La Breda he chose a special steel to build it Xanthos, available in five different versions, to give it a high degree of resistance to time and atmospheric agents.
Each manufacturing company of hunting rifles goes in search of those aesthetic and mechanical elements, with which it is possible to capture preferences in the national and international market. In some cases it is preferable to sacrifice one aspect at the expense of another, to obtain greater consensus among hunters.
In the case of Breda we tried to combine both aspects, aesthetic and mechanical, in order to obtain a complete semiautomatic.
For the Xantos it was chosen to wink more on the mechanical part, without however scarifying the design too much, in order to have a gun that can withstand any type of stress, generated by man or by atmospheric events over time.
Il Breda Xanthos was conceived by the brilliant mind of Bruno Civolani, the forefather of the traditional inertial semi-automatic rifle, who describes the highest evolution ever achieved in this type of operation.
This innovative idea has found its perfect combination with the extraordinary technology available to Breda, in order to design and build a unique shotgun for its mechanics and very refined design. The Breda Xanthos it was designed by the architect Chiara Cervi in collaboration with the Breda System, who re-patented the mechanism, the latter being the result of engineer Bruno Civolani.
Il Breda Xanthos is a semi-automatic shotgun available in five versions that differ from each other for the color of the casing: black, gray, classic, damascus and limited.
Let's start from the casing of the classic model: the latter has an elegant ornate engraving, very deep and further highlighted by a special black paint, which contrasts and enriched by a woodcock engraved on the shutter in the White version and by a codon in the Gray one. The carcass finish is nickel, to which the Breda Hard Coating treatment is added: in the latter case it is a surface treatment that gives the metal greater resistance to atmospheric agents, oxidation and scratches caused by use during hunting.
The casing was made of steel with a high degree of strength, as it is structurally rigid without penalizing or increasing the weight.
The shutter of the Xanthos it is also made of excellent steel, whose considerable mass contributes to the significant reduction of the recoil sensation generated at the moment of the shot, the forces of which are obviously necessary to set the entire mechanism in motion.
The closure takes place via a vertical movement plug inserted in the bolt with the lower part that goes against the cocking lever. Finally, a massive spring leads to the rearmament of the rifle in the inertial process. Being able to count built with steel means being able to count on a practically eternal product. There are still examples of Breda rifles dated 50 or 60 years, which still have an impeccable functioning. This testifies to the high degree of robustness of every Breda shotgun, which has earned it the expression: a Breda it is forever.
Even the woods used for the stock are of good quality and beautiful aesthetics, also supported by the application of a film that enhances and embellishes by highlighting the existing veins. The stock is obviously pistol, which ends with a soft rubber butt plate.
With a strong metallurgical know-how, Breda has studied a special steel for the barrels of its shotguns. Just think that a raw cane cut from the main bar weighs up to 9 kg. These choices have determined a positive opinion on the ballistic performance of the barrels used by Breda, which in compliance with today's trends can use steel shot and are available in 61, 66, 70 and 76 cm lengths with 75mm Breda chokes. Choke, with standard or magnum room. The viewfinder is in red optical fiber, clearly visible in any light condition and in any case easily replaceable if necessary.
The trigger group was installed on a synthetic frame that incorporates the jumper and guard in a single component. The metal components are once again made of steel: two metal pins ensure the junction of this part to the castle of the semiautomatic.
With the Xanthos the Breda has undoubtedly been set another milestone in a long history of rifles that have remained in the hearts of Italian hunters. Breda has again created an extremely well built shotgun, superbly designed and reliable, with flawless field performance with any cartridge.
The only drawback of the Xanthos, so to speak, is the weight: this semi-automatic is not exactly as light as the current trends are imposing, but it is still extremely manageable because when hunting it manages to smoothly support any movement to tail the game, both in targeted shots and in those of embraced.