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IWA report – Shotguns

IWA report – Shotguns

It’s their first ever over & under and re-writes the rule book, with a list of genuinely innovative features. The stock has the Progressive Comfort polymer recoil- damper and gel comb from the Rafaello semi-auto. The top lever cocks the action as well as opening it and can be set up for left-handed use. The trigger can be removed for security or cleaning. The barrels aren’t pinned between the hinge pin and the standing breech in the conventional way but hooked over a breech plate inside the receiver. Barrels are cryo-treated to be stress-free; they have no mid rib, being joined just before the muzzles and a carbon fibre top rib with a red fibre-optic bead.

BERETTA

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Beretta has introduced plenty of new variants of their current models for 2015. There are two new 690s: a 20-bore the Field III; and a Sporting Black Edition, with smart orange detailing, stocks and forends made from walnut blanks specially selected to take the punishment a clay gun metes out, and a matte black barrel finish to minimise glare. The 486 Parallelo has started a family too, with this Autumn’s designer version by Mark Newson being followed at IWA by more conventional, but scarcely less elegant, side-plated (EL) and standard models in 20 and 28-bore.

BROWNING

Browning has some great things for UK shooters this year. Best of all is a Miroku MK60 game gun in 20-bore. This is presented with 32” barrels choked 3⁄4 and full, a silver receiver decorated with full-coverage foliate scroll engraving, a Grade-5 stock with an oiled finish, drop points, and a semi-pistol grip. The only thing I didn’t like was the black plastic butt plate. A recoil pad isn’t required, and the smooth plastic won’t hang up on your shooting coat and protects the stock, but the rest of the gun shows that looks and feel can count just as much as practicality.

LONGTHORNE

This was Longthorne’s first IWA; they’re a Lancashire-based gunmaker who combine traditional finishing skills with 21st century aerospace technology to make striking O/U game guns. Unique characteristics are that their chambers, lumps, barrels and ribs are machined in one piece from a single billet of steel. This is done with exceptional precision and ensures an unparalleled combination of strength and light weight. In a hall full of high-end Continental gunmakers, no one had seen anything like it.

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