DERYA MK-10: FIRST LOOK

Although we’ll be holding off on doing our full review until we spend a bit more time with it, our test Derya MK-10 shotgun showed up at the Calibre offices over the last few days, so we thought we would snap a few quick photos of the gun to improve on the press photos we’d obtained previously.

Obviously initial impressions are somewhat limited, but thus far we’re impressed. Admittedly, assembly almost required a third hand, but perhaps reading the manual beforehand would have helped. But who does that?

Finishing is good overall. There is one spot on the hand guard that has been dinged, but this being a test gun, it’s hard to fault it for a single ding. Handling feels nimble, and the controls mimicking those of an AR-15 make it feel immediately comfortable. The Derya magazines are well made and easily inserted, but we haven’t tested their drop-free ability quite yet; that seemed like a task for the range. The trigger is smooth and clean and should be more than serviceable for a shotgun.

Like the ATA shotguns that set the bar for Turkish shotguns this summer, one thing we can report on without going to the range is the packaging: It’s ridiculous. Coming in a huge and nicely made Derya branded suede case, no one would ever expect the fitted case to contain a big tactical shotgun; it seems to be something that’d be more expected with a nice double gun. Inside, there’s obviously the shotgun itself (broken down into the upper and lower) and some accessories including a sling, a spare mag, cleaning kit and a folding stock adapter that we will probably try out. And of course, the manual.

We’ll make sure we read that before we review this gun properly in a future issue.