The habits acquired are difficult to change and the mental pairing of a shotgun produced in Turkey easily joins a very interesting quotation. To this is linked a more than discreet execution, to be judged as our custom, together with the price which remains an inseparable function of the product. The last over-and-under kindly entrusted to us by the Paganini company in Turin overturns the known structures with a figure outside the usual schemes: just under € 3.300,00 is a lot of money and makes us think like the Yildiz, a house well known for its prerogatives, want to try the market with a product different from the usual in the visual impact, in the design and in the executive technique.
We have made an effort to evaluate the applied ingenuity and the class of execution: speaking clearly, and not in the Jesuit way of which we are occasionally accredited, we present the evaluations that will be partly objective, partly personal.
Technical features
Let's start with the material used for the action: milled alloy steel and EDM, cemented and polished. The mass will be, as we shall see, a remora for the Italian market where by now the weight of the gun must be equal to that of a ravarini & Castoldi cane or walking cannon. Then all the available cards are played to minimize the recoil sensation, dutifully soliciting a commendable inventiveness for the solution of the physical problem that fatally reappears, cartridge after cartridge, such as hunger after fasting or tiredness after fatigue. The setting differs from that used in many Italian over-and-under with double tenons placed side by side and placed under the profile of the lower barrel. Here we see a revival of the Boss project with shoulders obtained inside the sides of the action to which the arched tenons obtained from the breech monobloc contrast: in their rear profile the hooking teeth for the closing block are milled, moved from the key and formed by two U-shaped prongs with semi-cylindrical section, the flat part of which tightens.
It should also be noted how this profile, thanks to appropriate milling, is placed further back from the surface of the rocker face, therefore with a more favorable lever arm. The half-pins inserted behind the hinge loop and the lugs still obtained from the monobloc integrate the complex: if the tenons and the lateral projections go the greatest load to oppose, under fire, the forward thrust of the barrel group, nevertheless the half-pins screwed are supported by trapezoidal thickenings obtained by blocking the thickness of the action frame.
It should be noted that compared to the original English project the lateral contrast surfaces are reduced, however the position is favorably situated at the level of the middle line of the lower barrel, the one that is usually stressed the most, thus opposing the applied force in axis. It is also observed that the lower part of the tenons has no contrasting function since the mortises in the flattened receiver back are missing: the study is clearly aimed at reducing interventions and therefore costs. Going back to the details of the action, you can see the correct drilling for the exit of the firing pins from the face, alongside the pawl for putting the key back into the center with the weapon removed, the not exactly elegant position of the cocking slide visible on the bottom, while they are inside and therefore well concealed the two control rods of the ejectors that peek out from the double hinge round: here the streaks denote a correct adjustment for firing the shotgun.
Overall, the aesthetics of this model are appreciable where the double breasts stand out, highlighted by the marked scratches of the rocker head connected upwards to form the seat of the opening key: this is of the integral pin type where the right proportions are highlighted and prolonged convexities in the body ending with the elegant oval of the button. We return to a normality induced by the processes, largely mechanized, with the upper tang on which the key is well adhered: the straight lines, not tapered, if compared to the selling price appear banal. The function that incorporates the safety slide with knurled hemispherical button, including the mechanical firing selector, remains unaffected. Sober, almost Franciscan, the design of the flattened sides on which a minimal relief highlights the lateral reinforcements and those of the back, joined together by a round arch.
Reeds, shots and woods
The barrels made from carbon steel have a size of 66 cm and are designed for the interchangeable chokes supplied in number of five with the gun: the internal drilling is not indicated. Straightening and finishing give a sign of accuracy: only traces of milling appear inside the cartridge chambers while the grip recesses in the extractors whose stems slide in special guides of the monobloc are carefully beveled. The rolled shading of the raised rib with alternating inclination jumpers, welded to the sub-rib, is also effective. A polished trigger with excellent arching protrudes inside the guard, also designed with an oval that does not dent the shooter's middle finger: the grams reported by the Lyman are a little higher with an average value of the first equal to 2035 g and 1743 g in the second. The absence of defects such as spinning, uncertainties and other negativities allows, despite the release weight, a regular and pleasant use.
Correction of the recessing with slight thickness to grow: the woods show a very darkened color that mortifies the appearance a little, making it too serious, indeed too Pro: excellent regular lines and within the canons of aesthetics and practicality with pistol grip well arched and with an increasing section towards the guard, comfortable for hands of various sizes, raised nosepiece and rounded back for a correct posture of the face and eye, rubber butt pad that further softens the recoil sensation already well mitigated by the weight equal to 3.470 g. The prismatic section forend with rounded edges falls well in the hand allowing for precise swinging: the crosshead is mounted inside with some anomalous relationship between metal and wood, but the relationship with the hinge turn of the receiver indicates a correct firing. of the weapon, which is what counts. The coupling to the rods sees the Aoget system with external lever equipped with a comfortable finger rest.
To conclude
At the skeet shooting range in Settimo Torinese we tested the rifle on paper targets where the Eley and Remington cartridges provided shot patterns adequate to expectations, as well as in the hands of his friend Fabio, a skilled footboard shooter, the Pro rocked several targets too. second barrel at considerable distances. The ballistic results are therefore valid and comforting while some doubts remain about the polished finish of the crampons and some details detectable from the images accompanying this piece. There remains the obstacle of the price which, compared to national products of Beretta, FAIR and Rizzini, just to mention three followers of the over-and-under barrels sector, leaves some sensible doubt for the choice.
Data Sheet
Manufacturer: Yildiz Silah Sanai ve Tic. Ltd. Sti. - 15100 Burdur - Turkey
Importer: Paganini Turin - [email protected] - www.paganini.it
Model: PRO
Type: double barreled shotgun with overlapping smooth bore
CALIBRO: 12/76
Weighing machine: in steel obtained by tool processing with CNC machines - nickel-plated finish
Cane: in carbon steel
Chokes: 5
Battery: mounted on the under guard
Ejectors: automatic selective with long rods and springs inserted in the breech monobloc
operation: mounts batteries with barrel tilting
Snap and safe: trigger with mechanical single trigger - safety button on the receiver with firing selector
Mira: 7 mm ventilated rib welded to the barrel with sub-rib, LPA red plastic front sight
Stocking: ergonomic walnut stock - pistol grip - rubber butt plate - rounded fore-end - release with Aoget type lever - laser checkering
Finishes: bluing for rods and nickel plating of other metal parts
Total length 1090mm
Weight :: Approx. 3.470 g
Informative price: 3.271,00 € (vat included)
Accessories: 5 chokes with disassembly key - ABS case with synthetic velvet covers
Thanks to Mr. Ivan Scena of the TAV "Città di Torino" of Settimo Torinese for availability during the rehearsals (+39 338 409 6692)