By now the Vicenza Fair has a consolidated high caliber and it is natural to mentally thank the organizers, who started a few years ago from nothing, who were able to implement such an event. The arrangement of the various compartments allows you to turn quickly, focusing on what is of specific interest, perhaps reluctantly skipping what you cannot reach for your lack of time. The firearms sector, in particular the long hunting ones, represents the focal point of our work and therefore we have planned a visit to a conspicuous part of the exhibiting signatures to closely observe the pieces proposed and, in some cases, learn from the voice of the owners. or of the representative figures the impressions of the moment.
An almost unanimous observation is addressed to the specific interest of many visitors who are there not only for a mere understanding of what the market offers, but for a survey and a curiosity followed by an interested learning, often aimed at choices for future purchase decisions. The Italian market is now well defined with a certain stasis of the smooth barrel in the 12 gauge to which the 20 is preferred, while the little ones like the 28 and .410 Mag. Have forcefully entered the orbit of interest of dog hunters. : already with the usual charges these two cartridges do an excellent job, then reinvigorated in the 28 by the magnum version with 33 g of shot. The notoriety of this cartridge, which has been used for years in France for example, can be ascribed to Benelli which has so chambered its semiauto of excellence Ethos which we tried hunting with the charges set up by Fiocchi: an emotion that we would never have believed we could try.
A national precursor of this extraordinary caliber was the Rizzini with its over-under and its particular side-by-side: the ballistic response in a reduced weight is already an excellent thing, supported by the contained sensation of recoil. We also remind you that the company founded by Battista Rizzini, flanked today by his daughters Moira and Pamela and his son Giuseppe, is well present in the platform sector with various models that are always up-to-date, then ranges in small calibers where it sets up specific weighing and size action frames, and again in double-caliber rifles for hunting in the shed, ending with the rifled barrels of the bockdoppelbüchse. There is an air of novelty with the entry of Dr. Luca Gaeti alongside the Cosmi family: shortly the wonderful and unique semiautomatics will be joined by a refined side-by-side with flintlocks on plates. A return to the origins therefore and we will not stop there: we will see the rest later. At Sabatti the focus is on the various versions of the recent Saphire with interchangeable barrel and on the shooting models that have won prestigious national and international awards: there is now also a model based on AR 15 with heavy barrel, specific for competitions.
Benelli catches the eye with the sporty version of the 828 U over-and-under equipped with a steel receiver instead of Ergal and specific barrels for platform specialties which is flanked, with the known structure, by the Beccaccia model, extremely handy, with short barrels. holes and chokes suitable for hunting colopacid. From Paganini you get lost imagining which and how many hunting and shooting situations could be successfully faced by choosing between Remington or Kimber rifles and Leupold optics, among which the new Mk 5HD stands out in three versions with magnifications up to 35x. . From Redolfi, RA Sport offers Bergara rifles and Delta optics, a combination of considerable technical caliber offered at very attractive prices. Bignami ranges over a wide range of proposals that in shotguns sees the HS Precision, the Weatherby, the Rössler excel, all extremely precise and with a certain caliber in the quotation, flanked by the CZ that combine technology and refinement of materials and workmanship at still favorable prices. while Savage inserts a series of peculiarities in its long rifled guns, in particular from the bedding to the trigger, all at a competitive price. Let's not forget the large series of optics among which the names of Zeiss and Night Force stand out for which any comment is superfluous. And since we are in the field of optics, Leica offers its riflescopes for hunting and shooting with excellent lenses and excellent mechanics of the adjustment turrets; a new red dot tickles the interest of wild boar riders.
Likewise on the crest of the wave the Swarovski with the recent dS 5, the telemetric telescope of particular conception: the quotation is adequate to the studies conducted and to the refinement of the system. The recent grouping of the three German brands Blaser, Mauser and Sauer maintains a decisive and appropriate differentiation between the products: the recent Mauser M18 is offered at a truly unusual price for the glorious brand so it is worth thinking about it. At Browning the BAR Mk III reigns supreme, equipped with all the peculiarities known by those who love the rifled-barrel semiautomatic: a particular slide allows the quick change of the pre-calibrated optics, so you can pass in a few seconds from a target scope to a point Red. A super-light model of the prodigious X-Bolt stands out in the sliding revolving bolt rifles: here too, ballistic performance and spending money are extremely favorable. Franchi extends the Affinity range with the Affinity 3 Elite in 12 and 20 gauges, in the Cobalt and Bronze versions with Optifade Timber and Marsh synthetic camo stock, barrel and carcass with bronze or cobalt Cerakote paint. To these is added the Affinity Companion Labrador with the traditional and always pleasant wooden kick and engravings starring the Labrador Retriever: the mechanics Front Inertia and the 7-year guarantee are a significant confirmation of what the shotgun can guarantee in terms of ease of use and durability. Franchi also enriches the ruled core family with Horizon White, Horizon Colored and two new calibers, the 6,5 creedmoor and 223 REM, the latter with a removable magazine. Fausti celebrated its 70th anniversary last year: side-by-side shotguns are a milestone on which the company's production revolves, flanked by over-and-unders with the valuable closure Four Locks® patented. TFC proposes itself as an established distributor and in the stand we noticed over and under shotguns from FAIR, the company led by Dr. Luca Rizzini, and then again the different types of rifles of the prestigious Steyr, historic manufacturer who has been able to derive from the noble Mannlicher Schönauer a conspicuous series of excellent rifles with refined mechanics, high precision, low cost.
We made a quick passage on various exhibition pavilions limited to the long gun sector for hunting and shooting: without pretending to exhaust every topic, we think that the overview proves to be sufficient to guide the thoughts of the enthusiasts who follow us on this path.