Zoli is preparing to ship its new Bilanx over/under to the U.S., and Shotgun Life has obtained factory documents, as they undergo translation from Italian into English, that specify exactly what American shooters can expect from the next-generation in shotgun balancing systems.

Earlier shotguns used external hammers to cock the trigger springs. It wasn’t until near the end of the 1800s that design ingenuity permitted trigger springs to be cocked internally. But even long after so-called “hammerless” shotguns were readily available many, many astute shotgunners still preferred a smoothbore with outside hammers – and ordered their “bespoke” side by side shotguns with those hammers. I’m guessing at the date – but somewhere around the early 1980s thousands of these older hammer guns were brought in from England where they had been made – and the importers found a ready market for these storied masterpieces. One of the movers and shakers in this scenario was Houston’s Cyril Adams. There were others, of course, but Adams certainly had a lot to do with this importation of hammer guns – and with making them popular.

[caption id="attachment_1689" align="alignnone" width=""]The Baserri Chronicles Part I: New shotgun companies are a rarity these days, and so when one comes along we’re eager to track its progress. That’s the idea behind our series, the Baserri Chronicles. In this first installment, we see how Baserri Shotguns forged a key relationship with Briley International.[/caption]The shotgun industry powerhouse, Briley International, is backing newcomer, Baserri Shotguns, with full customer support and a forthcoming line of extended chokes.

An assessment of a new shotgun can go one of two ways: Either we concentrate on the specifications, measurements, features, and options, or we can look at the characteristics that really matter in a shotgun. Those are fit, balance, handling, and reliability.