Krieghoff K20.  - 4 April 2003

Krieghoff are a gunmaker that are quite exclusive. They have a fairly small specialist dealer network. And the pricing structure is such that only the dedicated shooters will buy these. You are not going to shell out upwards of £5000 just to keep a few bunnies of the carrots.

Then again if you are serious about clay shooting and want a serious gun that has the ability to shoot at any level the user is good enough to take it to, then Krieghoff are guns that need closely looking at.
Although these guns are not familiar to the great majority of shooters, they have been around for a number of years. The company actually has directly been in business since 1886. Originally known as a maker of fine guns for hunting. In the late 50's Krieghoff started to look at the possibilities of producing competition guns. The culmination of which was the K80 which is a gun made in trap, skeet and sporting configurations.

The K20 is the 20 gauge version of the K80 and is really a scaled down version.

I don't have a great deal of experience working on Krieghoff guns.

Firstly there are not a huge number of them around, secondly they are very reliable and don't very often need the attention of a gunsmith.

Krieghoff are very well made guns. In fact, I tend to think of them as engineered rather than made.
As such I think that they are an acquired taste. On first inspection, they don't have the most appealing looks. You really need to pick one up and handle it for a few minutes and look carefully at it.
Much of the appeal of these guns is in the handling. They are quite heavy relative to other guns. Heavy enough to swing and point positively and absorb the optimum amount of recoil. Yet not too heavy to make the shooter fight the gun.

The actions appear to be what they are; a solid block of steel. Though it is a incredibly well machined and finished block of steel. The Krieghoff factories employ the latest technology in CNC machining to produce these guns.

The actions are quite large and certainly much longer than most guns. In fact, the 20 gauge action is probably as big as most other 12's.

Outwardly the action and all the other metal parts are finished in satin silver.

There is a central game scene of dog and duck on one side and duck and pheasant on the other. The rest of the action has a light covering of scroll work.

he most striking feature of the Krieghoff is the sliding top of the action which forms the lock up for the gun. The top slides forward to lock down on either side of barrel shoulders on a corresponding taper. There is plenty of bite on the gun with the top lever usually over to the 5 o'clock position to give many years of heavy duty shooting. The top locking latch can be replaced with an over sized one should it ever need it.

This system is a little unusual but has also been seen on other guns such as the Remington 3200, and more recently, the Miroku 3000.

The barrels hinge on stub pins that can be replaced should the gun need to be re-jointed.
The rest of the action is certainly of a design unique to Krieghoff and owes little to other manufacturers.
The hammers pivot at the bottom of the action and are powered by coil springs which are housed forward and on either side of the action. They are not visible at all so as such are protected from dirt and moisture. They are also rebounding so there is no chance of striker drag when the gun is opened.
The hammers also have arms connect to each that go forward along the action wall to pick up the ejection mechanism.

These rods are also pushed back by independent cocking levers that protrude from the front of the action, and are pushed back to cock the gun by the forend as the gun is opened.

The sears are suspended above the hammers, but are housed on the trigger plate.

This trigger is mechanical so it is not dependant on recoil to reset for the second shot. This is a real bonus if you have the 28 gauge and 410 barrels that will also fit this action. The lower recoil of smaller gauges can sometimes be inconsistent in resetting the selector.

The trigger appears a complex piece of work, but is quite simple in principle. It is also gently powered upwards to give direct contact with the sears at all times and so take up trigger clearance which gives the feel of a single stage trigger pull on both barrels. Although the gun works mechanically to select the second shot, there is an inertia weight on the back of the trigger to prevent the gun double discharging.
This gun has a manual safe but can be converted to an auto safe return quite easily.

The forend iron is a very substantial piece of metal and is largely one piece. Interestingly there are twin ejector springs for each barrel giving plenty of kick. Also should one break - although unlikely with coil springs- then the gun will keep working.

The barrels are made on mono-block construction. And have 3" chambers. The chambers are also chrome plated to give the maximum wear resistance. Though the bores of the gun are not plated, should the gun be damaged, then dents can be raised and lapped much more successfully.

The bores are finished to a superb standard and are bored perfectly concentrically.

The top rib is tapered 11mm at the breech to 7.5mm at the muzzle, with a central channel and mid sight to draw the eye. It is also raised slightly so the line of sight is not distracted by the top lever work.
There are no side ribs on the gun so that the barrels are free to expand and contract independently should they get hot through heavy shooting.

The barrels are held together at the muzzle by a hanger that surrounds the bottom barrel and is connected to the top barrel.

It is possible to fit hangers of different sizes so that the point of impact between the barrels may be altered, I am not sure that I see the benefits to this feature, though none the less it is an interesting concept.

The gun is fitted with multichokes that have an external collar, so they are easy to change. Also it is easy to see which are in the gun.

The woodwork is very good, being of nicely figured dark walnut.

Krieghoff are a little unusual as gunmakers go by having a semi monte-carlo on each of their models. This does give a quick gun mount with the heel coming comfortably into the shoulder. But the comb angle is such that it gives a good sight plane with the slightly raised rib.

There is no perceptible cast one way or the other so the gun is suitable for either left or right hand. It also has a palm swell which is very comfortable to the hand, and is slightly swollen to both sides, and so ambidextrous.

The butt end of the stock is finished with a Pachmayr sporting clays pad of decelerator rubber so the gun is comfortable for recoil.

The chequer pattern is comfortable and nicely cut. And the woodwork has been finished with oil, which brings out the best in the wood.

A very well made gun. Though a bit of a racing car not every one will want one, but those that buy one will love them. Also will turn a few heads.

Alternative buys;
Browning B25, Beretta SO, Perazzi MX8. higher grade Monza.

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