I know the Excells are imported also, anyone know where from?
No offence taken on the response, I went back and read it and it didnt really come out like I meant it.
I recall reading that the Excell is believed to be made by Verona in Turkey. Check out Shotgun World.com and go to the Verona forum.
When I first saw the Pardner pump I too became excited that my favorite company was producing a different firearm for me to add to the cabinet. I contacted NEF for addition info. and was told the gun was manufactured in China (to NEF specs) and assembled here in the States. Upon inquiring about its similarity to the 870, I was told that NEF didn't want to re-invent the wheel, they just wanted to provide a pump shotgun to their customers and chose a design as close as possible, but not so close as to infringe upon copyright violations, to what they believed was the finest pump gun produced, the Rem 870.
Around that time there was a lot of discussion and some pretty convincing information around the net indicating the Pardner was manufactured by a company owned by the Chinese Army (CA). I cannot recall specific posts or document info, but do I recall that somewhere someone posted printed information that proved, to me, that the information about the CA was correct.
I still look at the Pardner when I see one and do wish it was made somewhere other than China or, at least, by a different company. The mid $100 price for a walnut stocked copy of the 870 is hard to pass by. However, the Mossberg Maverick can be had for the same price and is essentially a Mossberg 500. Also, I reguarly see used Mod 500's (including their store lables models) anywhere from $100 - up.
Regarding the Sparten. I see very little discussion about its place of manufacture in Russia, in the same way as the Pardner. I have read that Balkal (the company that manufactures the Sparten) has a reputation for making a heavy, bulky, workingmans guns that can be knocked around a bit. While they appear to be not without flaws, I do not recall have the impression that the majority of those who have them and have written of them are disappointed.
I recently came across an interesting article from the July 2000 issue of Guns & Ammo. The article was a "Proof House" test of the Norinco Model 98 Pump shotgun. I wish to quote a couple lines from the article:
"We recently had an opportunity to test what is probably one of the better deals-moneywise-in pump-action "social" scatterguns. Retailing for less than $200, the Norinco Model 98 is being imported from China by Intersate Arms Corporation of Northridge, California. Visually, it is a dead ringer for a Remington 870, yet parts are not interchangeable with the higher priced domestic brand. The Norinco M98 features the same dual action bars and easily detachable trigger assembly as the 870."
Perhaps the Pardner is not so new?
