Author: Irwin Greenstein

For many of us vintage shotguns serve as time-travel capsules. Their aesthetics and craftsmanship harken to epochs of abundant game across pristine landscapes that nurtured our individual sovereignty and tranquility lost to the blight of smart phones and strip malls.

Sometimes the gentle reversal of time occurs when we initially handle the shotgun; pick it up and you’re immediately there. Otherwise, we gradually slip back in time as our relationship with the shotgun becomes more intimate; the deeper our connection, the more we identify with its heritage.

O.F. Mossberg & Sons is producing a new semi-auto equipped with a unique European walnut stock designed to fit most family members – as women in particular benefit from the anticipated sub-$1,000 “street price.”

The shotgun’s hallmark is a distinctive stock whose innovative measurements were formulated by Gil Ash, the celebrated shotgun instructor and visionary who has pioneered the marriage of brain research and high-tech into the curriculum of the OSP Shooting School in Fulshear, Texas.

You’re bound to hear some clays shooter brag that their muzzle-heavy shotgun helps them swing through that speeding crosser in an Einstein-like miracle of momentum and forward allowance. If you’re one of those folks the new Perazzi High-Tech Sporter probably isn’t for you.

On May 16, 2015 Dave Miller, Shotgun Product Manager for CZ-USA, established a new Guinness World Record for breaking the most clay targets in an hour by smashing 3,653. Mr. Miller’s shotgun of choice actually involved an armada of 30 12-gauge, CZ 712 semi-automatics equipped with 30-inch barrels and Nordic Components magazine extensions, which expanded shell capacity to 16 rounds instead of the standard five. Bottom line, the CZ 712 pounded out a shell every 1.2 seconds, resulting in the Guinness entry. (See Shotgun Life story here.)

In recounting his visit with F.lli Bertuzzi, (the Bertuzzi brothers), Michael Sabbeth provides a window into the rarified world of bespoke shotguns as exalted art.

Let’s face it, side-by-side shotguns are becoming the purview of us old guys. Just visit the best American side-by-side events such as the Southern Side-by-Side, World Vintage Skeet Championships or the Vintagers Order of Edwardian Gunners and you’ll see fellows of a golden epoch savoring the je ne sais quoi of a lissome double gun.