The High Noon is the latest Turkish side-by-side on the block. Available in two grades, it comes in at an affordable price. Previously, Akkar made the target guns and pumps for CZ USA, while Huglu, another Turkish maker, made the hunting guns and semiautos. The Akkar target models were good guns and solid buys, with a nice level of fit and finish and total adjustability. After Colt bought CZ-USA and turned their focus entirely on the Huglu guns, Akkar was freed to set up shop here, as Akkar USA—and their initial offering is the High Noon. My sample gun was one of the first to be imported, and I recently put it through its paces on my local range. Here is my full. review.
Akkar High Noon Specs
Length: 45”
Weight: 6 pounds, 5 ounces, 20-gauge
Barrel: 28 inches, 9mm vent rib, white front and mid-beads, five flush choke tubes
Action: Side-by-side
Trigger: 9 pounds
Capacity: 2
Finish: OxyCap blued steel, no engraving
Stock: Gloss-finished walnut
Chambering: 3-inch 12-gauge, 20-gauge, 28-gauge and .410
Price: $1,199
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Akkar High Noon Overview
The High Noon is a basic, bell-and-whistle-free hunting gun. Actually, it does have one bell—or maybe it’s a whistle?—that you notice right away: a vent rib, which is rare on side-by-sides. It even has a white front and white mid-bead. The vent rib gives the gun a distinctive look, and it might appeal to O/U or autoloader shooters who are interested in trying a side-by-side but are worried they’ll find all the parallel barrels visually confusing. These shooters may well prefer the more conventional rib rather than the swamped and solid ribs of most side-by-sides.
The gun has a beavertail forend and a rounded pistol grip, and a better, thicker recoil pad than you usually see on side-by-side guns. The walnut on my base model had some figure to it, although the glossy oil finish didn’t set it off particularly well. The metal is either very deep blue or black, treated with what Akkar calls OxyCap, creating an abrasion- and corrosion-resistant finish that is also very smooth and glossy. Otherwise, I would call the base model plain, utilitarian, even. If you want fancier, though, you can upgrade to the Elite model.
Akkar High Noon Test Results
My test gun, a 20-gauge, has a very slim frame that contributes to the gun’s light weight of 6 pounds, 5 ounces. The barrels and forend weigh considerably more than the stock and receiver (2.5 pounds for the stock/receiver, 3.75 pounds for the barrels/forend), so while the gun is fairly light and quick-handling, it has a distinctly muzzle-heavy feel and a balance point a couple of inches in front of the hingepin. And, while that weight felt a little awkward, it made the gun very easy to swing.
The barrels shot to point of aim, the mechanical safety/selector worked, and the extractors extracted fired and unfired shells. The gun came with choke tubes that printed good, open patterns with the light constrictions I tried. I shot the gun at Skeet and at 5-stand. The vent rib was a definite plus for someone accustomed to the narrow plane of an O/U or semiuato barrel. Even so, I didn't shoot it as well as I'd have liked, but that doesn't mean you won't. The only problem with the gun mechanically was the very heavy single trigger. I measured the pull at 9 pounds even, which is 3 or 4 pounds heavier than it should be, and quite noticeable.
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Final Thoughts on the Akkar High Noon
Pros
Vent rib
Comes on proportionally-scaled frames
Cons
Heavy trigger
The High Noon had its good and bad points. I liked the vent rib, although I’d remove the mid-bead. I also liked the slim frame, and even better, the 12-, 20-, and 28-gauge, and the .410, are all built on scaled frames, so the 28 and .410 will be dainty and fun to carry and shoot. While the balance felt awkward, that weight made the gun easy to shoot. The triggers and the wood finish could use improvement (and you can solve the wood problem by upgrading to a $1,529 High Noon Elite), but for $1,200, it’s a solid side-by-side, albeit with an overweight trigger, and a 28- or .410 could be really fun while not wrecking your gun budget.
