Fausti style side-by-side gun review review

Shotguns have increased disproportionately in price in recent years, especially side-by-sides. One can blame a sinking pound as far as foreign imports are concerned, much higher material costs and higher manufacturing costs, too – both labour and machinery have become more expensive. It is, therefore, refreshing to see what appears to be a smart-looking, traditionally styled shotgun at a sensible price.

The £999 Fausti Style side-by-side is made in northern Italy in a factory owned by the feisty and rather fabulous Fausti sisters. They inherited the business from their father and have much invested in it since. They now produce in the region of 6,000 over-and-unders and 2,000 side-by-sides, making the firm a serious player in the global sporting gun trade. I have visited them several times.
Fausti, like several major Italian firms, now combines the latest technology with traditional artisan craftsmanship. Both are much in evidence at the factory, which makes guns at all price points in a bewildering number of models. As far as the UK is concerned, though, only a small range of guns is being imported at the moment. These have been specified for our shooting conditions and are brought into the country by the Sportsman Gun Centre which has retail premises in Devon and Dorset as well as acting as a major wholesaler to the gun trade in this country.

The test gun has 26in, multi-choked, monobloc barrels and weighs in at a very reasonable 6lb 74⁄5oz – close to the British ideal. It has 3in (76mm) chambers, a flat and neatly file-cut rib and a single, non-selective, trigger. The coin-finished action is eye catching with pleasant, mechanically applied scrollwork plus scalloping to the rear. For an inexpensive gun, it looks especially good; money-wise you could not expect more and could easily get less, in poorer taste.

The stock is straight gripped and there is quite a deep fore-end which, like the grip, fills the hand well. The shapes and dimensions of the stock are conventional. The length of pull with a wooden heel plate is 145⁄8in (which would allow for 15in-plus with a pad or ebonite block fitted). There is an extra 1⁄8in at heel and 3⁄8in at toe, which is all pretty standard. Drop, however, is a little on the low side with 1½in at comb and 2½in at heel (my preference would be to bring the heel up at least ¼in ). Nevertheless, the design of the stock – like the rest of the gun – is essentially sound.
The finish is good, too – an imitation of traditional, hand-rubbed oil and well-cut laser chequering.

FAUSTI

Maker Fausti, Italy
Importer Sportsman Gun Centre, 19 Apple Lane, Trade City, Exeter EX2 5GL
Tel 01392 354854
Email info@sportsmanguncentre.com
Price £999

Fausti style side-by-side technical data and shooting impressions