I’m a glutton for punishment. I test my ability to withstand frustration by occasionally dipping into the crazy world of Turkish imported shotguns.
Seeing a gas-operated, semi-auto, AR-style, magazine-fed shotgun on a wall for $150 made me say, “To hell with it, let’s see if Turkish shotguns have improved.” So, I purchased the TriStar KRX Tactical.
I’ve had good experiences with TriStar shotguns in the past. A long time ago, they produced a Benelli M3 clone that allowed you to swap between semi-auto and pump, and it treated me well for many rounds. I typically find that the best Turkish guns clone successful designs. When they try to be novel, well, things don’t always work out.
In the current economy, this shotgun was cheaper than taking my family out to dinner, so I decided to give it a spin.
What’s the KRX Tactical Shotgun?
It looks like an AR-15 if a child drew it from memory. That’s the best way to describe it. It’s vaguely AR-like, featuring what is essentially a polymer shell over a gas-operated shotgun. It utilizes a standard ring-piston gas system—remarkably simple and the same system we see on a wide variety of Turkish shotguns. The gun comes with two five-round magazines.
The KRX mimics AR controls: the magazine release, bolt release, and safety are all very familiar. The charging handle is mounted to the bolt on the right side and reciprocates with every shot fired. The gun uses an inline stock design, and because the stock is molded to the receiver, there is no way to swap it out. The length of pull is a little over 14 inches with the recoil pad.
The gun comes with removable sights consisting of a front post and a carry-handle-style rear sight. The carry handle offers multiple aperture types: a series of increasingly smaller peep sights and one open sight. I prefer the open sight by far; it simply makes more sense for a shotgun.
If you don’t like the factory sights, it’s easy to add a red dot of your choosing. The entire top of the receiver features a polymer rail for optics. The bottom of the KRX has a fairly long rail for other accessories. Oddly enough, there are two rail-like additions to the sides of the handguard, but they aren’t actual rails—just weird decorative flourishes.
The end of the barrel uses Beretta/Benelli Mobil chokes, so you have a wide variety of aftermarket options. The included choke is a “tactical style choke tube,” whatever that means.
At the Range With the KRX
I brought along some full-powered buckshot, some cheap birdshot, and reduced-recoil tactical buckshot. Gas-operated guns tend to be fairly reliable; they are typically less sensitive than inertia guns, and many Turkish manufacturers set them to “overgassed” mode to ensure reliability across a wide variety of shells.
So, is it reliable with a diverse range of shells? No. Is it reliable with full-powered buckshot? Also no. The birdshot and reduced-recoil loads turned it into a straight-pull bolt-action shotgun. The full-power buckshot cycled occasionally, but the KRX was plagued by failures to extract and eject. Rounds often got caught in the bolt during cycling or were left halfway out of the chamber.
My original load was Monarch 00 high-brass buckshot. To give the gun a fair shake, I tried another brand: Federal No. 4. Federal is a little costlier but has a better reputation for quality. Still, even with Federal buckshot, I rarely made it through an entire magazine.
Does the KRX need a break-in period? I was hesitant to agree to such a thing given the cost of ammunition, but I proceeded anyway. I did see minor improvements as I crossed the 200-round line; I eventually started getting through multiple magazines without a problem using full-powered buckshot.
The Break-In
I kept a few boxes of Federal Black—which is 00 buckshot at 1,600 feet per second—for just this occasion and let it fly alongside Monarch, Lambro, and other Federal buckshot loads. I shot the gun’s equivalent value in ammo quite quickly. While it did improve, and even managed a few magazines of birdshot, it never reached what I’d call satisfactory reliability.
Every few magazines, I’d run into a failure to extract or eject. I broke the gun down (which is easy) and cleaned the gas system. After putting it back together, I shot it some more. I became obsessed with seeing if I could get this thing to run, especially since I’ve shot similar designs with very few issues. Ultimately, the gun never consistently made it through 20 rounds without a malfunction.
Beyond Reliability?
I have a personal preference for standard stocks on shotguns. I’m not a huge fan of inline stocks because of how they elevate the sights. It’s fine on an AR at rifle ranges, but at shotgun distances, dealing with height-over-bore on tight-patterning loads feels counterproductive. Still, if you like that style of shotgun, this design won’t let you down.
The sights are fine. The open sight works well with the big, high-visibility front post. It aligns easily and allows for fast shooting, which is exactly what I want in a shotgun. However, I do think a red dot would be the better option. The sights really complete that “M16 drawn by a child” aesthetic.
The ergonomics are decent. The magazines don’t always drop free, but the magazine release is easy to find, and the safety clicks on and off with ease. The bolt release requires a sharp slap, but it works.
The charging handle is standard for a semi-auto shotgun, though I wish there were options for left-side charging. The other downside is the 14-inch-plus length of pull. I’m a big guy, so it’s not a major issue, but shorter shooters might find it challenging.
Recoil is fairly mild. The inline design has its perks, as do gas-operated shotguns as a whole. The KRX delivers a fairly soft recoil impulse. If you install a foregrip, you can use a “push-pull” technique effectively; the gun is soft enough that it barely needs to touch your shoulder.
The Final Word
The KRX Tactical was not reliable enough for me to trust it for anything other than a range toy. I’m already on the fence regarding box-magazine shotguns due to their inherent design hurdles; mixing that with an unreliable gas system makes this a “no-go” for me.
Specifications
- Barrel Length: 18.5 inches
- Overall Length: 38 inches
- Weight: 7.4 lbs
- Caliber: 12 Gauge
- Capacity: 5+1
Star Ratings (Out of Five)
Reliability: *
It can’t get through four magazines without a malfunction. The longest string I achieved was 17 rounds without a stoppage.
Ergonomics: ***
The AR controls are decent. However, the long length of pull, the reciprocating right-side charging handle, and the fact that magazines don’t regularly drop free are significant hassles.
Accuracy: ****
The shotgun does shotgun things. The sights are odd but functional. While height-over-bore is an issue at close range, it is workable.
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