Shotguns

We’ve noticed a distinct improvement in the fit and finish of Beretta’s guns lately, and the 471 Silver Hawk was no exception. Our sample sported a well-figured piece of wood, dark chocolate in color. The buttstock sported a classic orange butt pad mated to a black spacer that marked a smart-looking transition from wood to pad. We liked having this pad as a feature on this gun. Too many times, makers seeking to keep a classic design classic achieve such looks by denying modern improvements.We would not have been surprised to have received this gun with a finished, checkered wood end to the buttstock. But such aesthetics, while handsome, aren’t terribly practical. With the many technical fabrics that we have available these days to keep us warm and dry while hunting, a buttstock minus some sort of tacky (as in gripping, not cheap) butt pad has a tendency to slip from the shoulder during firing. A rubber butt pad, of course, eliminates such a problem. That Beretta put an orange one on this stock—and fitted it perfectly—was the touch we feel was needed to combine the practical with the classic. However, the Beretta website indicates that this gun can also be ordered with a black-rubber butt pad, as well as a hard-plastic butt plate.

BEIJING, China (August 16, 2008) —The U.S. Shooting Team added to its medal count at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing Saturday when 19-year-old Vincent Hancock (Eatonton, Ga.) captured the gold medal in Men's Skeet.

BEIJING, China (August 14, 2008) — Kim Rhode (El Monte, Calif.) added to her Olympic medal tally Thursday when she captured the silver medal in the Women’s Skeet event at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Case in point: According to the January 2008 issue of Gun Tests, the Smith & Wesson Elite Gold Grade I Side-by-Side 20 Gauge, $2380, was a B+ gun, and a better pick than a comparable L.C. Smith. Online pricing for the gun found on Gunbroker.com had no bids for one gun in a no-reserve auction # 106244497, but it has a “Buy Now” price of $1399.

Gun owners in Baltimore whose firearms are stolen would be required to report the theft to police under legislation approved by the City Council yesterday—despite questions about whether the proposal is legal.

BEIJING, China — Twenty-one year old Corey Cogdell, (Eagle River, Alaska) took home the first medal for the U.S. Shooting team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing Monday, claiming the bronze after an exciting shoot-off in the Women's Trap competition.

BEIJING, China (August 8, 2008) – The shooting competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China will kick off Saturday at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall/Beijing Shooting Range Clay Target Field (CTF) with the Women’s 10m Air Rifle, Men’s Trap and Men’s 10m Air Pistol events.

When Gun-Tests.com tested the Beretta AL391 Urika 20 Gauge in the magazine’s June 2008, the retail price was listed as a stiff $1350. But GunBroker.com auctions have the guns selling used for $400 below that. For instance, Auction # 106087392 had a “like new” 20 ga/28 in. for $830.

SPARTA, IL- Like a prelude to Olympic shooting events, more than 1,600 young shotgunners competed August 4-5 for medals and national honors at the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) Trap National Championships.

Beretta USA's Beretta Bucks promotion offers customers incentives to buy a Beretta shotgun. Beginning August 1, with the purchase of any Beretta Urika 2, Xtrema 2, 686 White Onyx, 687 Silver Pigeon II or 687 Silver Pigeon V shotgun, the customer will receive up to $300 in Beretta Bucks that can be redeemed online at Beretta USA's e-Store for Beretta clothing, accessories or pro shop products.

At first glance, the Browning Gold Evolve Sporting is an obvious re-creation of the original Gold introduced now more than a decade ago. But we think this gun's chiseled appearance is more than just an aesthetic redesign.

The Evolve is radically different in appearance from the Teknys. Where the latter has a combination of traditional design melded with more up-to-date features, the Evolve is all new, all today, right now, hottest thing on the block. This starts at the forend, which has a tapered, front-to-back triangular sculpt to it. More radical than the overall forend design is the thumb ridge that runs at a downward angle back the other direction, toward the front. This actually seems to encourage the fore-finger of the fore-hand to ride comfortably on top of it with the thumb. This is counter to the thumb ridge on most forends where the thumb is accommodated comfortably but the fore-finger is often left to reside on the forend's side. We do realize that hand placement varies from shooter to shooter, but felt the Evolve's forend design accommodated better than most those who like to 'point' their fore-hand and fore-finger in line with the muzzle (rather than cupping the forend). For those who do like the cupped hand approach, the forward and down carve in the stock is easily identified by finger and thumb tip for consistent placement.

Stretching a dollar to obtain the most bang for the buck is not a habit that is unique among shooters, but many seem to have become masters of the technique. Rarely does anyone attend a gun show, visit a sporting goods store, or spend some down time in the field without hearing: "Im looking for a good used over-and-under shotgun, but I dont want to spend more than $1,000."While there are several knock-off models that have been introduced to the U.S. market in recent years that can carry a bargain price tag, finding a "veteran" shotgun with such a price limitation can result in a frustrating search. Nonetheless, during one of our forays into the well-stocked shelves of Durys Gun Shop in San Antonio (www.durysguns.com), we found two over-and- under 12 gauges that fell within the search parameters-a Winchester Model 101 and a Charles Daly Superior model. Both shotguns can trace their introduction to the U.S. market back to 1963, with the Charles Daly produced until 1976 and the Winchester Model 101 production stopped in 1984. Manufactured in Japan, both shotguns are similar in appearance and feature dimensions that make them near twins. (An updated version of the Model 101, now called the Select 101, was offered to shooters beginning in 2006 and features a Belgium-made firearm.)With many fans favoring veteran firearms, both models have passed the test of time and continue to provide good service to users in both the field and on clay target fields. We were pleasantly surprised to find that both used shotguns were in good to excellent condition. They had been used, but not abused, and both actions were smooth and solid (except in several situations with the Charles Daly that will be noted later).Although the weight of the both shotguns was exactly the same, the Charles Daly had a heftier feel up front, probably because of a thicker and heavier forearm that gave the shotgun more weight in the shooters lead hand. This came as a surprise to us because the shorter barrels on the Daly would normally have meant a faster acquisition of targets.We also noted that the automatic safety feature in the Charles Daly was still in operation, while the Winchester featured a non-automatic safety. If a shooter is planning to spend more time on the clay target range than in the field, we would recommend a little gunsmith work to remove the automatic safety. An automatic safety is a common cause of lost targets because the shooter will forget to take off the safety before attempting to smack a clay.Our ammunition selection for this test included the Winchester AA Xtra-Lite Target 2.75-inch loads that were 2.75 dram equivalent shells with one ounce of No. 8 shot traveling at 1,180 fps; Remington STS Low Recoil 2 3/4-inch loads with a 2.5 dram equivalent, 1 1/8 ounce of No. 7 1/2 shot and a muzzle velocity of 1,145 fps; and Estate Super Sport Competition Target 2 3/4-inch loads with 2.75 dram equivalent, 1 ounce of No. 8 shot and a muzzle velocity of 1,180 fps.We encountered no malfunctions with any of the ammunition, and recoil was manageable with both. Otherwise, heres our report: