Road to Paris 14: competition between Italy and Germany for gun and cartridge medals

Italy and Germany are the world's leading manufacturers of sporting guns and cartridges for shotguns, rifles and pistols. The outlook is different for the different shooting disciplines, but the result does not change. Therefore, the awarding of Olympic medals will also serve to establish or, more easily, confirm industrial records.

But let's keep the events separate and start with clay target shooting. After Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London and Rio, Tokyo 2021 also confirmed the success of Italian industry in clay target shooting disciplines. No less than 16 medals out of a total of 18 were won by athletes using Italian shotguns, while 11 out of 18 were those won with Italian ammunition.

Beretta, Perazzi and... Krieghoff

The haul of medals collected over the years by Armi Perazzi, a company from Brescia, at the Olympics.

Beretta and Perazzi from Brescia, with 9 and 7 medals respectively, continue to affirm the supremacy of "made in Italy" gunsmithing, appreciated by athletes from all over the world (just think that 90% of the shooters in Tokyo used Italian shotguns). In the field of ammunition, Fiocchi from Lecco, RC Cartridges from Forlì and Clever from Verona always won medals, winning 60% of those up for grabs, with Clever monopolising the entire podium in the men's Trap.

In Athens, Beijing and London, the two Italian shotgun manufacturers took all the podiums, very high percentages also for the ammunition manufacturers. Will it be the same in Paris? Very likely, judging by the premise.

"The Olympics are an important reference point for our company," explains Mauro Perazzi. "Ever since the first gold medal won in 1964 by Ennio Mattarelli with a shotgun he had commissioned from my father. This event was a springboard for that small craftsman, who was practically unknown at the time. From that day on, a cycle began. In fact, another 54 medals arrived, enriching our palmarès."

The Perazzi High Tech 2024 over-and-under, dedicated to the Paris Olympics, features a single circle connecting the essence of the five continents represented by five colour segments, as a harmonious symphony of diversity and Olympic excellence. It is, of course, a typical Perazzi shotgun in the characteristics of its barrels and weight distribution, almost completely customisable, with fine details. Very few shooters will have it in Paris, because the shotgun that led to Olympic qualification cannot be changed, but it will be the protagonist in the next four years.

The Perazzi High Tech in the special edition dedicated to the Paris Olympics retains its typical features and weight distribution.

The brand new SL2 is the pinnacle of Beretta's experience: it combines futuristic lines and innovative technical solutions to create a made-to-measure shotgun, destined to win. The Steelium Pro X barrels, designed for long chokes and also perfect for steel shot, guarantee unprecedented performance in terms of recoil reduction, shot pattern homogeneity and density as well as terminal effectiveness. The avant-garde lines of the receiver have been reduced to the essentials and enhanced with a revolutionary anti-reflective finish. The absence of shoulders and the lowered opening key allow a wider view of the target. The trigger group is removable and can also be quickly replaced with a carbon version. The splendid grade 4 walnut wood, obviously masterfully made to measure, can be replaced with a higher grade. "It was 1956 when, in Melbourne, Galliano Rossini, swinging one of our shotguns, won the gold medal in the Olympic Trap discipline," recalls Franco Gussalli Beretta. "Since then, we have experienced many satisfactions thanks to a roster of world-class athletes that no other company in the world can boast." Italian Jessica Rossi has been using an experimental version of the shotgun for a few years now, while Mauro De Filippis will be taking the new version to Paris. Most of the other shooters on the Beretta team in Paris will be using the DT11, the Brescia-based company's most successful over-and-under ever, marketed since 2011.

Futuristic lines and innovative technical solutions to create a made-to-measure shotgun that is destined to win: this is the brand new Beretta SL2 that will be used by Italian Mauro De Filippis.

The usual German-Italian rivalry is not lacking even in this sector, which already appears largely "colonised". Krieghoff, a manufacturer of rifles and shotguns since 1886 in Ulm (GER), has also evolved in the competition shotgun sector and, already at the Rio 2016 Games, earned its first Olympic medals since Donald Haldeman's (USA) historic gold medal in 1976 in Montreal. Marcus Svensson (SWE) won the silver medal in the men's Skeet, Corey Cogdell-Unrein (USA) won the bronze medal in the women's Trap. In Tokyo 2021, Kayle Browning won the silver medal in women's Trap, wielding a Krieghoff K-80. It is a customisable shotgun with titanium chokes and full point-of-impact adjustment, which is a hallmark of Krieghoff shotguns.

Germany's Krieghoff will also want to have its say in the shooting event dominated by the Italians. The K-80 is a customisable over-and-under, with titanium chokes and point-of-impact barrel adjustment.

Walther, Feinwerkbau and Pardini

Pardini SP. At Tokyo 2021, the Viareggio-based company's gun dominated the 25m pistol and rapid fire pistol events.

In pistol and rifle shooting, the parties are reversed and it is the German industry that dominates. With one notable exception: the Tuscan company Pardini. At Tokyo 2021, Pardini guns dominated the 25m pistol and 25m rapid fire pistol events, obtaining a further silver medal also in the 10m air rifle mixed team event. The remarkable medal table consists of two gold, three silver and two bronze medals, to which a third gold medal must be added thanks to the rifle stock alone.

In women's rapid fire pistol, of the 44 qualified female shooters, no less than 41 (93% of the total) went to the firing line with a Pardini SP pistol. The SP-RF then literally monopolised the rapid fire pistol competitions, thus confirming its dominance in the specialitỳ. Six out of seven medals rewarded the SP, which had already made the en-plein in Rio de Janeiro. The SP and SP-RF pistols, which were launched in 1991 and have been constantly updated ever since, are used by athletes all over the world. Since 2000, they have won eight gold medals as well as silver and bronze medals at the Olympics, making a decisive contribution to Pardini's Olympic palmares, which totals 31 medals.

The KK500 from Germany's Walther is one of the most successful rimfire rifles and will be among the stars in Paris.

Germany's Walther is especially strong in rifle events: five of the eight competitors in the men's 10m air rifle final in Tokyo used Walther products and gold and bronze were won by Walther rifles. Bronze also in the women's 10m air rifle and again gold and bronze in the rifle mixed team. In the final of the men's 50m rifle three positions, 5 shooters qualified for the final among the top 8 with the Walther KK500, which ended with one silver and one bronze. Silver medal, finally, in the air pistol.

The Oberndorf-based Feinwerkbau, backed by many years of experience and a number of other Olympic medals, won gold in the women's 10m air rifle and silver in the men's 10m air rifle in Tokyo, thanks to the 800X model rifle.

Switzerland, Austria and Great Britain in search of a podium place in Paris 2024

Not just Italy-Germany. The Swiss Morini Competition Arm at the Olympics has won 9 gold, 11 silver and 5 bronze medals so far, which is quite an achievement considering that the CM162E air pistol was first presented in 1992. And Bleiker, also Swiss, specialising in .22 rifles (fitted with Lilja barrels), also won two 3-position medals in Tokyo, gold with China's Zhang Changhong and silver with Russia's Yulia Zykova. But it had already won the entire podium in Rio with Niccolò Campriani (ITA), Sergey Kamenskiy (RUS) and Alexis Raynaud (FRA), who won silver and bronze in the 50-m rifle with Kim Jonghyn (KOR) and Kirill Grigoryan (RUS).

Austrian Steyr's Evo 10 and Evo 10E dominated the 10m air pistol events in Tokyo.

From Barcelona 1992 to Tokyo 2021, shooters using rifles and pistols from Austria's Steyr have won 33 medals, 11 of them gold. In Tokyo, Iranian Javad Foroughi won gold in the 10m air pistol event with a Steyr Evo 10. The female shooters in this event were also no less impressive, with Bulgaria's Antoaneta Kostadinova and China's Jiang Ranxin taking silver and bronze respectively, again with a Steyr Evo 10E. The 21-year-old Jiang again made headlines with her gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event, while Russia's Artem Chernousov was part of the silver medal-winning team with his Steyr Evo 10E. The Ukrainian team of Oleana Kostevych and Oleh Omelchuck took bronze with Steyr Evo 10E. Anastasia Galashina and her Steyr Challenge brought silver to Russia in the women's 10m air rifle. Sergey Kamenskiy was part of the bronze medal-winning team in the mixed 10m air rifle with his Steyr Challenge E.

© RWS
The .22 LR R50 from German RWS is a cartridge with a long history of international rifle podiums.

As for target shooting ammunition, the Fürth-based German giant RWS, recently acquired by the Beretta Holding Group, won four gold medals in Tokyo, one in the rapid fire pistol (with the PM SR cartridge) two in the 10m air pistol and one in the men's 10m air rifle, one silver in the women's 10m air pistol and one bronze in the women's 10m air rifle.

In London one gold and one silver and in Rio one gold, one silver and two bronze medals. Mostly thanks to R10 pellets and .22 LR R50 cartridges.

Athletes from the British Eley team won 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in Tokyo with both air pellets and .22 rimfire cartridges. Eley, 190 years old, has won 125 Olympic medals in its last sixty years.

Many Fiocchi team athletes will rely on the efficiency of the Lecco-based company's cartridges.

The cartridge prepared by Clever for its athletes in Paris. So far, the Verona-based company has won eight Olympic gold medals.

One could go even further and deal with shooting range equipment, clothing and gear. So many companies involved, the vast majority of them from the Old Continent. Europe retains technical leadership, but will also be able to do itself credit in the competitive field.

The Perfect Top shoe from German Sauer is a concentrate of technology for rifle shooters.

The new Armond shoes designed specifically for the Italian Olympic Trap and Skeet teams.

During the weeks leading up to the Paris 2024 Olympics, we will regularly publish articles dedicated to the Olympic Games and shooting sports. We will make you live the Olympic dream until the lighting of the brazier and also afterwards, when it is time for the medals. Stay tuned!

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