Tula Shotgun

Steel Horse Bailey · October 18, 2006, 10:45:38 AM

Howdy!

At the NCOWS Eastern Regional this past weekend, (14/15 Oct. 06) I traded for an older 12ga Tula USSR manufactured Hammered Coachgun, mod.# TOZ-66, imported by "Universal Sporting Goods" of Hialeah, FL.

Since I plan to (and so far have only) shot BP shells thru it, I was wondering if any of y'all knew anything 'bout these guns. It has "Hammer Springs from Hell" (MY description) but is a great shooter so far. Right barrel is choked IC, & Left is M. It seems to be built Russian solid with nicer wood than many of these short guns, for instance my former Stoeger.

I'm looking for any information about disassembly/assembly etc. and to see if any aftermarket springs are available, or if I'll have to modify the stock springs. Also, I'd like to find out if Tula made/sold any longer barrels, perhaps with screw-in chokes and if they're still available. I don't have ANY experience with Russki shotguns and I'm trying to find out whether the current crop of Baikal or other shotguns (which I believe are made at the Tula Arsenal) have parts or barrels that will interchange.

Thanks y'all!

Jeff "Steel Horse Bailey"

Wild Ben Raymond · October 19, 2006, 12:14:51 PM

Howdy! I can't tell you much but I did own one of these shotguns with hammers from hell. I did lighten up the hammer springs a little by taking the side plates off and thinning them down a bit. I wanted to go further but was affraid I'd go to far. I sold it years ago when I went to shooting an original 87' Wild Ben Raymond

Major 2 · October 19, 2006, 01:46:35 PM

Tula factory has been making guns since the 1700's .... there have been some fine presentation SXS by them....
Built like vaults.... it willl serve you very well.

Irish Dave · October 23, 2006, 09:50:12 AM

Jeff:

I've owned several of the TOZ 66 shotguns and found them to be dependable and hell-for-stout. The Greener crossbolt lockup is a very nice feature and adds to their solidity, IMHO. The mainsprings are, as you note, on the HEAVY side.

Don't know of any aftermarket springs available, so I guess carefully modifying the stock ones is probably the way to go.

Yes, they did make longer barrels (never saw any with choke tubes, though). The last long one I had, I sold to Fall Creek Sam 2-3 years ago.

Steel Horse Bailey · October 28, 2006, 01:34:29 PM

Thanks, all!

Bill J · November 20, 2011, 03:33:11 PM

I just bought the gun you guys are talking about and was wondering what they are worth?
This one is in very good shape.

Major 2 · November 20, 2011, 03:51:11 PM

I'm not sure what yours would be worth...safe to say it's worth what you paid (to you) so you did well...

but here is a Tula that will knock your socks clean OFF ! enjoy

Steel Horse Bailey · November 21, 2011, 07:01:51 AM

Quote from: Major 2 on November 20, 2011, 03:51:11 PM
I'm not sure what yours would be worth...safe to say it's worth what you paid (to you) so you did well...

but here is a Tula that will knock your socks clean OFF ! enjoy

Pard Roger, my socks are officially knocked off!

WoW!

I didn't know you took a picture of my Tula! when you were here!

Where'd you find this picture?

Bill J, I have no idea of the worth of a used Tula. I guess in the $200-$300 range, but it could be more if there's more to the gun. (Like the one Maj. Dos shows!)

Coffinmaker · November 21, 2011, 02:21:18 PM

I thinkI could learn to like that Tula ............ ALOT!!

Coffinmaker

Steel Horse Bailey · November 21, 2011, 03:23:00 PM

Quote from: Coffinmaker on November 21, 2011, 02:21:18 PM
I thinkI could learn to like that Tula ............ ALOT!!

Coffinmaker

That one is special!

My original posting is now over five years old. I still have the Tula and I like it as well as any of my guns. The hammer springs are still "HSFH" (the "Hammer Springs From Hell") but I have learned to work with it. Thee trigger pull is only about 5 lbs. so that is just fine for its' use. I had a chance to do a "sorta-kinda" pattern of the barrels, but it wasn't really done properly, so the poor results I got aren't as bad as they seemed. I was shooting offhand and was distracted PLUS I was only able to shoot one round from each barrel - to find repeatability. The R barrel was a bit high & to the right; the L was only a touch low, but off to the left. They hit within 2" of each other and my aiming point and the distance was about 25' (feet) and easily will hit any target or knock-down with all but the sloppiest aiming.

I really like this shotgun and it suits me much better than the Stoeger I traded for it ... and I had NO complaints with the Stoeger!