Chiappa 1887 28" lever action shotgun review

[cole smith]

I wanted to do a review of my Chiappa 1887 as I found little information when researching it myself. I will start by saying there are better shotguns for serving functions for the same. It cost about $1300 which was quite similar to my benelli m2 which is lighter, semi-auto, can shoot 3inch magnums, softer recoil etc. (love that gun). That said my Chiappa is everything I wanted it to be, I wanted a lever action shotgun that could handle modern shells and thats what I got! I wanted something unique to shoot clays and the odd bird with and that is what I got. When I took it to Silver willows (clay range near carstairs, awesome place) the owner asked me to wait outside so he could see it before I went out and when I got back his son who runs the gun counter was waiting for me. I enjoy the feel of action gun but prefer shotguns to rifles and if you don't want a .410 or an old winchester 1887 then the only choices I could find in my research were; the Chiappa 1887, the norinco 1887, the interstate arms 1887 and the cimarron arms 1887. I have heard nothing good about norinco guns other than they are cheap (if that is a good thing) and saw many videos of them jamming. To my understanding the interstate arms corp 1887 is a norinco re-branded to sell in the states. The cimarron was a norinco that gunsmiths in the USA filed down and refurbished to be better functioning but still pretty much the same parts. So I decided it had to be the Italian made Chiappa, my second choice would've been the Cimarron. Then one day I was in Wolverine guns and tackle in red deer and saw a chiappa mare's leg so I asked the guy behind the gun counter if they could order chiappa guns. He said yes so I asked him what it would cost to order in a chiappa 1887 with the colored reciever and 28" barrel. To which he replies you mean like that one there and points to a gun right below the mare's leg I noticed. At that point I had to have that gun. The pictures on Chiappa's website do not do it justice it was a beautiful gun. The stock was not as good as some on like the $3000 brownings but it suited the gun and the coloured steel reciever and butt plate looked amazing. So how did it shoot? Well I have slightly over 100 rounds through it now many done at silver willow and have had a few jams. Most of those jams I do attribute to my error with the lever only once did I have a shell stick to the bolt and not get ejected. It is no question that a lever is slower than a pump and pulls you off target a bit more (or at least me). But it is in my opinion a nice lever to use they are meant to be hard and concise movements and I may abuse it a little but it functions good when I do! And if your shooting a lot with quick consecutive shots like pairs of clay you will notice that you pivot the top of the buttstock off your shoulder and if you fire before your all the way reset it kicks that corner into your shoulder. Ive shot 200 rounds (win AA target) through my benelli in one afternoon without a bruise (not really apples to apples as the benelli is a semi) but around 80 rounds through the Chiappa gave me a good bruise where the top corner of the stock would hit me. This can be easily remedied with a recoil pad also made the length of pull more suited to me (6') as you are no longer dealing with the beautiful butt plate. So in summary
Pros
-It is a quality lever action 12gauge that use modern 2 and 3/4 shells!!!
-colored steel is nice (can have a chromed gun if that your thing, not mine)
-shoots where you point it
-comes with cylinder,modified and full chokes
-holds 5 in the tube 1 in the reciever and 1 in the barrel for a total of 7 (I thought it was cool)
Cons
-hard on your shoulder if your a high volume shooter
-pump actions are faster, keep on target easier and cheaper for a good one
-chokes are a chiappa only thing as far as I know (difficult to get other sizes)
-cost
-no instructions on disassembly for cleaning ("take to gun smith") mind you most of the parts come out with the lever so they can be cleaned that way
-only takes 2 and 3/4
-does not have a raised rib/sight line (this would make it ugly anyway)
-top ejection means your shells end up under your feet
-no fast way to unload
-not a lot of of room for fingers loading from the top through the receiver but on the plus side never caught my thumb like I have in a couple of shotguns

That said I do not believe there is a shotgun other there I would trade this one for (unless I could sell it for more and buy another Chiappa 1887).
For any questions I would be happy to try to answer as I know the difficulty in researching 1887s online.

[catnthehat]

Thanks for the review!
It's a replica gun designed for the cowboy action crowd, but that doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't be hunted!
I would not however, compare it to a Benelli M2!
The M2 has nowhere near the fun factor, is not NEARLY as cool, and is a semi auto to begin with and the Chiappa is a hammered lever action!
Like I said , The Chiappa leaves it at the gate stalled !!
Cat

[cole smith]

The m2 is just the only other shotgun I own so I compared it to that but yes the 1887 is soooooooooooooooooooooo much fun to shoot!

[gtr]

Never read much on this topic before. Well written , and sounds like it would be fun to shoot as I'm a lever guy.

[cole smith]

Just make sure you buy the gun with the full stock my understanding is the t-model isn't near as fun. And thanks I felt like I was rambling!