Story originally appeared in the August 2010 issue of Shotgun Sports © 2010.Visit www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com and request a free issue.

he Italian gunmakingcompany Caesar GueriniSrl. has been producinghigh-quality sportingshotguns for the world

and U.S. markets since 2002. Americanshooters have taken these guns from theVal Trompia Valley to heart in a greatway, and for good reason. Guerinifirearms are well-designed, offer fea-tures sought after by serious shooters,are well-made from the finest modernmaterials and affordable to most shoot-ers looking for an over & under with areputable name.

In September of 2009 I reviewed thepremier sporting model

from Caesar Guerini,the Apex Sporting, whichoffered an abundance of shooter-friend-ly features, with fabulous looks to boot.In this issue, I will take a look at thenewest offering from Caesar Guerini,the Impact Trap Combo. The design ofthe Impact Combo makes it a dedicatedtrap target-breaking machine yet offersa stock that can also give a more head-up style of shooting. This allows a lessstrenuous effort of the neck muscles tokeep your head on the gun and providesa more unobstructed view of the flightpath of the bird. The Caesar Guerini

Impact Trap Combo is every bit a trapgun with regard to its overall design,dimensions, weight and amazing tun-ability but also allows a head-up styleof shooting, if you want. Let’s take abetter look at this new clay-taker fromCaesar Guerini.

My test sample came to me from theCambridge, Maryland, corporate officeof Caesar Guerini U.S.A. Wes Lang, aformer workmate of mine, heads upGuerini operations in Maryland and wasfeatured in an “Industry Spotlight” LookWho’s Talking in the June 2009 issue ofShotgun Sports. He spends a great dealof time working with the Guerini broth-ers in Italy, Antonio and Giorgio, deter-mining what features and dimensionseach model should maintain for the U.S.market. The overall Impact model isbased upon the Summit receiver. The

Summit carries thestandard receiver

within the Guerini line of over & undershotguns and boasts lovely double-scal-loped shoulders, a low profile of only65.8mm and a width of merely 42.4mm.These lithe dimensions aid greatly in thehandling characteristics of the Impact.

Finished in a shiny deep-blue/black,the receiver is engraved in a vine-and-scroll motif, with the name “CaesarGuerini” in gold fill in an elliptical

medallion on both the right and leftsides. The underside of the Impact’sreceiver is also adorned with the vine-and-scroll motif, with “Summit” ingold fill. The upper tang, top lever andfences are likewise engraved.

Like most popular clay-target over &unders these days, the Impact’s hingepins are replaceable. The safety mech-anism is of the typical design oftenseen in guns from Italy; it operates asboth safety and barrel selector. Push itforward, it’s off; push rearward, it’s on.In both directions there is a positiveclick that indicates you’ve moved itfully to the on or off position.

Within the body of the safety liesthe barrel selector. Move the centerbar to the left, and one red dot isexposed, meaning you will fire thebottom barrel first. Move it to theright, and two red dots are exposed,allowing you to fire the top barrelfirst. The lockup on the Impact is thevery solid, full-width underbite-lugdesign. Gunsmith replaceable, thislockup gives you confidence yourGuerini will stay shut securelythrough many years of shooting. Thesidewalls of the monobloc are jew-eled, something I like to see on

monoblocs. It adds that extra look ofclass in a shotgun.

The Impact’s trigger is a gold-plated,tapered, teardrop-shaped blade. It isapproximately 8.3mm wide, can beadjusted within the trigger guard to arange of .46" front-to-rear and is adjust-ed with a 1.5mm Allen key. For shooterswith not overly long fingers like mine,an adjustable trigger blade is a wel-comed feature. Trigger poundage on my

August 2010 www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com

A shot of the over & under rib beingadjusted to the lowest setting, which gives

the highest point-of-impact, 90/10.

Photo courtesy Guerini U.S.A.(www.gueriniusa.com)

A full-length view of the Impact Trap Combo.

T

test sample was set at 31⁄8 pounds for thebottom sear and 33⁄4 pounds for the topsear. Crisp let-off and very little take-upwas what I enjoyed on these triggers. AllGuerini triggers are adjustable for take-up, over-travel and length-of-pull.Additionally, two weight options areavailable, as are factory single and dou-ble-release triggers. Pretty cool.

The Impact’s stock and forearmare shaped from fine-grained, well-colored Turkish walnut. The finish isa hand-rubbed oil. Checkering is apoint pattern at approximately 26lines per inch. My test Impact camewith very nice grain and color. Ifthey all look this good, Guerini willsell a bunch.

The Impact, like all other CaesarGuerini over & unders, is loaded withcomponents of the Guerini DynamicTuning System (DTS). The namedescribes all the tunable componentsthat aid shooters with regard to weight,balance, sight picture, point-of-impact(POI) and recoil reduction. The butt-stock of the Impact Trap Combo incor-porates an adjustable-comb system thatnot only allows you to tune eye align-ment but is also very solid. Onceadjusted and tightened down, it stayswhere you set it. Adjustable for bothheight and offset, total lateral adjust-ment range is 5⁄16" (8mm) to right or leftof center. Length-of-pull is 14.75",drop at comb (face) is adjustable from1.6" to 1.2", drop at Monte Carlo is1.8", and drop at heel is 2.25". Cast atheel is .19"; at toe it’s .31", with 5degrees of down pitch.

There is a right-hand palm swellthat results in a grip circumference of6" across the swell. Length of draw is4.25". Height of grip to comb is 4.5",and distance to comb from face ofreceiver is 7.2". Left-hand customstock dimensions are available, as is asoft comb option called the “NoImpact” soft comb. This optionreplaces the standard wooden combon the stock — no fuss, no muss. A 3⁄4"medium-soft rubber recoil pad adornsthe face of the butt. The CaesarGuerini logo is embossed on the pad;otherwise, the pad is smooth.

Mounted within my test Impact’sstock was another component of theGuerini DTS, the Kinetic Balancer. Thisweight/balance and recoil-reductionsystem maintains 1.41-ounce weightson a hollow shaft. These weights arekept in place by two retaining springsand two control collars. Up to fiveweights can be placed on the shaft,although I suspect, for the sake of retain-ing some recoil-reduction value with thesystem, four would be the most youwould want on the shaft at any time. TheDTS Kinetic Balancer does not have tobe removed if you’re attempting toremove the buttstock. Just insert thestock-bolt wrench (supplied) throughthe hole in the recoil pad, and you willaccess the stock bolt through the hollowshaft of the DTS Kinetic Balancer.

With the Kinetic Balancer installedwith three weights, the total weight ofmy Impact Trap was 9.35 pounds withthe over & under barrels attached andtwo Maxis chokes installed in themuzzle. With the unsingle barrel andone choke installed, weight was 9.4pounds. I would venture to guess theweight difference comes from theextra-tall rib on the unsingle, as wellas the weighted false upper chamber.The DTS Kinetic Balancer added

approximately .45-pound to the totalweight the way my gun was set up.

The forearm on the Impact TrapCombo is of the round trap/skeet styleand locks onto the barrel lug by meansof a modified Anson latching mecha-nism. Simply press inward on therelease button located at the tip of theforearm and it comes off easily. Theunderside of the forearm has, withinan uncheckered diamond-shaped area,a decorative teardrop-shaped metalmedallion. When I reviewed the ApexSporter, it also had this same medal-lion in the center of the belly of theforearm. I thought it was a spot tohave the owner’s name or initialsengraved, but it actually helps retainthe forearm wood to the iron. The ironis appropriately finished in the sameshiny, blue-black finish as the receiverand is equally engraved in the vine-and-scroll motif.

Barrels accompanying the ImpactTrap Combo are chambered for 23⁄4"shells and have 5"-long, dual conicalforcing cones. The Impact’s barrels arehard industrial chrome-lined withinthe chambers, bore and even thethreaded choke areas at the muzzle.Lined in this manner, the possibility ofchokes rusting tight in the muzzles and

www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com Shotgun Sports

The Guerini Maxis Chokes included with the Impact Trap Combo providesmooth installation, easy identification and great performance.

August 2010 www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com

your bores ever developing a rust orcorrosion problem is pretty much nil.

The bores in my test gun’s barrelswere .735 in both tubes on the over &under and the unsingle. This is amazingconsistency and made things a lot easierwith regard to determining constrictivevalues of the Caesar Guerini MaxisChokes (but more on that a little later).

The barrels were matte-black andoxide-finished. Guerini offers theImpact Trap Combo as a 32"/34" set.This is probably the most popularcombination of barrel lengths for acombo in today’s trap. The ribs onboth the over & under and unsinglebarrels are adjustable and can providePOIs from 50/50 to 120% high on theunsingle barrel and 45/55 to 90/10 onthe over & under barrel.

Speaking of the ribs on the barrels,both the ventilated ribs on the over &under and unsingle are made fromhigh-strength aluminum with matte-black oxide finish. The over & under’stop rib was 11mm wide at the receiverface and tapered slightly to 10mm atthe muzzle. There was a 4mm whiteBradley-style bead mounted at themuzzle and a 1.9mm round steel beadmounted 171⁄2" from the front bead.The rib at the receiver face featured a100mm ramp that started to tapertoward the muzzle from a height of18mm. There were five thin groovescentered in the top rib’s surface thatran full length. I like a rib designed inthis manner, especially for a pre-mounted game like trap. It gives theshooter another device to check hishead and eye alignment before callingfor the bird. The mid-rib boasts sevenvents, each of which can facilitate the

new DTS Barrel Balancer.A few words about this unique bar-

rel weight and balance system. TheDTS Barrel Balancer is a spring-loaded device measuring 2.9" long.Within and between the two halves ofthe Balancer are three tungsten rodsand a spring mechanism. The entireunit weighs just about 1 ounce. Toattach the DTS Barrel Balancer to thebarrel, you simply squeeze the twobody halves together, insert the twoslender hook-like pieces into whatev-er slot in the mid-rib you’ve chosen,press slightly inward to fit snugagainst the round contour of the barreland release. You’ll more than likelyuse two or more Balancers to achievethe forward weight and balance youwant, but with seven vents to choosefrom on each side, you’re bound tofind a setting that’s ideal for you.

I used a single DTS Barrel Balanceron one round of Doubles and, eventhough it weighed only 1 ounce, its pres-ence on the barrel was felt. Even moreweight and balance options are availablewith the Caesar Guerini Impact over &under barrel. Two interchangeable DTSweight rods allow the barrel’s weightand balance to be adjusted. Optionalrods of steel and tungsten are availablefor the utmost in barrel-swing tuning.

The rib of the over & under barrelwas supported at the front and rear bymajor posts. Beyond that, it’s free-floating. On the over & under barrel,there was one screw at the face of themuzzle with which to make adjust-ments to POI. The supplied 3mmAllen key will do the duty here.Clockwise turns lower the rib andcounterclockwise turns raise it. Five

hash marks on the rib post tell youhow much movement up or downyou’ve given the rib.

The unsingle’s rib was 12mm wideat the receiver face and 9.5mm wide atthe muzzle. Like the over & under bar-rel, it was supported at the front majorpost and at the rear by the false upperchamber. The false chamber measured131⁄4" long and stopped even with thefront edge of the forearm. A feature Iliked was the nylon-and-brass snapcap that filled the upper false chamber.Designs like this are well thought-out,in my opinion, and take the best inter-est of the equipment and shooter intoconsideration.

Like the over & under barrel, therewere five full-length longitudinalgrooves in the unsingle’s rib, and theramp at the rear was 112mm long andstopped at a height of 19mm. Thefront bead was another 4mm whiteBradley-style bead and the mid-beadwas the steel 1.9mm bead seen on theover & under barrel.

Adjustments on the unsingle aremade by slightly backing out the lowerset screw at the face of the muzzle withthe supplied 2mm Allen key, then turn-ing the adjustment wheel. Clockwiselowers the rib; counterclockwise raisesthe rib. There are seven hash marksindicating height adjustment on bothsides of the rib post.

Caesar Guerini shotguns are knownfor how well they hit targets. One ofthe main reasons they crush targets isthe Caesar Guerini Maxis Chokes.These well-designed and producedscrew-in chokes do not sport notchesfor a choke wrench to bite into on themuzzle edge. Nor did I see a need for

Here’s the production version of the DTS Barrel Balancer. This weight/balance system is very simple to use and will fitinto any vented mid-rib Guerini over & under barrel.

Photo courtesy Guerini U.S.A. (www.gueriniusa.com)

them. The chokes screwed in and outsmoothly, without any tight or looseareas along the way. They bottomedout firmly and stayed snug throughoutmy entire shooting session. I didsmear a small amount of lube on theoutside walls of the chokes before Iinserted them into the barrels. This ismy usual practice and one I advocateto friends, students and readers.

The Maxis Chokes have a semi-gloss, black-oxide finish, are 3.19" longand maintain a knurled extended sec-tion that protrudes .78" beyond themuzzle. This extended section has threepanels with single or double-letterabbreviations denoting the constrictivevalues, as well as words underneathrepeating the value (Light Mod.,Modified, Imp. Mod., etc.). The side-walls of the Maxis Chokes have threelines of information: “MaxischokeSporting” on the top line, “CaesarGuerini” on the second line and thenon-abbreviated constrictive name onthe third line.

I received some extra chokes with mytest sample. Wes Lang informed me aproper set includes Light Modified,Modified, Improved Modified, LightFull and Full. My set included all thosechokes. All had internal diameters at theskirt of .750". The Light Modifiedtapered to .719" and maintained that tothe muzzle, for a constriction of .014" inall barrels. The Modified tapered fromthe skirt to .715", for a constriction of.020". The Improved Modified showedan internal constriction of .027". TheLight Full came through with a constric-tion of .032", and the Full tallied up aconstriction of .036".

Testing of the Guerini Impact TrapCombo took place at the Coon CreekTrap & Skeet Range in Lincoln,California. My choices of ammunitionfor this test session were B&P Machloads with 71⁄2s, NobelSport’s TrapGold 3-dram 11⁄8-ounce loads of 8s,Remington’s Premier STS LightHandicap load of 3-dram 11⁄8-ouncerswith 8s and Rio’s Trap 32 Paper loadof 23⁄4-dram 11⁄8-ouncers with 8s. Firststop was the patterning board to checkthe POI of the barrels and chokes.

First to be checked was the unsinglewith the Light Full Maxis Choke. I setthe comb to the lowest setting, as I donot normally shoot an elevated comb.Next, I adjusted the rib to provide thelowest POI, about 50/50. I stepped offroughly 35 yards and took a slow,deliberate aim at the center spot on the

steel plate. The first, second and thirdshot with the Rio Trap 32s all landedright where they should have, givingme the near-perfect 50/50 POI I washoping for. Pattern size and densitywas appropriate for the Light Full’s.032 constriction at that distance.

The next components to be checkedwere the bores on the over & underbarrel with a Light Modified in thebottom and Modified in the top. I leftthe comb as it was to attain the same50/50 setting for the rib. Patterns wererepresentative of proper POI, size anddensity. The Rio loads did a fine job onthe patterning board.

Next stop was the trap field for acouple rounds of Singles. For the firstround, I shot the unsingle barrel withthe Light Full choke I had used at thepatterning board. The Guerini Impact,with its DTS Kinetic Balancer in thestock, was a bit heavier than the guns Inormally shoot but gave a very com-fortable recoil sensation to my slightlyarthritic right shoulder. The 50/50 POIwas just the ticket with the setup on thestock. I had to move the comb over tothe right as far as the system allowed topermit my face to center up behind the

rib. The first round went well, with alltargets hit very hard.

Midway through the second round, Ifelt that the meaty lower part of mythumb was being pressed up against theexposed edge of the comb under recoil.I adjusted the comb up about 1⁄8" andcontinued the round. The remainder ofthe day’s session was without discom-fort and hits were just as impressive.

The Maxis Chokes deserve the rep-utation they enjoy. Trigger sensationwas quite nice. The Guerini triggersresponded very precisely and quicklyto my finger commands. I did miss atarget here and there but no fault of thegun or the triggers, that’s for sure.

A few rounds of Doubles with theLight Modified and Modified installedusing the NobelSport Trap Golds andRemington Premier STS LightHandicaps gave excellent performanc-es. The Guerini Impact Trap Combowas very pleasant to shoot on Singlesand Doubles. The DTS Barrel Balancerwas given a ride on one of the rounds ofDoubles and did what it’s designed todo, give just a hint of forward barrel-weight preponderance. I only had oneBalancer, but it was enough to let me feel

www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com Shotgun Sports

A view of the Impact’s adjustable-comb hardware. Lateral movement of thecomb is 5⁄16" and maximum vertical range is .55". This is another component ofthe Guerini Dynamic Tuning System (DTS).

the job it could do.I finished the day with a 100-target

round of sporting clays. I mentionedearlier some shooters are maintaining amore head-up shooting style thesedays, so I adjusted the comb upward abit more to help me see what this is all

about. I adjusted the rib to give meapproximately a 60/40 POI and testedthe adjustments on some simpleincomers from a trap positioned about35 yards out.

The head-up style was a bit alien tome, but the Guerini had no troublehitting these targets just as hard as itdid the Singles and Doubles on thetrap range. A few misses later, Ireturned the comb and rib to my pre-ferred position and was much happierwith the results. Maybe the top dogs

can shoot a head-up style, butI prefer my old

solid-on-the-gun style. The GueriniImpact proved it could perform ontrap fields with the best of them andeven let you blow up some sportingclays targets, if you want. Given allthe adjustability the Impact provides,you’ll most likely say, “It shoots

wherever I point!”Caesar Guerini guns are not only

known for their reliability, outstand-ing design and performance, they areknown for the customer service thatbacks them up. Caesar Guerini gunsare backed by a lifetime warranty andGuerini’s acclaimed Pit StopProgram. The Impact is available inother receiver models, such as theMaxum and Apex, so you have otherstyles to choose from.

With an MSRP just a little morethan $7,100, the Guerini Impact TrapCombo gives you great style, design,performance, reliability, massive

adjustability and superb after-saleservice in an affordable combopackage. Check out the ImpactTrap Combo at your nearestCaesar Guerini dealer (see ads in

this issue) or visit Guerini online atwww.gueriniusa.com. If you’rereading this while attending TheGrand American in Sparta, Illinois,take a walk down to Caesar Gueriniin building 409. When you talk tothem, be sure to let them know youread about the Impact Trap Combo inyour favorite shotgunning magazine,Shotgun Sports. SS

The DTS Kinetic Balancer systemaccepts up to five 1.41-ounce weights.

The Kinetic Balancer also helps reduce recoil and does nothave to be removed to access the stock bolt.

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TRAP • SKEET • SPORTING CLAYS • HUNTING • GUN TESTS • SHOTSHELL RELOADINGTRAP • SKEET • SPORTING CLAYS • HUNTING • GUN TESTS • SHOTSHELL RELOADING

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