Tweet
Pretty interesting list.
Fortune Magazine has a line-up of the 10 finest shotguns
#1 is a pair of Purdey SxS
London gunmakers like J. Purdey and Sons are to shotguns what Savile Row tailors are to suits. In business since 1814, Purdey's specializes in "bespoke" guns made to a customer's measure. Order one new and you can expect to pay the price of a small house and wait two years for your gun to be finished.
Matched pairs like these two guns are for high-speed shooting when the birds fly thick. A loader stands close behind the shooter, ready to take his Lordship's empty gun and hand him a loaded one.
Price: $120,000 (pair)
Gauge: 12
Number 7 is the Fabbri O/U
Think of Italy's Fabbris as the Lamborghinis of shotguns -- stunning blends of beauty and performance at a "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" price. Fabbri makes just a handful of guns a year for such luminaries as Steven Spielberg, Tom Selleck and King Juan Carlos of Spain, among others.
The swirling brown and blue patterns on the steel of this gun are the result of case coloring, a process in which the metal parts are hardened by heating them in a steel box with charcoal, bone and leather.
Price: $82,500
Gauge: 12
#10 Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Co. Model 21
Of all the American classic doubles that disappeared following the end of World War II, the Winchester Model 21 lasted the longest, limping along on life-support until the early 80s.
The 21 is one of the classics revived by Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company, which owns that Winchester model's name and patent. Made right here in the U.S. the guns are probably built better now than they ever were.
Price: $19,500
Gauge: 16
***I thought this one was particularly interesting. It's an auto-loader, not a semi-auto. It was #9 on the list***
Cosmi Autoloader
Meticulously hand-fitted parts and a complex design set the Cosmi apart from mass produced semi-automatic, making it by far the most expensive repeating shotgun in the world.
The Cosmi's ingenious self-loading mechanism dates to 1925 and requires over 100 hand-fitted internal parts; it's the Swiss watch of fine shotguns. Cosmis hold up to eight shells in a tubular magazine in the buttstock. Famous -- or perhaps infamous -- Cosmi owners include Leonid Brezhnev and Benito Mussolini.
Price: $8,250
Gauge: 20
Fortune Magazine has a line-up of the 10 finest shotguns
#1 is a pair of Purdey SxS
London gunmakers like J. Purdey and Sons are to shotguns what Savile Row tailors are to suits. In business since 1814, Purdey's specializes in "bespoke" guns made to a customer's measure. Order one new and you can expect to pay the price of a small house and wait two years for your gun to be finished.
Matched pairs like these two guns are for high-speed shooting when the birds fly thick. A loader stands close behind the shooter, ready to take his Lordship's empty gun and hand him a loaded one.
Price: $120,000 (pair)
Gauge: 12
Number 7 is the Fabbri O/U
Think of Italy's Fabbris as the Lamborghinis of shotguns -- stunning blends of beauty and performance at a "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" price. Fabbri makes just a handful of guns a year for such luminaries as Steven Spielberg, Tom Selleck and King Juan Carlos of Spain, among others.
The swirling brown and blue patterns on the steel of this gun are the result of case coloring, a process in which the metal parts are hardened by heating them in a steel box with charcoal, bone and leather.
Price: $82,500
Gauge: 12
#10 Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Co. Model 21
Of all the American classic doubles that disappeared following the end of World War II, the Winchester Model 21 lasted the longest, limping along on life-support until the early 80s.
The 21 is one of the classics revived by Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company, which owns that Winchester model's name and patent. Made right here in the U.S. the guns are probably built better now than they ever were.
Price: $19,500
Gauge: 16
***I thought this one was particularly interesting. It's an auto-loader, not a semi-auto. It was #9 on the list***
Cosmi Autoloader
Meticulously hand-fitted parts and a complex design set the Cosmi apart from mass produced semi-automatic, making it by far the most expensive repeating shotgun in the world.
The Cosmi's ingenious self-loading mechanism dates to 1925 and requires over 100 hand-fitted internal parts; it's the Swiss watch of fine shotguns. Cosmis hold up to eight shells in a tubular magazine in the buttstock. Famous -- or perhaps infamous -- Cosmi owners include Leonid Brezhnev and Benito Mussolini.
Price: $8,250
Gauge: 20
Comment