This year's annual clambake of the gun business in Las Vegas had three underlying themes -- any or all of which will have some affect on bird hunters in the months ahead. These include: (1) the decline of the dollar against the Euro-- which has a substantial effect upon prices of shotguns and ammunition produced in Germany, Italy and Spain; (2) the emergence of the 28 gauge in both hunting and sporting clays venues; and (3) increased velocities of shotgun ammunition which benefits bird hunters in two ways: increased velocities extend the effective range by five or ten yards -- and -- increased velocities allow the wing shooter (dove hunters, pay attention) to fudge his leads a bit.

Aguierre y Aranzabal -- the MSRP of AYA's popular Model 4/53 boxlock (on which the Bill Hanus Birdgun is based) increased to $2,595 on 12 gauge and $2,690 for small gauge doubles. Commencing in 2005, manufacture of Model 4/53's will be limited to 150 units annually. The purpose is to allow AYA to focus their attention on sidelock business. Sidelock prices for 2004 are: Model 2 - $3,995, Model 53 - $5,395, Model 1 - $8,195. Round body actions are a $200 option.

 

Baschieri & Pellagri -- the Italian ammunition company --has done an incredibly foolish thing. They rescinded the contract of the guy who put them near top of the ammunition business in the US. Worse yet, they left him with a warehouse of primo shotshells for which he paid an average of $1.13 to the Euro -- an immediate 10% discount off today's replacement cost. So, while 2,300 cases remain, check out www.bandpamerica.com or call Mike Dotson at 972/726-9073 while he still has some 16, 20 and 28 gauge loads at clearance prices. Imagine even being able to find 16 and 20 gauge shells in No. 10 shot or No. 5 Nickel-plated shot, much less at bargain prices!

Benelli USA -- a semi-auto member of the Beretta family with the justly famous inertial recoil system -- introduced a new M2 Field™ model with new innovations like ComforTech™ that reportedly reduces recoil up to 48% (without any moving parts or weight) on 12 gauge, 3-1/2" loads. The system incorporates two gel pads -- one at the butt, the other at the comb, where the smooth gel surface lets your cheek slide forward while it absorbs recoil and vibration normally transferred to your cheek and ear drum.

Also, Benelli has a new Crio™ system which cryogenically treats the barrel to -300 degree temperatures. The treatment is said to produce a smoother bore that puts up to 13% more pellets in the target area. A CrioChokes™ system of cryogenically treated choke tubes with smoother, longer and more gradual choke constrictions reduces pellet deformation still further. The gun is said to weigh a pound less than gas-operated semi-autos. Look for these high-tech advances in Benelli M2 Field, Supersport™ and Super Black Eagle II™.

Beretta's White Onyx Series is a lovely new over/under in 12, 20 and 28 gauge with a machined, natural metal frame , nice wood and the other usual amenities at a MSRP of $1,718. The Onyx Pro with the flashy Wood X-TRA™ -- which offers the beauty of premium walnut with the durability of a synthetic stock plus all the other bells and whistles like the Gel-Tek recoil pad, TruGlo® and hard case -- at a MSRP of $1,856 in 12, 20 and 28 gauges. The 686 Covey & Ringneck line of over/unders features a Ringneck Pheasants Forever models in 12 and 20 gauge and Covey Quail Unlimited models in 20 and 28 gauge models. Both have MSRP's of about $2,000. Beretta's higher end Pigeon series over/unders and Silver Hawk side-by-sides have edged upward, again reflecting the erosion of the dollar as well as value added to the product

One of the products demonstrated at the Beretta Writer's Conference was exomesh™ -- a revolutionary system that is built into all Beretta Security Packs -- which fuses lightweight, flexible 1.5 mm stainless steel cable mesh into a next-generation nylon-canvas laminate that is slash proof. If provides a tamperproof cage that can be secured to any part of your vehicle (or motel room for that matter) when traveling. Made in rifle, pistol and shotgun sizes. There's no Beretta ID visible, so to the casual observer there's no clue that this drab old-appearing canvas case contains anything worth stealing.

Browning -- introduced a new CYNERGY™ (a nice word play on "synergy" -- meaning the whole is greater than the sum of the parts) 12 gauge over/under model in which they have incorporated some of the best shotgun science known. For example, they've used new hinge technology to produce the lowest possible profile. This tames recoil and improves target reacquisition for second shots. The mechanical trigger is based on the trigger system found in rifles, which is said to be ultra-fast and will outperform traditional hammer systems found on most over/under shotguns. They've back-bored the barrels, which increases velocity and reduces pellet deformation. Lightweight barrels means a faster swing and lighter overall weight. Composite Field Models have an adjustable comb -- and accessory combs are available to adjust for individual cast-on/cast-off requirements. Inflex Recoil Technology introduces a new recoil pad which is said to reduce felt recoil by 25% and three pad thicknesses are available to adjust for length of pull requirements. Browning's Triple Trigger™ system of trigger shoes helps adjust for different lengths of trigger fingers. The CYNERGY™ offers the potential for a shooter to tweak the fit of this gun to suit his individual requirements. In this case, the whole might just be greater than the sum of its parts.

Caesar Guerini -- a newish Italian maker was the star of the show. Benefitting from a great product review in the March '04 issue of The American Rifleman these nifty over/unders not only demonstrate the style and grace with which Italian guns seem to be uniquely blessed, but they come in five hunting models (and three sporting clays models), retail priced from $2,295 to $2,995 depending on engraving and decoration levels. But good pricing is only part of the news. They put some nice Turkish, oil finished wood on these guns. Four of the five hunting models are available in 12, 20 and 28 gauge and are available with 26" or 28" barrels! The top-of-the-line Magnus Model has case colored side plates with nicely executed gold game bird inlays and is matched with a Magnus Light Model, chosen by a panel of experts at Outdoor Life magazine as the best new shotgun of 2003. It has an attractive alloy receiver -- Tinaloy™ -- which reduces the weight on a 12 gauge gun by about 14 oz. -- to five pounds, 14 oz.; on a 20 gauge gun by a pound to five pounds, six oz. and on a 28 gauge to five pounds, four ounces. Five screw-in chokes are standard: CYL, SK, IC, M & F. All this plus a Lifetime Warranty. Wow!

FABARM again confirmed that they have a small frame 28 gauge side-by-side in the works -- but that we would have to wait until next year to get a sneak peek.

Fiocchi -- introduced two new shotshells in their Golden Pheasant line. The 12GPX-Extreme Speed-1485 fps says it all. Fiocchi's taken the original 12 GP 1-3/8 ounce payload and cranked it up to 1485 fps with nickel-plated shot in Nos. 4 - 5 - 6 sizes. Make no mistake, this is a big, quick, powerful, long range wild bird load.

Their new 28 gauge Golden Pheasant load -- 28GP -- acknowledges the growing trend toward the 28 as a bona fide hunting gauge. The 28GP is a 7/8 ounce load -- an 1/8 ounce increase in the traditional 28 gauge 3/4 ounce payload -- and is offered in Nos. 6 - 7-1/2 - 8 sizes of nickel-plated shot that goes out the door at 1300 fps. Hot stuff -- plus -- there's much less feather-draw with nickel-plated shot, so cleaning birds is lot's easier.

Hatfield's is a familiar name in the side-by-side shotgun business and this year they've come back with a new Turkish-made 28 gauge, built on a "miniature" boxlock action. The whole gun weighs about 4 pounds. The 26" barrels have a black chrome exterior and chrome-lined bores, choked IC/M and extractors. XXX-grade hand selected Circassian walnut, straight English grip, splinter forend. The gun has good standard stock dimensions -- a 14" LOP to a rubber pad -- and 0" cast. The dealer price starts at $1,495 "whether you buy one gun or a thousand" so retail pricing should be around $1,995.

Merkel -- also suffering under the Euro/Dollar curse -- has seen the price of their popular Model 47E in 12 or 20 gauge side-by-side advance to $3,795 and their Model 280 28 gauge and Model 1620 16 gauge to $4,195. In addition to their own line of sidelock doubles, this year Merkel has added two nice sidelocks from Spanish maker Grulla®. The Model 216 RL is a round body H&H style sidelock with double trigger, English stock, Ex-Ex wood, coin finished receiver with Purdey style of Engraving for $7,495 in 12, 20 or 28 gauge, 28" barrels choked IC/M. A most unusual offering is the Royal, Self-Opening round body model, seven pin H&H sidelock, finished similar to the Model 216 RL, but with side clips and fitted luggage case at an eye-opening $22,995.

Traditions™ by Fausti® -- Traditions has been a longtime importer of moderately-priced, good quality side-by-sides and over/unders made by Stefano Fausti and priced in the $800 to $1,500 price range. New this year is the Real 16™ and Real 16™ Gold -- a 16 gauge over/under with 26" barrels and chrome-lined bores, IC-M-F screw-in chokes, single selective trigger with good standard stock dimensions and rubber recoil pad finished to 14-1/4" LOP. Price is $1,179 for the Real 16 Model. The Gold Model, priced at $1,459, comes with a hard molded case and fancier engraving. Both models -- on true 16 gauge frames -- weigh 6-3/4 pounds.

New to the Traditions portfolio is Emilio Rizzini -- whose upscale over/unders (offered only in 12 gauge) priced from about $1,700 to $2,500 and side-by-sides (offered 12 and 20 gauge) priced from $2,100 to $3,500 -- feature all the high quality features one seeks in a nice double gun: fine checkering on high grade oil finished wood, automatic ejectors, long forcing cones, tasteful engraving -- and a five-year operating warranty.

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