Id like to hear from owners of good higher quality combo guns. I dont want a savage or chiappa. Im interested in higher price points. Ideally im looking at 12ga/9.3×74r and 20ga/6.5×57r or 7x57r in an over under configuration. Ive been looking at the line of FAIR and rizzini but open to other makes. Regulation and handling and reliability are my main points of interest
Combo guns
- Thread starter brybenn
- Start date
I have a Brno ZH304 7x57r over 12g with a set of 12 over 12 barrels! Really well made and supposedly super strong action! They are fairly easy to find used and at somewhat affordable prices, I think I paid something like $1200 for all!
My gun store have a really nice Brno 12 over 30-06 that is a completely different model that mine, newer model for sure! Think they want something like $1800!
If you are I to higher end brands, sky is the limit lol!
Sometimes places like intersurplus and tradex have some decent ones for a decent price!!
I bought a brand new BRNO Combo gun, 12ga/30-06, and in 2018. Price without scope was CAD $2000.-
It is a pretty light gun for a two barrel gun. The barrels on these newer models are thin.
I had an issue with one of the firing pins braking on my second outing to the range.
It was fixed under warranty and she seems fine now.
Here is the thread:
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1741332-Combination-gun-options
It is a pretty light gun for a two barrel gun. The barrels on these newer models are thin.
I had an issue with one of the firing pins braking on my second outing to the range.
It was fixed under warranty and she seems fine now.
Here is the thread:
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1741332-Combination-gun-options
- Location
- Saskatchewan
The Germans make the best. I've been satisfied with Merkel, Heym, and Krieghoff. I have owned and used CZ Brno, Tikka, and several Savage variations. My conclusion: you definitely get what you pay for. Good call on not wanting a Savage or Chiappa.
- Location
- Vancouver Island, BC
I had a modern (late 2000s? Early 2010s?) Brno 802 in 308/12 Ga and was overall quite pleased with it. I sold it to a friend who had to have it and it's still going strong.
I regretted selling it and acquired a miroku model 7500 308/12 Ga from an older hunter on here. Built on a citori action. It will probably be the last firearm I ever sell. The ejection is VERY positive.
I saw and handled some of the latest model brno combos (mid to late 2010s?) At a Canadian Tire in the middle of nowhere and they handled very nicely. Overall nicer than the previous generation.
I regretted selling it and acquired a miroku model 7500 308/12 Ga from an older hunter on here. Built on a citori action. It will probably be the last firearm I ever sell. The ejection is VERY positive.
I saw and handled some of the latest model brno combos (mid to late 2010s?) At a Canadian Tire in the middle of nowhere and they handled very nicely. Overall nicer than the previous generation.
Attachments
Last edited:
In the past I have owned two prewar Sauer drillings, 8x57 JRS/16 gauge and 7x57R/16 gauge, both with claw mounted period scopes. Great accurate guns, somehow they never lit my fire, maybe it was the side safety. About 30-35 years ago I ordered a Heym Mod. 22 S from Frankonia in 7x57R and 20 gauge 3” with a claw mounted Zeiss 4x scope with German post reticle. With a Dural aluminum action this was to be my ideal sheep, goat, caribou ( and ptarmigan) gun. And it was. My mountain hunting days are behind me but this all round gun has also proven ideal for moose, deer and grouse and has been used for most of my combined species hunts ever since. And as I get older ( and older still) the super light weight is appreciated more every year. With good factory ammo or my favourite deer loads with Nosler 140 gr Partitions or moose loads with Nosler 175 gr Partitions it will put three shots on a quarter at 100 M, then the pencil thin rifle barrel starts to walk impact up abut 2” higher with each shot. So I shoot 3 shot sight in groups on the range and I have never needed more than two on game. I particularly like the manual cocking feature, the gun can be carried loaded but not cocked, kind of works like a lever action Winchester only you push the cocker like a shotgun safety instead of pulling back a hammer. Easily loaded and unloaded, easy to clean, convenient to use, I strongly recommend these for Canadian hunting if you can find one. Can’t have mine.
- Location
- Steel Town
I had a Brno 802 in 30-06/12 Ga. I think it was 2009 or 2010 manufacture. Butt ugly wood and poly finish, but it was dead accurate and quite handy. I wish I kept it. Eventually bought a Brno single shot with equally ugly wood finish, and it's also dead accurate, and 5.8 pounds! The wood got reworked and it's now the last rifle I would ever sell.
I've got a Merkel B4 in 223/12g. Overall I'm quite happy with it, however I've broken two firing pins since getting it last summer. I'm not sure how, or why, but that has been disappointing. New ones are on the way from Germany as we speak, apparently, so hopefully they are tougher.
Otherwise, the rifle barrel is wicked accurate, and the shotgun patterns well with its 3/4 choke. They are regulated well, and can be adjusted . The stock is very comfortable, and has nice wood grain. The triggers feel like tactile art, and are just a pleasure to shoot. The iron sights function well.
Overall I'm happy with my Merkel, and if my firing pin issue is resolved, I'll be very happy with it. I also think the Blaser combination guns look great.
Otherwise, the rifle barrel is wicked accurate, and the shotgun patterns well with its 3/4 choke. They are regulated well, and can be adjusted . The stock is very comfortable, and has nice wood grain. The triggers feel like tactile art, and are just a pleasure to shoot. The iron sights function well.
Overall I'm happy with my Merkel, and if my firing pin issue is resolved, I'll be very happy with it. I also think the Blaser combination guns look great.
There is a Blazer in the EE right now.
Go and check that one out.
3K +/- a hundie or two.
Rob
Handling and cartridge selection.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
I've owned several Savage M24 combos. Regulation of the rifle barrel to match the shotgun impact was never good, and in one of them the rifle barrel was so far off the shotgun that a aimed shot with the shotgun while using the rifle sights would put the entire pellet pattern far enough away from a sitting bird or bunny at 30 yards to miss entirely. Bad triggers that were heavy and / or gritty. Crappy plastic parts like trigger guards that break. Poor wood finish. Crude sights. Extractor that sticks. Very low comb in some models basically unusable with a scope. Sloppy chambers that expanded shell casings alarmingly. A useless shell holder in the butt stock that lost the ammo I put there because the sliding door had no latch. I kept buying them, hoping the next one would be better. NOPE. They were all junk.
Chiappas just might be mechanically OK, but I've passed that price point in my hobby and prefer guns with more refinement and grace.
That Heym sounds way ahead of its time. The aluminium receiver and the decocking safety seem to be popular on modern European combo and kipplauf designs. 20 gauge instead of 12 seems perfect in terms of balance and receiver size. Always been a 20 gauge fan for upland, not that I’ve ever done much upland hunting but ditch swatting.
I’ve been pondering a combo gun for a long time; sucks to run into 5-10 grouse on a grown over seismic line with a 338 in your hands and no moose or elk in sight.
Kind of torn between a FAIR or a rizzini. Handled a Rizzini over under double recently and it seemed well put together, Bavarian stock is not as dramatic as it seems in the stock photos. Never seen a FAIR in the flesh but the 20 gauge model is tempting. I was close to pulling the trigger on a CZ BRNO but the caliber selection doesn’t do it for me.
The 243/410 double badger is a little intriguing but again not enough juice on either calibre for my needs/wants plus I have bad history with rimless in a break action
I’ve been pondering a combo gun for a long time; sucks to run into 5-10 grouse on a grown over seismic line with a 338 in your hands and no moose or elk in sight.
Kind of torn between a FAIR or a rizzini. Handled a Rizzini over under double recently and it seemed well put together, Bavarian stock is not as dramatic as it seems in the stock photos. Never seen a FAIR in the flesh but the 20 gauge model is tempting. I was close to pulling the trigger on a CZ BRNO but the caliber selection doesn’t do it for me.
The 243/410 double badger is a little intriguing but again not enough juice on either calibre for my needs/wants plus I have bad history with rimless in a break action
Last edited:
Like these? Shown with the .22 LR Kreighoff insert installed which I use a lot. In BC grouse season coincides with moose and deer seasons and they can be legally taken with a rifle.
Attachments
- Location
- Saskatchewan
I had a similar Heym in a slightly more "refined" older version, double triggers without the selector button, but also Dural reciever. They are very well made and accurate, and light! Mine was under 6 lbs in .222/16 ga. w/o scope mounted. It's being used by another Gun Nut now, hope he's enjoying it as much as I did!
