FAIR SLX 800 and SLX 800 XLight over and under hunting shotguns, proud examples of Made in Italy.
Sometimes it seems impossible to reconcile the experience of hunting with the concept of elegance and refinement. Elegant or refined it can be a dress, an accessory, but one could never imagine that even the accessories and hunting tools can be functional and “elegant” at the same time. The requirements of functionality and elegance (or remain aesthetic) are skilfully expressed by two shotguns which represent an excellent and shining example of production "Made in Italy:". We are talking about the over and under shotguns SLX 800 and SLX 800 XLight of the Fair, gunsmith company created forty years ago by the master from Brescia Isidoro Rizzini. Before dwelling on the technical and aesthetic characteristics of the two rifles, we would like to mention the history of this company, which with diligence and discretion has been able to establish itself in the national market of shooting and hunting guns.
The owner of the Fair began to appear on the market in 1966, devoting himself to the passion of sporting and hunting guns. Success came, however, only in 1971, when the company bearing the brand and name was founded "Fair". The choice of this name might seem random, but in reality it is not, because "fair", in English, also means "fair" and "loyal". In the production of hunting and shooting weapons, the company has always put the utmost loyalty and correctness, managing to obtain products with high functionality and precision. But at the beginning of the business, customers might not have enough of all this, because they probably needed not only functional weapons, but also aesthetically pleasing.
Isidoro Rizzini and its staff did not let themselves be intimidated by the needs of the market and, remaining faithful to the criterion of extreme correctness and loyalty also imposed by the name of the company, they did their utmost to create high aesthetic value rifles that can rightly be defined as "Luxury weapons". With the hunting guns of the Fair, that fantastic combination of functionality and elegance that we mentioned at the beginning of the article is achieved.
FAIR: Looking at the two SLX 800 and SLX 800 XLight over-and-under shots from the Fair, you immediately realize that you are faced with two luxury weapons, perfectly functional and extremely refined.
The refinement of a hunting weapon is not only an aesthetic requirement, but also a practical one, because long weapons, with sinuous and light shapes, are also more portable and manageable, especially in wandering hunting, where you have to run around for hours between mountains and valleys in search of game. The two superimposed ones are also good for hunting station, where, however, the hunter must take up arms with ready and decisive action. SLX 800 and SLX 800 XLight they are two superimposed specifically designed for hunting big game (ungulates) and aquatic ones, where you shoot with steel bullet ammunition, now used instead of lead shot. The ammunition of the SLX 800 and SLX 800 XLight over-and-under shotguns offers the same technology as smoothbore guns, traditionally used for bullet bullets, but with the advantage of the rifled barrel, which limits the fluctuations in trajectory (of the ball) caused by external adversities.
The two over-and-under shotguns have steel and chrome parts. The chrome is also contained in the barrels. The SLX 800 model, in particular, has a steel action frame, with chromed parts, while the SLX 800 XLight model has an aluminum action frame, with a nickel finish that gives it a particular brilliance. The two over-and-under are produced in 12 and 20 gauges, with reinforced toggles on the side, automatic extractors, golden monogrills, fiber optic front sight, rubber buttplate with anti-recoil effect, stock in precious walnut wood with patented oil finish and laser checkering with marked finish that increases the aesthetic performance of the two weapons and facilitates their grip. SLX 800 and SLX 800 XLight they are equipped with seven interchangeable chokes that allow them to be adapted to any type of hunting. The two weapons have an internal battery and the classic manual safety. The latter is operated through the slide located just behind the weapon opening key. The system with manual safety offers greater safety to the hunter, because it is less affected by adverse weather conditions (risk of blocking due to oxidation, etc.) and lasts longer.
During hunting tests it was found that the 20-gauge models, in addition to being more elegant than the 12-gauge, offer better ballistic performance. In the SLX 800 over-and-under, the distribution of the shot when fired reaches 86% with the first barrel and even 91% with the second. Model SLX 800 XLight, that is the super light one, gave good ballistic results, but excels over the previous model for lightness and handling. This second shotgun weighs an average of 2 kilos, compared to the three kilos of the SLX 800. The only drawback is the slightly more pronounced fletching of the barrel. This defect, however, is balanced by the lightness of the shotgun, lightness that allows you to carry it on the shoulder, for long hours, without getting tired. In extreme movements on difficult and inaccessible areas, the two superimposed ones have both shown an extreme ease of swing, making them also suitable for migratory hunting, where the flight of the game requires the hunter a few seconds to take up the rifle and shoot.
The remarkable similarity of the technical characteristics of the two superimposed ones determines only a slight difference in price: SLX 800 costs 1997 euros, while the super-light “brother”, that is SLX 800 XLight, costs 2170 euros. Prices include VAT.