Opinions / thoughts on Kofs sub-gauges

[Fellside]

I have always wanted to try out a 28 gauge for driven days with average birds (i.e not the extreme stuff), walked up days, also pigeons and crows etc.

I have the chance to buy a used Kofs 28 gauge very cheaply. They are only £500 new after all. They seem suspiciously cheap. Wondering if the attractive price hides a multitude of sins…or perhaps it might be a genuinely good deal (??). I would be grateful for any thoughts and opinions please. Hopefully someone out there shoots with a Kofs 20, 28 or 410….?
 

[paulinlincs]

I have a Koffs 28g. Bought new for £449 about 3 years ago. Purely bought on a whim to try a 28g. 30inch barrels. Used purely for clays so put a couple of thousand carts mainly 24g size 7.5.

The gun has not missed a beat and fits me like a glove hence I'm hitting about 10% more than I ever did with my 12g guerini maxum. Recoil is low the weight of the gun is perfect to carry all day long. 

Build quality? The internals are obviously stamped out metal and made to a cost but as said its never let me down. The wood quality is pretty good for a cheap gun. I have refinished the stock with an oil finish purely because I prefer the look. 

I'm sure someone will be along saying unless it cost 5k + it's junk but I can only tell you my own experience and it's been 100%positive. 

[Fellside]

5 minutes ago, paulinlincs said:

I have a Koffs 28g. Bought new for £449 about 3 years ago. Purely bought on a whim to try a 28g. 30inch barrels. Used purely for clays so put a couple of thousand carts mainly 24g size 7.5.

The gun has not missed a beat and fits me like a glove hence I'm hitting about 10% more than I ever did with my 12g guerini maxum. Recoil is low the weight of the gun is perfect to carry all day long. 

Build quality? The internals are obviously stamped out metal and made to a cost but as said its never let me down. The wood quality is pretty good for a cheap gun. I have refinished the stock with an oil finish purely because I prefer the look. 

I'm sure someone will be along saying unless it cost 5k + it's junk but I can only tell you my own experience and it's been 100%positive. 

Thanks - appreciate your comments. I know one or two people who use them for coaching children. The only negatives I’ve heard back are about heavy trigger pulls. I suppose that can be sorted.

[Walker570]

Bunnybuster on here had problems with KOFS in 410 I believe. Put me off for sure.  I have two Yilditz 410 OUs and as yet apart from a new set of springs in the older one after 5 years pretty hard graft they have served me well.

[paulinlincs]

1 minute ago, Walker570 said:

Bunnybuster on here had problems with KOFS in 410 I believe. Put me off for sure.  I have two Yilditz 410 OUs and as yet apart from a new set of springs in the older one after 5 years pretty hard graft they have served me well.

I also have a 410 yildiz. Same no issues at all. Although only light use. I rate the Turkish guns. 

[Centrepin]

I recently bought a KOFs .410 Sceptre SXE Game, 30" barrels, multichoke.

Similar dimensions and feel to my Miroku MK38 sporter just much lighter.

Used it once on a 75 bird clay day, superb using 17gram x 7 1/2s Eley with skeet and a 1/4 chokes. 

Leaving the same chokes in, I use it now regularly on rats and tree rats, 9 gram x 6s x 2" carts and have started using it on pigeon and crow. Although I have killed several pigeon only one crow dead in flight with a single shot. The others took a second shot, that of course maybe me needing more lead. 19gram x 6s x 3" Fiochi. 

Can't fault it and have just today ordered a 12 bore new from Orston as a "wet day" gun. Pick up next Thursday/Friday.

The only bad thing I heard was some .410 can suffer poor or soft strike which Sportsman Gun Centre tge main importer can sort easily.

Highly recommended as a cheap gun.

[Fellside]

Thank you for the great info! 
much appreciated…..!!!!

Any more comments welcome. 

[Scully]

A mates 14 year old son ( tall thin and lanky…all knees and elbows ) has a KOFS in 20 bore. He uses Gamebore cartridges although I can’t recall what load. It’s a nice gun but I find it a tad punchy, as does he, but that could just be the load. 

[Fellside]

30 minutes ago, Scully said:

A mates 14 year old son ( tall thin and lanky…all knees and elbows ) has a KOFS in 20 bore. He uses Gamebore cartridges although I can’t recall what load. It’s a nice gun but I find it a tad punchy, as does he, but that could just be the load. 

Thanks for that. It could also be down to gun weight (?), these Turkish guns do seem light as the actions are aluminum. I’m prepared to put up with that aspect, just to experiment with this little caliber. They do seem popular as a ‘youth gun’, which gives me some encouragement. 
(not that I’m claiming youth status…...😀)

[Ultrastu]

I had a 20b with 26 inch barrels until recently .

It was pretty good .and reliable. Only one issue was an occasional sticky bottom barrel ejector .

It was light and again punchy .max was 28 grm loads and I preferred shooting 24 grm  loads to reduce it somewhat .Still liked the gun though ,great in a hide  

 

[Fellside]

36 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

I had a 20b with 26 inch barrels until recently .

It was pretty good .and reliable. Only one issue was an occasional sticky bottom barrel ejector .

It was light and again punchy .max was 28 grm loads and I preferred shooting 24 grm  loads to reduce it somewhat .Still liked the gun though ,great in a hide  

 

Thanks. I wonder if a picture is emerging - re these light aluminum actions and recoil. 

[Ultrastu]

I swapped mine out for a semi auto in 12b which recoils much less with 32 gram loads  .

[Gunman]

Please bare in mind that a low priced gun may be vey well for light use ,but will not stand up to prolonged and heavy use . 

Materials and production methods all count , what may look good on the outside can be very different to what it looks like on the inside . My life in the trade that spans  a large part of the change from domestically made to imported guns has show me time and time again that a gun made for a Spaniard [for example ] to take out on a Saturday to shoot a few birds for the pot , will not stand up to 100 or so  cartridges a week on a clay ground .

This is not the case with all guns ,but look how many makes have been imported  and disappeared over the last 10/15 years . How many names have come and gone how many changes of models of the Hastan autos have ther been to improve and over come problems ? 

I may be a bit cynical but time will tell and its told me to be cautious about all cheap guns .

£500 less VAT is £420, Take off the dealers mark up say £100 and the importers mark up after shipping and charges say another £100 so the gun leaves the factory and  costs the importer £220 landed  which means the cost at the point of manufacture is around £200. 

Think on that .

 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, if it's in good working and price , give it a go 👍

[Hicky]

My son cut his teeth on the 28bore youth version. I’ve shot it and it’s a lovely gun now owned by a friend.

The wood was outstanding. The visible internals were clearly made to a price, the only trouble we had was the occasionally difficulty ejecting larger carts. 
I wouldn’t hesitate but understand the action is alloy so might not be as long lasting as a steel action. 

[Centrepin]

1 hour ago, Gunman said:

Please bare in mind that a low priced gun may be vey well for light use ,but will not stand up to prolonged and heavy use . 

Materials and production methods all count , what may look good on the outside can be very different to what it looks like on the inside . My life in the trade that spans  a large part of the change from domestically made to imported guns has show me time and time again that a gun made for a Spaniard [for example ] to take out on a Saturday to shoot a few birds for the pot , will not stand up to 100 or so  cartridges a week on a clay ground .

This is not the case with all guns ,but look how many makes have been imported  and disappeared over the last 10/15 years . How many names have come and gone how many changes of models of the Hastan autos have ther been to improve and over come problems ? 

I may be a bit cynical but time will tell and its told me to be cautious about all cheap guns .

£500 less VAT is £420, Take off the dealers mark up say £100 and the importers mark up after shipping and charges say another £100 so the gun leaves the factory and  costs the importer £220 landed  which means the cost at the point of manufacture is around £200. 

Think on that .

 

I once had a temporary job in a fishing tackle dealers, his mark up was 100 - 110%. I leant then age 13/14 retail pricing are only marks on paper for the customer to see.  No price marked means you can't afford it. No idea what RFDs mark up.

38 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, if it's in good working and price , give it a go 👍

Yup, this, even little gunshops give a 3 month warranty.

13 minutes ago, Hicky said:

 

I wouldn’t hesitate but understand the action is alloy so might not be as long lasting as a steel action. 

The way I see it, it costs less than £500 retail, haggled its down to £450, and the dealer still makes a profit. It carries a two? year warranty. If you scrap it after two years you've shot for the cost of the ammunition only with a gun that can be replaced or repaired free.  

Ideal as a second gun, or as I'm buying one a "wet day" gun when I want to preserve my Miroku but still get out.

No one buys a cheap washing machine/car/laptop and expects it to last forever......or maybe you do?

 

 

 

[Dasher]

I've a 28b Yildiz for 3 years now with no issues, I bought it when they dropped the price to match the Kofs. I tried both and found the Kofs to have a terrible trigger and a stock that didnt suit my eye line. 

[Fellside]

1 hour ago, Dasher said:

I've a 28b Yildiz for 3 years now with no issues, I bought it when they dropped the price to match the Kofs. I tried both and found the Kofs to have a terrible trigger and a stock that didnt suit my eye line. 

Yes the triggers do seem heavy. I handled a 20 bore in a different shop the other day. The dealer put snap caps in it so that I could pull the trigger - it was quite stiff. Would probably have some basic trigger work done if I take the plunge. I know that one review had the trigger pull weight at    7 1/4 lb. 

[TRINITY]

8 hours ago, Gunman said:

 

£500 less VAT is £420, Take off the dealers mark up say £100 and the importers mark up after shipping and charges say another £100 so the gun leaves the factory and  costs the importer £220 landed  which means the cost at the point of manufacture is around £200. 

Think on that .

 

£200 is probably about half the cost of basic manufacture as a base level  kreighoff 🤣

Seriously just because they are cheap, they are still probably very good value. I prefer to ask why purported superior brands can justify their price tag.

[Stonepark]

On 29/10/2021 at 19:22, Centrepin said:

Used it once on a 75 bird clay day, superb using 17gram x 7 1/2s Eley with skeet and a 1/4 chokes. 

Leaving the same chokes in, I use it now regularly on rats and tree rats, 9 gram x 6s x 2" carts and have started using it on pigeon and crow. Although I have killed several pigeon only one crow dead in flight with a single shot. The others took a second shot, that of course maybe me needing more lead. 19gram x 6s x 3" Fiochi. 

 

 Use the Eley 7.5s on the rats and pigeons\crows and they will surprise you or if wanting fibre, Eley no7 18g fibre, much cleaner kills.

[Ultrastu]

The trigger on mine was spot on .

I dont know the pull  weight but at no point did I ever think about it .which means it's perfect  

[Hicky]

8 hours ago, Centrepin said:

 

No one buys a cheap washing machine/car/laptop and expects it to last forever......or maybe you do?

 

 

 

That’s not what I said. Ideal as a second gun as it would get less use. More accurately I could of said it won’t stand the same level of use a steel action gun would without showing a higher level of wear.

 

 

Edited October 30, 2021 by Hicky

[Gunman]

58 minutes ago, TRINITY said:

£200 is probably about half the cost of basic manufacture as a base level  kreighoff 🤣

Seriously just because they are cheap, they are still probably very good value. I prefer to ask why purported superior brands can justify their price tag.

Dont know what the hourly rate is in Turkey but its probably less than the rest of Europe . Almost certainly less than you or I would work for .When We last bought barrel tubes from Italy they cost around £70 a pair ex works  , cheap stock blanks cost upward of £ 20 .Even buying in large quantities the costs are much higher than the Turks are paying .Thats why they have taken over the bottom end guns from Spain and Italy . 

 

 The same with all else its down materials and manufacturing techniques . 

 

Edited October 30, 2021 by Gunman

[Shadowchaser]

I have a .410 Kofs for ratting.  It has 14.75 inch LOP (which is great, as often on small bores they come with short stocks) and 30 inch barrels and it's an ejector. Great value guns for the money.  

[Centrepin]

No but for the price I wouldn't expect it too. I agree with what you said, they probably will wear faster.

I can't imagine them selling at auction in 100 years unless they're put away and forgotten about.