Any Time, Any Place, Anywhere

Tom Sykes was keen to get his hands on an all-purpose over-and-under suited to both the saltings and the pheasant peg and to this end tried the Yildiz Wildfowler Extreme and Pro Sporter over a season.

- Tom Sykes

I have never really been much of an over-and-under man, despite using them for game and some claying over the years. I have typically borrowed one of dad’s for this job or used my granddads’ old Laurona. But I have been keen to get my hands on a value for money over-and-under and one that I can use for a range of shooting throughout the season.

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the Yildiz Wildfowler Extreme last year. It is a perfect jack-of-all-trades shotgun that is competitively priced, especially considering its versatility.

Wildfowler Extreme

The Wildfowler Extreme is a 3.5in chambered over-and-under with a casehardened action and it comes in a range of barrel lengths. I chose the 30in, as I found it handled well. The stock and fore-end timber on most Yildiz is high quality, which means that it looks good and is not out of place on a driven day. I used the demo gun for most of last season and shot a range of species from wildfowl to game to corvids and even squirrel.

The gun coped with every situation admirably and always delivered. I also found that my shooting improved because I was using the same gun for every outing. I have never had a gun that was just as at home on the saltings as it was on a pheasant peg. I fell for the Wildfowler Extreme and was disappointed to have to return it to the team at Ray trade after the testing period was over.

Pro Sporter

When I caught up with the Ray trade team at the Northern Shooting Show in May, we talked about some of the other guns they had to offer. I was thrilled when given the opportunity to test the Yildiz Pro Sporter, a fantastic shotgun with a black steel action, similar in style to Perazzi’s. I opted for the 30in barrel (as opposed to the 28in), as I prefer the handling of longer barrels.