Bettinsoli 20g - 24 July 2001

Bettinsoli as far as the UK market is concerned at the moment is a name of the past. Uttings of Norwich were the last distributor of these guns. Though unfortunately they closed their retail shop about 2 years ago. And finished with the brand sometime before that.

Fortunately as far as I know the company is alive and well still in Italy.

On the whole they are pretty good guns. Not quite to the level of, say, a Beretta, but certainly better than some of the cheapest guns coming from Italy.

This month's used gun is a 20 gauge from this stable. I am not sure of the model exactly as it doesn't have it engraved on anywhere that I can see. But the previous owner tells me that it was one of the top in it is range. And certainly the gun is very attractive with its silver action that is fully engraved.
Finish on Bettinsolis is generally very good with action crisply machined and finished. Usually they will have plating on the action to protect from the outside elements that can quickly take their toll on guns. All the inside surfaces that are not normally seen by the average shooter will be as well finished as those that you can see.

The mechanics of the action follows the proven principles of hammers at the bottom of the trigger plate with the sears suspended from the top of the action. The hammers are powered by captive coil springs that give the hammers a rebounding property so that there is less chance of striker drag when the gun is opened after firing.

The single trigger is reset by inertia of the first shot being fired. And a simple selector block picks up the sears. Selection of the required barrel is by moving the entire safe from left to right.

The safe appears to have no provision for an auto safe kit to be fitted this is a shame as many shooters prefer them on a game gun of this type.

The firing pins are simple and strong. With very strong return springs, so strong in fact that I replaced them on gun in the past to cure misfiring. This is because the strength in the return spring is such that it will take away much of the striking energy of the mainspring, resulting in a reduced powered firing action. Few guns, in fact no other that I can think of, have firing pin return spring quite as powerful as a Bettinsoli.

The top lever spring is also slightly unusual in that it is a torsion spring that is wrapped around the top lever pillar. The spring is tensioned up to its correct working strength by means of a small screw at the top of the action. These will sometimes come loose, so it is always worth checking if the top lever spring does not seem as lively as you would expect.

Lock up of the barrels to the action is achieved with a full width locking bolt that is housed in the bottom of the action. This engages with a full width bite in the bottom of the lump.

The ejectors are tripped by rods that run backwards and forwards with the travel of the hammers. These engage with a trip in the forend iron. The extractors themselves are directly sprung by coil springs housed in the barrel mono block.

The barrels are the more common mono block construction. With 70mm chambers and multichokes have been fitted as standard making the gun flexible for all types of shooting.

Blacking is still very good, and looks pretty much as it would have looked from new. The bores are chrome lined and with this protection certainly look as good as new. The top rib is approx 6mm wide and is file cut to reduce glare and reflections on sunny days.

The stock and forend still have their original finish, and appear original in stock dimensions.
The wood itself has a pleasing darker colour that most shooters favour, and has gained few marks in its short life. The wood is finished with a lacquer which give the wood a nice shine and would probably benefit from being stripped off and then an oil finish applied. But it would be a shame to do this at this stage as the gun is generally in very good condition.

The chequer is of the stamped type rather than hand cut, but this is quite normal on a less expensive gun. And the pattern used is of a more traditional style.

The stock is finished with a small black ventilated recoil pad. It is maybe a little short for most adult shooters at a fraction over 14", but would certainly suit any young shooter starting out. And because the whole gun is scaled down as a proper 20 gauge action, rather than a 12 with 20 gauge barrels, so the whole thing looks well in proportion.

At around 6 ¾ lb the gun is on the heavy side for a 20, but is reasonably well balanced, so it tends to hide this weight and handles well.

Prices; this one is little used and in top condition, I have it for sale at £400
More used older gun about £3-350. poor examples perhaps around £2-250.

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