Three of the best second-hand clayshooting guns for beginners

Miroku MK70

• Here’s a gun constructed on different principles to all of the break-action Berettas. Instead of having a relatively shallow action with the barrels hinged on stub pins, it’s based on the general layout of John Moses Browning’s immortal B25.
• Miroku build today’s range of Browning B25 look-alikes.
• This means that the gun has a relatively tall action, and the hinge takes the form of a low-mounted cross pin engaging with a hook on the forward end of the barrel lump. This gives the gun slightly different handling charactistics than those of the Berettas.
• There are several grades available, and Michael could certainly afford a Grade 1 at around £1,000 or a little more. He might, if he is lucky, find a Grade 3 for £1,500, though they are rare and at that price he would have to pay particular attention to the gun’s condition. However, there are plenty of Grade 1 guns on the market, so it would just be a matter of finding the right one.
• All this assumes that Michael thinks 
he needs a multichoke. He shouldn’t 
forget that Miroku are one of the very 
few manufacturers offering a fixed-choke 
in the form of the MK60. Except for the chokes, it is pretty much the same as the MK70 mechanically.