I have found one of the older unported 835s in the original Realtree pattern and I am thinking about buying it. To the people who own, or have owned these older 835s, what is your opinions of these guns? Can you tell any real difference in performance between these older unported guns and the newer ones as far as patterns and recoil? Oh by the way, the gun is almost mint ;D.
My buddy had an older 835 probably around 1990. The one I have is probably a 1998 model. I thinks his shot just as good as mine. Mine had ports. I don't know if his did or not.
I was given one as a Christmas gift in '94 and killed my first 15 turkeys with it before buying other turkey guns in the early 2000s. I sold it and regret it everyday.
It is a hell of a gun. Pick it up. You won't be dissapointed.
Those older 835's will stomp you just like the newer ones will. :funnyturkey:
I've got a early 90's 835 without the ports. The new ones kick just as hard. A buddy bought a new one last year and I weighted both of them unloaded with slings and the older one was a full pound heavier. Patterns are about what and what with his gun beating mine by a few holes.
Quote from: SKFOOTER on June 19, 2012, 11:29:14 PM
Those older 835's will stomp you just like the newer ones will. :funnyturkey:
No denying it.
The gun would be worth @ 300 in killer condition, 200 if good lookin. There is also a mossy oak shadow branch older model to keep an eye out for. Good Luck
they also had one in original mossy oak treestand my uncle has one :newmascot:
Buy it, shoot it, and post pics! I love those old school camo jobs, wish someone would offer the films so i could get my sx2 done
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
Quote from: Punisher on June 19, 2012, 10:05:35 PM
I have found one of the older unported 835s in the original Realtree pattern and I am thinking about buying it. To the people who own, or have owned these older 835s, what is your opinions of these guns? Can you tell any real difference in performance between these older unported guns and the newer ones as far as patterns and recoil? Oh by the way, the gun is almost mint ;D.
It's a good idea to look a the bore in those early guns. Some were very rough and some were just fine.
I had one of the very early ones that had a lot of machine marks and chatter in it. They were far too deep and numerous for anything but a professional full bore honing to remove. The newer guns seem to have much smoother bores.
I don't think you'll find any difference in the ported and non-ported barrels except the ported barrel is somewhat louder and may pick up some debris, plastic, etc. after having been shot a few times.
Thanks,
Clark
I had one of the first ones when they came out , I gave it away to a friend who had no turkey gun and needed it - it sported a 28 inch barrel - black and green camo
That gun was a straight up turkey killer , and far superior to any other turkey gun I had owned at the time - Im not a gun hoarder , but I wish I still had it - the only thing is man it would kick me hard -one time I thought it had broken my shoulder , I remember my finger tips going numb after shooting it - there wasn't much of a forcing cone on those guns but I remember mine looking real rough
for the price , they are hard to beat -
I had one that I bought new in 1990,I sure regret selling it
I have one and it flat shoots! Going to go down to 3" Hevi this season cause they're a bit cheaper and I personally think the 3.5" is overkill. AND, the 3" is easier on my shoulder! Haven't patterned it as yet, but am confident that it will do great. Listen to what Clark says, too!
:funnyturkey:
In the turkey woods, an 835 is hard to beat!
Someone mentioned one in MO Shadow Branch. Mine is a 2000 or 2001 and it sports the long defunct RealTree 20/200 pattern. Mine has the ports.
Mine is from 1997 or so and is the Viking Grade. It is the ugliest gun in the world, but it is a shooter! I have killed every one of my gun turkeys with it.
I think I may have gotten mine in 93 maybe 92. Great gun! Patterns awesome and I slayed some turkeys with it ;D
Does she look like this?
(http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg299/TrackeySauresRex/IMG_0401.jpg)
EXACTLY!!!!!!
:wave:
X2!
I have both and other than a difference in recoil with the newer 835 they both shoot the same!
I have an older one from the late 90's and it shoots good.
Buy it and enjoy you can not go wrong. I bought mine when they rolled out the 3 1/2" guns and you had to be on a special order waiting list to get one. My son uses it now and it shots just as good as the new ones do with a little more mule kick though.
Back in the 80's with the "new" steel shot requirements for hunting geese, we decided that our 3" shotguns weren't cutting it and opted to buy the new 835's in Mossy Oak Grn Leaf. My 10 gauge Ithaca Road Blocker which Jess Briley had tubed for me had been banned from the blind due to the muzzle blast and subsequent hearing loss experienced by my friends. I hunted ducks and geese w/ the 835 for less than one season. The gun was a real clunker. It rattled, the long extraction was problamatic, the balance was horrible and it swung on flying birds like a 4x4. I obtained one of the new H&K/Benelli Super Black Eagles. which I still own, and never carried the 835 waterfowl hunting again. I did, however, polish the barrel on the 835, get a Gobbling Thunder choke tube and turn the 835 into a turkey killing machine. Even w/ homemade rubber bushing for the forearm, the gun still rattled excessively and weighed way too much for a dedicated run-and-gun style turkey hunter. Although I still own several 10 gauges and 31/2" 12 gauges, I've hunted almost exclusively w/ a light 3", 12 gauge gun for over 20 years. The 835 is long gone and not missed!
I bought one in the late 80s. A couple of seasons ago, I changed out all springs. It's a heavy brute, but throws a good pattern. 15 years ago it became a back-up to my SBE, and I haven't hunted it in 4 seasons since taking it to Texas. It's a good gun, but I'd rather carry a 20 now.
Could someone tell me the camo pattern on the gun pictured on top of this page. I'm getting one in a trade and the only difference is the forearm is squared off instead of rounded like the one pictured. Does anybody know what year the gun may be from.
I can't see the photo, but Im gonna guess it is the Original Realtree camo.
(http://img.tapatalk.com/a6937b9d-f252-a1b7.jpg). Well once I got the gun it was a little scuffed up as far as the paint job goes. Everything else was in good shape. I decided to take it to a local gun smith in Oklahoma that has started doing custom paint jobs. This is what he came up with and it looks awesome. Thanks to Trey Mills at TnT gunsmith in Coleman,Ok for fixing me up.