Just learned the hard way, buyer beware...

[rickb2202]

I have had good luck with my tristar.

 

[ronny]

As far as I know, TriStar doesn't make any guns. They are an importer, I think. Here's their website. It may give you the info you need. Check the FAQ's.

 

[Disgruntled Computer Tech]

I am pretty sure Walmart and most retailers will tell you up front there are no returns or to take it to the manufacturer. This is what you get with a $300 auto loader shotgun IMO, 200-300 round sessions are pretty brutal on cheap stuff I would think. I would take it to fedex or ups and ship it ground service in person. When you get it back, sell / trade it and buy a quality Remington or a pump instead. Sorry if this sounds mean. Trying to type nice.

 

[ronny]

If WalMart would tell you that on a TriStar, then they'd probably tell you that on a Remington. That's just WalMart.

I have a TriStar-imported Canik 55 L-120 pistol. It is a CZ 75 clone, was cheap and is a pretty darn good pistol. I think their shotguns are also Turkish and are considered fairly good. You probably just have one with a glitch, much like you can get with a Sig, Remington or anything else.

 

[Hoov]

$100 is way too much to ship that gun. $25 is about right. This is a sign of the times. Back in the good old days, we could repair a gun under warranty for the manufacturer. They would then reimburse us. In our litigious happy society, no manufacturer, nor box store, will repair it. I can see some of their point. Would you want the kid throwing produce working on your gun?

 

[nemesis]

A pawn shop would be a fantastic place potentially to get a good trade on a shotgun you might like. I'd check it out.

Are you on crack? Expecting a pawn to give you a good deal .................. on ............. anything? What a joke.

 

[DFarcher]

Nice to find out that once you buy a gun from the retailer that they are ok with washing their hands of any assistance for you after the sale.

Short story, bought a Tristar semi-auto 12g shotgun around Christmas from Walmart. Yes those of you are going to say why didn't I buy a Remington 1100/1187 instead, well cost. This one was $300 and the same in a Remington was $800+. Took the shotgun out last month, ran almost 200 shells thru it and it wont cycle correctly, shell hangs up in the ejection port. You have to manually cycle it at that point to clear the shell.

I took the gun apart, cleaned every piece of it that could be touched and lubed and assembled it. Did a function test and made sure hand cycled correctly. Took it back out the next day, tried to put another 300 shells thru it with the same issue.

Next step, call Tristar as it has a 5yr warranty. They say send it and we will fix it. This is where I get frustrated. UPS will only ship it next day air, in a unmarked box with signature required and only from the hub, that cost is $100. FedEx uses the same requirements and is close to the same cost.

Call Walmart, they pretty much tell me to pound sand with any type of assistance. We didn't want to return the gun, only to have them handle the shipping process since they are the FFL. Nope, they will not do anything to assist at all.

Then try to call a few local gunsmith's, get told they don't work on Tristar guns. So seems I threw $300 out the window at this point, I guess next step is to pawn it and get what I can out of it and find a Remington 1100/1187.

So you are whining about Walmart not taking care of you but are considering selling the gun at a pawn shop and passing the problem on? Don't be a jerk, you have a warranty the pawn shop owner or the guy who buys it from him does not. Also Walmart's policy on firearms is pretty standard, most (not all) retailers require you to arrange your own warranty work on firearms and do not allow returns. Also you are expecting a lot for any FFL to ship a firearm for you without charging you for packaging, shipping and a transfer fee. Remember if an FFL takes possession of your firearm even just to ship it there is paperwork involved, the gun must be brought back into his book. Also shipping is not a big deal...don't know why they are quoting those prices. You can even ship USPS it cost no more than shipping anything else through the post office. Does require an extra form though.

 

[1shott]

What brand of shotgun shells are you running? IIRC if it is Estate, they have a disclaimer that the shells cannot be used in a semi auto, due to the length of the shell after it is fired, its to long for the shotgun to eject. They work fine in a pump or single shot tho.

It might not be the shotgun.

 

[ronny]

You've probably already read this, but it comes off TriStar's website FAQ:

What might cause my TriStar Shotgun to have cycling issues?
There are many reasons why a gun might have trouble cycling shells. First, make sure you have thoroughly cleaned your shotgun. Use good synthetic gun oil to clean and avoid using compounds such as WD-40, as this congeals and causes more harm than good. Second, make sure that your O-ring is in the correct place (see manual or call TriStar Customer Service). Third, a shotgun has many moving parts; when it is new it can be tight. Sometimes just running a few heavy rounds though it will loosen it up and work out the problem. Fourth, not all ammo is created equal. There are a few light target loads on the market that do not function very well in any semi-automatic (some of these loads will say this directly on the box of shells).

 

[The German]

I have the same gun and have turkey, dove, and duck hunted with it for 3 years. You might be shooting too light a load, or like has been mentioned try a different brand of shells. I was like you at the time, for the price I could buy 3 of them for the same price of the high ends. Now it is my backup gun and I have a Mossberg 935.

I do not know if they will do work on it, but I tok mine to R & S Gun Service in Moore last year for a good cleaning, so they might do some work on it.