Author: Irwin Greenstein

A mixture of superb Perazzis will debut on American clays courses this year, as the Italian maker of bespoke shotguns follows its own muse while also collaborating with select dealers in the West who have a strong competition pedigree.

Shotgun aficionados have uttered the name “Fratelli Piotti” with a veneration reserved for the English best. The Italian gunmaker has given us among the most beautiful over/unders and side-by-sides ever to grace our planet since opening its doors in the late 1960s.

It took five years to complete, but the vision of Franco Gussalli Beretta and Master Izumi Koshiro was ultimately unveiled on February 5, 2015 at the Safari Club International Convention in Las Vegas.

The SHOT Show brings together the firearms industry and its offshoots to the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas. It’s a candyland of guns with 12½ miles of aisles roughly equal to 13 acres hosting some 1,600 exhibitors hawking weapons, tactical gear for military and law enforcement, and everything hunting related. Last year, the confab drew 67,000 mercenaries, cowboys, cops, soldiers, dealers and manufacturers from 100 countries. And by all accounts, the 37th annual SHOT Show held January 20-23, 2015 will prove more popular.

If you’re still shooting that beloved Browning over/under you’ve owned since college, be prepared to have your socks knocked off with the company’s new 20-Gauge 725 Sporting.

Although still a member of the fabled Citori family introduced in 1973, the 20-gauge 725 Sporting marks a departure from classic Browning over/unders characterized by broad beaver tail forends, bulky receivers and labored handling. To paraphrase that Oldsmobile meme, the 20-gauge 725 is “not your father’s Browning.”