I have happened upon a beautiful RBL 20 gauge and have the gun on a 5-day hold. I'm interested in your opinions.

Search this site and http://bbs.shootingsportsman.com/index.php
for 'RBL' and you'll probably need all 5 days to read the "opinions".

Apparently they do go bang when you pull the trigger [or triggers if it was made properly ]. If it floats your boat, buy it.

Depends on what you want/need and what the price is of course.
I have had a RBL since last October.
Shot skeet and hunted with it several times.
Mechanicaly the gun is without fault. A minor cosmetic flaw was addressed and corrected promptly by CSMC.
If it fits you and looks good to you, ie. the correct # of triggers, grip and fore end design and the wood is what you want- buy it.

Great American made side by side! Bobby

I love mine. Very good product for the money. Had mine since Nov, day before turkey day. Hunted and shot lots of clays with it. I went full options w/o case hardening. Mine was an early gun under 300. I have seen others not finished as nice as mine. I would not trade it for anything near its price range.

If you care to know more pm me

I have heard some people have had problems with the friction choke tubes. Any one here have issues. The gun dimensions fit me so that not a question.

Although I haven't had a chance to shoot mine yet, I'm pleased with how it turned out, I'm in the 900s. For an American shotgun in this price range, it's was a good purchase for me. I'm looking forward to hunting with it this fall.

Another indestructible American side by side that just keeps on working day in and day out…….wow imagine that!!!!!!!!
All the best

I have roughly 4000 rounds +/- through mine to date. Admittedly not a lot in the scheme of things shotgun, but I intend to correct that, God willing, and as time and opportunity allow. It has functioned without flaw and I am very pleased with it. It is a field gun and used as such, a delight.

FWIW, I shy from 1oz./28gr. loads, finding the normal 7/8oz. or 25 gram (foreign) payloads better suited to the gun's weight.

Aside from the wood, the nicest surprise was the beauty of the patterns and the bbl's regulation .. spot-on, for both. Experience tells me that is not always the case and that includes some guns costing many times what the RBL did.

No problems w/choke tubes, but I did pick up a Carlson's wrench from Cabela's as the CSMC supplied friction qwrench just seems counterintuiative-pushing dowm harder while unscrewing doesn't seem right.

BTW - there is one for sale at Jaquas. I have no interest in the gun, just thought I would pass that along.

Picked up my new RBL two weeks ago. I've only had a chance to put a box of shells through it at skeet. I'm very happy with it. The only thing I bought extra was the beavertail forearm. The gun is quite well made, the stock (american walnut) is better than I expected, trigger pulls are fine, it points well and points without being whippy. In other words, it's well balanced. The only thing I will fix is the automatic safety. The automatic safety cost me a few targets until I "remembered" to take it off prior to calling for the target. I telephoned Galazan. They were polite and gave me the instructions of how to fix it. I'll be shooting it more this weekend - including a round of sporting clays or two.

I have the gun Jay referred to on hold and planning to examine it personally Saturday.

I hope to have an opinion soon,as mine is due to arrive within the next week.

I own #831 which I received about 6 weeks ago. I have had a few issues with my gun. The forend is currently back a the factory being replaced. One of the screw backed out while I was shooting the gun and the wood chipped from recoil.

I have several thousand rounds through my gun and it's a great shooting gun from any perspective. I've shot American Skeet, International Skeet, and Sporting Clays with it. This is a pretty good test for any gun and I wouldn't change anything.

My gun is single trigger with beavertail FE. Since I shoot so many clay targets with hunting guns, I always opt for BTFE's. Barrels get hot in the summer! I have two 20ga. SxS's with double triggers and wanted something different.

I, also, have purchased a Carlson choke wrench. There is nothing wrong with the wrench supplied. The Carlsom wrench is, simply, better.

The cosmetics of the gun are very good. The metal/metal, wood/metal fit is excellent. The checkering and engraving are quite good and I have no problem with the fact that they are computer generated. I am not thrilled with my wood. I upgraded to exhibition and was disappointed with what I received. This is subjective, of course, and others thought differently.

All in all, it's the best buy on the market. I look forward to years of missing grouse with mine.

I have one of the very early ones. Exhibition black walnut, single trigger, BTFE and pistol grip. I'm not thrilled with the finish on the wood but I will remedy that when my second one arrives. Other wise it is far more than I expected and a far better value than any other double I have.

I intend to use this one for everything until the second one arrives. Then I'll have the wood redone and save it for a target gun.

The second was ordered with standard wood, splinter forend, straight stock and double triggers.

At the skeet club anyone who wished has tried it and without exception it has received glowing comments.

Charlie

Another one for sale, for comparison's sake.

http://www.daverifflegunsales.com/images/guns/RBL_Layout.html

Since the price hasn't gone up much yet this is a good time to buy if you are among those that think that someday they will appreciate in value significantly. You certainly will not lose money.

Add me to the list of RBL owners that is very satisfied. I think it is a great little SxS and a good value.

Jerry Goldstein
St. Louis, MO

PErsonally I had trouble with the carlson wrench with the skeet and IC tube.

After I lubed and broke in the chokes, I went back to the supplied wrench with good success.

If I have a complaint it is that the second trigger may be a little light. Had it go off a little early when aggressively shooting Sporting clays. The fact is every time it did I hit the clays. That is something for me as I am a 60-70% guy.

It does oattern nice, but the best patterning gun I have is my arietta.

Jerry

Well got up early and made the trip to look at the RBL I had on hold. Exquisite! And now resting in my safe. Thanks to all that posted. That choke tube system/wrench is definitely not as efficient as Briley and others. True it looks better but definitly a pain. I have a Carlson wrench ordered.

How many think this gun has XXXX Exhibition Grade wood?

I notice on the RBL webpage that Galazans pulls a gun from production once a week and puts 2000 rounds through it. Are these guns then sold as new?

I would be hard pressed to call that Exhibition grade, but then it is all in the eyes of the beholder. That is about what the Exhibition wood looked like on the gun I received and returned for a refund.

I have seen some on this site with really nice wood, and one of them was a 3x.

If I remember right the guns came standard with XX wood then you could upgrade to XXX or XXXX or Exhibition. I suspect that is supposed to be XXXX grade which is not really Exhibition grade.

Whether it is XXXX or not, I am not sure. I do suspect, though, that the wood is a lot better than it looks.

It looks like it has that early finish that hid a lot of the figure. Several people who have refinished the wood have been amazed how nice the wood actually is under that thick layer of whatever that is...

I have #12 of the production run. It has Exhibition Black walnut Wood. It has wonderful balance and if I chose, I could be happy with it as the only shotgun I had for hunting. It patterns spot on; The wood is magnificent; and the trigger pulls are crisp. Its a wonderful value.

86* finally arrived at her new home on Friday. It is of the CC, DT, SG, and SF persuasion. The exhibition black walnut is just that - spactacular. Fit and finish are truly outstanding. The finish on this stock is perfect with no perception of gloss. The darkness of the checkering is not apparent against the very dark black walnut. Trigger pulls are very clean, and I see no issues with tubes or wrench. I'll shoot it next week.

There are two things which I would prefer otherwise:
1. The case color is very dark. In broad daylight, a very dark blue umber and violet predominate. With inside light, one can see very little contrast at all. It is not bad, just could be better - Turnbull would redo it.
2. I do not like the forend design. The wood overhangs the rear iron rather sharply. One will need to be careful not to take a chip out of it in the field where it will bang against belts, game bags and the like.

I can live with both. Otherwise very other aspect of the gun is exceptional, and worth the wait. We'll see how it responds to doves.