Hatfield semi-auto

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  • BUFF7MM

    ☠Buff➐㎣☠
    Mar 4, 2009
    13,576
    Garrett County
    Has anyone ever shot or for that matter heard of Hatfield shotguns?
     
    Last edited:

    Oddway Otts

    Active Member
    Mar 17, 2008
    359
    Harford County
    I think a recent American Rifleman did a report on them. As I remember, they are made in Turkey, but nonetheless pretty good for the money. I'll see if I can find the issue.
     

    SuperSoap

    Member of the Great 28
    Apr 5, 2018
    166
    Southern Maryland
    They are based out of Illinois and the parts come from Turkey. I bought just because of the fact of it being such a low price for a semi auto shotgun with a 28 inch barrel. I've put about 300 rounds through it shooting clays. It gets stovepipes every once in a while, but they were easy to clear and didn't really bother me. For a cheap gun to mash up clays on the weekends it rocks.
    hatfieldguncompany.com
     
    Last edited:

    IronEye

    Active Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 10, 2018
    790
    Howard County
    Walmart also handles Hatfield single shot shotguns.

    I bought a 20 gauge for $99. The trigger pull was atrocious - that was easily fixed. The hammer spring was way too strong - just had to put a shim under it to lighten it a bit. Now i would estimate it is "only" in the 8-10 pound range.

    Numerous complaints about the trigger pull on the Internet.

    The real issue was with reliability. It was not 100% setting off the primers. Turns out the firing pin protrusion was way too little. I reshaped the hammer face so that it was able to reach a bit further into the receiver and the problem was solved. Went from .015 protrusion to about .035 and it is now reliable.

    Maybe if I let the hammer spring alone it would have been ok with setting off the primers.

    I also cut the barrel back to 20".

    My purpose was to have a cheap, light, don't care shotgun that I could carry when "squirrel hunting" when I'm really just wandering in the woods looking at the old buildings, checking out the abandoned cars, looking for Bigfoot, breathing fresh air...

    This gun was just the ticket for me. I'm not disappointed that my $99 shotgun was worth, um, maybe $99.

    Other functioning is fine. It is stiff. Hammer rebounds properly.

    I haven't actually taken it out yet to see how it shoots.

    I'm not recommending that anyone do this but I did want to shed some light on the lack of build quality with my Hatfield gun.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    I purchased a 12ga about a 18 months ago when the Walmart in Hanover was getting out of the firearm business. For $150 It was just too cheap not to buy.

    I tested it out and the trigger sucked badly. I took the whole action apart. Removed all of the burs on the stamped parts. Removed flashing from the plastic parts. Polished the bolt and guide rod for the bolt spring. Lubricated everything.

    I created a few dummy shells and worked the action by hand quite a few times and couldn’t make it jam.

    So for $150 I have a usable semiauto 12ga shitgun.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Here's a link to their writeup:



    https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2018/3/22/tested-hatfield-sas-shotgun/



    Bottom line - oil it, shoot a couple of boxes of ammo through it to break it in and it worked just fine.


    Thanks for finding the link. Good read and generally described accurately. It’s funny but you would think for $2 more they could have used a die-cast trigger guard instead of plastic. For $10 it could have been aluminum.

    I should note that I found a ton of small machine metal flakes around the bolt and the hole for the firing pin. Clean all that crud out too.
     

    gtodave

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 14, 2007
    14,156
    Mt Airy
    BUMP. I just got one of these in 28ga. I mainly got it to mess around with and to see just how bad it was. So, the good: It looks good enough, and the wood is pretty for a $230 gun. And it is simple.

    The bad:

    I should note that I found a ton of small machine metal flakes around the bolt and the hole for the firing pin. Clean all that crud out too.
    I found this too, along with several large chunks of metal. They were all stuck in lapping compound. The factory basically machined it, slapped in some cutting compound to create some tolerances, threw it together and shipped it.

    The raised rail is curved. It has a noticeable bend to the right as it goes down the barrel. I missed this when checking it out in the store, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. It appears that the barrel is straight, but I haven't thoroughly investigated that yet. The rail also has a checkered pattern on the top to minimize glare, and it is incomplete towards the front sight.

    I only have a half box of ammo through it, but it has failed every time to cycle the next round. Each one gets hung up at the throat, and every other round stovepipes. I've polished the throat a bit to help, and when I get some more rounds through it, hopefully it will get better.

    Anyways, it's about what I expected for a sub $250 auto loader.
     

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    730waters

    Active Member
    Apr 20, 2013
    102
    Rising Sun, Md
    These guns are made in Turkey by a company owned by Ted Hatfield. I have hunted with Ted and his brother Tim for about 17 years. These are made and just about exclusively sold by Walmart. Ted made the high end over/under shotguns for Kimber Rifle Company many years ago and their starting cost was over $3000. They are reliable guns for the money. I have a Hatfield 28ga O/U that was made many years ago. Teds past included making Hatfield muzzleloaders - Built in St. Joe, Missouri, Austin Halleck muzzleloaders prior to starting to make shotguns full time in Turkey. He also made shotguns for Savage and Smith and Wesson. For the price, I don't think that you can go wrong. Just remember it isn't a Benelli or a browning .
     

    gtodave

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 14, 2007
    14,156
    Mt Airy
    BUMP. I just got one of these in 28ga. I mainly got it to mess around with and to see just how bad it was. So, the good: It looks good enough, and the wood is pretty for a $230 gun. And it is simple.

    The bad:


    I found this too, along with several large chunks of metal. They were all stuck in lapping compound. The factory basically machined it, slapped in some cutting compound to create some tolerances, threw it together and shipped it.

    The raised rail is curved. It has a noticeable bend to the right as it goes down the barrel. I missed this when checking it out in the store, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. It appears that the barrel is straight, but I haven't thoroughly investigated that yet. The rail also has a checkered pattern on the top to minimize glare, and it is incomplete towards the front sight.

    I only have a half box of ammo through it, but it has failed every time to cycle the next round. Each one gets hung up at the throat, and every other round stovepipes. I've polished the throat a bit to help, and when I get some more rounds through it, hopefully it will get better.

    Anyways, it's about what I expected for a sub $250 auto loader.
    So this gun still won't cycle the Fiocchi ammo I bought at all. It won't load the next round properly. However, it just ran flawlessly with Winchester AA, so I guess I'll be buying more of that.
     

    730waters

    Active Member
    Apr 20, 2013
    102
    Rising Sun, Md
    My SBE2 will not cycle Fiocchi shells but my Mossberg 935 will spit them out without a problem. The Fiocchi shotgun shells seam to be just a hair longer than my Federal Black Clouds.
     

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