doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Brno ZP sidelocks

Thoughts on the Brno-made sidelock guns? The ZP series have chopper lump barrels, coil springs and a concealed third fastener. I have a 12 gauge with an English stock and extractors, which I think is decently well made, if not a bit plain. They don't appear to be as finely finished as some of the other European makers, but they do seem to have a lot going for them as far as function over form. Opinions?

Pictures??

All the Brno's that I have had felt like 2x4s

Mike

Longer barreled ones make good fence posts..

I have two 12's and one 16 gauge. One of the 12's is an ejector gun. Unlike skeettx, I find them to be very nice handling guns. I guess that is where how a gun fits you comes into play. I can break clays quite well with them. They are fairly well built, reliable guns. All parts were hand fit. Yes, they are on the plain side although you can get some with engraved locks. My ejector gun has a gold trigger guard and a bit fancier wood. Here in Canada, it is very hard to come across one in 16 gauge.

Mike,I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow in the daylight.

Gunsaholic, the 16s are scarce here as well....I know because I have been looking.

I'm not going to say these guns are not a little clunky, but they are supposedly made with very tough steels and with the coil springs I should think they would serve for a long time in the field, no?

guns: remember this?

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=233758&page=1

The advertisements above look like different guns from the ones I've owned. As I posted to the previous thread Ed noted, I owned a 12ga ZP49 and a 16ga ZP 47. The 12ga was heavy and I once missed four gobblers in one opening weekend with it. The 16ga was a joy to carry and to shoot.

Here are some older ads from the time my guns were built:







I have neither of them anymore, but if I ever come across another 16ga I'll likely buy it. Overall good guns...Geo

Fallschirmjaeger - I have a ZP49 12 bore which I bought new in Nairobi 40 years ago. It is as you describe except with ejectors. Plain black, no engraving - a poor man's Funeral Model. I carried it in the bush for protection (as a scruffy young American, I couldn't get a permit for a rifle back then) and hardly ever fired it. When I brought it back here I found that I couldn't hit a thing, and questions about that led me to this forum. You guys taught me about shotgun fit, I had the stock bent to fit, and as I thought it would be my only shotgun forever, I had tubes installed. Over the years you guys have made me buy nicer guns, but I still use it on rainy days and it still fits better than anything else. After forty years of moderate use, a firing pin broke and an ejector failed, both now repaired.

Between the modifications and the recent repairs I have put far too much money into a cheap gun, but who isn't a sucker for their first born?

A gold trigger guard, eh? That ought to really spruce things up.

SRH