It is probably because American skeet has subgauge classes. The three o/us you mentioned all have mechanical triggers which are better when using subgauge tubes. Inertia triggers depend on the recoil from the first shot to reset for the second barrel and will often not work reliably with the smaller gauges. The Remington 1100 meanwhile is the only semi-automatic produced in all 4 gauges. Competitors can use identical guns in all gauges.Something I've noticed...on the skeet field most top shooters are using a Kreighoff, Kolar, Blaser F3, or Remington 1100. When I check out the Olympic trap and skeet shooters, they seem to favor Beretta and Perazzi. Is there a reason that the amateur crowd favors the former and international competitors the latter?
I'd suggest the K80 for serious skeet shooting. There are more of them, they are often found on the used market and getting subgauge tubes will be easier for a 12 gauge. Top shooters do shoot the 20 as well as the 12 but for the rest of us having those extra pellets is very reassuring.Now I just have to decide if I want to go with a K-80 in the future or a K-20.
PJR, I don't shoot skeet. To me it's the most boring shotgun sport. I'm sporting clays all the way with a little trap thrown in for good measure. Skeet is way to repetitious to keep me interested. But, I can shoot skeet with a 20 just as effectively as with any 12...
I've found sporting clays more social than skeet which is another reason I prefer it. I agree with Slugo on the merits of skeet. I used to shoot it often but now use it as sporting clays practice if I'm having a gun mount or other issue.I hear what you are saying. The thing about skeet is it is more social, but social can get out of hand if you have a squad of guys that goof off just too much.
I'm not sure what you mean by better. I prefer the more precise pull of inertia triggers over mechanicals. Think of it this way: some energy is required to set-up the second sear. With mechanicals, the energy is captured during the first trigger pull. With inertia triggers, the recoil provides that energy after the trigger is pulled. If you could drop out a Browning or K-80 trigger and compare it to a Perazzi trigger unit, you'd see how many more parts are required to make a mechanical trigger work. I shot mechanical trigger O/Us for 18-years before I went to inertia guns and I'll never go back.The three o/us you mentioned all have mechanical triggers which are better when using subgauge tubes.
I've owned and shot both mechanical and inertia triggers including Krieghoff and Perazzi. There is no question the mechanical is more complicated particularly on the K-guns and the P-gun trigger is very simple and reliable. Between the two I believe the Krieghoff has a slightly better trigger pull and is the one thing I missed when I went to the Perazzi.I'm not sure what you mean by better. I prefer the more precise pull of inertia triggers over mechanicals. Think of it this way: some energy is required to set-up the second sear. With mechanicals, the energy is captured during the first trigger pull. With inertia triggers, the recoil provides that energy after the trigger is pulled. If you could drop out a Browning or K-80 trigger and compare it to a Perazzi trigger unit, you'd see how many more parts are required to make a mechanical trigger work. I shot mechanical trigger O/Us for 18-years before I went to inertia guns and I'll never go back.
Yes, there is an issue of sub-gauge shells not setting the second trigger of a 12-ga inertia gun. This problem is easily solved by changing the inertia block when you get tubes. I've never had a problem setting the second trigger shooting sub-gauge loads in any of my tubed Perazzis.
Briley did mine when they fitted the tubes. Plus, Perazzi prices trigger parts like they were made of gold.It is possible to swap the inertia block on a Perazzi but that might not be a task that every shooter is up to and would need a gunsmith to do the job.