The other day I bought a new double badger and had problems which I thought I should share. First and foremost the cosmetics are quite nice and it is a cool gun for the price. Having said that I had issues and a certain amount of Gunsmithing may be required to get it working properly. When I got home and put my first round of .22lr in it, it did not fire. Upon inspecting both the round and the firing pin I found that the firing pin was not profiled properly and as a result it was impacting the round in the centre of the casing not the edge. After profiling it with a file it was then firing but with light strikes.. it was now too short. Into my shop I went and fabricated a firing pin of the correct length and problem solved. Next issue was the .22 hammer is slightly deformed from firing pin impact. Obviously Chiappa either used a mild steel for this part or they neglected to heat treat it. The damage is not bad enough where the gun will not work but in it's current state it certainly wouldn't last long term. To resolve I took the less painful approach and heat treated it as well as the 410 hammer while I was at it. I will have to keep an eye on it but should know after 100 rnds or so if I will need to replace it.
Now that all issues are resolved (hopefully), it is a great gun and will be an excellent pack/camping gun. But a significant effort was required to get it to the condition it should have been in given that it was new. Thought I would share so everyone knows what they may be getting into should they purchase one.
Now that all issues are resolved (hopefully), it is a great gun and will be an excellent pack/camping gun. But a significant effort was required to get it to the condition it should have been in given that it was new. Thought I would share so everyone knows what they may be getting into should they purchase one.
