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.
