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I'll answer Larry's question only as an attempt to put an end to this matter. I've shot a few earlier made Rizzini guns over 10 years ago now. Some of the members of a club I belonged to bought several from the shop I mentioned earlier. The owner was a fellow member and was blowing them out the door at give away prices as I'd already mentioned. There was even a 16 gauge model with fixed chokes and a single, non-selective trigger. I do not know which one of the Rizzini clan made these earlier guns, nor do I really care.

These Earlier 1990's guns were unremarkable, and a couple proved unreliable as I remember. I remember a couple of trigger problems and one had a forend that kept coming loose. There were several different grades and gauges. I don't recall just what was which. We shot skeet with them and some folks tried the 12 gauge guns at trap. I did not shoot any at trap. Eventually, most of the guys traded them off for Berettas, SKBs, Citori models, etc. As I said, they were an unremarkable lot and the guys that bought them did not keep them long enough for me to gat a solid impression of them other than to say they were a bit cheesy looking as a whole in my opinion. I thought here were tooo many mechanical problems with them too.

Every new B. and I Rizzini made gun I have seen or handled in the last 2 years has been in some shop except the SIG model TR-30, 20 ga that had a problem setting the second barrel at my new club. I shot a round of skeet with it. I hit 23 out of 25 targets with a couple of do overs because the second barrel failed to set a couple or three times. It was fitted with 2 skeet choke tubes. So I can't really say it was well regulated or not. However, the barrels appeared straight on this particular gun. (Incidentally, the gun apparently has been fixed. The third time back was the charm. It's been firing without a problem lately. The owner is talking about getting a Beretta. I have not asked why.

I did not buy any of the new guns I've seen, so I did not shoot any of the ones with curved barrels I've seen The shops generally frown on folks shooting their new guns to varify if they shoot straight or not. I also willl not trust any of the Rizzini company warranties about barrel accuracy. Their policy on the matter is not a good one. I've been informed that they feel the problem of misregulated barrels is a rare one and they are not set up yo replace any under warranty unless theree is a structural failure that is obviously a manufacturing defect.

Today, at KTP, I handled a used 16 ga. B Rizzini Artemus w/ 29 inch barrels, side plates, and a gold plated setter emblazoned on the side. It was marked with the importer, Harpswell, ME, on right side of the barrels. It weighed just over 6pound, 14 ounce. (yes we weighed it on their scale.) The top barrel was nice and straight. The bottom barrel was curved and pointed low and right. The set apparently was corrected for POI by twisting the two barrels so the lower barrel was oriented a bit to the left of the top barrel on the vewrtical plane. It was noticable by eye. The gun had also apparently been rechoked to Cylinder and Cylinder. What is was choked when originally made, I cannot say. I thought it was a bit muzzle heavy. The wood was nice, but not real nice. I noticed a lot of open pores in the finish in places. It could have used a couple more coats of oil in my opinion.

I did not get to shoot it either, because I was damned sure not going to spend the $2500 they were asking to see how straight it shot. I won't buy a gun that has an obvious flaw like this one has. You can call KTP and varify what I saw if you wish. I'm sure the gun is still there. I'm fairly certain it will be for some time in all liklihood. I'm sure they would just love to sell it to you if you want it. Then you could test it.

I will most likely not be shooting any Rizzini guns any time soon Larry. I don't think much of them from what I've seen. If you wish me to shoot one, then arrange for me to get a test speciman and I'll put it through its paces. I'll patten it for POI, and anything else you want me to do with it--except, I wont buy one. I hope this answers your question. Lets move on shall we. SBFD has already ordered a Citori, so its moot now anyway. I just hope to God his has straight barrels or we probably won't here the end of it for some time to come. Laughing

Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

Guy, that's a lot of bandwidth to say that no, you've never patterned a Rizzini for POI. Are you being paid by the word? Smile

We've noted previously that most of the B. Rizzini 16's--especially the early ones--were made on 12ga frames, and were therefore heavy. The only exception to that, I think, was the Aurum Light.

If that gun had a Harpswell, ME address on it, then the importer would have been Rich Cole--who has the reputation of being perhaps the best gunsmith in the country if you have a Beretta that needs work. In fact, from what I understand, he's concentrating strictly on custom Berettas now, having recently dropped his line of imported Polis.

Member Joined: 01 Dec 2006 Posts: 524

Guy's remaark on the forend wood being loose isn't the first time I've seen that in writing. In fact, on critiques on these guns I have read, that report comes up time, and time again. The rest, I have not read about before except here. In fact, I personally have no personal experience to add. I have handled about 6 -7 Rizzinis at a now defunct local dealer. His pitch was that they were a better alternative to Beretta and an up and comer. Having no personal knowledge of the guns at the time, I declined any purchase. They were slender with that button gizmo at the end of the forend for removal/attachment. Since then, I 've read about the loose forends which I believe there is a fix for - tape.

Joined: 13 Feb 2007 Posts: 98 Location: Illinois

I can only go on person experience. I have a TR-30 in .410 and a TT-25 in 20 gauge.

I don't know how many rounds I've shot through the TT-25 but if I had to guess probably 1500 - 2000. The only problem I had for it was finding the properly fitted choke tubes. Trulock and Briley had a cross reference with the Verona LX models but they didn't seem to thread right. I purchased the Rizzini chokes and they fit perfectly. I shoot it mainly as a 20 gauge trap gun and have a few 24/25s with it on singles and a best of 48/50 with it on doubles. Gun shoots like a dream and I prefer it over just about any other 20 gauge I've shot for clay games.

The TR-30 is a bit of a safe queen. And a beautiful one at that. Really a beauty of a gun. I did try it at trap a few times, a few 18/25s. Not bad for a .410. LOL

I would buy another in a heart beat and have been looking for the right opportunity to grab one.

I've personally spoken to Bud Fini over at Rizzini and he was always very easy to talk to and answered all of my questions. He seemed genuinely concerned that I was happy with my purchase and if there was anything he could do should I have any problems or questions. I've also spoken with Rich Cole and again, a real gentleman and easy person to work with. So, for me, with my Rizzinis, I have all the faith in the world that should something go awry, I will have the resources to have it addressed.

The same could be said about my Brownings. I've spoken to and have a gun at Art's GunShop right now. Another gentleman and someone I obviously trust with my firearms. I've seen his restorations on Superposed guns and it is fabulous. Amazing what he can do with an old rusted tomato stake.

I also personally pattern my guns. With combos I plan on shooting them with and I record my findings. I've patterned my TT-25 and for a 20 gauge, I was quite impressed at the concentration of shot and the even distribution of shot. Really a nice pattern. I don't know much about checking for barrel straightness, which should be obvious by now, but I do know what to look for in a pattern and I have been extremely pleased with the pattern my TT-25 throws. In fact, I actually think its a bit of a better pattern than my Browning XT Trap believe it or not.

Now that the weather's broke, I'll be out again shooting some patterns and maybe I'll be able to take some pics of the results. This way, there is visual proof of how the barrels perform. For me, that is the result I'm looking for. No conjecture involved there. Just facts.

Joined: 25 Feb 2006 Posts: 50 Location: john day, or

Son has a Citori 16 grade one, complains that he has to float the target over the barrel, attributes it to the rib style. Maybe not so straight barrels??

My DeHaan U2 16 is not light at about 7 1/2 lbs, not the best for climbing the hills for chukar, but ideal for banging ducks. Shoots dead on both barrels. A keeper.

Have a 28 SxS coming from them, supposed to be under 6 lbs, I'll use that for climbing the hills.

If he has to float the target with both barrels, its unlikely. It sounds more like a stock fitting problem here. Have him check to make sure his head is down on the stock with his cheek in firm contact with the comb. If he is seeing more than a sliver of rib, the comb is too high for him. Have him next check his length of pull. If he can mount a recoil pad on the stock and still mount the gun normally without snagging his jacket, then the longer LOP will put his eye further back down on the comb. Its then a simple matter of finding out just how much length to add.

Some of the pre-1994 Brownings did have barrel regulation problems. I've had a couple myself. However, Miroku went to a new assembly method since then. Its rare to see one with barrel problems now. However, as I've said many times now, before buying any double gun look down those tubes. If you see any curving or ellipitical bores, or misaligned choke tubes, pass on the gun. Don't buy a headache you can avoid.

Member Joined: 26 Apr 2005 Posts: 743

Some people actually prefer having to "float" the target. About all it means--assuming he has to do it with both barrels, and assuming there's no problem with his mount or gun fit--is that the gun shoots slightly high. That can help when shooting upland birds, which are often rising (especially if you're shooting over dogs). Personally, I'd rather have a gun that shoots a little high as opposed to one where I have to blot out the target with the barrels. Probably truer, however, with a sxs than an OU. You can hide a heck of a lot with that broad profile. I'd rather see the target above the barrels.