Guns

At the expense of incurring the wrath of all the shotgun manufactures I test guns for – this is written in stone – a new gun price depreciates significantly the moment you sign on the dotted line for the sale. Walk out the showroom door with a new smoothbore, try to sell it the next day, the next week or the next month and you are going to see that the new gun is worth considerably less than what you paid for it. This isn’t a completely bad thing for there’s a lot that can be considered rewarding to buying and shooting a new gun.

The 12th Annual Southern Side by Side Championship & Exhibition Spring Classic provided an extraordinary opportunity to shoot a round robin of highly coveted shotguns, of which Michael McIntosh’s AYA Nº 2 was certainly the most prominent.
Conceivably the best writer about fine shotguns of his generation, Mr. McIntosh forged a path of elegant and insightful books and magazine articles that made his readers gush with pride as fellow shotgun owners.

I was walking down the aisles at the 2007 Safari Club International Convention where the high grade guns and gunmakers were concentrated. I had just passed Hartmann & Weiss on my left, made a turn by the stunning Purdey exhibit to go up the aisle to my left. I said ‘hello’ to Steve Lamboy at Zoli, kibitzed with my long-time pals at William, Larkin & Moore’s extensive exhibit and began to amble toward the far wall to find my friend, Dale Tate, to view his exquisite custom hammer shotguns.

Zoli is continuing its blistering momentum this year with a new high-rib shotgun that actually combines two models in one.

The shotgun is yet another example of Zoli’s advanced engineering that seems to have found extra traction this year in the US market, exemplified by Zoli’s own record-breaking sales of the revolutionary Bilanx since its formal introduction in January.

After 26 years in the US Army Special Forces as an expert in explosives, demolitions and incendiaries – including a year as instructor of those subjects in the Special Forces schools – it’s time to stand up and pay attention when Jamie McGrew gets behind a brand of shotshell.

Shotgun Life has been leading the charge in breaking the latest information about the new Zoli Bilanx. Now we take it to the next level. I recently relished the opportunity to shoot one of the first to arrive in the U.S. from Italy – allowing me to form several opinions and impressions.

Exactly how fast is the Ithaca Model 37 pump in 28 gauge?

We decided to find out by taking the shotgun to a 3-bird sporting clays event held at Central Penn Sporting Clays in Wellsville, Pennsylvania. In a 3-bird shoot, three targets are thrown simultaneously – certainly daunting for any experienced shotgunner handling a 12-gauge semi-auto. But we showed up with a highly coveted 28-gauge Ithaca Model 37 Featherlight pump. The shotgun was a Fancy A Grade, with walnut that appeared higher grade.

Caesar Guerini has a number of new shotguns, a few introduced very late in 2010, while some really new ones are just arriving in the USA from Italy. Further, I think there may be some very big news coming from this company, but right now “mum” is the figurative word on that subject. So stay posted.

In his long and remarkable career, writer Michael McIntosh eloquently captured the body and soul of the world’s finest shotguns. Yet when it came to his personal choice, he didn’t turn to an English best shotgun but rather to a bespoke Spanish beauty made by Aguirre y Aranzabal. Expressed in his own words…

The Baserri Chronicles Part IV: New shotgun companies are a rarity these days, and so when one comes along we’re eager to track its progress. That’s the idea behind our series, the Baserri Chronicles. In this fourth installment, we shoot the Baserri Mari Elite sporting shotgun.