Shotgun Life | The Best in Wing and Clays Shooting

Author: Irwin Greenstein

The Purdey Trigger Plate Over/Under Adds Tournament Grade to the English-Best Portfolio

Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Written by Irwin Greenstein
Categories: Shotguns
Tags: driven pheasant hunt, Griffin & Howe, griffin & howe's hudson farm, james purdey & sons, purdey trigger plate gun

Now for the unthinkable: from the workshop of English best gunmaker James Purdey & Sons emerges an audacious 12-gauge clays gladiator fit for the Olympics. The idea may not seem so far-fetched after shooting the new Purdey Trigger Plate over/under.

The topic of Team GB competing with a Purdey shotgun at the 2024 Paris summer Olympics arose from a conversation with George Juer, Purdey’s Manager of North American Sales. He was driving a Polaris as we zipped through countryside hills of the sporting clays course at Griffin & Howe’s Hudson Farm in Andover, New Jersey. I was still talking about a few of the remarkable shots I had made with the Purdey Trigger Plate (even surprising myself), despite that the 8-pound/11-ounce demo model came with extra barrel thickness for high driven pheasants. Final production weight should be closer to 8 pounds/3 ounces.

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Cole Gunsmithing, Legendary for Its Italian Shotgun Expertise, Embraces the German Blaser F3

Tuesday, January 08, 2019
Written by Irwin Greenstein
Categories: Shotguns
Tags: beretta shotguns, blaser f16, blaser f3 shotgun, blaser shotguns, cole gunsmithing, sporting clays

Up until a few weeks ago Rich Cole’s stellar career was 100-percent Italian shotguns. Starting in 1979 he joined Beretta USA as a five-dollar-per-hour apprentice gunsmith. The job included extensive time at the mothership in Gardone, Italy learning the finer points of repairing and enhancing Beretta sporting shotguns.

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Kevin’s Plantation Golden Quail 20-Gauge is Your Bona Fide Southern Upland Over/Under

Saturday, December 01, 2018
Written by Irwin Greenstein
Categories: Guns
Tags: 20gauge shotguns, kevin's fine outdoor gear & apparel, kevin's golden quail, kevin's plantation golden quail shotgun, kevin's plantation shotguns, kevin's shotguns, kevin's thomasville georgia

From the small town of Thomasville, Georgia, Kevin’s Plantation Collection of exquisite shotguns has amassed an oversized influence on the wingshooting community. And now the collection’s namesake creator, Kevin Kelly, is ready to rock our world again with his remarkably low priced 20-gauge over/under. 

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French Creek Sportsmen’s Club Hosts a Purdey Pheasant Extravaganza in Wyoming

Sunday, October 28, 2018
Written by Irwin Greenstein
Categories: Destinations
Tags: bruce white, brush creek ranch, driven pheasant hunt, french creek sportsmen's club, james horne, james purdey & sons, lodge & spa at brush creek ranch, magee homestead, purdey shotguns, white lodging, wingshooting wyoming

The horn blasts, I look to the sky of burnished blue and pheasants appear over the hillside trees. The birds glide high and fast toward us, riding prevailing winds with gusts like pheasant afterburners.

The volley of shotgun blasts marks another driven hunt as dropped birds get taken up by our eager dogs. I discovered that here at 8,000 feet shotgun shells hold their patterns longer and tighter than at sea level, giving rise to extraordinary wingshooting – although our party includes serious talent.

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Blue Cypress Kennels of Florida Readies for Even Bigger Wins in U.K. Field Trials

Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Written by Irwin Greenstein
Categories: Wingshooting
Tags: bird dogs, blue cypress kennels, british labrador retrievers, field trials, gun dogs, jeremy criscoe, rollins ranch, uk retrievers

Meet Augustus Fink-Nottle, known as Gus. He’s not the P.G. Wodehouse character from the novels. Instead, he’s the namesake Labrador Retriever from Florida who, in 2017 at age three, became the only American born, bred and trained gundog to win field trials in the U.K.

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Famars Guns of Italy Gets an American Makeover

Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Written by Irwin Greenstein
Categories: Guns
Tags: famars, famars avantis, famars castore, famars excalibur, famars leonardo, famars poseidon, famars rifles, famars shotguns, famars sportivo, famars venus, famars zeus, paul mihailides, paulo peli, the preserve at boulder hills

Some people in our sporting universe create beautiful shotguns. Others, like Paul Mihailides, make highly desirable shotguns while also building an all-encompassing upland nirvana in which to enjoy them.

There’s a difference between the gifted craftsmen who build gorgeous shotguns and the renaissance men like Mr. Mihailides, whose entrepreneurial vision shapes the future of our sport. Mr. Mihailides is the American owner of the Italian fine gun firm, Famars. He’s made a fortune in construction and used those resources to build the 3,500-acre residential sporting community and luxury event venue, The Preserve at Boulder Hills – replete with largest and longest underground automated gun range in America – in his home state of Rhode Island.

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The Retay Masai Mara Semi-Auto One-Ups Benelli’s Inertia Drive at About Half the Price

Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Written by Irwin Greenstein
Categories: Guns
Tags: benelli shotguns, retay masai mara, retay shotguns, semiauto shotguns, thomas ferney, turkish shotguns

Spanish gun makers established their reputations for quality and value by replicating England’s best guns for a fraction of the price. Now Retay Arms of Konya Turkey has taken a cue from Spain by manufacturing the Masai Mara semi-auto with an upgraded inertia-action adopted from Benelli shotguns, but retails for about half.

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David Lanier: The Making of American Bird-Dog Artist

Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Written by Irwin Greenstein
Categories: Wingshooting
Tags: albany georgia, bird dog artist, bird dogs, david lanier, david lanier artist, dogs, plantation gallery, quail hunting, red hills region,, thomasville georgia, wildlife artist

I set out quail hunting with David Lanier at Carr Farms in the plantation belt around his hometown of Albany, Georgia. He’s an affable guy with your average mid-50s paunch and a friendly clean-shaven face shaded by the brim of a blaze ball cap. The brush pants, frayed at the hems, bunched up at the buckled wingshooter boots scuffed and rough, his forest-green hunting shirt nicely ironed and the pouches of his vest swollen with gear (he always hunts with a camera). 

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Double Guns of Nashville’s New Store is the Music City’s Latest Attraction

Monday, June 25, 2018
Written by Irwin Greenstein
Categories: Guns
Tags: blaser shotguns, cosmi shotguns, double guns of nashville, krieghoff shotguns, terry hetrick

Among the musical shrines of Nashville that count The Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium and Country Music Hall of Fame is a new fine-gun store – and America’s latest authorized Fausti dealer.

In a way, despite its location in a city of American legends, Double Guns of Nashville adheres to the retail protocol of British Best – hand-selected break-open shotguns with curated upmarket gear. The store, which opened in November, is all about over/unders and side-by-sides from premium makers such as Krieghoff, Blaser, Verney-Carron, Grulla, Fausti and Zoli. They also stock rifles from Rigby, Mauser and Sauer along with Swarovski optics.

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The New “Blaser Discovery Program” is a Red Carpet Indulgence in San Antonio for Custom Building Your Blaser F3 and F16 Shotguns

Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Written by Irwin Greenstein
Categories: Guns
Tags: blaser discovery program, blaser f16 shotgun, blaser f3 shotgun, blaser guns san antonio, blaser shotguns, blaserusa, moe parsons

“Born in Germany, Lives in Texas” could be the calling the card of the new “Blaser Discovery Program” that combines a holiday in Blaser-USA’s San Antonio hometown with a build-your-own shotgun.

Directed at Blaser F3 customers, Blaser Discovery Program also applies to the economical F16. But it’s the flagship F3 that can get you a ticket to trendy San Antonio for posh lodging, gourmet dining and a lesson with Blaser Pro clays champs such as Cory Kruse, Mike Wilgus or Bill McGuire at a nearby top-notch shooting venue.

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