If you didn’t, what would you?

[Freddypip]

Will - this is not intended as one of those sideways sarcastic comments - but - is your desire for a lighter forend & barrel, in some way age related ?

I ask because I shoot with a guy approaching 70 (physically but not mentally) who has recently gone through a few guns ending up with a B25 which is noticably lighter than the one he used 5 years ago at the start of the process.

 

[Will Hewland]

Will - this is not intended as one of those sideways sarcastic comments - but - is your desire for a lighter forend & barrel, in some way age related ?

I ask because I shoot with a guy approaching 70 (physically but not mentally) who has recently gone through a few guns ending up with a B25 which is noticably lighter than the one he used 5 years ago at the start of the process.

No problem with a forum chucking up discussion and suggestions, so no offence but I’m only 55, still strong and able to handle any weight of gun, so that’s not it. It’s simply that I find a reasonably light “front end” on a gun allows fine tuning of movement if you like. When I say light, I’m talking 32” barrels so it’s relative to other 32s on the market, not like a 28” or a 20g. 

 

[Lloyd]

I find a reasonably light “front end” on a gun allows fine tuning of movement if you like.

I would concur with this. I found a lighter gun for me was easier to get going, stop, change direction, adjust the sight picture.

I started to think this had me going perhaps too light. I’m really not sure. I had a major issue until very recently that on quite a few targets I’d whip past them and miss in front. Particularly with crossers and overhead going away. I had begun to think maybe I could with a little more inertia in the gun. 

Recent work on experimenting with hold points have had an enormous impact on this.  A meter or two in hold point massively alters my perception of the clays speed. If I choose the hold point well, I have then little difficulty metering out the lead and breaking the target.

I still need to get this work bedded down and understanding it on a more intuitive level, but it’s made me hit the pause button on adding mass to the gun.

I’d be interested to know more about your experiences with light and heavier barrels 

 

[Will Hewland]

I would concur with this. I found a lighter gun for me was easier to get going, stop, change direction, adjust the sight picture.

I started to think this had me going perhaps too light. I’m really not sure. I had a major issue until very recently that on quite a few targets I’d whip past them and miss in front. Particularly with crossers and overhead going away. I had begun to think maybe I could with a little more inertia in the gun. 

Recent work on experimenting with hold points have had an enormous impact on this.  A meter or two in hold point massively alters my perception of the clays speed. If I choose the hold point well, I have then little difficulty metering out the lead and breaking the target.

I still need to get this work bedded down and understanding it on a more intuitive level, but it’s made me hit the pause button on adding mass to the gun.

I’d be interested to know more about your experiences with light and heavier barrels 

You’re on the right track entirely. Hold point is the basis of how you will subsequently move the gun. Basically I don’t move the gun more than I need to and I do try and almost match the speed of the clay. So all this “heavy is steady” thing is less relevant if your movement isn’t a big swing. The ability to start and stop easily is important to me. 

 

[Guest]

interesting this barrel weight thing eh, I find a 30" miroku to fast on/off the target so use a 32" ,barrel weight complete with fore end is 3lb 15oz,stock and action 4lb 1oz, stock shortness 14 "  which seems to suit me fine. as a matter of interest @Will Hewland what weight is your f3 compared to your perazzi.  and yes how a o/u looks bears absolutely no relevance to how it works for you.

 

[Will Hewland]

interesting this barrel weight thing eh, I find a 30" miroku to fast on/off the target so use a 32" ,barrel weight complete with fore end is 3lb 15oz,stock and action 4lb 1oz, stock shortness 14 "  which seems to suit me fine. as a matter of interest @Will Hewland what weight is your f3 compared to your perazzi.  and yes how a o/u looks bears absolutely no relevance to how it works for you.

The guns are both about 8.5 lbs, the Perazzi is a little heavier due to the stock mainly. The barrels are identical weight, which I was shocked to find when I weighed them. A Blaser forend is very light and the Perazzi is heavy, due to all the metalwork. From memory 220g versus 360g? Anyway I was surprised to feel the difference, considering the forend is not at the muzzle. Gun mounted, you can just feel the weight as you move the muzzle. 

 

[Guest]

So what would barrel weight be ? my 3800 is 1.525kg (I think)  not so hot on metric...ta

 

[Nimbusgb]

K80 pro

32" Barrels ( + 2 titanium chokes ) 1710 g

fore end 410 g

Stock & Action 1920 g

for a total weight of 4042g = 4kg or 8.91 lb or 8 lb 14 1/2 oz

Balance is right in the action but I'm starting to feel the weight of it after a day on the clays!

 

[RJD]

32” DT11 EELL for me, but spending that much cash on something without an engine doesn’t compute...

 

[ColinD]

But it probably won't depreciate as much as the one with the engine