TriStar Enters Lever Land :: Weapons.com

Meet the Tristar LR94

From its cowboy type to its finances value level, there’s lots to love about TriStar’s LR94. (Picture: Kristin Alberts/Weapons.com)

TriStar goes headlong into the lever gun market with a trio of .410-bore cowboy-style shotguns. Like the corporate’s different choices, the LR94 household is inbuilt Turkey. Three variants launched concurrently: matte blued, case coloured, and nickel silver finishes. Every is constructed round an aluminum receiver wearing Turkish walnut furnishings.

Like different levers available on the market, the TriStar chambers 2.5-inch shells solely. Shares are checkered, completed with a slim recoil pad, and embody sling studs. TriStar provides shooters a selection of both a 22- or 24-inch barrel, every accepting interchangeable choke tubes. A leather-wrapped, slimline loop provides to extra conventional cowboy aptitude. MSRPs are $990 for Matte, $1,070 for Silver, and $1,100 for Case Shade – however they are often discovered for much less on Weapons.com!

Our Take a look at Gun

TriStar LR94 .410 Lever Action Shotgun — The LR94 in nickel silver sports activities walnut shares with a rubber butt pad and sling studs. (Picture: Kristin Alberts/Weapons.com)

We have been tickled to snag a nickel silver and walnut variant for our testing functions. It is a reasonably sharp-looking piece. Our 22-inch barreled mannequin measures 40.5 inches general, with a full 14-inch size of pull. The half-length journal tube limits capability to five+1 rounds, however some hunters will nonetheless require plugging the tube.

The gun weighs 6.3 kilos empty and balances fairly properly within the hand. It ships in a primary black cardboard field with a handbook and primary choke wrench. It have to be famous that no further choke tubes are included. The LR94 shipped with a modified choke tube, which is a pleasant all-around selection. We’d, nevertheless, prefer to have a full choke if wild turkeys or different distant sport have been on docket.

Area Notes

Whereas it’s a plus that the LR94 makes use of interchangeable choke tubes, for the value level, we want to see at the least a number of extra chokes included.

The outsized dial security atop the bolt is in contrast to any we’ve seen. Although it serves its goal, its measurement and site are fairly intrusive, particularly for the aesthetics of the gun.

Likewise, the rear sight does its job, however might use some fine-tuning. The boxy define lends to some sharp corners that are inclined to snag on gun instances, and for shooters fast-handling the gun, that sight can scratch.

There’s loads to understand, although. The checkered walnut shares are elegant. Including a leather-wrapped loop contributes to the Western aptitude. Although the motion felt a bit gritty out of the field, a fast cleansing remedied that. After a number of rounds, the biking was smooth.

Vary Time

After our experience with another Turkish-built lever shotgun– the GForce LVR410 – we gave the TriStar an intensive cleansing earlier than heading to the vary. Although we anticipated a break-in interval, we have been pleasantly shocked to find that the gun fed flawlessly proper out of the field.

We ventured out with as a lot .410 ammunition as we might muster amid shortages, together with Federal High Gun, Winchester AA, Aguila, and a few handloads for birdshot. As well as, we ran a number of rounds of Hornady Triple Protection and a few American Tactical buckshot. By and enormous, the LR94 ate it up.

We did expertise two failures to fireside, one with Aguila and the opposite with reloads, each as a result of gentle primer strikes. Each got here inside the first 18 rounds of reside hearth and didn’t happen once more over the following 80-90 extra rounds.

Loading the LR94 takes some muscle. Coming from somebody who shoots a number of lever weapons, together with facet gates, this was probably the most tough. We discovered utilizing the following shell to exert sufficient strain, on the appropriate angle, was one of the simplest ways to load the tube. Maybe this can get simpler with time, nevertheless it didn’t change over the course of our 100-plus rounds. The LR94 makes use of a half-length journal tube that comes with a plug in place, which is handy for hunters.

Like the man Turkish-built GForce Arms lever gun we not too long ago examined, the TriStar makes use of the tang-to-lever security, which requires the shooter to stay aware of not simply closing the lever however placing constructive upward strain towards the motion to disengage the protection. Much more so than with the GForce, the LR94 requires a spotlight up to now. After some observe on the vary, muscle reminiscence comes naturally, however that is an extra step in comparison with previous basic levers from Marlin, Winchester, or Henry Repeating Arms.