Custom ordered a Dickinson Estate 20ga. with the $375.00 grade 3 wood upgrade. I think it was worth it. Amazing that you can custom order all features muzzle to butt at these prices.

How are liking the Dickinson? Aren't they Turkish guns?
Been thinking about a 28 ga, between them and the FAIR Iside...

I have a 28ga. Estate with 30” barrels as well. I think they are a “Best Buy “. Obviously, can’t be compared to a hand made English gun, but a lot of gun for the money. The wood on the Estate can be kinda plain, that’s why I did the upgrade. You can custom order, choke tubes or not, barrel length, barrel finish, single or double triggers, ejectors or not, full stock dimensions, for end type, stock finish, grip type and butt pad or not. The receiver is real bone charcoal finish. There is also the Plantation, same gun, decorative side plates and much nicer wood for a little more money. The gun feels light in the hand and shoots where pointed. I think they have corrected the early trigger pull issues. Lifetime warranty, again for the money, what’s not to like? Yes, they are Turkish made guns, same factory as the old Kimber Valier.

Hi, I had a 28 Dickinson, nice little gun. Scaled to a 28 frame, mine weighed in at 5-6 (I had 28" bbls). The bbl regulation was spot on and the trigger pulls were nice and crisp, no creep. The only mechanical issue I had with the gun, is the ejectors were weak. Didn't matter what brand of shell I used it would either barely kick the hull out or only half way out of the chamber. Still, overall a very nice gun for what you pay. I did sell it, not because of the ejectors, the gun just didn't fit me. The comb was too high for me.

Your wood looks great BTW!!! I hope you have many happy and healthy years shooting her.

Best,

Greg

Nice upgrade, S X S 40.

Greg, yours is the only one I have heard of with weak ejectors. Not doubting you at all, but some have such strong ejectors they're almost too hard to cock. Someone cut a coil or two off the springs to weaken theirs a bit.

RR, I have both a Dickinson and a FAIR Iside. Would be glad to answer any specifics, or discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each.

All my best, SRH

Nice looking!

Stan, I would love to hear your impressions of each one.

I have been looking at the SKB as my gun club, Deep River Sporting carries them.
I have handled most of the different gauges and find the 28 and 410 exceptional.
The SKB has a single trigger and would be interested in hearing from anyone on their reliability.
Also how the Dickinson patterns.

The SKB and Dickinson come out of the same factory in turkey.

Me too! I guess guns are like people, no one exactly the same. My ejectors were just weak on that gun. The other Dickinson I had, the ejectors were just fine.

Best,

Greg

Here it is:

Wood on the Dickinson exceeds the quality of that on the FAIR. A little more figure.

Fit and finish are nearly equal on the two, with maybe a little edge going to the Dickinson.

Trigger pulls are good on both, with the FAIR being a bit better (lighter).

Ejectors are very good on both. Because of the very strong ejectors on the Dickinson it is a little harder to close (ejectors cock on closing). I'm no "strong man", and it is not really objectionable to me.

I ordered fixed chokes on the Dickinson, and the FAIR has tubes, but both guns are well regulated.

Both are straight grip guns but the Dickinson has a nice, long trigger guard tang with engraved screw heads. The FAIR does not. it has a very utilitarian guard with a short tang.

Wood finish is about the same on both, and can be easily improved at home.

Dickinson has a raised, flat rib. FAIR has a concave, swamped rib.

Either gun can be ordered with your stock dimensions.

Nicer checkering on the FAIR, than the Dickinson.

Dickinson comes in a nicer, faux suede, case. FAIR case is plastic, but okay.

Dickinson weighs 5 lbs. 8.8 oz.. FAIR weighs 5 lbs. 4.5 oz. Both have 30" barrels.

Overall impressions after shooting both on the dove field:

In some ways I like the appearance of the Dickinson better, even though the FAIR has nice gold inlays of game birds. The Dickinson is just a very sexy looking double. The Dickinson is a true trigger plate gun, while the FAIR is a box lock, for what that's worth. The trigger pulls are a bit better on the FAIR, but after bout five seasons with the Dickinson, I have no beef with them, either. The fixed chokes on the Dickinson (.008" and .008") are very useful for dove and quail, and clays. I'll admit, though they're not traditional, I like the choice of five choke tubes for the FAIR. I shoot them both about equally. I have always thought I shot a raised, flat rib better, but this may be the exception. The rib differences may not matter as much at .410 ranges.

Which is the better value? Hands down, the Turkish Dickinson over the Italian FAIR Iside. Dickinson was bought at about $1850, the FAIR at about $2750. Do I like them both? Heck, yeah. Got no plans on divesting myself of either one.

FAIR Iside Tartaruga Gold







Dickinson







SRH

Excellent evaluation Stan.

Stan, you nailed it. I have owned both. Just have a 30" basic Iside with a optional long tang which I like (and it will look better with wear), but it's not close to as nice as the Dickinson long tang. You're right, the Dickinson seems to be a better executed gun. My hopeful saving grace is that I shoot this Iside confidently and well. We'll see. Should have saved my Dickinson, but I went through some "aimingitis," so I hope this 30" swamped-rib Iside pulls me back into some better SxS game shooting. I like it a lot so far. It's simple, but it has an elegantly simple and well proportioned action. Very plain, but nice.

Here's my 16 ga. Basic Iside.

Great review!! Thanks Stan!

Best,

Greg

Nice review Stan, thanks!
I bought a barely used 20g. Dickenson and it had to be sent for trigger work for heavy triggers.
I purchases a FAIR Iside in 12g at auction, NIB and it had a barrel regulation problem which the company would do nothing for me however had I purchased it from Arrieta2, Quality Arms in Houston I am sure he would have taken care of it for me under warranty.
+1 for the Iside for being made in Italy over Turkey.
The soft faux suede case for the Dickenson is a lot nicer than the Iside plastic case however if used on a regular basis I imagine it would wear poorly. For me, they just sit in a pile since I use long fabric zip type cases when I go out shooting or hunting.

That long tang is much nicer than the shorty on mine, Dave. I didn't know there was a choice, at the time I ordered mine, or I'd have gotten it, too. Doesn't change the shooting characteristics, but it looks much better, and probably adds a bit of strength to that slender grip. Seems like that would/should have been included on the Tartaruga Gold model.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the Dickinson has the butt checkered nicely, and the FAIR has a checkered wood buttplate. No big deal either way, but just thought I'd mention it.

SRH

Nice review, thanks.

Good point about the cases.

My FAIR came through Bazil Slaughter, a gunsmith in NV. I had dealt with him before and felt comfortable with out relationship. I remember the woes you had with those two guns, Milt. Sure wish it hadn't been that way with them.

SRH

Ya, someone mentioned that options were available, so I went through John Boyd at Quality Arms and got the long tang, 30" barrels, and custom stock dimensions. I enjoyed working with John and I'm very pleased with the gun.

SXS 40 that is money well spent, it turned out fantastic! If you don't mind how long did your order take you to receive?

I was hot to trot to do a custom Dickinson order in 16 until last week when I found out the single trigger is non selective. Wanted to basically reproduce my Win 23 20 ga. but in 16 with 30" bbls. It would be a target gun so the non select trigger was a deal breaker for me. For as much money as it cost and use as a target gun I want a single select trigger.

Dickinson just started adding the option for ventilated raised rib on the plantation model 16 ga. a couple of months ago. Pacific Sporting Arms has been selling them as a sporter model in 410, 20 and 12 with raised rib, beavertail, single trigger and a pistol grip. I would want that option changed to a POW grip for my 16 ga. if I ordered one



Have never shot a Plantation or even a Dickinson. And worry some about what Greg ended up with, a gun that doesn't fit. I do know that I shoot the 28" factory Iside well, very well. Hopefully I will be able to shoot Dave's 30" soon. Dave I liked it better before you pointed out the long tang thing to me, now the short tangs don't look right to me either. You did warn me about not going down the SxS rabbit hole so no one to blame but myself though!

Stan that is a nice looking FAIR, first time I have seen the Gold in the wild as a boxlock. Most of the Golds have the side plates.



I have a FAIR made 16 ga. NEA 500 and always been envious of the Jubilee Prestige Tartaruga Gold



The Iside Gold sideplate never seemed quite right to me with the single gold inlay, after looking at the Prestige Gold O\U's for so long seems like it is missing a bird. But the boxlock Gold looks just about perfect and well balanced, good call on your part.

Tomorrow ordering a CZ sharptail in 16 through the CZ LE\Military program and my FFL dealer. I have no illusions about it being even close to the Dickinson or FAIR Iside. But can't get hurt too bad at the price, and it will give me time to decide on the others. Will mainly be a backup to the Win 23. For now.

Cold Iron,

The Dickinson special order was received in less than 4 months. You can order a POW grip as well. In MHO, a side by side should have 2 triggers. The Sharptail "Target" model has 1 trigger and crushes clays. It looks kind of weird (ugly), with extended choke tubes however.

The POW grip on the Dickinson pictures I have seen have a weird, funky shape ........... not traditional IMO. I don't care for it.

Also probably should add that the Dickinson was ordered to my build specs and received in under three months. The FAIR was ordered, also to my specs of LOP, DAH, barrel length and trigger option, in early July. Italy takes the month of August off for vacation, so no work was done on it that month. Even with that delay I received it about the third week of September. Excellent delivery times on both guns.

Wonder how hard it would be to buy a long tang and fit it to my FAIR? Hmmmm.......

SRH