Miroku MK38 Trap

I think Miroku guns offer some of the best buys of anything available on the market in the UK today. There you have it, I have thrown journalistic objectivity to the wind from the first sentence! But it’s true - many other guns seem expensive compared to the products of B.C. Miroku. And, of all the Mirokus on offer – and the range is more limited than some manufacturers and probably the better (and cheaper) for it – my favourite is the MK38 32”. It’s a good buy in Grade 1 form. Arguably, it’s an even better deal in Grade 3 (as tested here with adjustable comb) and Grade 5 (stocked in high grade walnut and beautifully hand engraved, oil finished and chequered). In all its guises, the MK38 must surely offer the most gun for the least money of anything on sale in the UK at the moment. It all boils down to affordable quality.

High Build Quality

So, with that serious but well deserved praise given without qualification – let’s get straight to work. First impressions of the test gun, a trap model with adjustable comb as noted, fixed chokes and a Beaver-tail forend, are certainly positive. It’s more business than bling, nevertheless, there is some well executed scroll work on the action walls to make it significantly more attractive than the average clay busting machine - and, like all the Mirokus I have so far encountered, it is supremely well finished. Wood to metal fit is impeccable, the machining is precise, and the blacking lustrous. The action is matt silver finished and looks good, but, it would also work well aesthetically colour case hardened (although this has rarely, if ever, featured as a Miroku option). The monobloc barrels of the MK 38 are well presented and internally straight. The monobloc joints are excellent (better, on average than many mid-priced Italian guns).

It is also worth remarking here that Miroku are one of the very few firms that individually regulate each gun in time honoured fashion at the plates. I have a bee in my bonnet about this. I test a lot of guns each year and I find that many do not come up to standard with regard to point of impact regulation (the usual exceptions are Perazzi, Beretta, Browning/Miroku and Krieghoff). This is an important issue, but I do not have the time or space to expound upon it further here, suffice to say, if you’re brave, check your gun out by ‘rifle’ shooting it at the plates or at card with an aiming mark and proven safe back-drop.

Chokes and Cones

Returning to the spec of the test gun, this MK38 has a well machined 11mm vented sighting rib with shallow centre channel and mid bead (an acceptable adornment on a trap gun though unnecessary on a sporter). It is chambered for 70mm (2 3/4”) loads. Both barrels are back-bored at 18.7mm. Chokes are three quarters and full. As is typical of Brownings and Mirokus, the MK38 has quite short (1/2”/15mm approx) forcing cones. Browning UK did some experiments a decade or more ago and came to the conclusion that elongated cones were no great advantage. Frankly, I am not sure about this, as I have noted elsewhere in this issue. My own preference is for cones measuring about 2”. It just seems common sense that one should make the passage of shot as easy as possible down the bore. This is not just a hunch. I have been especially impressed with Beretta Opti-bored guns which combine long cones, widish bores and long chokes. Similarly, I have found that guns modified to similar spec by US barrel specialists shoot extremely well – felt recoil is lower and the patterns are more even.

Let me sound a word of caution, though. Combine long cones with really wide bore and you can get pressure problems with felt wadded cartridges and some flake powders in really cold conditions. I once back-bored a 682 Beretta to.740” plus and extended the forcing cones to 2 1.2” or so. I shot the gun on a very cold day with 24 gram felt wadded cartridges and you could practically see the pellets fall out of the barrel! You can take back bored and cone elongation too far. Plastic wadded cartridges with their expanding skirt seem less prone to such problems than felt, heavy payloads also seem less affected than light ones. Friends in Spain who shoot live pigeons are absolutely convinced that tighter bores increase penetration (though they may increase felt recoil). This is something else that I must test experimentally one day. Meantime, my recipe for success would be 2” cones, bores in the range 18.6-7 and long, gradually tapered, chokes with a parallel section near the muzzle. I know this combination works.

Based on the B25

The action of the MK38 is the usual Miroku modification of the famous Browning B25 Superposed design. It was predominantly the work of John Moses Browning who died at his bench perfecting it. The original single trigger mechanism was then completed by his son Val (the the single trigger on B25s, Japanese made Brownings and Mirokus is rather different today). It is an enduring classic and, despite its full width hinge pin and bolt still looks quite compact. There are lumps beneath the barrels rather than the bifurcated plan with trunnion hinging which has become so popular in the last twenty or thirty years. Lock up is achieved by a wide, flat, bolt which comes out of the bottom of the action faces and meets a slot beneath the bottom chamber. There is plenty of bearing surface both on the wide hinge pin and on the bolts and bite. Browning have always claimed this as an advantage over the more recent systems. 

Trap Stock

The adjustable stock is of typical Miroku trap style. It was nearly 15” for length of pull with a ventilated rubber pad. For those needing length it might easily be shortened. It is always good to have more rather than less. The grip shape is classic Browning and excellent. There is no palm swell and the grip is even in depth and provides near perfect purchase. If everyone went with this plan, we would all be better off. It is amazing how many poor grips one encounters. The Miroku and Browning gun has the advantage of top and bottom straps that are almost ideally angled and spaced. The grip shape is in great part a function of the action body design – a point some manufacturers seem to forget (they think the narrower the better – this is not always the case and may lead to a grip which shrinks forward and provides no anchor for the hand without an ugly and often inefficient palm swell).

I also liked the comb profile, which is full without being bulbous. The beaver-tail forend – which carries classic Miroku/Browning hammer ejector work – was a little big (but provided material for modification if required). I did not measure the drop or cast (of which there was little) on the gun. But, I will note that an adjustable comb is a boon on a trap gun provided you do not get neurotic about it! Chequering on the gun was well cut, but not especially fine. It was practical though, combined with the good stock shapes, it offered excellent purchase.

Shooting Impressions

I took the MK38 to the West London Shooting Ground. There is no doubting its pointability. For a long gun weighing over 8lbs it is surprisingly lively, thanks to relatively ‘light for length’ barrels. I know more than a few people who use these guns for high pheasants as well as clay busting. I am much impressed with the MK 38 both with regard to its aesthetic and shooting qualities.

Is it perfect? Of course not! The trigger pulls could be refined, and there is a little vibration on firing. Felt recoil is not quite as low as one might expect for a relatively heavy, back-bored, gun. But, this is a superb shooting tool and fantastic value for money. In fixed choke, fixed stock, form, it might be customised with Teague thin wall chokes and a little trigger and stock work. Or, there is the option of buying the Teague choked sporter model fitted with replacement Teague chokes rather than the custom thin wall Teagues mentioned. The latter would be my preference, however, because they may be combined with the lighter fixed choke type barrels to keep the handling dynamic lively.

The MK 38 range trap model includes fixed comb, Grade 1, RRP £1,357 (30 or 32”); Grade 5 £2,612; Grade 3 £1598. Grade 5 £2,860. The MK38 Sporter range includes Grade 1 Invector Plus Teague (30 and 32”) RRP £1,496, Grade 3 Sporter RRP £2,041, and Grade 5 £2,554.

PRICE: £1,598