Breda Zenith - A Brand New Shotgun Design!

Big Bad

Big Bad

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Location
In Little Syria.
I've become quite a fan of some of the videos these guys put out, here's a review of a double gun that also does a good job of showing how a pro gun smith looks at them, with this particular gun having some very good ideas. Except for the full pistol grip, that's something you only want on a rifle IMO.

And speaking of that, he talks about the 2 3/4 inch chambers and I've often wondered why the Brits so often choose to limit themselves to 2 1/2" ones, I mean shoot the shells you like but I've never heard that shooting a shorter shell out of a longer chamber affects patterning.


 
I believe the theory is that a 3 inch chamber allows the shot charge to expand before entering the forcing cone making the diameter reduction more abrupt.
Having said that, shotgun manufacturers can't seem to agree on whether it does or does not. Parazzi sticks with 2 3/4 inch chambers in their target guns whereas Beretta uses 3 in chambers in their target guns and no one I'm aware of has ever complained about Beretta patterns. The weird thing is that Beretta uses 2 3/4 inch chambers in their SO series guns so it seems that even within the company they're not sure which way to go.

I do agree, a pistol grip has no place on a side by side!
 
Falconflyer said:
I believe the theory is that a 3 inch chamber allows the shot charge to expand before entering the forcing cone making the diameter reduction more abrupt.
Having said that, shotgun manufacturers can't seem to agree on whether it does or does not. Parazzi sticks with 2 3/4 inch chambers in their target guns whereas Beretta uses 3 in chambers in their target guns and no one I'm aware of has ever complained about Beretta patterns. The weird thing is that Beretta uses 2 3/4 inch chambers in their SO series guns so it seems that even within the company they're not sure which way to go.

I do agree, a pistol grip has no place on a side by side!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think the desire for such things springs from the desire of some to operate shotguns as if they are rifles. IMO and for a fact, you lose a lot of the virtues of the scattergun if you insist on such rifleman features.
 
Big Bad said:
Yeah, I think the desire for such things springs from the desire of some to operate shotguns as if they are rifles. IMO and for a fact, you lose a lot of the virtues of the scattergun if you insist on such rifleman features.
Click to expand...

I don't agree with this. I for one dont buy pistol grip stocks because I aim them like a rifle. In fact, I have never seen a clays gun with anything but a pistol grip. For me, my preference has always been a Prince of Wales grip over a full pistol grip. I really dislike the ergonomics of an English stock and to me, they often times feel to thin in the wrist for my liking.
 
1963beretta said:
I don't agree with this. I for one dont buy pistol grip stocks because I aim them like a rifle. In fact, I have never seen a clays gun with anything but a pistol grip. For me, my preference has always been a Prince of Wales grip over a full pistol grip. I really dislike the ergonomics of an English stock and to me, they often times feel to thin in the wrist for my liking.
Click to expand...

Could be early onset British-inspired snobbery on my part, but the prejudice is strong in me.
 
I didn't have time to watch the video yesterday and when you mentioned double gun I assumed that it was a side by side, now that I see it's and o/u then I'll try to clarify my comments on stocks. Shame on me for assuming!

All of my over and under shotguns have pistol grips or prince of wales grips which I really like. I just feel that the straight grip goes hand in hand with double triggers which I have on all of my side by sides and not on any over and under's. The straight stock seems to facilitate the move from front trigger to rear trigger. Maybe it's all in my head but the one side by side that I have with a pistol grip always seems a bit awkward with the double triggers.
 
The gun looks to have some potential, the lockup and trunion system is very 686'ish and is a proven design. The tightly curled pistol grip is in fashion with sporting clay's shooters these days and it's nice to see that they have stayed away from a schnabel fore end. I do question why the short stock on the pre-production gun, that's a bit weird, it's as if they ran out of wood or something. Also, the gun is pretty light for a sporting gun, 8 lbs seems to be the lightest weight for a target gun these days with many closer to 9 lbs. A longer stock might bring it up to 8 lbs and a couple more inches of barrel will help. They must be the only manufacturer to stick with 18.4 bores, no other major manufacturer I'm aware of does that with target guns and regardless of your preference, I can see that being a negative for a lot of shooters. All in all it looks like Breda has done a nice job though!
 
I just find that a pistol grip locks your hand in place in a way that doesn't make for good wing shooting. My recently acquired O\U Beretta has a modified pistol grip which is actually pretty good, actually a great compromise, but a full one is just too much. I will say that they make it a bit easier to carry a gun in the port arms position for hours, I mean over a straight English stock, but it's a small advantage.
 
I'm not going to argue with you on stock design because it's mainly personal taste but you won't see many straight stocks on a sporting clay's course so I think that says something about what most high volume shooters think about them.

I don't like a really tight curled pistol grip, I've got fairly big hands with long fingers and I don't like to crowd the trigger. The Beretta style of pistol grip is about right for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom