Some of the used shotguns that are bringingthe highest dollars these days are the previ-ously owned English side-by-sides fromPurdey, Boss, Holland & Holland, Lancaster,

and a number of others that are perhaps not quiteas well known. If you’ve ever had the opportunityto take a close look at the engraving on these excep-tional shotguns, it’s not the type of engraving thatseems to turn the most heads these days. However,Wes Lang at Caesar Guerini USA believes the en-graving tastes of many shooters are returning to themore traditional style we saw on those famous Eng-lish makes, especially those produced around the1930s—less ornate, not as bold as some of the en-graving that has become popular over the last cou-ple of decades.

This is the type of engraving that you will see ontoday’s new Essex from Guerini. All those afore-mentioned English side-by-sides were almost invariably sidelock guns, and this is where the en-graving was concentrated. But all Caesar Guerinishotguns are over-unders. This Italian gun makeroffers both standard boxlocks and boxlocks withside-plates. The Essex is a side-plated over-underwith old-style engraving. Maybe we can call this en-graving “understated” because that’s what it is,compared to bolino, deep relief, any engravingwhere the lines are particularly close together,where “ornate” might be the byword. I’m bettingyou, too, like the engraving on the coin-finished re-ceiver. Note also from the accompanying photosthat there are no screws on the gun’s side-plates, less clutteredthan side-plates on true sidelock guns that might have one toseveral screws.

Interestingly, Lang says a new roll process was developedfor this special engraving on the Essex. Of course, plenty ofhand finishing is required after the roll process, but don’tmake the mistake of thinking that the roll portion of this en-graving is old hat. Not only is this process new, it’s muchmore expensive to incorporate into a gun than acid-etchedengraving and certainly more expensive than the roll engrav-ing procedures currently in use. Lang told me that his partnersat Caesar Guerini have explained the new process to him, buthe admits to not yet fully understanding it. Lang also ex-plained that my test gun was among the first to go throughthis new engraving process and that in the weeks following mygun’s production, the engraving was getting even better asGuerini in Italy learns more about the how-to of the process.

There’s similar English scroll on the receiver bottom, re-ceiver top just behind where the barrels attach, top tang, andtrigger guard. Both sides and the bottom of the fore-end ironalso are embellished with this traditional English scroll. Thereis very minimal engraving on the blued barrels, and theseshow high polish and not one blemish to the bluing job. Themonobloc is beautifully jeweled.

The new Essex is available in both Sporting and Field mod-els and in 12, 20, 28, and .410. I’ve been putting a 20-ga. Fieldmodel through its paces, and I’ve really enjoyed shooting it.There’s a lot of checkering on both the fore-end and the

by Nick Sisley

Caesar Guerini Essex

18 Sporting Clays

SPECIFICATIONSAction: Over-under with underlocking lugGauge: 12, 20, 28, and .410 (20 tested)Weight: 6 lbs., 15 ozs. (20 gauge)Barrels: 26” and 28” in Field model; Sporting mod-els with 30” barrels availableChokes: Five supplied (cylinder, improved cylin-der, modified, 3/4, and full)Stock: Circassian walnut with very good figure; di-mensions for 20 gauge: length of pull—14.75”,drop at comb—1.62”, drop at heel—2.25” (eachgauge will have slightly different dimensions)Suggested Retail Price: under $4,000Manufacturer/Importer: Caesar Guerini USA, 700Lake St., Dept. SC, Cambridge, MD 21613; (410)901-1131; www.gueriniusa.com

The fore-end release button is at the front of the schnabel tip.

The engraving on Caesar Guerini’s new Essex resembles that which onceembellished some of the most treasured English side-by-sides.

Shotguns 6/30/06 12:02 PM Page 18

Prince of Wales-style grip, cut at 26lines to the inch,which is very fine. Ididn’t put a jewel-er’s loupe to thischeckering, but Ican’t find the firstflaw with the nakedeye. The Prince ofWales grip is a nicetouch for a huntinggun. I’m guessingthat you will find amore traditionallyshaped grip on Es-sex Sporting models.

The Circassianwalnut stock is ex-ceptional on my testgun, featuring lotsof figure on bothsides of the butt-stock but straight-line grain throughthe receiver area, thelatter important toensure strength. Thegood-looking wal-nut wears a fine oilfinish that goesalong with the tradi-tion the Essex exudes with its Eng-lish-style engraving.The wood-to-metalfit around the side-plates is exceptional.

For most of mylife I looked at side-plate guns (side-locks, too) with sortof a jaundiced eye.I’ve seen many astock crack aroundthe side-plates, andfor that reason I’vealways looked uponsimple boxlock guns with more favor. But I believe Guerini and other modernmakers of shotguns with side-plates have figured out ways to avoid the stock-crackproblems of old. I just don’t see all that many of these modern side-plate guns withcracks. Consequently, I’m looking a lot more favorably toward side-plate gunsthese days.

The fore-end walnut matches the buttstock, and the fore-end attaches like allGuerini guns, via a push button at the very front. With a downward flare at thefront, the gun has a schnabel fore-end tip. The fore-end snaps on and off in a verypositive manner, but it is not overly difficult to remove or replace.

The trigger appears to be made of stainless steel. The safety is non-automatic,and the barrel selector is a part of the safety. It’s fairly hard to move that selectorright or left. This is a good thing because it prevents shifting the selector and notrealizing it. Like all Caesar Guerini over-unders, an underlocking lug extends for-ward from the bottom of the receiver to engage ledges milled into the bottom ofthe monobloc.

Breaking with some tradition, the Essex has a solid top rib. It tapers slightly

Sporting Clays

The Prince of Wales-style grip is very appropriate for a fieldgun and is checkered to 26 lines per inch.

The inertia-type trigger is stainless.

Sisley loves walnut buttplates on hunting guns because theycontribute so well to flawless gun mounts, plus the horizontal serrations help keep the gun solidly in place whilefiring.

Shotguns 6/30/06 12:02 PM Page 20

from .330” at the breech to .240” atthe muzzle. The 20 gauge’s highly pol-ished, chrome-lined barrels weigh 2lbs., 15 ozs. Overall the gun with 28”barrels weighs 6 lbs., 15 ozs. Receiverdepth is 2.39”, and its width at thevery front is 2.50”. The barrels areover-bored. I measure them at .621”,while nominal 20-ga. bores run .615”.

Five screw-in chokes are provided,which I measured as cylinder at .000”,improved cylinder at .005”, modifiedat .012”, 3/4 choke at .017”, and full at.024. These 20-ga. screw-ins measure21/8” in length. I fired a lot of shotsthrough the cylinder choke but shotthe improved cylinder screw-in themost. Most of my practice was atquartering-away clays, which tend tobe my toughest targets year in andyear out. However, I did shoot plentyof incomers and a smaller number offull-crossing or near full-crossingshots. I tell you this because I felt theEssex performed admirably on allthese shots despite the gun being aField model, its relative lightness, andthe 20-ga., 7/8-oz. loads I was puttingthrough it.

One big help with this low-gunshooting was the gun’s walnut

buttplate. Evidently all the Field ver-sions of the Essex have no rubber re-coil pads. There will be rubber padson the Sporting models, none ofwhich were available when I tested the20-ga. Field gun. But as I’ve stated anumber of times in these and othermagazine pages, a walnut buttplateaids with hassle-free gun mounts. Thiswalnut buttplate fit flawlessly to thebuttstock. Plus it has serrated hori-zontal lines that help keep the stock inplace on your shoulder after the shotis fired.

Trigger pulls measured just over 5lbs. for the bottom barrel, just under 5lbs. for the top. These inertia-type trig-gers are beautiful. I noticed no creep,just a very sharp let-off. I test a lot ofshotgun triggers. Frankly, many of themleave a lot to be desired, and I’m not allthat trigger critical when I’m actuallyshooting, but these Essex triggers are ex-ceptional. The Essex will be pricedaround $4,000, between the Magnus atabout $3,700 and the Maxum at about$4,500. All three of these Guerini mod-els have engraved side-plates.

Email Nick Sisley at nicksisley@hot-mail.com

September 2006 21© Reprinted with permission from the September 2006 issue of Sporting Clays magazine.