged, that stated exactly the same wording on the barrel.

You are correct, but I would bet my bottom dollar that it would handle steel nicely.

[Fen tiger]

Motty is right this whole steel scare mungering game is in need of a rethink, advice was very general and catered for grandpas old thin walled ex wall hanger of a  hammer gun that the landlord of the Coach and horses gave him that had been over the fire place as an armament for 70 years.  Many guns heavier in construction like semi auto and pumps singles and steel barreled doubles from back in the day can safely handle steel, and even conform from proof as regarding normal steel. but advice can vary so much, its down to mixed levels of understanding, and its not helped by some in the trades attitude to steel its not to wrecker of guns it has often been claimed. Thankfully now there are many guns old and new that have fired thousands and thousands of rounds of steel and show zero effects from it.

 Two examples 1921 FN browning A 5 12ga 32 inch full choke, bought by a friend in 1978 his main pigeon and duck gun back then, used it up to steel coming in, bought a new beretta extreme, retired the old Browning, but brought it back out of retirement in 2003 and its been back as his main gun again he shoots steel reloads at pigeons too now ( birds of prey bird disposal)  its still got fill choke no scratches wear nothing and he still has all his fingers eyes and a face.

 Another chap in our club he has his old BSA side by side bought it 2001 for £50  (1930s)  very old well used but tight and bores like new a used but well looked after gun, he started useing steel in that gun as soon as he got it its still fine today .

There are many more examples of this many different makes and models. Hear lots of storys about steel but never seen any true steel damage when loaded or used in guns of corect chamber length and prof specs appropriate steel ammo used for those specs.