Sudde
Im
Vic Ho rker tesls
the Guerini Summit
lmpoct Sporter
oesor Guerini hos been morketing
its over ond under shotguns for
more thon five yeors in the UK
ond hos been well received by both the
gun lrode ond its customers. When first
estoblished in the UK it seemed thot the
compony's guns were lorgeting moinly
niche morkei requirements in the form
of smoll gouge guns with specificotions
other monufocturers were not prepored
to moke. Long borrelled gome guns in 2O
bore ond even 2B bore were ovoiloble
ond they ottrocted both interest ond soles.
A clever woy to gel into the morket if o
risky one, but it seems it poid off, ond
now emboldened Guerini is going for
whot the morketing guys coll the belly of
morket.
one of the few genuinely
world closs trop shooters
this country hos produced in
the lost 30 yeors, is olso shooting
o Guerini. The Summit lmpoct is built
os o duol purpose sporting cloy ond trop
gun ond must represenl the compony's
lotest ossoult on the torgel gun morket
which is key to the success of ony volume
producer of over ond under guns.
Borrels ond rib
My test gun incorporoted 32" (81cm)
borrels with optionol long extended
chokes ond weighed in ot 8lb lll/aoz
(3.9aakg) not excessively heovy for o
gun with this specificotion. The romped
rib, odiustoble for POI with on olon key
ot the muzzle end is o notoble feoture
ond is of o design which previously
would only hove been used for trop
shooting. Guerini ore now with the
the
The cloy torget gun morket is
the toughest nut to crock becouse
thon ony other it must be bosed on
hìstory of success, whoi the top shooters
lmpoct, os some other monufocturers,
use ond obsolutely reliobility. lf you
new in the morketyou don't hove
offering o high rib for Sporting os well.
The borrels ore nicely profiled ond bored
history, the best shots don't use
olwoys
more
o
ore
ony
your
gun ond reliobility is open to question
until tested on the onvil of constont use
in compelilion. ll's o mountoin to climb
but Guerini hos mode o good stort in the
honds of some young shooters who ore
producing some impressive results. Kevin
Gill os director of the UK compony ond
www.cpso.co.uk
to excellent stondords wilh o moilfinish
thot gives the gun o very businesslike
oppeoronce. Foshionobly overbored to
.735' ond chrome lined, the exlended
chokes ore equolly well finished with
constrictions cleorly morked ond eosily
instolled.
__v
Stock
The stock hos on odiustoble
comb lo complimenl the rib
ond is olso well designed
ond eosy to use. I hove
previously noted
other Guerini guns
hove feotured
stocks which hove
feotured excellent
configurotions ond
sensible dimensions,
the Summit lmpocl is
no exception. Wood
to metol fit of both
stock ond forend wos
impeccoble ond up
to stondords of guns
costing very much more
thon the Guerini. The grip wos
porliculorly well proportioned, the rodius
neither too open or too closed, however
I hove to soy my impression of this stock
wos thoi it would serve best on o Trop
gun.
The oction
As with oll Guerinis lhis new Sporler/
Trop model is o hondsome gun.
Shell fences ond roised side ponels
with o sotin blue finish ond lhe guns
Romped odjustoble
for POl. Topered
llmm-5mm
designotion in gold oll provide on
oppeoronce of elegonce ond quolity.
The mochining of the oction body from
o single forging, ond the finishing of the
lock work ore bolh to o high stondord.
Only when we open the gun ore things
less exceplionol. The borrels pivot
on trunnions ond ore underbolted on
the borrel lumps. lt's o syslem olmost
universolly incorporoted into low to
medium priced guns monufoctured in
Brescio. Adequote it is; thousonds of
such guns employ this kind of lock-up
ond work perfectly well ond sofely. Port
of the reoson for this is the hordness of
modern steels, but thol does not solve
everything. lt
is not just o molter
thot the design works,
but how well it functions ofter hord
use. All shotguns shoot loose eventuolly;
if's whol con be done when they do. ln
the cose of the Guerini both the trunnion
pins ond the locking bolt con be eosily
reploced. To tighten the gun further on
interchongeoble insert of hordened
steel in ihe forend is olso ovoiloble to
increose the pressure on the knuckles ot
the front of the oction. While this would
not bring the borrels bock on the foce
of the oction it will moke he gun tighter
to open ond close. I should odd there is
olso o shollow beoring surfoce on the
bottom plote thot obuts the borrel lumps.
The Guerini is exceptionolly well lointed
ond I hope ùis stondord will be kept up
ond the monufocturer will nol bow to
comploints from ihe uninformed fiol $e
gun is too stiff to open when new. This
minor inconvenience odds thousonds of
rounds of extro durobility to lhe oction
ond conhibutes its conlinuing smooth
operoiion.
Shooting *re Guerini
Normonton Gun Club is not lhe closest
ground to me but it does offer Universol
Trop, Down lhe Line, Sporting ond
Compoct Sporting, ond is the perfect
venue to tesi this duol purpose gun.
never hove ony reluctonce in letting
other people toke o look ot o gun I
hove on test. I om olwoys interested in
olher people's observotions on o new
gun which someiimes con be voluoble,
ond, ofter oll, they represenl the morket.
Mick Morlow ond Dove Peorson ore the
proprietors of the Normonlon Club ond
os both ore keen shots, olwoys interested
in something new. I om obliged to reporl
both men's initiol reoclion to the Guerini
wos very fovouroble. Whoi seemed
I
www.cpso.co.uk
lo impress them most wos its bolonce
ond feel, 'user friendly' wos o much
used descripfion. Mick is o DTL shooter,
olthough he shot o lot of sporting in the
post, ond Dove Peorson is o very useful
\
sporting shot. As I sow lhis new Guerini
os o Trop gun I immediotely heoded for
the UT loyout. Hoving odiusted the rib to
provide o POI of 70-30% ond the stock
to compliment this, bolh quick ond eosy
tosks, I shol o 22 x 25 which more thon
sotisfied my modest pretensions. With
32" borrels plus the extended chokes
hondling could be best described os
steody bui quick enough.
Next to the Compoct Sporting loyoul,
ond ofter lowering the rib lo provide o
POI of 60-40% it wos Dove Peorson's
turn to give the new Guerini o whirl.
As o Sporter it wos in lhe oreo of the
stock thot I hod my most doubts, but
wos not toking into occount how much
the Sporting disciplines ond Sporting
shooters hove chonged in recent yeors.
The domeslic discipline in porticulor
hos become o gun up gome ond even
if the gun is dropped iust out of the
shoulder when the torget is colled for,
it is still solidly mounted Trop shooting
style before the trigger is pulled.
This is confirmed by o number of top
shooters I hove tolked to recently ond
so it does roise o question os to how
lhe modern Sporter stock should be.
Certoinly the Summit lmpoct stock with
only o 5Omm drop ot the heel ond o
hop style configurotion presented no
difficulties for Dove Peorson. He broke
I
torgets consistently ond ogoin the guns
feel ond bolonce were commenled on
very fovourobly. Now Mick Morlow
wonted to try the Guerini on the
DTL
loyout. Mick's usuol gun is o 32"
Miroku 3BOO Trop gun. Once ogoin
úe Guerini proved suitobly odoploble,
most porticulorly Mick liked the romped
rib which he found pointoble withoul
providing o distroction. "Eosy to shoot"
ond "this is o bloody good gun" wos
Mick's succinct summing up of his
impressions.
ls there such o thing os on oll purpose
www.cpso.co.uk
cloy gun? lt seemed more ond more
likely. Now I took o turn oround the
sporting loyout olong with Dove Peorson
I hove olwoys seen sporting os excellent
proctice for gome shooting, ond still do,
ond I olso like c Sporter I con use for
gome shooting. Something weighing
between 71/z ond 73/alb with Íixed
choke 30" borrels incorporoting o slim
semi-pistol grip stock meosuring ì 3/ath
drop ot comb,2 ot heel, l4zlath lenglh
of pull. There ore Guerini Sporters thol
motch this specificolion olmost exoctly
but lhe Summit lmpoct doesn't ond it isn'f
meont lo. As o Sporter it is therefore not
for me, but this gun does the iob it wos
designed to do.
Aport from Beretto ond Perozzi
o lot of the ltolion mokers in Brescio
hove in recent yeors hod to roise their
gome, ond os o result we hove seen
improvements in both stondords of
monufocturer ond specificotion. I om
however hord pressed to think of ony
compony thot hos demonstroied the
know-how thot Guerini, this relotively
new monufoclurer hos shown. ln ierms
of build quolity, the bolonce ond
hondling they put into their guns, stock
configurotions, finish, decorotion ond
their sheer refinement, in the morket
segment they occupy they
hove few rivols. The oction
is of simple design, but
it is monufoctured to
on extroordinory high
stondord. As for the
Summil lmpoct o duol
purpose shotgun thot
meets the requirements
of two very
different forms
of shooling is
o toll order
to fulfil, but
for mony I om
sure it will do
iust thoi.