Westward

I would use Teague in preference to anyone. As with PhilR's post above the constrictions will be matched to your gun's bore size and the supplied chokes will be serial numbered to your gun. Nigel has been doing this for donkey's years and there's no one better.

Picking up and trying a couple of CGs was my downfall too. Beretta has nothing to compare with CGs until you get to the DT11.

A couple of years ago I bought a cross trainer/exercise bike for the huge sum of £100. Last week I discovered the friction bellt was starting to fail. I checked the suppliers site and was immediately offered a webchat. 1 minute later "Claire" had advised me that the belts were available for £9.99 inc. carriage and if I rang sales with a card they'd take my payment. The phone was answered by "Jess" who was expecting my call. 1 minute later the payment was sorted, I thanked her and rang off. The new belt arrived the following day at lunchtime. GMK needs a few people like "Claire" and "Jess"...

Whether or not that's correct isn't really the point of this thread. GMK is the maker's representative in the UK and as such should give Brett's problems due consideration and treat him with respect - plus which they appointed that dealer after all. Even if it is ultimately the dealer's responsibility, GMK have single handedly thrown away another customer. As for my cosmetic issues with a gun; again whether or not I should have acted sooner isn't the point. All I got was an argument because their computer shows the warranty wasn't registered (when it was) and told to find a dealer who'd ship it to them and they'd "See what they could do". This is 2015 and you simply don't treat people that way if you want to stay in business. And that's the point of this thread.

A DT11 you say. No need to buy new, there are loads of used ones gathering dust on the dealer's racks.

Well it wasn't just that.. During 2014 I talked to lots of people and tried loads of different guns - Perazzis, DT10s, several CGs, Blaser, a K80 and even a Kolar. My conclusion was that Beretta is being left behind. To keep on regurgitating parts bin specials like the SP 1 or 686 EVO is all very well but they can't go on doing it forever. The SV10 platform is the basis for the 692 which is a bit of a Marmite gun and also the new "Super Secret" 690 sporter which costs £600 more than it should and has been in the shops for weeks, despite no announcements and no information on any Beretta sites. And why does the 690 sporter come with game scenes, flush chokes and no 32" option? They don't seem to have a clue!

I was too for 7 or 8 years but Beretta really needs to start smelling the coffee. At best the 692 is pretty uninspiring in the looks department and the avoidable QA problems on the early ones must have cost them business. CG has 5 choices of competition gun in the £2-3K (dealer) price band and every one is better specified, better finished and better presented than the 692. As for GMK I've found them fairly helpful but amateurish, rather like the staff at the local council. For example I rang up to register the warranty on my last new Beretta and a friendly young lady took the details etc. A few weeks later I got a confirmation letter. When I rang them after nearly 3 years to inquire about having something done under warranty they told me that, according to their records, the warranty had never been registered. A week later I bought a CG.

Apart from the Invictus they're pretty well all the same mechanically so how they're rated is a matter of configuration & decoration. If you look at the pricing for the standard models the steps are fairly clear but most models are available configured as Impact or Ascent versions too.

I was talking to someone at Gunsite on Sunday who was full of praise for the service he got from Anglo-Italian. Haven't heard or read anything negative as yet. As for GMK it's still a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand's doing. Being taken over by Beretta may not bode well for customer service...

Oh sorry! I didn't mean to suggest that the shooter can slow down the burn rate - I meant the powder manufacturer...

Physics tells us you can't reduce the total recoil except by making the gun heavier but what you can do is change the way it's delivered to the shoulder. Slowing down the burn rate of the powder makes the recoil pulse slightly longer and the peak pressure slightly lower. That's why shells of different makes/models/wad type often feel different recoil wise even though the shot load and speed are the same.

The OP asked for information. Yes or No wasn't an option...

What CG has worked out is that whilst Beretta 68x series guns may have good mechanicals and an excellent action design, customers will pay a bit more to have a gun built and finished to a higher standard by a manufacturer and distributor network that actually cares about customer satisfaction. Over the last 8 years I've had 3 Berettas, 2 of them new. The last one never failed to work but still had several things that should not have got past either the factory QA or GMK's. The finish quality was abysmal, the forend didn't fit properly and was unsmoothed bare wood inside, the recoil pad wasn't fitted correctly because of build up of stock finish under it and there were scratches through the engine turning and bluing below one of the ejectors. Also neither ejector had been properly fitted or finished and the trigger pull was upwards of 7lbs. Apart from the scratches and triggers I dealt with everything else myself. The gun was supplied in a crappy unlined plastic case with 5 chokes and 3 plastic pots to put them in. Not as much of a p**s take as Miroku's foam lined cardboard box but still pretty lame. Last month I bought a CG home. Putting it simply, everything about it including the shooting experience is better than any Beretta 6xx type gun I've ever tried. Beretta will have to up their game a lot before I'll be tempted back.

The main worry about these is exactly what you describe here. The eyes can only focus on 1 thing at a time and the bead is drawing attention away from the target.

I've changed my views on CGs. So much so that I've just bought a used Challenger and after 3 outings I don't miss anything about the Prevail I was shooting before. I really liked the Prevail - and said so to anyone who'd listen - but the CGs are simply in a different league when it comes to build quality, fit, finish and attention to detail, plus which it shoots better for me. It's heavier at 8lbs 3oz, has much nicer triggers and just feels like more gun in the hands. The comb is a bit higher too which gives a better view over the rib and targets like crossing and quartering targets seem easier to hit. Are they overpriced? No more so than most others. I've had 3 Berettas and I wouldn't swap the Challenger for a similarly priced 692, MK38 G5 or Ultra XS. I've owned or tried all of those and for me the CG leaves them standing in several ways so IMO they aren't overpriced.

I prefer water base stains, partly because they can be thinned to build up the depth of colour in small steps and also because they are dye rather than pigment based and bring out the figuring better. Birchwood Casey Walnut Stain works well and is easily available from gunshops or fleabay. Agree with WW about varnish and TruOil and never used them myself but if you're in a hurry to get the job done...

What are your hopes and expectations from installing one. I ask because fibre optic bead replacements leave me utterly mystified as to what the benefit could be. Absolutely nothing in the list of "features" makes even the slightest sense to me for normal shotgun use.

Compared with some makes Mirokus are never really stiff to open, even when new. Not floppy perhaps but not as stiff as a new Beretta. Have you lubricated the action knuckle with grease where it mates with the forend? The easy way to check the amount of forend friction is to open the gun with the forend removed.

Vaseline... Why? I use a product recommended for Krieghoffs branded 'Schmierfix' which Alan Rhone supplies in handy tubes. In reality it's 'Liqui Moly' gel which you can get in motor shops etc. but it works for me.

Your gun presumably has Mobil chokes. If so you can buy extended chokes with a 50mm extension direct from GMK. http://www.gmk.co.uk/index.php?p=cart_products&pid=288&prodname=12ga+%2B+50mm+Hunting+Mobilchoke+%28Ext%29

If you align the beads as an '8' the gun's point of impact (POI) will be just above the spot indicated by the front bead. This is because the barrels will be sloping gently up towards the muzzle. Shotguns are supposed to be pointed rather than aimed and most people find it easier to point a gun if the line of sight is above the rib. Try pointing at something with your finger and you'll soon see why. As to how much above the rib suits you is impossible for anyone else to judge but what I can tell you is that I can switch between my trap gun with a high line of sight, a Beretta sporter where it's low-ish and a CG sporter where it's middling and it makes diddly difference to how many clays I hit. There are people who rifle a shotgun by sighting level along the rib so that both the mid bead and the POI is aligned with the front bead resulting in what's called a 'flat' shooting gun. I have no idea how they ever hit any clays but apparently they do.

'Premium' probably refers to the condition. I don't recall it ever being used as part of the name. Mirokus don't have any serious weak points but firing pins tend to erode quicker than with other guns. Cheap and easy to replace though.

It matters to some. Using an occluder such as tape or dots on the lens over the cross dominant eye works in the sense that it partially overcomes the problem and improves scores, but it doesn't really solve anything. I can't think of any seriously good sporting clay shots who use an occluder.

Eye dominance is neurological, just like handedness and it doesn't switch on and off or from side to side. The new(ish) science of neuroplasticity indicates that dominance could be changed but only over a lengthy period with a properly constructed training regime. Many shooters who 'rifle' mount a shotgun or who fully pre-mount (or both) find the view from their dominant eye obstructed too much by the gun at the critical moment and on some targets they unwittingly switch most of their vision to the unobstructed non dominant eye. It happens with other things too. Most people always use the same hand to open the car tailgate, but if they're carrying something awkward in the usual hand they simply switch to the other one without a thought. It's perfectly normal and it certainly doesn't mean they've temporarily changed their handedness. You were correct in your last paragraph when you used the term 'left eye takeover' because that exactly describes it and also in pointing out that change of mount, gun or rib type can make it a non-problem. Many eye dominance problems could be resolved by mounting the gun and addressing the target correctly.

http://www.longridgeclayshooting.co.uk/