doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com .410 & 28 bore O/U

Hello,
If the contents of the gun cabinet get thinned out as I hope this summer there should be chance to buy a couple of guns – one that I need (a trap gun) – plus a gun which I’d just like to have i.e. an O/U two barrel set with both 28 bore & .410 barrels.

Choice of maker is a done deal – I’d have a Perazzi (basic grade). Exact specification is a little harder to pin down. I don’t want the lightest gun possible as so I’m looking for at least 29-1/2” barrels (longer is fine) with a half pistol grip stock. Am I correct in thinking that the action size Perazzi use for both .410’s & 28 bores is the same?

Barrel weight is harder to define as I’m not sure what weight range the smallbore barrels can be built to. My dealer won’t be able to advise me as he’s never sold anything other than 12’s & 20’s. Advice from anyone with a .410 or 28 O/U would be welcome. Bruce Buck has a short piece on his website regarding a Perazzi 28 bore but nothing about a .410

Use of the gun? Well just casual sporting clay use plus I fool myself into thinking it may be possible to sometime have a go at those South American doves with the 28 bore barrels.

I’d welcome advice from anyone who’s trod the same route as what can seem a good idea (specification) on paper may not work out quite so well in practice.

Regards
Russell

A friend had/has a 28/410 "Gamegun" combo Pgun in a high grade. I've shot the gun several times and it appears the gun is on a fairly petite action. Possibly a 28g taylored action? Perhaps Bill Apperson can shed some light as he had serviced the competition crowd, but I don't know if he did Pguns.

I do service and help with the Perazzi (as in sales); however, I note that you are out of my service area. If you would like, I will give advice. Many of my customers shoot the 28 and .410 in sporting events. I like the 28 better. If you want to talk to the master,then call Giacomo 315 336 1356,or Giacomo Sporting,Inc 6234 Stokes Lee Center Road,Lee Center, New York 13363,or FAX 315 336 0260 (he is also on the Web)and use my name as a reference. Some like the small frame MX 8 and others like the small frame MX 2000S which has the barrel selector on the safety slide. BTW, the barrels are not in inches, but in centimeters.You are looking at 75 cm. As a production O/U, it is the tops. Bill

I have a Rizzini B small gauge multi set gun and really like the longer barrels. If 32" were available I'd have gotten them. For me, the scaled frame 28 ga was too light for targets and I went with the 20 ga frame. Which allowed me to get 20 ga barrels too. Two sets of 20 ga actually; some whippy 28"-solid rib-fixed choke and a 30"-vent rib-sporting, 29"-solid rib-28 ga, and 30"-410-vent rib-sporting. Piggy, no?
Perazzi's a better gun, all-round.
And functionally better for high volume shooting; when reloading the Rizzini has to be pushed open the final bit, against very light spring pressure. The gun has never failed to eject so it doesn't affect opening.(Something to do with their design of the extractor mechanism, which is entirely in reciever. The forend only has a cocking bar) Minor, but not something to deal with 600 times a day.

Even further down the food chain, my friend has recently purchased a Browning B525 3bbl set, 20,28,410 combo, 30" bbls. He says he loves the handling of the gun and has shot some great scores in registered skeet.

A good friend of mine also has the 525 3 barrel combo set and it appears to be a very nice value and good quality for the money. It comes in a leather case with extended chokes in all 3 gauges. Citori's are bullet proof guns and up to high volume shooting. It's got great wood and is set up for a right handed shooter with small palm swell. A def. alternative!

Russell,

These are always personal decisions, but I can tell you what worked for me and why I set it up the way I did. My 28 gauge Perazzi is based on the MX8/20 detachable leaf spring action. I picked that action because I built the gun as a dove gun, so I wanted some weight to it. The 20 gauge action is larger and heavier than the 28 action. Additionally, the detachable trigger actions are slightly wider, and thus heavier, than the non-detachable trigger actions. My gun weighs 7.5# even.

The MX8/20 detachable trigger was available in either leaf spring or coil spring configuration. I picked the leaf spring because I felt that they might give me a slightly crisper trigger pull. The coil spring option should prove more reliable as coil springs die a little at a time. Leafs work at 100% until they go suddenly.

I picked 31.5" barrels for my 28. I wanted as much weight forward as I could get. My barrels weigh 1.490 kg and I wouldn't have minded an even 1.500 kg.

I went with fixed chokes of .016" both barrels. That's tight Mod. The gun was built for Argentine dove and I wanted the ability to take a 35 yard shot.

The rib is the flat tapered 11x7mm one. It's vented and I briefly considered a solid top rib to move more weight forward, but felt that when the barrels got really hot that the vent rib would be better. The side ribs are solid.

I shoot a 15.5" stock so I felt the long barrels would be appropriate for it. I also had the long, thin tapered field forend lengthened slightly. The pistol grip on on the stock was relaxed as I don't enjoy a tight vertical grip. Mine is more like the British field version. In fact, I ordered the gun through Andrew Litt when I was visiting him in Wales. Excellent service.

My partner at http://www.ShotgunReport.com liked shooting my gun. He ordered essentially the same gun with 20, 28 and 410 barrels. The last time we shot together, he was enjoying shooting the 20 gauge barrels the most. I have only the 28 gauge barrels and have never had the urge to get the other gauges.

My gun has proven to be an absolute marvel at sporting clays. The tight chokes are a bit of a penalty on shots inside 25 yards, but beyond that it's amazing. Originally I considered having Teague or Briley screw choke it, but the fixed choke patterns are so utterly marvelous that I don't want to alter it. POI and convergence were dead on perfect.

If I were to do it again, I'd set it up exactly the same way. Having both barrels with identical fixed chokes is liberating in a way. No hard choices. No wasted time screwing in chokes. No nothing. Just load and shoot. Very liberating. Of course, in a hot dove corner,there's no time for any of that stuff anyway.

I did a review of this gun in the Mar/Apr 2003 issue of "Shooting Sportsman" if you have that back issue.

Enjoy speccing your gun out. That's half the fun of it.

Best regards,
Bruce Buck

I should have mentioned that when I say small frame I mean the 20 ga. frame as opposed to the 12 ga. frame. With the 20 ga. frame,as mentioned above, one may have 20 ga,28 ga.;.410 barrels.

Although I think Russell is pretty much set on the Pgun, for some others interested, the B525 20g 32" SC gun that I have, weighs 7lb even with the pad taken off. Probably add 1/4lb for the pad. This gun has the best dynamics for a SC gun for me. Although, the B525 is no match for the Pgun. You get what you pay for. I suppose a guy could figure out how to duplicate the dynamics of another gun when ordering a Pgun.

Many friends of mine use Beretta 28g with mainly 28" barrels, but there is a trend towards 30".
I have a Miroku MK70 with 30" barrels and I am very pleased with it, if I do my bit and point it in the right area it does it's bit.