Hi all,
I know no one can tell you what gun is right for you, but maybe you guys can share your wisdom and guidance.
My son's gun is a hand-me-down from one of the guns I used to shoot, which is a Winchester Sporting, modeled somewhat after the 101 but only in production for a couple of years. My son shot high school trap, now shoots at college, and shoots in summer leagues with me. The gun has locking and firing issues and has been to 2 different well respected gunsmiths, and they are telling me it's not worth fixing anymore as they can't find parts and it will cost quite a bit to custom machine things. My son's season was longer than mine, and he ended up shooting my Fabarm Axis RS12 and loves it. I enjoy the quality league time with my son, and he doesn't have the money for a new gun, so I was contemplating helping him purchase a new gun for Christmas. My wife chimed in that she thinks I should just let him keep the Fabarm and get a new gun for myself. I am nearing retirement, and just sold a partial interest in a business, so she is encouraging me to go spend some money on a higher end gun while I am still working and have the money. Well, I don't want to argue with that!
First, some background on me. During the warm season I shoot in multiple leagues and charity tournaments, and have for 30 years. Over time I have shot various sporting and trap guns, ultimately to my current Fabarm Axis RS12 with adjustable rib, comb, and butt plate. One thing I do know about myself is that I prefer a flatter shooting gun. For example, along my trap gun journey, I gladly parted ways with a Browning XT Trap that shot 80/20. I won some leagues and tournaments with it but will embarrassingly tell you I buried the front bead when mounting it so it would shoot flatter. I currently have my Fabarm set at around 60/40, maybe even slightly lower. I am a tall guy with a long neck, and my last few guns have all had high ribs. They certainly mount naturally, without having consciously push my face down or forward to get down on the gun, but truth be told I don't think I've shot any better than I did with lower ribbed guns. I also hunt quite a bit, and have quite a bit of confidence in my shooting abilities in the field, and all of my field guns are obviously low ribs.
I want to buy a new gun, not used, but am unlikely to spend as much as I would need for a Kolar, Krieghoff, or Perazzi. In my research for my price range, Blaser has boiled to the top of my list. The big problem is I can't find one to mount, let alone shoot. I suggested to my wife we take a trip to see one, but we are busy and her opinion was that we would waste money on a trip, so I should just take the chance ordering one sight unseen and if I don't like it sell it, as the loss would be what we would have spent traveling anyway (maybe). I've been looking pretty hard at the Blaser Supersport and Supertrap. Unfortunately, other than the model name, the specifications for nearly every feature uses the exact wording. If I understand correctly from 3rd party sites, the POI of the Supersport is 50-100%, and for the Supertrap it goes from 60 to over 100%? Is that correct? What are the other differences of the gun? I would assume a difference in the height of the rib and stock pitch, but online the pictures pretty much look the same. It looks like maybe the rib is taller on the Supertrap, but not by much. I have found a dealer that has Supersport at a pretty good price. I haven't found as good of a deal on a Supertrap. So, I'm leaning toward pulling the trigger on the Supersport.
Any thoughts?
I know no one can tell you what gun is right for you, but maybe you guys can share your wisdom and guidance.
My son's gun is a hand-me-down from one of the guns I used to shoot, which is a Winchester Sporting, modeled somewhat after the 101 but only in production for a couple of years. My son shot high school trap, now shoots at college, and shoots in summer leagues with me. The gun has locking and firing issues and has been to 2 different well respected gunsmiths, and they are telling me it's not worth fixing anymore as they can't find parts and it will cost quite a bit to custom machine things. My son's season was longer than mine, and he ended up shooting my Fabarm Axis RS12 and loves it. I enjoy the quality league time with my son, and he doesn't have the money for a new gun, so I was contemplating helping him purchase a new gun for Christmas. My wife chimed in that she thinks I should just let him keep the Fabarm and get a new gun for myself. I am nearing retirement, and just sold a partial interest in a business, so she is encouraging me to go spend some money on a higher end gun while I am still working and have the money. Well, I don't want to argue with that!
First, some background on me. During the warm season I shoot in multiple leagues and charity tournaments, and have for 30 years. Over time I have shot various sporting and trap guns, ultimately to my current Fabarm Axis RS12 with adjustable rib, comb, and butt plate. One thing I do know about myself is that I prefer a flatter shooting gun. For example, along my trap gun journey, I gladly parted ways with a Browning XT Trap that shot 80/20. I won some leagues and tournaments with it but will embarrassingly tell you I buried the front bead when mounting it so it would shoot flatter. I currently have my Fabarm set at around 60/40, maybe even slightly lower. I am a tall guy with a long neck, and my last few guns have all had high ribs. They certainly mount naturally, without having consciously push my face down or forward to get down on the gun, but truth be told I don't think I've shot any better than I did with lower ribbed guns. I also hunt quite a bit, and have quite a bit of confidence in my shooting abilities in the field, and all of my field guns are obviously low ribs.
I want to buy a new gun, not used, but am unlikely to spend as much as I would need for a Kolar, Krieghoff, or Perazzi. In my research for my price range, Blaser has boiled to the top of my list. The big problem is I can't find one to mount, let alone shoot. I suggested to my wife we take a trip to see one, but we are busy and her opinion was that we would waste money on a trip, so I should just take the chance ordering one sight unseen and if I don't like it sell it, as the loss would be what we would have spent traveling anyway (maybe). I've been looking pretty hard at the Blaser Supersport and Supertrap. Unfortunately, other than the model name, the specifications for nearly every feature uses the exact wording. If I understand correctly from 3rd party sites, the POI of the Supersport is 50-100%, and for the Supertrap it goes from 60 to over 100%? Is that correct? What are the other differences of the gun? I would assume a difference in the height of the rib and stock pitch, but online the pictures pretty much look the same. It looks like maybe the rib is taller on the Supertrap, but not by much. I have found a dealer that has Supersport at a pretty good price. I haven't found as good of a deal on a Supertrap. So, I'm leaning toward pulling the trigger on the Supersport.
Any thoughts?