Someone asked this awhile back re: Olympic shooters

speakerguy79

New member
Someone asked on this forum a few months back what type of shotguns are used at the really high levels of competition. My dad's secretary was on the Olympic team in '04 and competes. She stopped by the house last week and she said the most common are Perazzis and Berettas and that she would occassionally see a Holland and Holland. She uses a Perazzi.

So, whoever asked, there you go.
 

zippy13

New member
The only Olympic shooter I'm familiar with is Kim Rhode, and she's been shooting Perazzis exclusively since she was 10 or 11-years old. Her prized comp gun was stolen not too long ago, I don't know what model she's using now.

 

oneounceload

Moderator
According to Perazzi, 11 of 15 shooters who won at the Bejing Olympics, used P-guns......if that is true, that should tell you something

why, you ask??....balance, fit, quality mfg. to name a few

again, not the only company that can do that, BUT, when the majority have a brand preference, it bears further investigation
 

T. O'Heir

New member
"...Perazzi..." Very big time money. A trigger group for MX8 or MX8/20 style frames runs $1,625.00US(you get a case for it though). A MX8 Live Bird/Bunker Trap runs $7,800.00. $9,790.00 for an MX2000.
$67,600.00 for a pair of SCO/Sideplate MX12's. You get a case for them too.
"...what makes those shotguns so much better..." Service. They have a service vehicle that is equipped to do everything from customizing the stock, on-site, to a complete overhaul. The Olympic stuff is custom fitted to the shooter too.
 

zippy13

New member
The Olympic stuff is custom fitted to the shooter too
Actually, all Perazzi's are custom made to the shooters specs. Take a look at their on-line catalog: all the comp guns (except the ones with adjustable stocks) have custom made stocks. "The whole process starts with the serialization of the guns and ends with the final control to certify the compliance of the model to the customer’s specifications."
When you get a new Perazzi, the documents don't have printed specifications like production guns. For the gun's dimensions and weights, there are blank spaces that have been filled in by hand for each individual gun.
If you are fortunate enough to get your Perazzi in Italy, you are fitted for a stock and you shoot the "try stock" at one of the on-site ranges. Perazzi is famous for transforming the try stock dimensions into your custom stock in a matter of hours.
For the US market, most shooters will find one of Perazzi's many standard stocks will fit properly. If not, they fit a stock to you.
I'm fortunate to be only a few hours from PerazziUSA's HQ. The service department is unbelievable. My experience has been simple: you can drop your gun off, or you can wait. If you chose to wait, the factory trained mechanic will interrupt what he's doing and tend to your gun for as long as you wait.
Once I was having a worn part replaced, and the mechanic didn't like the way the ejectors were timed. Since I catch my hulls, I hadn't noticed. He worked on the gun, then put in two hulls, dropped the hammers and opened the action -- the hulls landed on the workbench behind him. He muttered something in Italian, and worked on the gun a little more. The next time he opened the action, both hulls arced over his shoulder, in unison, and landed in an empty coffee can on the bench behind him. He nodded his head in approval and handed me the gun.
 
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