The Chapuis Chasseur Deluxe Side by Side is a Serious Contender From France
There’s something to be said about owning a sporting shotgun from a company that also makes the classic dangerous-game double rifle. Reliability and precision comprise the fabric of the gunmaker. The craftsmen at the bench know that if a cape buffalo charges you at 30 miles per hour, hearing click instead of bang when pulling the trigger could be the last and most unfortunate sound you never want to hear.
Of course the stakes aren’t nearly as fatal when shouldering your side by side for a flushing covey of quail, when you eyeball an individual bird, know it’s yours, pull the trigger and…click. Although it may prove to be a random mishap of the entire day, you lose faith in the shotgun, and second-guessing your shots creeps up on you for the remainder of the hunt.
The Chapuis Chasseur Deluxe side by side in 20 gauge.
The companies that produce trusted double rifles and sporting shotguns belong to an elite class, and often are considered a catalogue of European luxury brands: Holland & Holland, Westley Richards, Boss, Krieghoff, Verney-Carron, Purdey, Rigby, Blaser and Chapuis. And if your idea of a luxury long gun leans heavily on the revolutionary, Darne of France would become an honorary member of the group.
Chapuis has been the outlier here in the U.S. – less so since Beretta acquired the French gunmaker in March 2019, and Beretta-owned Benelli starting distributing Chapuis guns to Americans as of 2021 through their widespread network of dealers, and the Beretta Galleries. Before Benelli, Chapuis tried reaching American game and clays shooters with various small importers, but their market penetration remained commensurate with their murky brand recognition.
The Chapuis X4 side-by-side double rifle.
England’s best gunmakers were raking in six figures for any of their hand-crafted masterpieces, while by contrast the Germans and French make excellent shotguns and double rifles that are far more affordable. So when it comes to the likes of Krieghoff, Blaser, Verney-Carron and Chapuis, you’ll likely get a highly reliable shotgun or double rifle for less money than the Brits festooned with their royal warrants.
And let’s face it, if you just wrote a $10,000 check for a new upland side by side that you’re taking on an opulent $15,000 hunt, and suddenly your shotgun fails in the field, do you really want to spend the rest of your time shooting the house semi-auto?
We took possession of a 20-gauge Chapuis Chasseur Deluxe side by side with the expectation that $7,700 gets you a solid French bird gun that would always go bang for the same reason that their double rifles could actually save you from being gored or trampled by an irate 2,000 pound beast. Chapuis shotguns rely on the identical robust “blitz-style” action that you’ll find in their side-by-side double rifles.
It was 1974 when René Chapuis unveiled his blitz-style action from their shop in St-Bonnet-le-Château. It’s a quick trip west of St.-Étienne – a city of about 400,000 that’s the hub of France’s gunmaking region, which originated in 17thcentury. Chapuis Armes had been started by his father, Jean, in 1934. Come 2003, the company had expanded into a large, modern factory. Historically, the double rifle rather than the shotgun (introduced during the 1970s) has sustained Chapuis, with nearly all sales taking place in Europe.
From a spark of inspiration on the drawing board, Chapuis’ robust, over-engineered, blitz-style action was intended for the double rifle and as well as the shotgun. Given that the double rifle sees grueling work under harsh, perilous conditions, the blitz action emphasizes fast reloading, super reliability, easy maintenance and crisp triggers. The firing components (hammers, sears, and coil springs) are mounted on a removable trigger plate inside the receiver, rather than on side plates as in sidelock designs for quick field repairs and thorough cleaning.
Three models of the Chapuis Chasseur are imported into the U.S. The Classic has a rounded scalloped receiver with 100-percent laser-engraved game scene portrayals on the French grey receiver and satin-finished AAA grade walnut ($5,449). The Artisan is a Classic upgrade by virtue of its Grade 4 walnut and hand-finished engraving ($10,899). The shotguns have straight grips with checkered butts, double triggers, interchangeable chokes and weigh between 6½ and 5½ pounds depending on whether you choose the 12, 20 or 28 gauge.
The mid-range Chasseur Deluxe arrived in the U.S. earlier this year. For Chapuis, the Chasseur Deluxe embodies your traditional 20-gauge bird gun. It’s their Classic dialed up to 11 with full side plates and wood upgraded a notch ($7,699).
(FYI, Chapuis will sell you the Faisan over/under in 12, 20, 28 and .410 gauges, also in three grades.)
Our Chasseur Deluxe arrived with 27½-inch barrels that had a solid concave rib tapering down to the brass bead on the muzzle. The top tang featured a safety, but there’s no barrel selector anywhere (right barrel first). Affixing the barrel requires finesse and determination until you figure out that it takes a measure of strength to squeeze the barrel and forend tightly together, like making a fist, before the latch snaps locked. It was the only noticeable quirk of the gun, which otherwise proved stellar in overall presentation and function.
The forend of the Chapuis Chasseur Deluxe.
Coin finished sideplates presented 100-percent coverage of game birds in flight adorned with acanthus and floral embellishments. The fences and forend latch were engraved. The trigger guard, with its short tang, guard featured an oval with scroll surround.
The five flush chokes included are cylinder, improved cylinder, modified, improved modified and full. At the 5-Stand, the shotgun’s automatic ejectors worked as you would expect. The double triggers registered pulls around 7½ pounds on the front and 8½ pounds for the back. Even for a field gun, these trigger pulls may seem heavy on paper, but in practice they were smooth and intuitive – actually feeling more like 5 or 6 pounds.
The 15.3-inch length of pull was about ¾ of an inch too long for me, and at 5 feet, 9 inches and 175 pounds, which is sort of average, others may reach the same conclusion – bearing in mind that I shot the Chasseur Deluxe in a polo shirt rather than the bulkier field gear of an autumn or winter hunt.
Otherwise, the Chasseur Deluxe had lovely ergonomics. The forend tended more toward a hybrid splinter/beavertail that felt very comfortable in the hand for controlled, accurate swings of the 6-pound side by side. Weight distribution leaned toward a slight forward bias that would be ideal for flushing birds, where you step into the shot impelled by that initial predisposition of weight. Once in motion, the balance and heft of the Chasseur Deluxe conveyed that masculine capability of a dangerous-game, side-by-side double rifle, but certainly with far more deft handling.
When we think of British estate bird guns, they’re typically high-quality, often handmade, and carry the legacies of institutions such as Purdey, Holland & Holland, Boss and Westley Richards. The Spanish have established their reputations on building English look-alikes of course at a fraction of the cost, but certainly lacking the gravitas and craftsmanship of the originals.
Chapuis, though, is not trying to imitate the British. The Chasseur Deluxe has its own sensibility. I came to think of the Chapuis Chasseur Deluxe as a chateau bird gun instead of a British estate gun, where the French soil produces Cabernet Sauvignons that exhibit dark fruit flavors enriched with notes of cedar, leather and tobacco. Shoot it awhile and you can begin to tell that it’s not English or Spanish, but something else that we would have to call French. And if it’s a special kind of wingshooting experience you desire from a side by side, certainly give the Chapuis Chasseur Deluxe a try. In fact, the Chapuis Chasseur Deluxe may open the door to a lovely side-by-side double rifle for your next Arican expedition.
Irwin Greenstein is the publisher of Shotgun Life at www.shotgunlife.com and Young Awesome Hunter at www.yahunter.com. You can reach him at the Facebook page of either online magazine.
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Irwin Greenstein is Publisher of Shotgun Life. Please send your comments to letters@shotgunlife.com.
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