doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Famars quality?

I had a friend that had 2 gorgeous Famars but I don't think he shot them very much before passing. Since getting a 410 O/U after shooting only SxS for about 45 years I have thought about a 20 ga O/U. I love the shallow frame style like Perazzi and found an older Famars Model ML. What is the board opinion of Famars and does anyone know the model ML?

The A&S produced units were very good, but then before their collapse declined in quality.
They often had fantastic wood and svelte barrels.

The guns that were finished or assembled after the collapse, I have no opinion on.

I shot with one of the guys who had about a dozen of them that came to him after the collapse to settle something and his were great.

I don’t know who finished his.

I agree with the above statement, a big decline in quality right before the collapse, the earlier guns were very nice. I have not seen any of the guns assembled after the collapse.

Pretty well documented about this issues with A&S-FAMARS guns well before the collapse of the business. Lots of magazine articles and gunsmith reviews on the guns throughout the years, many of them right here on this board. Mostly issues with broken springs, parts wearing out or breaking prematurely, etc. These issues obviously got worse the closer the company came to its end. They were always beautifully finished and very stylish guns. You couldn’t help but drool over the pics of the various model guns with outlandish, wild figured wood stocks eccentric engraving motifs, beautifully sculpted actions, and perfectly polished parts. Then you’d start to hear about the issues. Most of the guys I know who have owned or currently own a FAMARS haven’t really used the guns much. Mostly safe queens. The ones that have actually used the guns don’t own them anymore. Issues like broken mainsprings, ejector springs, tumblers breaking, peened extractor stems, wood issues, and the list goes on. The late Tom Bryant had many of them come through the library during the heydays….we had discussions about the issues with these guns on a few occasions. On one occasion we had a couple of guns laid out to compare against each other, a A&S FAMARS Excalibur (pretty much brand new), a used but not abused P&G O/U, and a Fabbri. I think the consensus was when it came to looks the A&S was in a class of its own, but that gun had also been back to the factory two or three times for repairs. The single trigger at that time still didn’t work right and it was on its way back for another repair. The P&G and the Fabbri had been used as pigeon guns and had many thousands of rounds shot through them, I can’t recall either of them having a repair history.
The guns are fun to look at and hold in your hands. Serious eye candy, artfully crafted. If a person was planning on shooting one extensively, I’d recommend that the buyer pay to have a talented gunmaker with a good grasp of metallurgy go through the gun and make sure everything is up to par.

If money was not a limiting factor, and I wanted an Italian O/U, it would be a long barreled Fabbri 20 gauge.

My friend in TX, Paul Melton (mel1541), has used one on doves for a number of years. AIR, he gave it high praise.

Thanks all for feedback. Kind of explains why a highly engraved sidelock 20 bore O/U would sell for less than $10k, while a plain jane Perazzi 20 is $12k.