I have been very pleased with my first three RBLs, 20-, 28- and 16-gauge. Since receiving the RBL-16 the day after Memorial Day 2009, I have shot skeet with it and hunted it plenty, and it is fast becoming my go-to gun. The RBL-12 I got was a very heafty 32-incher at 8 pounds 14.7 ounces. It was exactly what I ordered but after I got it I knew it wasn't the gun for me. So I asked Louie to be on the lookout for a lighter RBL-12 for me, and yesterday it arrived at my local FFL. Like my others it is a straight grip with double triggers. This gun has 30-inch barrels and weighs in at a much more manageable 7 pounds 4.9 ounces.
It appears to my eye and calipers, that this RBL-12 is built on the same receiver as my RBL-16, not the receiver with the wider and higher standing breech that my first RBL-12 had.
New RBL-12 --
Top view RBL-12 above RBL-16 --
Top view RBL-16 above old heavy RBL-12 --
Breech ends of barrels of RBL-12 light and RBL-16 --
This is kind of like a Parker Bros. 12-gauge built on the 1-frame.
