OK it's time to stick my head above the parapet I guess, I know I'm likely to take some stick but here goes anyway!
I've had my K80 Supertrap for several weeks now and have not been able to get to shoot it due to holidays, work and the worst case of man flu that anyone has ever had, in fact I still have it!
Anyway I got to the point yesterday where I just had to try it, regardless of feeling really under the weather, so off I went to Southern Counties.
So first I thought I would go in at the deep end with a round of OT, ended up on 20 ex 25, not fantastic but not too bad. Next was DTL, so just filled my pockets with shells and just shot until I ran out of ammo. This resulted in me shooting at 75 straight off with no fag or coffee break! So I hit 72 out of the 75, with I think six second tubes, not bad but not brilliant of course.
So for a first time out I was quite pleased with the K80.
So onto the gun itself, it's a 2008 Supertrap 32 inch, Arabesque engraving, titanium hanger, titanium chokes and titanium trigger, seems to have a wood upgrade too.
The stock is the usual adjustable monte carlo type with a standard semi beavertail forend. Gun weight is 9lb 2oz and balances right on the pin.
So does it feel heavy? Yes when you pick it up it feels very heavy, but once in the shoulder the weight is just not noticeable, there is no tendancy towards muzzle heaviness due to the titanium bits and bobs on the front!
Nobody could say that this gun is fast handling, but nor is it slow or ponderous either! It is effortless to shoot and I was hitting the targets in the same place that I would have with my previous DT11 or 3800, there is little danger of stopping this gun when you fire it, the weight must prevent it, so it follows through all by itself.
As for recoil, well yes of course there is recoil, but it is less than on any other over and under that I've ever shot and is at about the same level as an auto I would think. I was using RC4 Champion 28grm for this first outing, I forgot to take the 24grm Red Shot with me.
OK it is very well engineered, the trigger pulls are probably even better than those on my old DT11, the amount of travel on the trigger is very small indeed, trigger pulls I would guess are in the region of 3.5lb or so, I have'nt measured them.
As for the looks, well yes it is a slab sided bit of kit without doubt, not graceful like an MX8, however it does have a certain character to it which I rather like, in fact some of the very high grade models are simply stunning to look at.
Price!!! So are K80's really worth what they cost? Well when compared to a Miroku.....no. However when you look at the level of engineering that is involved in the K80's you can at least see that it is at a superior level to most guns. So is it REALLY worth so much more than a lot of other very good guns? Well that is up to the individual I guess, but I would not buy a brand new one!
I think it will take me some time to fully adjust to the K80, simply because of the fact that it does not handle or shoot like any other gun I've ever owned, it smooths out any jumpiness on the part of the shooter but it seems to find its own way to the target, it cannot be pushed or shoved, it seems to have a mind of its own and any attempt to get in its way seems futile. It sounds strange, but it's almost as though it is alive in some way.
So there it is, the K80 is an extraordinary gun, yes probably a Marmite gun too. Will it be my gun for life? Well only time will tell and it's still very early days yet!
I've had my K80 Supertrap for several weeks now and have not been able to get to shoot it due to holidays, work and the worst case of man flu that anyone has ever had, in fact I still have it!
Anyway I got to the point yesterday where I just had to try it, regardless of feeling really under the weather, so off I went to Southern Counties.
So first I thought I would go in at the deep end with a round of OT, ended up on 20 ex 25, not fantastic but not too bad. Next was DTL, so just filled my pockets with shells and just shot until I ran out of ammo. This resulted in me shooting at 75 straight off with no fag or coffee break! So I hit 72 out of the 75, with I think six second tubes, not bad but not brilliant of course.
So for a first time out I was quite pleased with the K80.
So onto the gun itself, it's a 2008 Supertrap 32 inch, Arabesque engraving, titanium hanger, titanium chokes and titanium trigger, seems to have a wood upgrade too.
The stock is the usual adjustable monte carlo type with a standard semi beavertail forend. Gun weight is 9lb 2oz and balances right on the pin.
So does it feel heavy? Yes when you pick it up it feels very heavy, but once in the shoulder the weight is just not noticeable, there is no tendancy towards muzzle heaviness due to the titanium bits and bobs on the front!
Nobody could say that this gun is fast handling, but nor is it slow or ponderous either! It is effortless to shoot and I was hitting the targets in the same place that I would have with my previous DT11 or 3800, there is little danger of stopping this gun when you fire it, the weight must prevent it, so it follows through all by itself.
As for recoil, well yes of course there is recoil, but it is less than on any other over and under that I've ever shot and is at about the same level as an auto I would think. I was using RC4 Champion 28grm for this first outing, I forgot to take the 24grm Red Shot with me.
OK it is very well engineered, the trigger pulls are probably even better than those on my old DT11, the amount of travel on the trigger is very small indeed, trigger pulls I would guess are in the region of 3.5lb or so, I have'nt measured them.
As for the looks, well yes it is a slab sided bit of kit without doubt, not graceful like an MX8, however it does have a certain character to it which I rather like, in fact some of the very high grade models are simply stunning to look at.
Price!!! So are K80's really worth what they cost? Well when compared to a Miroku.....no. However when you look at the level of engineering that is involved in the K80's you can at least see that it is at a superior level to most guns. So is it REALLY worth so much more than a lot of other very good guns? Well that is up to the individual I guess, but I would not buy a brand new one!
I think it will take me some time to fully adjust to the K80, simply because of the fact that it does not handle or shoot like any other gun I've ever owned, it smooths out any jumpiness on the part of the shooter but it seems to find its own way to the target, it cannot be pushed or shoved, it seems to have a mind of its own and any attempt to get in its way seems futile. It sounds strange, but it's almost as though it is alive in some way.
So there it is, the K80 is an extraordinary gun, yes probably a Marmite gun too. Will it be my gun for life? Well only time will tell and it's still very early days yet!