Reviews

The Finnfire 2, as the name suggests, is a reincarnation of the famed Sako Finnfire rimfire from the 1990s. The Sako Quad, with its removable barrel system, replaced it, but many people felt there was nothing wrong with the older Finnfire model. Sako has made a retro Finnfire, but with some different features that blend both the older Finnfire and newer Quad system….

Described to me as a “hedgerow gun”, the question posed was, did I wish to test it? The somewhat informal description conjured up a number of thoughts, but for those readers of a more delicate and refined upbringing unused to such expressions, it is not the kind of gun to take out on a formal shoot. Instead, a hedgerow gun is usually…

With the arrival of the B725 in 2011 it seemed that the long, celebrated life of Browning’s 525 line of guns would come to an end. With a new, slimmer action and consistently good sales since launch, one would be forgiven for thinking the young upstart B725 had surpassed the master from whom it took so many design and styling cues. However, the Heritage – Browning’s…

Gunmakers are often criticised for attempting to reinvent the wheel with each of their new releases, each increase in model number hiding a tiny change in designs which have been around for over 100 years. Beretta’s SV10 was something of a departure on its release five years ago, by virtue of being a wholly new gun. Browning has since followed suit with the B725, both manufacturers pouring…

There are few other guns on the market that tick all the boxes for the serious clay shooter but the Beretta 692 Sporter has them all

As I stated in my review of the MX8 (June 2013), there really is no better way of entering into the world of bespoke guns than with a Perazzi. These guns are astonishingly successful on the clay circuit and with good reason – they are good looking and shoot like a dream. In fact, the MX8 is easily one of the best shotguns I…

When it comes to shooting high pheasants the most important thing is having experience. Lead is important. However maintaining a good line is crucial as the birds can slide a long way in between you pulling the trigger and the shot reaching the birds. And as it’s a rare style of shooting for many Guns,…

Given the reputation of the Browning 525 that’s no mean feat. The B525 is well tried and tested. Proven by the fact that it and the other models that preceded it have needed very few modifications in the past 40 years. Get it right straight off – as Browning have done with the 525’s mechanics and actions –…

We appear to be going through a kind of renaissance in the British shooting trade, with a variety of new guns emerging on to the market – many of these coming from Turkey. Turkish ATA Arms are being distributed in the UK by Wildhunter, a company that has been making inroads with a range of sporting accessories and are now branching into the gun market. ATA themselves…

If there is a problem with this gun, it’s that you get too much gun for the money. So not a problem at all really. This Beretta Silver Pigeon Grade 1 over-and-under shotgun represents amazing value – which is a result of the euro increasing the price of Italian guns in recent years. Despite this,…

When Browning introduced the B725 shotgun a little over two years ago, the reaction among a number of shooters was to ask why they bothered? This was not so much a criticism as an acknowledgment that it would be hard, if not impossible, to improve on the B525 it looked set to replace. Before we go any further, we should explain why it…