Here’s the good news: the Ranges at Oakfield in Thomasville, Georgia is only seven minutes from the Shotgun Life office. And the bad news? The skeet, trap and five-stand face south, which means that, just about any time of the day, you’re shooting directly into the tropical South Georgia sun.

Development of the Ranges at Oakfield began in 2014, as a collaboration between Thomas County and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The Georgia DNR played a critical role in determining the viability of the project through exhaustive environmental and community impact studies. When the Ranges at Oakfield finally opened in October 2020, clays shooters were taken aback that they would be shooting into the sun. The explanation was simple: had the fields been facing in most any other direction residential noise abatement or proximity to County Farm Road probably would have spiked the project.

Krieghoff’s K-80 Parcours-X with optional engraving.

Regardless, most of us clays shooters are thankful to have the facility that also includes a shotgun patterning board, rifle and pistol ranges, archery while fishing is in the works. Shooting clays solo? A friendly staff member will pull your targets and perhaps give you some tips as to why you keep missing the jet-propelled, Kamikaze flight path of the diving overhead outgoer known as Target 1 on the 5-Stand. Then of course you could aways wait for a cloudy day.

But when you’re dialing in a Krieghoff Pacours-X, perhaps the best shotgun to come from Boschstrasse 22 89079 in Ulm Germany, who wants to wait for permission from Mother Nature?

As it turns out, a demo version of the Krieghoff Pacours-X and the Ranges at Oakfield were both introduced to the public only two months apart. Krieghoff unveiled its elegant new 12-gauge over/under at the 2020 NSCA Sporting Clays National Championships, with full production slated for 2021.

The Ranges at Oakfield 5-Stand.

On a buried-treasure map X marks the spot, and Krieghoff’s Parcours-X was striving to hit that particular sweet spot in the K-80 12-gauge over/under lineup between its lighter Parcours and the heavier Sporter/Pro Sporter. The K-80 hardened, nickel-plated, satin-grey finished steel receiver is actually a modular platform for the different barrel/rib configurations that distinguish K-80 models for sporting clays, FITASC, skeet and trap. Upgraded Turkish walnut and a dazzling selection of engravings are honey on the bun.

Having shot a Parcours and Sporter, the impressions formed were that the Parcours was a bit light while the Sporter came in on the heavy side for shooting from the ready position. Krieghoff tailors a shotgun to a particular discipline primarily by controlling the K-80’s weight and balance through the barrels, and of course different stock configurations. 

Company founder Ludwig Krieghoff’s axiom was “you shoot with the barrel, you hit with the stock.”

The rib on the 32-inch barrels of the Krieghoff Parcours-X.

Thirty-two-inch, gloss-black Parcours barrels with their fixed modified/improved modified constrictions weigh 3 pounds/1 ounce. Also at 32 inches, the Pro Sporter barrels with interchangeable chokes and barrel hangers tip the scale at 3 pounds/14 ounces. The Parcours-X barrels in their standard 32-inch configuration of screw-in chokes weigh 3 pounds/4 ounces. (The K-80 12-gauge, chrome-lined barrels are steel-proofed and chambered for 3-inch shells). 

On a brilliant, sunny afternoon at the Ranges at Oakfield, I would discover that of the three different models the weight and balance of the Parcours-X would actually deliver the most controllable, if not forgiving, clays-shooting experience – even when aiming directly into that fireball in the sky.

At the risk of hyperbole, when it came to the Parcours barrels Krieghoff might have followed the philosophy of Michelangelo who said “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

When shooting clays with the Parcours-X, you get a feeling that it has been set free. 

Standard K-80 barrels have a bore of 18.6mm, outside diameter of 21.3mm and wall thickness of 1.35mm. The Parcours’ barrels feature the same bore and chamber length, but have an outside diameter of 20.5mm and wall thickness of .85mm. So the outside diameter of the Parcours barrels is 0.8mm thinner while the barrel wall thickness is 0.5mm smaller.

Further weight reduction for the Parcours was realized when Krieghoff eliminated the barrel hangers and the muzzle swell that accommodates their titanium chokes. Even with the addition of side ribs, Krieghoff ultimately had cut approximately 8 to 10 ounces from the K-80 Sporting barrels to yield a Parcours 32-inch barrel weight of 3 pounds. 

The welterweight gloss-black Parcours-X barrels are manufactured with a wider rib, vented and threaded muzzles to accommodate Krieghoff thin-wall chokes, both flush and extended. At 3 pounds/4 ounces, these barrels define the Parcours-X. 

Digging deeper, a rib comparison reveals Krieghoff’s thinking on their K-80 barrels. The Pro Sporter has an adjustable floating rib with a 12mm-8mm taper. The Sporting model’s tapered flat rib measures 10-6mm. The lightweight Parcours barrels are topped with a fixed flat rib measuring 8mm-6 mm. The rib on Parcours-X, meanwhile, tapers 10mm to 8mm; it seemed to instinctively acquire targets appearing as a fading Sonar blip vanishing into the sun. 

Krieghoff will tell you that a Parcours with 32-inch barrels weighs approximately 8 pounds. Pro Sporter and Sporting models are about 8¾ pounds (of course depending on barrel length). And equipped with 32-inch barrels, the Parcours-X is an intermediate 8½ pounds. (In discussing overall weights, please let’s not quibble about the density of wood grades, if you don’t mind.)

As a recreational clays shooter, I always felt 30-inch barrels were sufficient. But after a round of sporting clays when I shot a Krieghoff K-80 with 34-inch barrels in 2021, I immediately realized the merits of longer barrels at least for my purposes.

At the time, Krieghoff International’s President and CEO Alex Diehl explained of the 3-pound, 34-inch barrels “One of the things that led to their development is that the game of sporting clays is evolving. The target presentations, shooting styles, coaching methods – everything is evolving. So, a longer sighting plane makes more sense. We listen to our customers and sponsored sporting clays shooters and evolve with the game, to adapt to these more modern target presentations – especially here in the U.S.”

Alex Diehl, President and CEO of Krieghoff International.

“The longer the barrels the less perceived lead on the targets,” Will Fennell, FITASC champ, owner of the Fennel Shooting School in Sharon, South Carolina and Krieghoff Pro Staff Shooter, had said, “The longer the barrels, the more accurately you point them. Krieghoff’s 34-inch barrels are the only 34-inch barrels I would ever consider. They are almost as light as everyone else’s 32-inchers.” 

As it turns out, I would experience the shortened perceived lead of the 34-inch barrels that Will had mentioned at Southwind Sporting Clays in Quitman, Georgia, which proved an excellent place to evaluate them. Southwind has a long course, and with the 34-inch barrels perceived lead was reduced to almost a poke. Targets that I had been missing with 30-inch barrels splattered with the 34-inch barrels. 

That’s why when the opportunity arose, I fitted the 32-inch Parcours-X barrels with Krieghoff’s optional extended titanium, thin-wall chokes in improved cylinder and modified. The chokes add 25mm (nearly an inch) to the Parcours-X barrels’ length – making them just about one inch shorter than the 34-inch Parcours barrels I had found so impressive.

The thin-wall, titanium extended chokes for the Krieghoff Parcours-X.

Adhering to the adage “you get what you pay for,” at $15,295 the Krieghoff K-80 Parcours-X delivers a clays shotgun of immense quality. The engineering, workmanship, satin-finished Turkish walnut and generally the overall presentation become immediately apparent when you handle the shotgun, and better yet when it’s shot.

The selective mechanical trigger breaks at 3½ pounds, and it feels flawless. Krieghoff K-80s had always felt a bit long for me. After moving the adjustable trigger to its rearmost position, the result was a perfect 14½-inch length of pull. In conjunction with the palm swell and slender forend, the shotgun conveys a harmony of control and balance.

The next step was dialing in the adjustable comb. The first pass took place in my garage. The next day I visited the Ranges at Oakfield. Jarrod Singletary is the gun club’s manager as well as Coach for the clays shooting team at the Brookwood School in Thomasville. He advised me to raise the comb. After another round of clays, it became apparent the comb needed to be even higher.

The Krieghoff K-80 Parcours-X.

Several days later, I had returned to the Ranges at Oakfield for my third attempt. It was a bluebird day. I find one of the best ways to test a shotgun is shooting trap; you can always count on determining the target/barrel relationship. The targets flew right into the sun. And although I couldn’t actually see the targets at the breakpoint, the trapper kept saying “dead, dead, dead.” I kept looking at him incredulously. At the 16-yard line, I scored 24/25. What the heck? We moved to the 5-Stand.

Jarrod sets the 5-Stand targets, that I would describe as intermediate-plus, characterized by plenty of sun-blinding long crossers and outgoers plus a few speedy, bouncing rabbits.

I shot the menu. The trapper called “dead” or “dead pair” several times. I had to turn around and look at him. “Really? I broke that? I can’t see the targets in the sun.” He smiled and nodded. I finished the round with a 20/25. 

Packing up, I realized that if I had to choose a single word describing my experience shooting the Krieghoff K-80 Parcours-X it would be “instinctive.” For me, there was no other way to express breaking targets that I could barely see.

Irwin Greenstein is the publisher of Shotgun Life. You can reach him at the Shotgun Life Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/shotgunlife

Helpful resources:

The Krieghoff International web site

Irwin Greenstein

Irwin Greenstein is Publisher of Shotgun Life. Please send your comments to letters@shotgunlife.com.

www.shotgunlife.com