The transformation of a consolidated caliber according to traditional English rules into a magnum requires some technical measures and the desire to use a charge much higher than the original one: together we will set up shotguns designed to first conserve the very slim barrel section and then a mass much more adherent to the normal 70 mm cartridge rather than the 76 cartridge. The ratio between load and mass will therefore be far from what Gen. Journée had codified and you will have a light, easy to handle shotgun, very ready to the shoulder and eye with the retaliation of a more noticeable recoil: in short, the old adage of the egg and the hen remains in force. For the Italian public the 28/76 was associated with the valuable Benelli Ethos, semi-auto that we have not yet had the ease of trying, but of which we can easily guess the merits and performance: nevertheless it should be noted that for several years this cartridge has been commonly distributed, for example on the French market where the transalpine hunters, known for their passion and competence in the choice and use of smooth barrels, they derive excellent satisfaction from this charge and from the rifles so comraded.
The story starts from his friend Fabio, who signs this song with us, who went to the rizzini of Marcheno to set up a pair of 28/70 barrels to be mounted on the receiver of a 20/76 of his own: the kind Mrs. Moira Rizzini asks the question about the bore, arousing the curiosity of the interlocutor: where is the most usually the less and the pair of rods was delivered with 76 mm chambers. However, the experiences have only recently been reached, when Fiocchi has followed with the usual courtesy the requests of the curious owner of this over-and-under: the long cases arrived promptly and with them the specifications for the reload which provides 32-33 g of shot against the 28 g of extra charge in the 70 mm cases.
Some experiments have quickly led to considering these doses as optimal, which we give without our responsibility or guarantee.
1) Case Bows 28/76/08 (T1), DFS 615 trigger, B. & P. Baby 28 Max H6 wad; Vihtavuori powder N / 105 x 1,70 g, pellets of 7½ by 32 g, finished height 65,5 mm, six-fold star closure. V / 2,5 m from muzzle: 380, 395, 391, 391, 396 - Average = 390,6 m / sec
2) Case Bows 28/70/08 (T1), DFS 615 trigger, B. & P. Baby 28 Max H6 wad; Vihtavuori powder N / 105 x 1,55 g, 7½ by 28 g shot, finished height 61,5 mm, six-fold star closure. V / 2,5 m from the muzzle: 367, 375, 386, 375, 368 - Average = 374,2 m / sec. Discarded the round closure due to the little contrast offered and the consequent reduced pressure and V / 2 developed decidedly too quiet, we moved on to the stellar closure reaching the parameters indicated by Fiocchi and reported above. The tests were conducted at the TAV of Settimo T.se which made the functional system available to shoot on the appropriate paper targets with an outer circle of 70 cm and an inner circle of 35. The distance of 25 m is indicative of many hunting situations. as of engagement of the targets.
The Rizzini over-and-under behaved as expected from a gun built with the usual attention and skill at the manufacturer: everything works perfectly from the barrel tilting to the battery armament, from the shots correctly calibrated around 1,4. - 1,7 kg without spinning or scratching, to the punctual and constant expulsion of the shells. The shot patterns are the result of internal **** and *** chokes that we believe are optimal for not tightening too much a column of shot already with a narrow section and therefore tending to a reduced width: in fact, from the results we can say that this negative characteristic it was brilliantly solved in the Rizzini shotgun which provides very functional shot sizes; on a couple of occasions we may have a lead arrangement further to the left of the center of the target due no less to our free-arm tappet defect. The firing set-up depends a lot on the bracing: if we allow ourselves to be tempted to hold the rifle with a sweetness induced in our mind by the polite measures of the weapon, the 32 g cartridges will make themselves felt and the barrels will rise by a few cm, but if the grip is more suited to the charge that is projected forward, stability will be ensured and with it the rapid dubbing of the blow.
In conclusion, we can say that the work of our friend Fabio was positive and interesting as well as the setting up of the shotgun perfectly suited to the needs of this new cartridge for our market, but already widely tested abroad.
di Emmanuel Tabasso e Fabio DeRubeis