Another itch scratched….

[Iggy]

Fancied a Perazzi for a while now, and fuelled by the march of time (age), risk of getting hit by a bus or other natural disaster I decided to go for it

Visited Neville’s in Alfreton yesterday to have a mooch, and settled on a smart new High Tech S, 32” with 7-10mm reverse rib. It’s off the shelf, but seems to fit me rather nicely. It’s fixed choke 1/4, 1/4, 18.5mm bores, barrels are 1.6kg and overall weight 8lbs 6oz. It feels lovely in the shoulder….hope that translates to shooting it.

Mark and his son Jon at Nevilles are nice people and great to deal with and did me a very respectable part ex on my trade in. I can only recommend them.

Hope to get out with it tomorrow if it stops raining, fingers crossed.

Any top tips on ownership, care, cleaning I need to be aware of? I believe the bores are not chrome lined so I assume these need to be kept spotless with a light coat of oil? I’d also welcome any suggestions on a suitable oil to use in the stock?

Thanks all, quick snap below.

 

[Will Hewland]

Sounds a perfect spec to me. My old MX12 didn’t give any trouble for many years with just normal cleaning. Bores OK, just don’t look like mirrors.

The firing pins will pit after a while but you can polish them up and they last well.

 

[Westward]

Tried a pal's one a couple of years ago. Nicest gun I've ever shot and the only gun out there that I would give up my CG for.

 

[chesterse]

Regarding the stock it depends whether it’s oil or lacquer finish. If it’s lacquer like mine I just spray some legia oil onto a bit of kitchen roll and give it a rub over.

 

[Iggy]

Thanks very much for the replies and advice folks, much appreciated. I managed to sneak out between the showers this morning and shot the registered at Doveridge.

Not an easy shoot I don’t think, it was Derbyshire Championship shoot but I managed to finish on 75 and although I went TO (so no cash involved) it put me in second place in B.

The HTS was lovely to shoot, but it’s going to take some getting used to and it moves/feels very different to my DT11. I think it was shooting a bit night to start with but once I’d adjusted my head position it was much better.

It does feel very point-able though and this reverse taper rib is interesting. Being 7mm at the breech end and visually appearing to be the same width to the end of the barrels made the rib less obtrusive somehow….

I was a little concerned about the chokes fixed at 1/4, 1/4 but there was nothing they didn’t cope with as long as I did my bit.

It certainly feels a fast handling gun, and also quite forgiving allowing me to shoot quite instinctively as long as I got the hold points right. Not sure if this is down to the balance or the relatively narrow rib….or both?

Post shoot the gun seemed to clean easily enough, Napier down the bores, leave it for the usual 20 minutes to do it’s stuff, quick bronze brush and they look like new. The stock looks like a dull oil like finish but I assume it’s lacquer? I’m fairly OCD with gun cleaning and don’t put them away unless they are spotless so Im sure it will be fine.

One thing I can say, and these are the the observations you make after cleaning a gun, it’s certainly a very well engineered bit of kit. The phrase ‘bomb proof’ tends to get thrown around a bit nowadays, but looking at the thickness of metal used throughout its without a doubt one of the sturdiest looking guns I’ve ever used.

Overall very pleased and looking forward to the journey of getting to know it and hopefully shoot it better.

 

[Cosmicblue]

I have an HTS with an all-black action, was new, made for me and delivered back in January of this year. The HTS shares the cabinet with an MX12, both were made with barrels weighing 1610grms and consequently handle quite similarly though for some reason I always seem to take the HTS. Other people who have shot the HTS have commented that it feels natural to shoot and shoot well too.

Regarding the bores not being chromed - I've read that many times too and have to say that both the bores of both guns are VERY shiny, if they aren't chromed then they are extremely well polished which wouldn't be that easy to achieve end-to-end.

 

[Iggy]

Thanks for the reply, glad you like yours too!

Interesting what you say about the bores though, I’ve thought exactly the same thing. They were gleaming when I bought it and just as shiny/reflective as any chrome lined guns I’ve owned.

Equally surprising was how well they seemed to come back to the same state after shooting as well, they did need a bronze brushing, and a bit of a soak with some Napier, but they came up spotless which surprised me somewhat.

Must say I’m hugely impressed with the build quality, it feels as close to a hand made gun I’ve ever been or likely to get.

Im also impressed with the fixed chokes, it was sold as 1/4, 1/4 and marked in the manual as Number 3….from what Ive read Perazzi fixed chokes can be a law unto themselves, so may be a ‘tight’ 1/4? Either way, they seemed to shoot well so far.

 

[Cosmicblue]

Yeah, Perazzi fixed chokes are loosely interpreted specifications

Both of mine are fixed choke - the MX12 was ordered as 1/2 and 1/4 but seems to translate in the real world as Full and Extra Full. The HTS was ordered as 1/2 and 1/4 through John Jeffries to his 'Legend' specification and that seems closer to spec at 1/2 and 3/8 and still breaks targets convincingly out to silly ranges - just back from an amble around Sporting Targets with it.