Almost quietly, the Franchi continues in its rhythmic march, gradually proposing interesting and specific rifles for the different hunting sectors, passing from smooth to rifled to return here to the smooth of maximum power.
di Emmanuel Tabasso
It is not very used by us, lacking or at least having few opportunities to unleash so much power, but abroad, especially in the United States, it is a shotgun that every serious hunter must have in his rack: Let's talk semi-automatic chambered for 12/89 caliber familiarly known as supermagnum. Already the charges increased than the normal 12/70 have come to push the 42 g of pellets at good speed, then the 12/76 magnum has pushed the terms of the problem further and the 52 g have become a consistent solution to hit leathery preys and greater distance. Not satisfied, we have gone on for a long time now cartridge 12/89 in all replacement for the 10 Magnum caliber which, as some may recall, had made a not long appearance on our hunting scene at the end of the 60s. of the caliber, not of the charge, to the 12 which represented, and still represents, the gunman factotum of the shot hunter. Strange laws are contrasted by intelligent solutions, daughters of those who work every day in the specific field and have to run fine businesses with all the people who work there. Here then is the invention of further lengthening the 76 mm case of the magnums bringing it to the same size that that 10 Mg caliber had. mentioned above. The study of the interior starting from the buscione to go up to the wad and to the closure made it possible to stow a charge of 64 g which is well suited to undermine particular prey.
Let's look again at America and we will undoubtedly see a great abundance of aquatic with a varied series of ducks, therefore birds of reduced weight, but still very tough for the bulletproof down jacket which, if it is not contemplated as such in the naturalistic treatises, at least this seems to be the case when the shot pattern does not produce the desired effect. We ideally raise the lens and we will find ourselves in front of the geese that represent the prey of choice for this rifle: found in old Europe as well as across the Atlantic, these beautiful and highly intelligent birds sail at safe altitudes, often imposing shots at the limit and also out of the reach of a 12/76. Finally we see wild turkey hunting and here too being able to have a well-thought-out group of large diameter pellets at a distance of over 50 m is a considerable advantage and often makes the difference between capturing and watching. We now come to mention another of the reasons that led to the solution of the supermagnum: the obligation to use iron or steel shot instead of lead shot, now in force in many countries, especially for hunting aquatics, has required a more space to stow 55 g of pellets made of these materials. Considering the lower specific weight compared to lead, it is easy to understand that in the same volume there is less weight; It is also easy to understand how this characteristic involves a more rapid decay of speed and therefore of energy, compensated by the tendency of these shot patterns to remain denser, therefore to disperse less at different distances. It is necessary to provide pellets with a larger diameter, also with lower yield and fewer stowage in the same volume. Wads, containers and other components of the cartridge have been designed precisely with these purposes and the gun manufacturers have done the same to study suitable barrels.
The Franchi technique
Let's start from the listing that in the House Franchi it is observed very carefully and the relationship with quality must be adequate and favorable: the stock is offered only in polymer in black or camo color considering the use to which the shotgun will be subjected. Certainly there is the special buttplate in three sizes of the Tsa Adv or Tsa Gel type which acts as a fair contrast to the choice of keeping the overall weight of the weapon around 3,2 kg with a 66 cm barrel, an entity judged to be optimal by the hunter. today's medium that favors comfort and manageability, sometimes placing in second order the best ballistic performance: in fact, and said out of the way, this measure is completely laughable and inappropriate and fortunately that also those from 71 and 76 are proposed, but it would be the 81cm one is suitable for the plant. The choice is motivated by the manufacturer with the shrewd observation that the rifle carries much more than it shoots and that the use of 89 mm cartridges is very often overshadowed by the use of 76 or even from 70 mm with which the weapon works perfectly, taking care only to have an energy at the muzzle of at least 230 kgm. Basically, those who pour the whole range of their needs on a single shotgun may also be fine with a short barrel, but whoever makes the supermagnum the companion of a highly specific effective ballistic performance guaranteed only by certain parameters.
Static and dynamic balancing comes as the next step to provide a rifle capable of firing several shots, both in rapid succession and as a total number over the course of hunting hours. Technically we observe the closed castle, obtained from an extruded ergal, and the carbon steel barrel, internally chromed and equipped with a small rear extension for correct centering. The overall mass obtained from these elements guarantees optimal balance thanks also to the arrangement of the recovery spring placed at the front, fitted on the magazine tube and inside the forend. The inertial system is always based on the rotating head with front flaps, but what we would call a front wheel drive makes the masses work in line with the barrel and, by moving part of the weights forward, considerably reduces wheelie. Another mention to the barrel for which there are three 5 cm long chokes, obviously suitable for steel shot, with the 4-star which in the latter case proves to be the optimal solution; for lead, those with 1 or 3 stars will provide adequate performance for every need. Lastly, the pleasant annotation of the of 7 years warranty granted for mechanical parts that show structural failures.