Shotguns

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.

Christmas 1986, the last gun Daddy ever gave me. Nothing much to look at, Ithaca Flues Model, twelve bore, field grade. Double barrels, double triggers, extractors. Bluing turned brown, stock too short, barrels too long, too much drop, too much choke. But a man might drink a lot of good liquor before he heard the tale this gun could tell.

OK, so you have $3,500 to spend on a new, break-open sporting gun. Now real quick, what are the first shotguns that come to mind?

The Browning Cynergy Classic Sporting.  Beretta’s SV10 Prevail or 687 Silver Pigeon II. The Caesar Guerini Summit Sporting. We’ve even seen a number of new Zoli Kronos Sporting models hovering in cyberspace for about the $3,500. And the Baserri Mari Elite should soon be hitting the dealers’ shelves in larger quantities.

Zoli is preparing to ship its new Bilanx over/under to the U.S., and Shotgun Life has obtained factory documents, as they undergo translation from Italian into English, that specify exactly what American shooters can expect from the next-generation in shotgun balancing systems.