Heavy...the future?

[Les53]

When I came into clay shooting back in the 1980's most clay guns had a weight of about 7 3/4 to 8lbs or so, 8 1/2lbs was regarded as heavy! Anything near 9lb was regarded as a weight lifting challenge and as such was viewed with suspicion! These days there are a good few guns which come in a shade under 9lbs and some well over 9lbs. OK we all know the benefits of a heavier gun with lighter loads, but which manufacturer actually started this heavy trend, bearing in mind it happened when loads became lighter? My old 682X's were viewed by many in the 1980's as being way too heavy and some said they were unusable, those guns were just a shade under 9lb, yet today such a weight is not abnormal at all. 

Even now people say things such as K guns are too heavy, yet my DT11 was only a couple of ounces lighter and I know of some P guns that are the same sort of weight as my K gun. 

So is this heavy gun thing going to be some sort of a fad or what? Will cartridges get still lighter and guns get even heavier? Could we end up going back to lighter guns with even lighter shells?

Any views guys?

 

[Will Hewland]

It probably goes back to the beginning; i.e. from game shooting where light guns are needed for speedy reaction from un-mounted. Making them a bit heavier for clays would have been a progression for steadiness, but like Gillette razors adding more and more blades it happens over time. Today's sporting targets are further out than ever so a steady gun is more critical. I think it has peaked though. I am now used to a 9lb 6oz gun, but actually think it's a touch too heavy. 8.5- 9lb is about right for sporting I reckon.

 

[no.1topdog]

Fashion? Machismo? Boasting "mine's bigger than yours"?   :sarcastic:

Sporting targets seem to be getting softer and closer (compared to the 70's and 80's  before you jump down my throat!) and the trend then was to have a 26" barrelled gun for the close stuff and a 28" or maybe even a 30" heavier Trap style gun for the longer stuff.

Now we could get away with a lighter and shorter barrelled gun but fashion (or function?) has dictated the longer barrelled ones are "en vogue"

What goes around will come around again and my 26" barrelled lightweight gun is ready. You heard it here first!!  :biggrin:

I did use a 32" heavier gun at the weekend (I normally use a 30" lighter one) and it did make it seem so easy, almost like I was cheating?? There must be something in it then?  :biggrin:

 

[unplugged]

At least in the States, we have gone back. (slightly) The popularity of the new K80-Parcour (the FITASC weighted gun, not the "engraving style) and P Guns, as well as the new Kolar Lite series, are all around 8.5 lb guns.

I too found the K80 too heavy for me!

I went back to a Zoli at 8.4 lbs. and the Kolar I currently shoot is 8.6 lbs. 

But the barrels are very lively in all the "newer" FITASC guns (Parcour/Kolar-lite/Perazzi 32)

Some still find the 9+ lb. guns to work well for them so I would guess, just like barrel lengths, the future is still 8 1/2 and up. 

 

[Doctor Lecter]

I disagree  my experience of sporting shooting in the 70s 80s  most local grounds in lincs area could be shot using a skeet gun  , nowdays  targets are so much more difficult  in all  aspects ,  having said that  all equipment used to shoot has improved massively  including  shooters skills . 

 

[no.1topdog]

I disagree  my experience of sporting shooting in the 70s 80s  most local grounds in lincs area could be shot using a skeet gun  , nowdays  targets are so much more difficult  in all  aspects ,  having said that  all equipment used to shoot has improved massively  including  shooters skills . 

Perhaps i'm not the right one to comment on this. I must have attended all the harder shoots in the past and been going to the easier ones recently. My skill level must have increased too despite shooting loads less than I used to as my scores are up on 30 years ago?  My equipment is certainly out of the ark as I haven't upgraded much for years. Hell! I'm still using cartridges I paid less that £90 per thousand!!  :sarcastic:

 

[Hamster]

Guns are heavier now because ESP has evolved, in the 80's it was mainly groups of shooters meeting once a fortnight taking turns in chucking the traps out into pre-existing holes and making sure the two clays thrown together didn't splay more than 3 feet from each other so field guns were perfectly up to the job of letting the average shooter get through two boxes without too much bother.

As things got more serious with 100 birders commonplace and the need to tackle two different birds on each stand, often at double the 80's distances, heavier, steadier guns were needed. Things will change back if and when we go back to dustbin lid type targets, never in other words.

 

[Finnsporting]

My HPX RSR weighs 8,3 lbs with 33" barrels with superb pointability. I personally don't want any heavier gun whilst 33" gives good stabile swing. The most suprising with this gun for me is the easy shootability on quick short range targets?! For example I've always hated skeet peg 8 targets, shot them with 28-32" with insecurity and very low %, now they are fun and easy. But I belive I'm going to gain more on the long stuff. Hope to get tested in Garlands 15th febr ;-)

 

[Hamster]

My HPX RSR weighs 8,3 lbs with 33" barrels with superb pointability. I personally don't want any heavier gun whilst 33" gives good stabile swing. The most suprising with this gun for me is the easy shootability on quick short range targets?! For example I've always hated skeet peg 8 targets, shot them with 28-32" with insecurity and very low %, now they are fun and easy. But I belive I'm going to gain more on the long stuff. Hope to get tested in Garlands 15th febr ;-)

That sounds like a cool gun.

 

[Wonko the Sane]

I can tell you that heavy ain't my future.  The guns around here are all 8lbs and a couple oz's.  But then I don't shoot ESP.  I do have 75cm barrels for a couple of the guns but the 72cms are the ones I shoot almost always.  I suppose I can appreciate the flow of fashion -- and actually I do because it has given me some spectacular buys on "unsuitable" short barreled guns that are more than adequate for my meager skill set.

thanks, guys!

 

[Finnsporting]

That sounds like a cool gun.

Yuuup!

 

[Alan Rowley]

I can tell you that heavy ain't my future. The guns around here are all 8lbs and a couple oz's. But then I don't shoot ESP. I do have 75cm barrels for a couple of the guns but the 72cms are the ones I shoot almost always. I suppose I can appreciate the flow of fashion -- and actually I do because it has given me some spectacular buys on "unsuitable" short barreled guns that are more than adequate for my meager skill set.

thanks, guys!

 

[Alan Rowley]

Always wondered how size differs in different places in the world , cms for barrell length ? Instead of inches, gun weight in pounds instead of kilos? grammes instead of ounces, ? Are we even allowed to do imperial anymore?

 

[Wonko the Sane]

OK - 3.75K, mas o menos

The barrels were cut to a metric measurement so it is easier to just use that.  My scale reads lbs and kilos - don't mean squat to me which it is

I'd guess you could do Imperial if you like  - - so, gun weight in stones?

 

[Alan Rowley]

OK - 3.75K, mas o menos

The barrels were cut to a metric measurement so it is easier to just use that. My scale reads lbs and kilos - don't mean squat to me which it is

I'd guess you could do Imperial if you like - - so, gun weight in stones?

Just over half a stone seems favourite

 

[no.1topdog]

My barrels are 8/33 of a furlong from now on!  :sarcastic: (I think!!)

 

[MJJ]

Umm! Heavy = Steady, Lighty = Flighty.

I just pick one that feels right in the hands, which is somewhere in the middle weight wise i guess.

Will heavy guns be a fad?

Probably not Les, as you need to be seen to be getting something for your money in the pounds for pounds stake as they say.

Most manufacturers reach a point and then go beyond which then makes a product worse, then take a step back to what worked.

Just my 2p worth.