Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/812511
56 • S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S In fact, the Zoli gifted me with a truly unforgettable memory. On the last morning we closed in on a beautiful double point on the windward side of a small mesquite motte. The birds, however, had business elsewhere and flushed wild on the lee side, out of sight. We didn't get off a single shot on the rise, but watched as the bunch split and pitched into a pair of small brushy swales about 200 yards out. I agreed to kick around in the left-hand patch while the rest of our group took the dogs to the other side about 75 yards away. When I got there, I was ambushed by a pair of cock-birds that flushed simultaneously just behind me. The first swung around and broke across my right front, where he paid the ultimate price for his folly. The second, being of a decidedly sneakier mien, blew out from the same spot but arched high over my left shoulder before leveling out. Unfortunately for him, the lithe little Pernice was up to the task and swung all the way around to drop him about 40 yards out. It was one of the prettiest doubles that I've ever made. Granny was right about the "pretty" thing, but this "pretty" did outstandingly well and "proved the pudding" in the process. n Zoli must have pulled all the stops on the wood as well, because the forearm and buttstock are simply stunning. Having bought and paid for more than a few stock blanks in my time, I'm simply amazed (I think the current vernacular is "blown away") by the wood on this gun. Its fit and finishing are equal to the wood, too. T wo of my grandmother's favorite witticisms were "Pretty is as pretty does," and "The proof is in the pudding." To find out how the pretty Pernice performed in the field, I hied myself off to the brushy swales and mesquite mottes of far-South Texas and gave it a thorough workout on this year's crop of bobwhites. John Burrell's High Adventure Company hooked me up with Kevin Doty who ramrods STX Hunts out of Hebbronville Texas. Most of South Texas had a bumper crop of bobs this year, and that provided a perfect opportunity to give the Zoli a good workout. The Pernice performed exactly as expected. It shot and ejected as required without complaint or failure. At 6 1 /2 pounds, it swung and carried well and brought down birds both near and far. what you see is not "engraving" at all, in the conventional sense. Engraving, in the way that we old-timers understand it, involves artistically gifted people using hand gravers to create works of art on metal. It's also horribly expensive these days, and is quickly going the way of the dodo bird and the woolly mammoth. It's simply too expensive for the average guy to afford. Most shotgun makers today are engaged in a race to perfect a technique that closely approximates the appearance of traditional hand engraving, but at less cost. Most have failed, some of them miserably so. Zoli, on the other hand, seems to be on to something here, because the result is pleasing to the senses in a way that most others are not. As best I can determine, it's a "mixed technique" that probably involves lasers, followed by some mechanical incision, followed by hand- chasing or hand-shading. That's my educated guess. The result is a lovely acanthus scroll that's not deeply cut, but looks like it is, and is really quite attractive. That may seem a little understated, but it's really high praise coming from someone who has had a 70-year love affair with the very finest hand engraving in the world. "I don't really care that you tie flies better than me, or that you can cast farther, or even that you catch more fish than I do. What gets me is that you look so damned good doing it!" by john troy – courtesy skyhorse publishing