Sent to me by the eagle-eyed Gun Professor is this welcome news:
Of course, they’re not just offered in 20ga.:
Weatherby has had a sort-of on-again-off-again history with their side-by-sides, having had them made variously in Spain, then in Italy, and now, according to the Professor (who contacted them) they’ll be made by Tiblis in Turkey.
Street price for these guns is likely to be slightly under a grand, which will make them competitive with CZ’s offerings — which are also made in Turkey.
As one who has seen the ancient and venerable side-by-side shotguns fall from favor over the past couple decades, all this is good news. To quote some non-professorial gun guy:
“Shotgun barrels need to be side by side like a man and his dog, and not over and under like a man and his mistress.”
LOL, someone beat me to it. I was going to forward this on to you today. Anyway, it’s good to see a classic style SxS shotgun. Now they just need to eradicate the “Weatherby” billboard and the exposed colored chokes. Make one in 16 gauge and I would seriously consider picking one up.
Ah, nobody shoots 16ga anymore. Which is a pity, because I quite like the chambering — but I get shouted down by the cognoscenti, and the ammo is SPENDY.
Every so often someone comes out with a new SxS made in Turkey. Savage did a few years ago. One of my wife’s relatives spent his career at Savage and he said don’t buy them. They keep coming back for warranty work. I think that was over ten years ago.
Ruger made their Gold Label quite a while ago but that was short lived. That looked like a very nice shotgun.
How are these Turkish SxS shotguns? CZ and Weatherby have great reputations to uphold.
JQ