Tested: TriStar Viper G2 Bronze .410 Shotgun

by
posted on May 24, 2019
bronze.jpg

TriStar has a long history with Turkish gunmakers and imports an excellent line of moderately priced shotguns that, most importantly, work well. Among the company’s premier lines, the Viper G2 Bronze is now being offered in .410 bore, and an example of TriStar’s newest sub-gauge is the subject of this review.

From muzzle to butt, the Turkish-made G2 is a very attractive shotgun with its highly polished, deep-blued barrel, glossy Turkish walnut stock and fore-end (with just a hint of figure in the wood), and bronze-finished Cerakote receiver. The butt has a soft, sporting-clay-style pad with a hard-plastic insert at the top to facilitate a smooth mount. Both the stock and fore-end have 20-l.p.i., sharp-pointed checkering that ensures a solid grip under any conditions. Stock dimensions are made for American shooters, with a length of pull of 14 38", drop at comb of 1½" and drop at the heel of 2¼". There is a hint of cast off at 1/4". We found the combination to be highly satisfactory when shooting low-gun skeet targets. If the stock doesn’t fit straight from the box, the G2 comes with a set of shims that are easily changed to adjust the drop and cast for both right- and left-handed shooters.

Between its weather-resistant Cerakote-finished receiver and its Turkish walnut fore-end and buttstock, the TriStar Viper G2 Bronze .410 is a very handsome shotgun.


The cross-bolt safety is located behind a large trigger guard that would easily accommodate a gloved hand in cold weather. The trigger, although a bit on the heavy side with an average pull of 8 lbs., 8 ozs., is very crisp with absolutely no preliminary take-up, and it breaks as cleanly as on a fine double.

Moving forward, the bronze Cerakote-finished receiver will resist snow, rain and other corrosive elements, and the action is closed by means of a raised button on the right side of the receiver. It takes a bit of a push to close the action, but from a safety point of view that’s not all bad. The ejection port is large enough for fumble-free insertion of a shell, and the magazine port on the bottom of the action is wide enough to comfortably allow an adult-size thumb to push shells into the five-round tubular magazine.

The .410-bore version of the TriStar Viper G2 Bronze ships with three screw-in choke tubes that use Beretta Mobil Choke-style threads. The three-notch choke (shown)that came installed with the gun measured 0.016" against the cylinder 0.410" bore.


The deeply blued 28" barrel is sufficiently long to encourage a smooth swing on moving targets. For ease of cleaning, durability and corrosion-resistance, the chamber and barrel interiors are chrome-plated. Topped with a 5 mm-wide ventilated rib that mates precisely with the matting atop the receiver, the sighting plane ends with a red fiber-optic front sight. The bore measured a precise 0.410" and is topped with screw-in choke tubes that use Beretta Mobil Choke threads that facilitate the purchase of aftermarket tubes. The Viper came with a tube installed that was marked with three notches and measured 0.016" against the cylinder 0.410" bore. The other two tubes were a four-notched tube measuring 0.014" and a third tube with one notch into which our digital bore micrometer would not fit. We used the installed 0.016" tube in pattern testing and shooting, as there was so little difference between it and the four-notch tube.

We did find that with the G2’s excellent stocking, good balance and handling, our score on clays was quite good. It handled the lighter shells without a hitch, and the 3" loads we shot cycled equally well. Patterns at 25 yds. showed high center density with Winchester 2½" Super X field loads that contained 115 No. 6 pellets at an average velocity of 1277 f.p.s. measured 4 ft. from the muzzle. Great Canadian skeet champion, B.C. “Barney” Hartman, once said his .410-bore pattern was about the size of a pie plate so, “I either hit them, or I miss them.”

If you’re looking for a fun shotgun for casual shooting, the .410-chambered TriStar Viper G2 semi-automatic is a good choice, just don’t forget that the .410 bore, with its small shot charge, is an expert’s shotgun. With its light recoil, the .410 is often thought of as a beginner’s first shotgun, but since early success spurs interest, new shooters are generally better off starting with either a 20 or 28 gauge.

At $794, the TriStar Viper G2 Bronze .410 isn’t inexpensive, but it’s a lot of shotgun for the money. In the hands of a seasoned shot, it would work well in the dove field—if shooting ranges are kept in check—for quail over dogs, cottontail rabbits and fun with clays.

Latest

Nraam 2025
Nraam 2025

See New Guns & Gear At The NRA's Annual Meetings In Georgia

Freedom-loving American patriots gather every spring at the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits to celebrate their liberty and check out the newest crop of guns, optics, ammunition and accessories. This year, 2025, the fun will take place in Atlanta, Ga.—we hope to see you there!

Rifleman Q&A: A Hornet In Father’s Attic

From the pages of the April 2025 American Rifleman, learn about a Savage rifle in .22 Hornet that was found in an attic. 

Spring Into Savings With Federal & Remington Ammo

Two of the industry’s finest began offering ammunition rebates on April 1 and the special savings continue through June 30.

The Revolutionary Art Of Don Troiani

By using surviving artifacts, eyewitness testimony, accurately reproduced uniforms, original firearms and the thorough study of battle sites, Don Troiani has done more than imagine what happened 250 years ago. His art is as close as it can get to a true representation of what period combat would have looked like.

The Armed Citizen® April 21, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Captain John Parker's Fowler: Witness To History

While thousands of firearms were used in and around the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, few survive today. One survivor is the flintlock fowler used by Capt. John Parker of the Lexington militia.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.