Paul Miller hails another Miroku triumph
We’ve reviewed many Miroku shotguns down the years in this magazine and these reviews have always been favourable. That’s because the Miroku factory in the Kochi Prefecture of Japan on the island of Shikoku, continues to refine the features and finishes of these classic Browning-inspired firearms and it’s for this reason they’ve grown to be one of the most successful manufacturers in the world.
We’re fortunate here in our domestic market to have special editions expertly designed by importers Outdoor Sporting Agencies for Australian conditions both in form and finish. The MK10 Premium Sporter under review here is a limited edition for this country and has superb wood and hand engraving, which makes the ‘Premium’ moniker richly deserved.
Action
This shotgun features a silver nitride-finished action which increases durability. It has deep hand-engraved game scenes of ducks on one side and pheasants on the other, very lifelike and unusually deeply engraved. On the underside is deep symmetrical scroll work and the name BC Miroku and MK10 Premium, eye-catching indeed.
As noted previously, Miroku shotguns have a full-width hinge pin which provides a substantial surface area for smooth opening and closing. Lock-up is achieved with a full-width flat bolt which fits perfectly into a bite beneath the bottom chamber, an extremely strong system. The gun was brand new yet still opened very smoothly and had that ‘bank-vault’ solid sound on closing, something down to incredibly tight tolerances in the CNC-manufacturing process at BC Miroku.
The opening lever and trigger selector incorporated in the safety are both precise and smooth to operate. The single trigger is adjustable for ‘length of finger’ comfort and the gun comes with three trigger shoes of varying widths to allow further fine-tuning for feel. This may seem a minor point but it can actually make a huge difference to how a gun feels in the hand and consistency of trigger pull.
The inertia-operated adjustable triggers broke cleanly at around 3.5lbs, ejectors perfectly timed and worked well with the equally premium Baschieri & Pellagri 28-gram No.8 factory loads provided. The metal-to-wood fit of action to stock and fore-end iron is perfect and a consistent feature of Miroku quality construction, seemingly irrespective of grade.
Stock and fore-end
This MK10 Premium Sport has a nicely figured and oil-finished Grade 4 Turkish walnut stock cast right-handed, cast at heel roughly 4mm and at toe about 8mm. Stock measurements are in the higher range of Sporting/Skeet dimensions. The stock, with 37mm (1.5”) drop at comb and 50mm (2.0”) drop at heel, has a 360mm (14¼”) length of pull which was noticeably shorter and different to the normal 14¾” we’ve come to expect on most Miroku shotguns. That’s half an inch shorter than you might normally expect which would be ideal for shooters of shorter stature, many women and juniors.
This may be an anomaly but could be easily changed by adding a deeper recoil pad, giving you a summer and winter length of gun if that seemed appropriate. The slimline Pachmayr ‘decelerator’ pad still provided a comfy fit in the shoulder and good recoil reduction. It would be ideal with the same pad but with a deeper profile installed from the factory in the interests of fitting more average-sized shooters.
The generous pistol grip combines a substantial yet comfortable palm swell for right-handed shooters and this model is also available with a left-handed stock. These full grips are designed to align your trigger finger perfectly so you have a straight line trigger pull. The fore-end is of the Schnabel style we see on many sporting guns, comfortable in profile and looks well suited to this premium offering. The fore-end is detached from the barrels with a single finger-operated latch like all Miroku shotguns, hand checkering on both stock and fore-end superbly executed for a comfortable grip.
The stock has a pitch down measurement of almost 3” and felt comfortable in my shoulder as it did for several right-handed mates who tried it and thought it was great. Pitch is a bit of a mysterious stock dimension which some say alters pattern placement dramatically, though this hasn’t been my experience. We’ve said it before but it certainly affects pattern placement slightly and it’s interesting to note a lot of guns used for Trap shooting have no pitch down in their stock construction.
I think a 3” pitch down like this also helps with fast mounting in guns used for field shooting or the gun-down Sporting Clays or International Skeet disciplines. Pitch is certainly something to work on for shooter comfort in the shoulder and reducing felt recoil for many individuals.
Barrels and rib
The barrels are 30” with 3” chambers and bored for concealed screw-in top of the line Briley C300 chokes, four supplied in Improved Cylinder (quarter), Modified (half), three-quarters and Full. The barrels weigh 1.557 kilos which ensure the gun swings smoothly and is about typical for Miroku 30” barrels (an excellent Briley choke tube wrench is included). The rib between the barrels is ventilated and the top one supported on 12 pillars.
The top rib has a fine white centre bead and white front-sight bead at the muzzle end, ideal to my mind for allowing your subconscious to know the gun’s correctly aligned as you mount it, as opposed to being canted one way or the other. The rib tapers from 8mm to the end of the chamber where it quickly reaches 13mm then tapers ever so slowly to 10mm at the muzzle, drawing the eye to the target nicely. Blueing is exceptional in both depth and colour, which adds to the premium look and feel of this gun.
Shooting impressions
A couple of friends and I gave the MK10 Premium Sport a good session on Skeet targets, shot both gun-up and gun-down. I didn’t have a chance to try it at Sporting Clays or 5-Stand (due to a necessary quick turnaround) but feel it would be ideal for both. The shorter stock made it extra quick in the hands and the whole quality of the gun was felt in its precise, albeit quick approach to the targets. The Briley C300s and exceptional B&P 28-gram 8s destroyed the targets in a highly satisfying manner.
My right-handed mates really enjoyed this gun and commented on how comfortable it was to shoot and how well it smoked the targets. I found the stock a bit high but still very precise to shoot and lefties like me would obviously opt for the left-handed version, available on request with ‘cast on’ and left-handed palm swell. I think I might also opt for 32” barrels, then again I’ve always liked longer barrels on a sporting gun for their increased steadiness and precision on longer targets. It all depends on your height, how long your arms are and what balances best for you.
This ‘premium’ Miroku’s expected to retail for around $5500. That’s a reasonable investment when you consider the amount of extra work this gun’s had lavished on it, with that beautiful hand-engraving and high-grade walnut stock. The inclusion of Briley C300 chokes also adds to the quality result on target, so I feel it represents excellent value for a well-designed and beautifully finished shotgun. Like all Miroku guns, I believe it can be had with a basic plastic Negrini-style case for about another $100 or a combination lock case for $160. Highly recommended. More at www.osaaustralia.com.au
Specifications
Manufacturer: BC Miroku Japan
Model: MK10 Premium Sporter
Gauge: 12-gauge
Action: Boxlock inertia cocking
Trigger: Single selective, tang safety
Barrel length: 30” with 3” chambers
Rib: Standard height pillar supported, 8-13mm wide tapering to 10mm at muzzle. Mid white bead and white front sight. Full-length ventilated mid rib
Chokes: Four Briley C300, ¼, ½, ¾ and full
Stock and fore-end: Grade 4 walnut with oil finish, full pistol grip and Schnabel fore-end
Stock dimensions: 37mm at comb, 50 mm at heel; cast off 4mm at heel, 8mm at toe; 360mm (14.35”) length of pull
Weight: 8lb (3.7kg) subject to walnut density
Accessories: Choke wrench, instruction manual, plastic choke tube holders, Allen key, two spare trigger shoes
RRP: About $5500
Distributor: Outdoor Sporting Agencies