Customer Reviews for Tristar Arms Setter S/T Walnut 12 Gauge Shotgun

delivered quickly. Beautifully executed over/under an excellent buy for the money.

Very nice gun for a cheap over & under. Very satisfied

The Tri Star Setter O/U shotgun is the best shotgun I’ve used for the price it sells for.

Very impressed with the fit and finish quality out of an over under at this price point. I've broken a few thousand clays with it and only have a couple complaints: the gun doesn't break open quite far enough to just drop the shell into the bottom barrel, you have to pull the barrel fully downward so the rim of the shell won't get caught on the receiver. While this was annoying at first, it quickly became second nature after just a few rounds. Another minor complaint would be with the safety/barrel selector. If you don't have the barrel selector fully pushed to the left or right, you can't push the safety off and it is very easy to bump it just enough to where it isn't fully engaged. Sure, this is no big deal on the clay range, but when you have a rooster pheasant flushing right at your feet and you can't get the safety off in time to make a quick shot it will make you say some not-so-nice things about the gun. Overall it is a decent gun for the money and I don't regret my purchase.

Shotgun looks good fit and finish I've had three fireing pins break usually around 5000 rounds get the buds insurance pays shipping and repairs

So far so good. My first O/U, purchased it as a back-up while my 1100 is at the gun-smith for repairs. So far I have shot 4 rounds of trap with it (about 100 shells), and have experimented with both barrels. I am pleasantly surprised by the quality, highly recommend for anyone who is looking for an entry level O/U. I purchased this as a back-up, but I'm sure this may become my primary gun of choice as cleaning and operation is much more simplistic than my S/A.
One thing to note, the action is very stiff and requires a little force to break open. I applied some gun lubricant to the contact points and that seems to have loosened it up so it is not unmanageable. Also, I have seen some online forums have said that the firing pins can be kinda a weak-point. I have only shot 100 rounds through this and so have not had an issue, but firing pin replacements are available and seem easy enough to replace.
I look forward to busting more clays with this guy.

Great budget friendly entry level over under shotgun, for the price you can not beat it. I've put 100 rounds thru it so far shooting skeet and its been great so far

The gun jammed up and would not close the first time I used it after about 40 shots. Buds had me mail it to Try Star in Kansas City. Wish I could have returned it and got my money back. Not sure how this will end.

A nice looking affordable entry level over-under shotgun! I purchased two of these shotguns 12- Gauge also 20 Gauge They have nice features, appear to be manufactured well, they get good reviews, some say, they're prone to firing pin breakage? Only time will tell, my only concern would be is, having access to purchasing firing pins, they look easy to replace. Overall nice shotgun for the money.

This was my 2nd O/U....My first was a CZ Ultralight. I have always preferred Semi-Auto Inertia action guns and own Stoeger, Benneli , and a CZ 1012 in that respect. The Ultralight is great for Grouse and upland birds because you can carry it all day with no tiring. However to shoot any ultralight at the trap range for a day you better be prepared to get pounded pretty bad. So I bought this Tristar Setter as my first "tryout" trap gun. This gun is pretty awesome for the money. Its about 1 1/2 pounds heavier than my Ultralight and has a much better recoil pad. While the break open was pretty stiff when I got it, it worked in nicely after a day at the range. The tang safety was also pretty stiff, but that too is now much better. There was a very small finish defect on the lower stock, but I repaired that myself with some finishing oil and sealant, it took about 10 minutes. The gun swings perfectly and puts you right on the clay fast....Trigger is crisp and clean with close resets in each trigger pull for each barrels....Just amazing for just over $400. I couldn't believe how well balanced and perfect this gun felt on my shoulder...I suggest extended chokes for a bit better pattering.....Buds shipped quickly with no issues. 5 Stars!

By far the best budget friendly o/u I’ve ever shot absolutely love smashing clay pigeons with the setter and it looks phenomenal really does look like a higher end gun very pleased with my purchase

Nice looking shotgun. I have found no inferior workmanship. I can shoot it accurately. Great price. Great service.

How did i miss not reviewing this great shotgun. It is not a Browning or a Beretta but it is a great shotgun for the price. Have shot over 500 rounds and still going strong. This was bought when i started shooting clay birds again after selling my BT99 and giving up trap shooting.

thanks for the service mi friends ok

The gun exceeded expectations. For $420 is gave a huge bang for the buck. Tight finish solid wood and nice detail. For a first skeet shooting gun my son should get years of use out of it.

A amazing gun shoot trap all the time and it never fails me, tristar Arms are an amazing company

I ordered this shotgun for my girlfriend, this would be her first gun and she's a left handed shooter so I knew an Over/Under was the way to go. This seemed like a great starter gun since it's a reasonable price and has a 5 year warranty. When the gun arrived at my local gun shop I went with her to pick it up. The gun is neatly in a cardboard box and then inside a blue plastic bag. As soon as I pulled the stock out of the plastic I thought it looked amazing. The wood is a beautiful dark grain with a high gloss finish. The bluing was even and dark and the engraving on the receiver looked fantastic. I was impressed with the guns appearance and considered ordering a second one for myself. Our joy was short lived because it doesn't function as well as it looks, in fact it really doesn't function at all. When loading it my girlfriend was having trouble getting the action to close and go into battery. Suspecting that this was due to her inexperience I took the gun and gave it a try. Couldn't get it to close, then I opened the action and tried to remove the shells. The shell in the bottom barrel had to be knocked out with a cleaning rod. I tried again, same problem. Tried again with a different shell (factory Federal Field and Target load) and again the gun wouldn't close and go into battery. When the shells were removed the plastic at the bottom of the hull was mushroomed and deformed. The metal of the hull was also crushed and the extractor lip was ripped off. When loading only the top barrel there was no issue, the bottom barrel would not allow a shell to be loaded fully. I suspect that the chamber in the bottom barrel was either bored off center, out of round, or not deep enough. I will be calling TriStar on Monday to have this issue resolved and will update my review when this has been worked out. I understand that in today's world with high production there is bound to be a few lemons from time to time. However, I find it flabbergasting that a gun could leave the factory with such an obvious problem that is so readily apparent when actually trying to load the gun. I would think the gun would have been test fired or at least tolerances checked with a go/no go gauge. Apparently not. Get what you pay for, and sometimes, you don't even get that.

Upper firing pin broke 9/17. Called Tristar they sent another pin. Lower firing pin broke 1/18. They sent another but wrong size. Waiting on longer pin. Otherwise the gun is doing fine.

beautiful gun for the money ,good service i. am real pleased with tristar shotguns i i have three of them now. i got rid of the expensive guns i had . dont believe if you pay more for them that you dont have troubles.

Good Gun for the price, Craftsmanship is very Good. And as Always Buds #1!

As always the transaction with buds has never been an issue. I’ve had the gun for about 7 months and around 1200 to 1500 rounds . I had a couple double fires but the real issue was I had a complete trigger failure . I called TriStar they told me just to send it to the with a discription of the issues . Cost 16 bucks to send including insurance , and less than 2 weeks it was back on my door step . Pretty awesome service . I really like the gun , shots well for me , just remember it’s a $400 over under not a citori . So far it’s worth what you pay for it .

I have purchased a number of guns thru Bud’s and the process has always been very prompt and satisfactory. The pricing is as good as it gets. Years ago the only frustration was that you could never talk to a representative. Now Bud’s has a dedicated customer service person and they also respond to emails. Life is good at Bud’s. Wish they had one in Tampa Bay.

I have owned the Tristar Setter for almost 3 months now and have put 800 rounds through the bottom barrel at the trap range. When I did pattern the shotgun I had put two shells in it and they both fired at once. I have since then tried it with both barrels loaded several times and the double fire did not happen again. The bottom barrel patterns good but the top barrel is way high. The big problem came when the bottom firing pin broke at about 800 rounds. Needless to say I checked the warranty and I did not send it in and since it needed to be sent in one month from purchase I was on my own. The local gun smith says he will make one for about $85 so that's where I am now. If I would have known all this I would not have bought the gun. Also the break open action was so tight on arrival that I had to file the back of a metal bracket that holds the forearm on for it to operate easily. I do not recommend purchasing this gun. If I were to go back in time I would buy the CZ 612 Trap Target for a few dollars more.

I had read a number of reviews on this gun, all positive. So, I took the leap and purchased it from Buds. Have had two sessions of sporting clays and am quite satisfied. The quality appears to be comparable to guns costing twice the price.

This shotgun came in two pieces and assembled easily. The action isn't really particularly stiff. I've never had an issue opening or closing the action. The quality of the Turkish walnut on the stocks seems to be good and I haven't noticed any defects. The engravings/adornments on the receiver are a nice touch. This shotgun doesn't look or feel cheap at all but it is a good value. As far as shooting goes, I've only shot trap with 2 3/4" 1 1/8th ounce 3 dram 1200 fps target loads. This gun is fun at trap! I was hitting more than half the targets whereas I usually don't hit that many. The sight is intuitive and easy to follow targets. The recoil is pretty decent because this shotgun is fairly light but the rubber recoil pad helps that. The front of this shotgun is slightly heavy and thats the only downside. Its to be expected for what you pay though. I'm a 220 lbs man so I can handle it just fine but if your arms aren't strong, it might take some getting used to.