Member Review: Weatherby PA-08 Synthetic Stock

Weatherby PA-08 Synthetic Stock

This review is in regards to the Weatherby PA-08. The Weatherby PA-08 Synthetic Stock is an intro shotgun aimed at the budget minded shooter. It comes in 12 and 20 gauge with the choice of a 26 or 28 inch barrel for both gauges. This write up will be for the 12 gauge 28 inch barrel version.

When I was first looking for a shotgun I was stuck on a budget around $500 dollars tops. I looked around at the local gun shops at different pump action shotguns in my price range. I didn’t want the cheapest gun out there but I also didn’t need anything over the top. After handling nearly every shot gun in the store (even ones I didn’t want) I decided on the PA-08. It was on sale for 60 dollars off which brought it down below the $500 dollar max. It had a nice clean looking satin finish with an engraved weatherby logo on the side, and smooth feeling action.

 What you get :

 When you open the box you see the nice satin black shotgun, cable lock, 3 chokes (imp, mod, full) and a choke wrench.

(I apologize for my terrible pictures, all pics are taken with a cellphone camera with a broken lense. These pics do not to this shot gun any justice!)

In the time that I have owned the PA-08 i have been quite satisfied. It handles everything from heavy bird shot, to slugs to light target shot. The only time ive had an issue so far has been when shooting the really light 2 ¾ target loads sometimes the pump hangs up a little bit. No big issue just rack it again and you are on the go again. This happens more so when the gun is dirty. I easily put 300 shells through it before it needed a cleaning.

 Cleaning this shot gun is a breeze, simply unscrew the bell nut on the end of the magazine and it slides apart with ease. Once apart all of the pieces are easily sprayed and brushed clean. After a light oiling you are good for quite awhile!

When you purchase the PA-08 it comes with a magazine plug limiting you to 2+1 capacity for hunting purposes, but with a few minutes of fooling around you can remove the plug for a full 4+1 capacity of lead chucking hell! Unfortunatly due to the being next to no aftermarket for this gun that is all you get. Noone has made drum mag kits for it like some of the competitors shot guns. So far the only available parts I have found for the gun is off of the weatherby site its self.

Over all this is a satisfactory beginner pump action shotgun. Whether you are going for ducks or shooting clay pigeons, this gun will make you have fun. Its not as fancy as others but comes from a long running well know firearms company. I love the look of the satin finish and appreciate that it came with pre installed sling mounts. The action is smooth enough to keep you happy and gets smoother as you work it in, like wise the trigger has a nice crisp break with hardly any travel. If you are looking for a reasonable, durable, nice looking budget pump action this is the gun for you!

Pros :
Smooth action
Crisp trigger break
Clean looking satin black stock
3 chokes, choke wrench and cable lock supplied
Full length bead site

Cons:
Lack of after market parts  (no tacticool/ defender parts)

About the author: andrew87

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