CZ Upland Ultralight All-Terrain

There’s an old saw that goes: “Beware the man with only one gun; he knows how to use it.” But who would ever want—or need—only one gun? These days it seems that there are specialized shotguns for every bird species, terrain and even time of year. But wouldn’t it be nice if there was one gun you could reach for regardless of what you were hunting? Enter the CZ Upland Ultralight All-Terrain. Available in 12 and 20 gauge, this Turkish-made over/under checks all the boxes when it comes to a comfortable-carrying, good-handling, weather-resistant field gun. What’s more, the non-reflective Cerakote finish won’t spook incoming birds, and revolutionary magnets in the extractors keep shells from falling out (more on this later). We took a 20-gauge Upland Ultralight for a spin to test its versatility.

Photograph by Michael O’Neil

Bird season was not open when we tested the Upland Ultralight, so we toted the gun to the range. It was easy to tell that the light weight (5 pounds 15 ounces on our digital scale) would make the O/U ideal for all-day carry, and its nice balance (1" ahead of the hinge pin) and lively handling would serve well for snap-shooting in cover. The Upland Ultralight devoured a variety of shells—from 7⁄8-oz lead No. 9s to 1-oz Tungsten Matrix No. 6s—and performed flawlessly. As mentioned, a cool feature is the rare-earth magnets in the extractors. The magnets will retain most modern fully loaded shells in the chambers even when the gun is turned upside down—ideal for the close confines of a duck blind, when handling a dog or if walking with an open gun over your shoulder. Shells simply will not fall out. A bonus feature like this built into a gun designed for versatility, durability and performance is icing on the cake. Maybe one could get away with having only one gun . . . . Price (including black plastic case and owner’s manual): $965. For more information, contact CZ-USA.

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