Good or bad ?

My review starts down on page 1 someplace. This will be an evolving effort and I will post updates as I get a chance to work with this shotgun.

OK, I'll be the guinea pig

I ordered one.

I think they are the Turkish shotguns made by Huglu. Let us know how you like it.

Yes, Huglu origin is the general consensus with a mechanical single trigger (I won't own another inertia trigger gun). I ordered the Coachgun configuration. Zenith has discontinued importing them but is supposedly still going to honor warranty work. They seem to get begrudgingly good reviews but I haven't seen any high round count reports yet. I have a thing for Coachguns, so it won't take a lot beyond being fully functional to impress me

I'll write up a review and if I can ever figure out how to post my own photos again, I will do that too.

FWIW.

https://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=478320

They look very nice.  I'm trying to resist picking one up at the current CDNN prices.

My CZ Drake is marked Huglu.

Tedna seems to be the actual maker of the Zenith guns.  Maybe?  Let us know if it's marked Huglu anywhere.

Let us know what you think once it arrives.

UPDATE - Good looking piece of junk but has issues (see further posts)
REVIEW Part #1 The Unboxing

So, I received my new acquisition from my Dealer. As he was double checking the serial number, he remarked what a good looking gun it really is. He was right.

The gun came VERY well packaged and protected. The barreled front-end and and the stocked receiver come each in their own red velvet sock and are packed in a blow-molded fitted plastic case. The case is then shipped in a heavy cardboard outer shipping box. Nothing cheap or flimsy about the packaging. A lot of effort was put into making sure the gun arrived undamaged.

After removing the receiver and the barrels I gave them a good inspection and could not find any flaws in either the wood nor the metal. The bluing on the barrels is deep and the polishing of the metal was very nice with no visible tool marks left behind. The muzzle face is left in the white and the fillet between the barrels is well done. The barrels are chrome-lined and everything has a very light preservative oil on it. The barrels are only marked "Zenith Firearms - Afton, VA." and marked for 3" shells. It says "Made In Turkey" hidden on the bottom. One thing that stood out is that the extractors seem to be very well fitted to the barrels and not just ground flush. The fit between them leaves nothing more than a very thin line of the metal to metal contact. The flat, solid rib looks good and the barrel assembly "rings" pleasingly when struck (as opposed to a "tink" indicating poorly soldered or badly fitted components).

The forend is secured via a latch that was neither too hard nor too loose to open an close. The latch and latch escutcheon are nicely case-colored like the Receiver. The wood is a plain Walnut that matches the buttstock in both figure and shading. No dings, gaps, cracks or imperfection were found. Even the "hidden" side was very nicely fitted to the attaching iron and the wood sealed/finished.

The receiver is quite pleasing as well. Nicely polished with no visible tool marks. Even the hidden surfaces around the trunion and the locking mechanism were nicely cleaned up. The release lever is quite stiff but not in a "crunchy" way. It feels like there is a very heavy spring.

The case-coloring (not case-hardening as this is a decorative treatment over modern steel) is quite pleasing but does not quite mimic true case-hardening. It looks quite stunning but has more of a grey/silver than blue/black elements. It also, looks like is has a pattern to it rather than being a purely random mix of hues. Still, VERY attractive.

No buggered screws! (my personal pet peeve)

The buttstock is a very pleasing Walnut but plain with little figure but quite handsome. The finish is matte and seems to be clear with no added stain. The checkering along the pistol grip is laser cut and looks quite nice. Much better than pressed checkering but still not as artful as true hand-cut checkering. This will sound strange but the laser checkering looks almost too perfect. However, I am sure with a little time and actual use the checkering will take on a much more traditional look and texture. The only thing I don't like about it is that the pattern has a very modern look to it which seems a little out of place on a gun with 19th Century design origins. I also would have preferred a rounded grip or at least something a little thinner. The grip is too prominent for my personal taste. Still, it was nicely done.

I ordered the model with the steel buttplate as I find rubber recoil pads tend to catch on my clothing, especially with a standard ~14" LOP (I haven't measures this model yet). The buttplate is case-colored as well but the screws looked a little cheap in comparison. Nothing wrong with them but they are just simple, Phillips, matte-black, flat-head screws (think of drywall screws) and look a little out of place, like a plain girl standing next to the Prom queen. If the gun grows on me, I might replace them with brass platted, slotted screws. The Phillips screwdriver/screw is a product of the 20th Century and like the checkering pattern mentioned above, looks just a little out of place on a gun of 19th Century design.

No cracks, gaps, dings or imperfections found on the buttstock. The wood to metal fit is quite good with the wood left ever so slightly "proud" to allow the wood to shrink to fit over time. This appears to have been done on purpose as it is evenly proud at every wood to metal interface, including the buttplate. I am talking about a fingernails (maybe a little less) thickness of proud-ness.  This level of detail is something I normally see on high dollar guns, not necessarily "budget" guns like this.

There is a very nicely produced Owner's Manual included with the gun as well but it is a little short on detail for my model as it covers ALL of Zentith's shotgun offerings

OK, so that is it for the un-boxing. In my next installment, I will lightly clean and lube the gun and take it out for some shooting.

Side note - I have yet to figure out how to get my personal pictures to post since Photo-Bucket decided to be a bunch of dicks! Honestly, there is nothing on my particular gun that is not representative of all the other pictures of the model available from a Google search.

ETA- So far, I am happy with my purchase. At $400 plus shipping and transfer fees this may turn out to be a real bargain. However, as they say, don't judge a book by it's cover. I have seen really good looking guns that turned out to be total duds. Remember the "Rhino" revolver?  I am tempering my sense of smug satisfaction until I can put at least a couple hundred shells through the gun of various loads. Unfortunately, where I shoot Trap & Skeet prohibits guns with a barrel length <23" so I am going to have to figure out a way to evaluate  swingability (I am copyrighting that term) and the ability to actually hit moving targets.

UPDATE #2 - Zenith, we have a problem.

So, Saturday morning, after running a couple patches down the chambers/bore and lubing the action area per OEM recommendations, I attempted to assemble the gun for the first time.

Sadly, I cannot install the forend.

It appears that the internal hammers are in the un-cocked position and that is preventing the cocking levers from engaging the corresponding cutouts in the forend correctly. I have an idea regarding how to fix it but I am not going to do anything not noted in the Owner's Manual until I consult with Zenith.

This sucks as I was planning on at least function testing with live ammunition this past weekend.

It is now Monday and I have called Zenith (the U.S. importer of these guns) and created a warranty service request. I am waiting for somebody to get back with me regarding what to do next.

Not a good start to my experience with this gun but at least we will see how their warranty service performs.

UPDATE #3 - Not Good

Well, after a couple phone calls and a detailed e-mail, I have still not been given any repair instructions.

On Friday 12/21 there is a message on their website that reads closed until 01/02/19.

I get that people want to spend time with their families and that a lot of small businesses close down for extended periods over the holidays. I didn't really expect to have the issues with my gun resolved before the end of the year BUT I did expect at least some communication

I believe the problems with this gun are much more than I first suspected. I tried to remove the barrels in order to pack this up but now the action lever will not budge and the barrels are solidly locked to the receiver.

So far, this good looking gun is a great disappointment!

Sadly, Zenith Customer Service isn't looking to good either.

I will post updates after Zenith re-opens in January.

I was not impressed with Zenith's warranty services when they were required, to the extent I likely won't ever buy anything else from them.  Good luck OP.

That's not necessarily true.  CZ has great warranty service and imports several Turkish shotguns.  Their guns have 5 year warranties.

OP,  I hope Zenith takes care of you.

UPDATE #4 GOOD NEWS, IT WORKS!

OK, so we had some miscommunication and some missed messages.

First, it seems that back in December, on the day I called them, they e-mailed me a UPS pre-paid return label. Unfortunately, they had one wrong letter in the e-mail address so I didn't receive it.

When I called them again on 01/02/19, we got that straightened out and they resent the shipping label. That is fine but I think a lot of wasted effort could have been avoided if someone with technical knowledge would have taken a minute to TALK to me about the gun. I sent it in and they sent it back the day after they received it saying nothing was wrong it the gun. I called them again and left a message and in response received a curt e-mail telling me that these guns are very tight and that I needed to use more force to secure the forend to the barreled receiver. Well, I had already been using more force than I thought was prudent but with the e-mail to back me up, I aligned the forend into it's slot on the barrels and with two hands squeezed like I was trying to strangle a dog. Just as I started to hear wood fibers bending, it snapped into place.

So, apparently, the problem was me and my milquetoast muscles However, in my defense, after 40 years of handling various double-barreled shotguns from Colts, Parkers, SKB to Russian Baikal, Stoegers and Chinese clones, I have never had to use so much force to assemble the components or to operate the locking lever. In addition, the Owner's manual doesn't mention this and the YouTube vidoes show people just snapping the forend on with one hand! Again, a two minute conversation with their tech guy could have saved the shipping both ways.

Anyway, after sitting at my workbench and opening and closing the action and dry-firing with snap caps for a hundred cylces, it is starting to loosen up which is also a bit concerning. I don't know why these were manufactured so tight. I hope it isn't because they are going to wear excessively in a short round count but we shall see.

I took it out shooting and ran 50 rounds of cheap 1-1/8oz Federal multi-purpose loads from Walmart. After that, I shot 9 rounds of Federal 12700 full power buckshot loads. No problems with loading or extraction other than the locking lever is still very stiff (maybe that's a good thing). I was only shooting at 15 yards but the barrels generaly seemed to put shot where I pointed. The patterns from each barrel were roughly 24" @ 15 yards with no "holes" in the pattern. Not bad. At that distance, I really couldn't distinguish between the Mod. & IC chokes. I forgot to measure the Buckshot spread but it was smaller than using the #7.5 birdshot.

SUMMARY-

This is a good looking gun. Far better in the aesthetic details than any other SxS I have seen in this price range.
Zentih Customer Service proved to be responsive but I wish they would have been able to actually let me talk to a technical expert FIRST before going through the effort to send it back and fourth.
If you buy one, you may (or may not according to the videos) need to use some brute force to assemble the gun (at least initially).
The gun does shoot and generally delivers pellets where you point it. What more do you really expect from a Coachgun?
MY example is still VERY tight. SASS participants would likely not be able to use this gun as-is.
How long will it take to loosen up? How well will this gun handle a high round count? How long will Zenith support these guns (beyond their 1 year warranty) I DON"T KNOW
On the plus side, despite the sideplates, this is a basic Anson and Deeley boxlock design. I don't know if any of the parts are interchangeable with other guns but a gunsmith familiar with boxlock shotguns should be able to diagnose any problem and modify or fabricate any required replacement parts. The question would be the cost.
CDNN still has at least some of these left. It is my understanding that Zenith will no longer import these (probably because of people like me ) so I suspect when CDNN has sold out, they will be gone, at least at current prices.
So, if you are a gambler with $400 to bet, maybe you want to pick one of these up while you still can.

Photos?

What kind of review has no pics?