Guerini Summit

It is no secret that I am something of a Guerni fan. I use Guerinis for much of my game shooting (32” 20 bore Maxums). I have also been most impressed with all the effort and energy that Mike Mansfield and Kevin Gill have put into developing Guerini UK. In just a few years, they have taken a signficant share of the UK over and under market. They have done this with good reason – Guerini guns tend to be well made and, in particular, well finished. They offer a lot for the money and compare very favourably with guns costing signficantly more both aesthetically and mechanically speaking.

The test gun is a 32” Summit competition model. With spring approaching, many of us may now be considering the forthcoming clay season and how we might push the scores up a bit. It is also a rather depressing time of year and few things are more fun to gun nut that considering the purchase of a new toy. More seriously, I long since swapped to 32” guns for serious clay busting, and, I would advise them to others – provided you have the developed skill and strength to use them. Don’t fool yourself. They are not suitable for beginners or even average intermediates in my opinion (becasue they can be tougher to swing initially), nor should anyone be using one who has issues with upper body strength.

This does not mean that you need to be George Digweed or Richard Faulds, or, indeed, Charles Atlas, to use  32” guns are for experienced shots.  In those hands, they offer improved pointability and, potentially, increased consistency in competition (and, potentially, for some high bird live-quarry situations too). The test gun is visually attractive with a business-like, colour case hardened, ‘boxlock’ action. The hardening is not applied traditionally, but looks good. I also give a thumbs up to the action styling and decoration (simple, well-applied, scroll). The gold-plated, adjustable,  trigger is typical of a modern competition gun and has a chequered front surface and reasonable blade shape.

The barrels of the test Summit are monobloc, back-bored at 18.7mm and equipped with longer than average forcing cones and extended choke tubes.  They are well blued and generally well presented. Joining ribs are ventilated, and, the sighting rib (also ventilated) is 10mm with a centre channel and small brass centre bead as well as a good white bead at the muzzles (my preference would be to remove the centre bead  for sporting use). The Summit is steel shot proofed for  2 ¾” (70mm) cartridges. It has chrome bores. And, about all else that needs to be said is that no less than eight extended chokes are supplied with the gun.

The relatively compact action of the test gun is impecabbly machined by CNC. This has been the secret of the Guerini success story – using high tech equipment as much as possible to reduce the hand-work in a gun - whilst, at the same time, creating something that is mechanically dependable and visually attractive. As I have noted before, the action design – which is common to the Guerini range save for side-plates) is not very radical. It sits somewhere between a Beretta and a Browning and borrows from both (stud pins at the knuckles combined with a wide, flat, bolt emerging from the action face and engaging bite beneath the bottom chamber mouth).

The stock of the Summit 32” suits a serious sporter. There is a good sized grip. Palm swells may not float my boat, but the one on the test gun is better than most. The stock dimensions were also good. The length of pull was 14 ¾” with a simple pad attached. There was a ¼” extra to both heel and toe. This is not conventional, but, in my opinion, ideal. One needs a little extra length to heel to aid in control and to prevent a gun slipping in recoil – many guns do not have enough length to heel. I also like the slightly reduced toe measurement which will suit many middle-aged (man-boobed!) men better than the standard 3/8” extra. The forend of the schnable of the Summit was attractive and fitted with an excellent push-button front release catch like many much more expensive guns. Although, I liked the elegant looks, a rounded forend might have been a better choice on a competition gun.

Shooting Impressions

The impression I had was that this was quite a big gun even though it weighed in significantly under the 8lb. mark (7lbs 13oz. to be precise).  It handled reasonably. Felt recoil was pretty good as one  might expect of a gun with 18.7mm bores, longer cones, and comfortable stock shapes. Trigger pulls were O.K. The palm swell is not my thing on a sporter, but some people love them.

Tech Specs

Make: Guerini
Model: Summit Sporting
Barrels: 32” (30” and 34” options)
Chamber: 2 ¾” (70mm) steel proof
Rib: 10mm vented
Chokes: Multi – 8 extended chokes supplied with combined key and thread cleaner
RRP: £1,845