Don't know Messrs Hann & Stepney.
There's one actually in Poole who I would avoid at all costs.
There's so much advice out there Les, and there's a consensus that I should at least seriously consider a Miroku MK38, so that is on the list. I didn't get on with it brilliantly last Tuesday when I gave it a go at Purbeck (Thanks guys). I suspect a little stock shortening would help, plus a few mm on the comb. But I was astonished at the quality of construction for the price.
Then there's a DT10, which just appeared in the conversation. I'm hoping to shoot that this coming week. I have to say it felt (indoors) like a thing of quality, and maybe it was the weight distribution, maybe it was something else, but it felt very good, very pointable, very nice.
And I've been toying with the idea of an MX8. V springs are attractive, so's the name and approach. And the ones I've shouldered seem to have some of the qualities of the DT10 but in a more refined way, more elegant, less feisty. The proof will be in the shooting, of course!
You may (probably will) consider this a bizarre short list; it's informed by nothing more than personal bias (like my distaste for the more modern Berettas at the lower end of the scale, like my intense dislike of K-guns - purely on aesthetic grounds, stuff like that) but my list isn't set in stone. I've made it known that I'm tyre kicking at the moment, just rubbernecking; I will make a purchase between now (unlikely) and June (much more likely).
What I do know is that my semi-auto is great in all respects except for the fact that the empties rattle off the cage sides and with unerring accuracy batters me on the side of my face. In fact it's more predictable (the exact placement of the empty cartridge case) than the actual shot I've fired. Dammit. And my 686 Special is a great game gun, being light and all that, but 100 bird shoots at 28gm a pop gets a little hurty-of-the-head.
