Semi-automatic shotgun, over and under or side-by-side? Let's discover the main characteristics and differences between these three types of shotguns for hunting and sport shooting.
The question has three answers and all equally valid. Certainly today the different types of rifles have reached a considerable degree of quality and therefore the choice is conditioned by the particular type of hunting. The builders of semiautomatic they have a few fewer problems than the manufacturers of shotguns e superimposed and in particular they don't have to worry about convergence, that is, make sure that the two rods shoot "exactly" in the same spot. It is obtained when the two-barreled weapon places the two groups at 35 meters at a distance of no more than 7 cm from each other.
In any two-barreled shotgun it is immediately evident that the distance between the breech centers is greater than that between the two mouths and therefore a convergence is created between the axes of the two barrels: if extended they would meet 192 centimeters from the muzzle. If the barrels were perfectly parallel, the shot patterns of each would reach a distance of 35 cm at 40 meters. When fired, due to the recoil and the bending of the stock, the rifle tends to rise and the barrel, at the muzzle, has a flexion of mm. 4 and therefore the bullets, when exiting, are in a lower position than the targeted one. The phenomenon, known as lowering, is proportional to the charge, weight and speed of the bullet. The aiming angle therefore corrects this particular phenomenon and by aiming the rifle at the target, the bullets are aimed at a slightly higher point.
External hammer guns - Nostalgia of yesteryear
Outdoor dogs. Considered by Ferdinando Courally, a great gun manufacturer and by Gianoberto Lupi, one of the best Italian technicians, a “perfect” weapon, the external hammer gun smacks of nostalgia. It was born in 1620 when a mechanism was built that, by pressing the trigger, made the dog turn (the name derives from a shape that vaguely resembled a dog's head and also because the mechanism "bit" the flint) on a rough surface causing a spark that ignited the dust. In 1807 John Forsyt, a brilliant Anglican pastor, invented the percussion system already effective but certainly primitive and cumbersome. Subsequent modifications have made the external dogs an elegant and functional weapon and in addition, the time passed has suffused it with an “antique” patina. The rifle with external hammers is easily disassembled, allows access to all its mechanisms and has an affordable price.
The Side-by-Side - The classic hunting rifle
Doublet. Once considered the classic shotgun, surpassed in sales in the Eighties by the over-under, it is now regaining, albeit slowly, an audience of traditionalist enthusiasts. The Italian production is particularly qualified and today it is mainly directed towards high quality weapons.
The over-under - From hunting to sport shooting
Overlaid. It seems the most modern shotgun due to its aggressive aesthetics and also considering that in almost all the paintings up to the last century appear hunters with shotguns that have juxtaposed barrels. Instead, these are weapons that were built for the first time in the seventeenth century. However, precisely because of the difficulty of accommodating the different mechanisms, the “arquebusiers” preferred to develop the side-by-side shotgun with juxtaposed barrels. The success of this particular type of weapon began after the war thanks to the Brescia manufacturers who managed to produce it at competitive costs.
The semiautomatic - The modern shotgun with a thousand uses
"Automatic". The correct name is Semiautomatic because the automatic are shotguns designed to fire in bursts but the abbreviated diction has now come into use. The principles on which it is based are different. One so-called gas outlet, it was first built by the Claire brothers of St. Etienne in 1880: they manufactured a weapon that partially exploited the gas produced by the cartridge to activate the reloading mechanisms. Brilliant in the invention they did not advertise it and so the principle of gas removal found application in a few rifles and many machine guns. When fired, the pellets are pushed towards the mouth. About the middle of the barrel, a tiny hole picks up a part of the gas that passes through the barrel core and acts on a piston that sets in motion a rod (in the jargon of arming ") that blocks the bolt forcing it to retreat with the cartridge case. . At the end of the stroke a tooth releases the case while the bolt, pushed by a recoil spring, returns to its housing by inserting another cartridge in the combustion chamber. In 1900 the American John Moses Browning built a reliable weapon capable of firing five shots in quick succession. He proposed his patent to Winchester, the factory where he worked, but was denied a profit share and turned to Remington who understood the value of the invention and in 1905 presented the Model 11. Currently the "automatic" rifles are based on the following principles. Long recoil of the barrel and the bolt locked to it. They both recoil together then the barrel locks and the bolt continues until a tiny tooth brings out the empty cartridge. In the meantime, the bolt has reached its limit and the barrel, compressed by a spring, has returned to its natural housing. Another spring pushes the bolt which, during the return stroke, engages a cartridge and carries it into the combustion chamber.
The rifle type Benelli it works with a mobile shutter and striking mass and follows in the footsteps of the post-war “Belardinelli” and the Swedish Sjogren built in the XNUMXs. When fired, by reaction to the recoil, the bolt makes an advance that is proportional to the power of the cartridge and squeezes, that is, it loads a spring that compresses and then stretches out immediately afterwards, blocks the locks and makes the entire bolt assembly that extracts the case back. on his return he puts another cartridge in the chamber. The Benelli has about fifty pieces while the other "automatic" have just under a hundred. The only rifle of its kind is the Cosmos. Built by Rodolfo Cosmi in the Thirties, it represents the maximum of rifles due to the construction system and mechanics.