Well, I got out to the range today at lunch hour to initially test this fine 20 guage.
it's a Franchi renaisence Classic O/U .
I'm a bit of a Franchi nut, having shot all of the OEM models that were made for C.I.L. in the 60's, and like them .
This particular gun is 6 pounds on the button, points naturally and swings fast.
Stocked in Turkish walnut, this partcular gun has nice , not spetacular, but has some pleasant grain on the right side of stock.
Engraving on the receiver receiver borders a "gold" filled quail on one side and a partridge on the other, however, the actual gold content is questionable, for a price tag of under $1,600!
A plastic case is supplied , with a choke wrench and bottle of gun oil.
the barrels are 28" with a nice crosshatched rib, with a single bead that is very clear. I am planning on putting a mid bead on in the future.
The gun comes with three chokes - full for lead, mod, and IMP/CYL that will handle steel as well as lead.
This gun cocks on closing , so can be broken down without having to release the firing pins, and there is a little lever to return the breach release to center.
Both sides of the monoblock are nicely jewelled, as are all the little levvers and rods.
The breach release BTW, is styled very nicely with a skelatonized thumb pad.
The recoil pad is not the new style , ugliest thing on the earth type ( Benelli and Berreta also have the new style pad on their guns) but a very nice , thinner style like the Tikkas and Valmets have.
Time did not allow me to open up both houses, so I only had the low house to shoot at.
Station one , I called for the bird with the gun down as I would when a real bird gets put up.
The auto safety came off smoothly ( I HATE auto safeties!)!!), the gun came up like lightning, and the bird got smoked.
Called again for the bird ( my work partner was button man) and the second barrel vapourized the bird as well.
four more birds and we moved to station two.
Same thing We couldn't find station three, so I went a bit farther and back, about 12 feet farther than the pad, and called for the bird with the modified barrel, missing it . I knew subconciously I hadn't lead enough and broke the bird with the IMP/CYL barrel.
Up to staion 8, and I missed a few birds till I realized I had to swing the gun a bit differently , as it is a full 2lbs. lighter than my Tikka.
Nothing got past the little 20 after that.
We walked over to staion 7 , and I started calling for the birds with the gun down at my side, and the patterns seemed to be breaking very even .
I was shooting both factory federal general purpose 2 3/4, 21/2 drams loads with 7/8oz of nines, and handloads with 17 grains of Unique, a WAA20 wad and 7/8oz of 8.5's.
There was no difference in the breaks, so everything is great as far as the choke/loads go!
All in all, I lost only 5 birds in 50 shooting from those staions off the low house.
First impressions - I LOVE THIS GUN!!
The gun is tight to close as you bear against the springs and such to cock it, but this is not a big deal.
The case is all plastic, and lthough the inside where the gun lays is a different , slightly rubbery type of plastic, I am going to get a set of sleeves made for it.
I don't trust it at all not to eventually scratch the gun.
All in all, I would recommend this shotgun to anybody that was in the market for a light, quick handling field gun for partridg or pheasants - a very good buy for the money, IMO.
Cat
Franchi 20 guage range report
You want another auto safety I got a couple of them in the junk box they come out easy..
Linear Mode
