Article 6 – 2024 (July)
Australian Shooter Magazine
Question and Answers
Article 6 – 2024 (July)
Question: I have a Perazzi shotgun that was handed down from my wife’s father after he passed away a couple of years ago. He was quite a reasonable competitive shooter. I believe it is a “Trap” model with trap barrels and it has a beautiful walnut stock attached. I have had several friends of mine have a look at it and they suggest it is worth around ten thousand dollars. I really have no desire to take up the sport competitively, but my father in law had a clay thrower on his property near Dubbo in NSW and I did enjoy playing around with it with my family and close friends. My colleagues suggest that this shotgun is not made to shoot on this type of clay trap thrower as the wood on the gun is far too high and I shoot the targets far too close to the trap machine therefore the range of this shotgun is not perfect.
I really don’t want to sell the shotgun as it is regarded as a family heirloom, but is there anything I can do to make the shotgun more suitable for what I intend to use it for?
Colin Fitzgerald, Bathurst NSW
Answer: I totally understand that the shotgun has some sentimental value and modifying it to make it more suitable for the type of recreational fun that you are describing may diminish the memories of your father in law somewhat.
A typical trap shotgun will have a stock with a very high comb (lots of wood) that is purposely made to have a high impact point which is suitable for the discipline of trap that always has fast rising targets to combat. The barrel constriction or “chokes” will be tight as most trap barrels are designed for targets in the thirty to forty metre range therefore the commonly used chokes are three quarter for the first shot or bottom barrel and a tight full choke for the second shot or top barrel. If you are standing beside a clay thrower in a cow paddock, I guess you are shooting targets at maybe twenty metres in distance which means a fair degree of accuracy will be required as the spread of the shot will be around forty centimetres wide.
If you want a perfect shotgun to shoot targets in this manner then you have not found it with your father in laws heirloom. You could take the firearm to a reputable gunsmith that specializes in inserting variable chokes and therefore have the option of two very open chokes fitted into the barrels which will spread your shot quite quickly and then the same gunsmith could hack away at your beautiful timber walnut stock and reduce the height of the comb to make the shotgun impact lower relative to its point of aim.
The only other easy way to make the firearm shoot lower without reducing the wood on the stock is to have a lightweight “add on rib” placed upon the existing one which will mean your eye will look flatter along the sighting plane and therefore it will impact lower. This is a cheap option and will no doubt make the shotgun look cheaper also.
The question is; do you really want to go to all this trouble just to shoot a few more clays in a paddock over a thrower whilst enjoying the company of your friends and family?
The shotgun you have in your possession sounds like a tremendous piece of Italian craftmanship. Perazzi make fine shotguns and take much pride in their appearance as I am sure your father in law did also. If you start hacking away at the timber and barrels or adding additional ribs on the shotgun you will be destroying some cherished memories and the character of the firearm in the meantime. My suggestion would be to leave the shotgun as it is. With a bit of practice you will soon be able to adjust to the high shooting stock and there is nothing better in my opinion than turning clay targets to absolute dust when you hit them at twenty metres with a full choke barrel.
For a little over a grand you may be able to find a cheap second hand “Field” or “Sporting” model shotgun that has a lower stock (less wood on the comb) and probably has the advantage of five adjustable chokes as well. Many of the manufacturers have this option as standard these days.
Unless you are running some serious competitions with your friends and family and are wagering big dollars on the outcome then I wouldn’t destroy this beautiful shotgun just for the sake of bragging rights on a Sunday afternoon picnic shoot.