If it proves reliable - and there's no reason why it shouldn't be - this shotgun from Huglu will raise eyebrows.
By Jason Harris
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
The Huglu Europa over-under shotgun has been designed with clay shooters, and their pockets, in mind.
Huglu Europa shotgun: Huglu guns have been on the British gun scene since the 1960s, but it is only in the last year or two that this make has become much better known among clay shooters.
And that's down to the work of the current UK importers, Huglu Sportique.
The guns are made in the southeast corner of Turkey in a factory that shares the name of its home town, Huglu.
Huglu's research and development team now reckon it has designed a competition gun that's perfectly suited to our Sporting disciplines - and they've called it the Europa.
The action sports hammers that pivot from the trigger plate and sears which are suspended from above under the top strap. The hammers are powered by guided coil springs while the sears are lifted by an operating rod directly connected to the trigger.
The lifter-to-sear contact is quite lightly set so that when the first hammer falls it's enough to break contact between the lifting point and the sear itself. Firing the first shot allows the lifter to drop forward and so pick up the second sear in readiness for the second barrel.
The gun is locked shut by a full width bolt engaging with the barrel lumps and the gun hinges on stub pins in the sidewalls of the action.
The action frame is made up of two parts: the frame itself and a trigger plate. These are held together at the back by a brace between the two.
The whole of the frame and its furniture are finished in a deep black and decorated with raised side panels and some engraving work around the fences and stub pins. The inside walls, breech face and floor of the action frame have been polished to a high standard of finish.
The barrels on the test gun are 32in long and made in the monoblock style with a parallel top rib that's approximately 9.5mm wide and ventilated, both to reduce weight and keep the gun as cool as possible under heavy shooting.
The gun featured here came with fixed chokes but multichoke versions are also available. The gun is proofed for magnum loads at 1200 bar. For me the impressive thing about this gun is its woodwork.
The Europa has been stocked with a piece of wood that has a nice dark toned, carrying plenty of figure and colour.
The wood to metal fit was excellent on both stock and fore-end. Each component part has been shaped correctly to give smooth lines and very good symmetry.
So far as the chequering is concerned the craftsmen at Huglu have achieved a very good standard with a classic pattern that appears on both the grip of the stock, and the fore-end.
A pleasing satin sheen oil finish has been given to the wood on this gun. Stock dimensions on the Europa will suit most people with a length of pull of 15in and a drop at comb and heel of 35mm and 50mm respectively. There is also a cast for the right handed shot of approximately 3?16in.
With an overall weight that's just under 8lb this gun points and moves with ease but still retains sufficient weight to absorb repeated recoil.
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