New Upland Gun - Cz Drake

First off - congrats! I have 3 CZ shotties (all double-trigger SxS's) - 2 of them in 20 & 28. I have several other CZ firearms & I am impressed with what I purchased and with the way CZ USA supports owners (I had an issue with one I purchased used & CZ fixed it with no quibbling - THAT is fine service!). All are very good shooters & are reliable. Like any other double guns, I keep the barrels & ribs well-oiled & break them down setting them out to dry thoroughly after a wet hunt, and then I oil them again.

I use 2-3/4" shells. Center a bird in the pattern & it WILL go down.
Lead shot: I typically shoot #6 shot. The 20 is choked improved & modified. In the 28 I use skeet & modified.
Steel shot: Again, I use #6 shot. Both are choked skeet & improved for Pheasants. I hunt Quail in a non-tox shot area with the 28 & I choke it skeet & skeet in that case.

During the late season when Pheasants tend to not hold as well & wild birds have toughened-up, I step-up to #5 lead shot in the 20 & choke it modified & full. The 28 stays home. I don't hunt Pheasants in many non-tox areas, but if I do in the late season I prefer to use non-tox NICE shot shells.

Do use a bit of choke lube & check tightness & remove and relube the choke tubes every so often. A guy I know stopped by the other day seeking help in removing a stuck choke tube from his Remington. He had NEVER removed it or lubed it. Unless he buys another barrel, he's stuck with a modified-choke 870 because it is stuck but good.

Enjoy!

I'd pick skeet and improved cylinder and #7 shot for a starter. #7 is big enough for 30 yard pheasants and also not too big for quail. It's hard to find #7 unless you are a reloader. My next choice would be IC and Mod for choking.

One thing I would recommend is to shoot your gun on a patterning board at 4o yards and then at 30. It would let you pick your maximum shooting distance. My 20 gauge has "loose chokes" and appears good to about 35 yards. It would change if tighter choke tubes were selected.

I wanted denser patterns, more ammo choices and still have a light weight shotgun. I went with a CZ ultralight upland in 12 gauge. It weighs 6 lbs and has the versatility of 12 gauge loads. I'm currently shooting 3/4 oz reloads at the skeet range and chewing up clay pigeons. I shot 1 oz loads at doves and then had 1 1/4 oz steel for the senior pheasant hunt.

CZ makes a good, solid gun and any double is better than any pump or semi-auto especially if it is a 20ga. Welcome to the Dark Side. Take that o/u to a 5-stand field with a half of a dozen boxes of shells and enjoy the hell out of it. I shot a 20 ga on everything until non-toxic shot became the law. It's all I've used on upland game since 1967.

Side note: in traditional Southern quail hunts, sports must shoot double guns and they can't be any larger than 20 ga. And, you only shoot the covey rise, never hunting singles since that is too easy and unfair to the birds. The pointing dogs that you hunt over are just that, pointing, they do not retrieve. A labrador or other retriever, is carried on buggy or truck to find and retrieve lost birds. Just an FYI.

How about a report on shooting your new gun? And the suggestion above about patterning your gun is exactly right. Use different loads with each choke, it can be a real eye opener.

I have the cz ou ultra light in 12. The wood and metal very basic but good utilitarian shotgun and when I fall in the rocks chasing chukar or scratch stock in the bramble s I don't cry

I spent some time patterning it with 7 shot down to 2 shot. Did steel heavy metal bismuth and lead shot.

I found that the after market Carlson brand extended chokes did a better job of consistent shot pattern vs the factory chokes especially with the steel shot and out past 35 yds with lead and steel heavy shot and bismuth.

The factory chokes shot ok mind you, the Carlson jperformed better.


I like skeet and improved cylinder early season quail

I shot both full for chukar

Pheasant improved mod , mod early

Improved mod full late season

I shoot a CZ Ringneck every now and again, in 20. Excellent firearm-well made, handles nicely, great wood, and for the $$, it's very very hard to go wrong!

What I do see, is that there's a fair amount of low price shotguns, and I can't think of one which manifests problems! We also shoot Stoegers, Mossies, Huglu, and I even have a chiappa Double Badger-all what I'd call cheap. And they all shoot very well, they're just not as pretty (well, except for the Mossie Silver Reserve .410-that's my grouse gun right now). What you'll see when you check them out, is that the metalwork isn't fancy, and sometimes requires a tiny amount of filing to get stuff to fit perfectly. But these are shooters, not presentation pieces. They're definitely worth the bucks, especially if you consider the double guns to be "entry level".