Dear Technoid,

Have you ever shot a Kolar, a Kemen, a Gamba Daytona? If you have, how do they compare to the Perazzi you like so well?

I am mainly interested in a sweet handling gun. Randy at Seminole says that the Sig Aurora TT25 “handles like a Kemen or a Gamba”. The USA distributor of Gamba says nothing handles like a Gamba, but that the best handling gun ever was a MX8 Perazzi made in the late 1970’s, which he says was actually a trap gun but that it had tremendous dynamics.

I am much less interested in the durability of a gun, because virtually all of these guns will last 100,000 rounds or more, and it would cost $34,000 to shoot that many rounds if I do my own reloading, so the cost of a gun is minimal compared to the cost of actually shooting it. So, do you think the Sig really handles as well as a Perazzi or the Gamba or the Kemen?

Tracy

Dear Tracy,

Does the SIG TT25 handle as well as a Perazzi, Gamba or Kemen? Well, does a ribeye taste as good as a New York strip? These are all imponderables and personal preferences. A B.Rizzini (SIG or Rizzini USA) has very different handling characteristics depending on barrel length. The 28″s feel different from the 32″s. The TT25s tend to be just a touch nose heavy, but not as much as the long Citoris.

Perazzi is harder to classify. They will make anything you tell them to make. They can make a gun that is whippy or very nose heavy. There isn’t one particular balance to all Perazzis because they are custom guns. A Perazzi with factory screw chokes has a totally different feel than one with factory fixed chokes. Perazzi balance can also be significantly altered by selecting different weight barrels. You can get 32″ Perazzi barrels weighing anything from 1.550 kg to 1.700 plus kg. They look the same, but they don’t feel the same. Ditto their stocks. Look at the huge thick butt logs on some of the trap guns and then compare that to some of their field guns. Perazzi offers totally custom stocks, so you can get what you want.

Yes, I’ve also shot Kolars, Kemens and Gambas. The same diversity pretty much applies to them, though Kolar does favor a heavier target style gun. Remember, what one guy considers to be fantastic dynamics, another shooter will find clunky, whippy, etc. I’m always amazed when I’m testing a gun and have formed a strong opinion about it while others I loan the gun to have the temerity to think something else entirely! Some people actually like target guns that feel as though they have a four year old kid hanging onto the muzzle. On the other hand, centrally balanced guns are like Ferraris. If you can handle them, they are the best. If you make a mistake, there is no recovery. A muzzle heavy gun is much more forgiving for the average shooter though it resists subtle last minute corrections.

The B.Rizzini TT25 is an excellent gun and it suits me quite well for a production gun. If I owned one in 32″, I might experiment with some titanium chokes to pull a touch of muzzle weight out, but I might not. I particularly like the stock on the gun as the designer, Wes Lang, is about my size. A gun like the excellent Marocchi 99 splits the difference by offering a custom stock, but standardized metal.

Is the TT25 any better than the Citori or Ultra XS 30″ sporter for about the same price? Dunno. I has a different feel and the TT25 is definitely shootable in 32″. The Citoris are available in 32″, but they are a bit more nose heavy than I care for. The new Beretta Optima Bore O/Us also have an entirely different feel.

Bottom line: I think it’s a moot point to compare a TT25 to a Perazzi/Kemen/Kolar/etc because the latter are essentially custom guns and can be ordered in a variety of configurations to suit the buyer. The TT25, Citoris, Berettas and SKBs are off-the-shelf guns where you take what is offered. It does make sense to compare these guns as they are built to certain fixed specifications.

And now you see just how hard it is to be a gun reviewer. Grueling job. Yes, it is. Me, I’m a ribeye kind of guy.

Best regards,
Bruce Buck
The Technoid writing for Shotgun Report, LLC
(Often in error. Never in doubt.)

 
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