One thing I’ve learnt in the 6 months I’ve been clay shooting is that choosing your first shotgun is as difficult as choosing your first car. Obviously everyone wants the Rolls Royce, Maserati or Bugatti Veyron equivalent, but like most normal people you cannot afford that can you? I was the same….
I have tried LOADS of different guns. Beretta, Browning, Miroku. I had even tried the lowliest of the lows such as the Hatsan Escort and some Russian thing the shooting ground had nicknamed “Boris” that rattled…. And you know what? I seemed to shoot exactly the same with all of them. Not one stood out. Obviously some were lighter than others, some heavier. Some had more felt recoil, others less. I started to panic. I had my bloody certificate and wanted my first gun but what the hell was I going to spend my money on?
So I decided I was going to go and man-handle every gun I possibly could from every shop I could possibly visit within my price range which I had set to between £500 - £1500. A bit of a vague range you might say, but with the bewildering array of guns out there I had decided I would NOT spend MORE than £1500, and NOT spend LESS than £500. The reasoning was such: I could not justify spending more than £1500 on my first gun, especially if I decided 6 months from now that it wasn’t for me. I could also not bring myself to buy something that was so bad it ONLY cost less than £500, after all I do have some standards…… :o)
The other reasoning for the price range was that it is not only the gun you need to buy. You need to buy the gunslip, cleaning kit, ear and eye protection, shooting vest, chokes (if you bought a multi-choke) and all the other little bits and bobs that come with clay shooting. So I could AFFORD £1500 but if I could get it cheaper then I would. The other factors affecting my decision making would be how the gun felt, was it a make I could sell on EASILY if I decided to give up and what kind of warranty it would come with….
Ask any clay shooter what gun and they immediately say Beretta, Browning or Miroku. It is almost like rote and can be very annoying. After all, those 3 are not the only gun makers out there…. However one consistency started to emerge. If you are an average size bloke then a 30” barrel sporter shotgun would be an ideal first gun. The reasoning being: A 28” gun is excellent for Skeet because it is light and therefore fast. A 32” gun is better for Trap as it is heavier and slower while a 30” is right in the middle and good for Sporting clays too. So if you want a general all-rounder then 30” Sporter is the way to go.
So with all that in mind I went hunting… I visited loads of different shops and tried loads of different guns for weight and feel. It soon became very obvious that every gun is unique, and annoyingly for me all the cheaper guns just did not feel RIGHT. After visiting the excellent Chichester Armoury gun shop where I tried several Mirokus, Brownings, Berettas, Lanbers and Franchis it became obvious straight away that the Miroku MK70 30” was the nicest feeling gun for me by a long way (with the exception of the Beretta 682 Gold E which was AWESOME but twice the price….next gun maybe?). It also only cost £1200 so well within my budget and they would throw in a gunslip and cleaning kit as well…. I was sold!!! Sort of….. :o)
As anyone who knows me can tell you I can be a little indecisive at times so I walked out of the shop without committing and spent the rest of the day shopping with my wife and some family who were down visiting with my mind racing. Ironically it was they who convinced me to go back and get it!!! My wife even said to me… “if you want it just get it!!” How cool is she!!??? :o)
Anyway a quick call to reserve it, a frantic drive to get to the shop before they shut and hey presto I was the proud owner of a Miroku MK70 30” Sporter!! The gun came with 3 Invector flush fitting chokes (1/4, 1/2 and 3/4) and was the Grade 1 version which just means the wood and engraving on the action are pretty standard and nothing special. However in my eyes "Bessie" is an absolute beauty!!! The only down side was that Mirokus come in a cardboard box rather than a hard travel case like other gun makes, but to be honest the gun is going to be carried around in a slip anyway most of the time and the hard case would be stuffed in the loft, so not really an issue.
I have tried LOADS of different guns. Beretta, Browning, Miroku. I had even tried the lowliest of the lows such as the Hatsan Escort and some Russian thing the shooting ground had nicknamed “Boris” that rattled…. And you know what? I seemed to shoot exactly the same with all of them. Not one stood out. Obviously some were lighter than others, some heavier. Some had more felt recoil, others less. I started to panic. I had my bloody certificate and wanted my first gun but what the hell was I going to spend my money on?
So I decided I was going to go and man-handle every gun I possibly could from every shop I could possibly visit within my price range which I had set to between £500 - £1500. A bit of a vague range you might say, but with the bewildering array of guns out there I had decided I would NOT spend MORE than £1500, and NOT spend LESS than £500. The reasoning was such: I could not justify spending more than £1500 on my first gun, especially if I decided 6 months from now that it wasn’t for me. I could also not bring myself to buy something that was so bad it ONLY cost less than £500, after all I do have some standards…… :o)
The other reasoning for the price range was that it is not only the gun you need to buy. You need to buy the gunslip, cleaning kit, ear and eye protection, shooting vest, chokes (if you bought a multi-choke) and all the other little bits and bobs that come with clay shooting. So I could AFFORD £1500 but if I could get it cheaper then I would. The other factors affecting my decision making would be how the gun felt, was it a make I could sell on EASILY if I decided to give up and what kind of warranty it would come with….
Ask any clay shooter what gun and they immediately say Beretta, Browning or Miroku. It is almost like rote and can be very annoying. After all, those 3 are not the only gun makers out there…. However one consistency started to emerge. If you are an average size bloke then a 30” barrel sporter shotgun would be an ideal first gun. The reasoning being: A 28” gun is excellent for Skeet because it is light and therefore fast. A 32” gun is better for Trap as it is heavier and slower while a 30” is right in the middle and good for Sporting clays too. So if you want a general all-rounder then 30” Sporter is the way to go.
So with all that in mind I went hunting… I visited loads of different shops and tried loads of different guns for weight and feel. It soon became very obvious that every gun is unique, and annoyingly for me all the cheaper guns just did not feel RIGHT. After visiting the excellent Chichester Armoury gun shop where I tried several Mirokus, Brownings, Berettas, Lanbers and Franchis it became obvious straight away that the Miroku MK70 30” was the nicest feeling gun for me by a long way (with the exception of the Beretta 682 Gold E which was AWESOME but twice the price….next gun maybe?). It also only cost £1200 so well within my budget and they would throw in a gunslip and cleaning kit as well…. I was sold!!! Sort of….. :o)
As anyone who knows me can tell you I can be a little indecisive at times so I walked out of the shop without committing and spent the rest of the day shopping with my wife and some family who were down visiting with my mind racing. Ironically it was they who convinced me to go back and get it!!! My wife even said to me… “if you want it just get it!!” How cool is she!!??? :o)
Anyway a quick call to reserve it, a frantic drive to get to the shop before they shut and hey presto I was the proud owner of a Miroku MK70 30” Sporter!! The gun came with 3 Invector flush fitting chokes (1/4, 1/2 and 3/4) and was the Grade 1 version which just means the wood and engraving on the action are pretty standard and nothing special. However in my eyes "Bessie" is an absolute beauty!!! The only down side was that Mirokus come in a cardboard box rather than a hard travel case like other gun makes, but to be honest the gun is going to be carried around in a slip anyway most of the time and the hard case would be stuffed in the loft, so not really an issue.
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