doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Turkish shotgun

Ted;
I ordered my 707 through Herter's just before the GCA put them out of business. If I recall correctly I paid $139.00 for it. I Got it with 28" barrels & it weighed in at 6� lbs. I got it bored M/F & opened the right barrel to an I/C, a combination I still like. I bought "One" box of 3" #4 shot just to try them out. I was 30 then & could handle them but they were unnecessarily Stout in recoil. Probably about 95% of the shooting I did with it I used a 2�-1 oz load of either #7� or #6 depending on what I was after. I reloaded those 3" hulls with a 1 1/8oz load of #5 at a modest velocity. I had one place I occasionally went squirrel hunting which did not allow rifles, but had a good population of Fox Squirrels. That proved to be a great load for them.
I don't recall now if the original pad was red or black. I just know it had a mushy feel. Replaced it with a black neoprene pad which was much firmer & it made a world of difference. The only time I ever encountered that problem, perhaps it was just a fluke & not typical of these guns, can't say.
I was not particularly fond of the Beavertail, but shot it well anyway, just like the aesthetics of a splinter better & can shoot them just as well. I was not into competitive shooting & my hunting did not require shooting fast enough for barrel heat to be a problem.

Miller,
As you say, I also prefer a splinter, but, as you also noted, it makes no difference in my shooting which front wood a gun has.
I have the box mine came in, and it was mismarked as to the guns actual choke combination. I actually have two boxes from European guns that have incorrect choke configurations for the guns they contained. The Richland is actually MOD and IM MOD, a usable combination for me. My Italian guns all have the choke marked on the tubes. The box said it was MOD and FULL.
In that era, European gunmakers could probably assume every American wanted beaver tails, white lines, pistol grips, recoil pads, and MOD and FULL chokes. A lot of guns came that way.
We now live in different times. Then, you could get a gun that has true charcoal case colors, sparse, but, well executed hand engraving, well done checkering, also by hand, that didn�t cost a small fortune.
Nobody serves that market today. I find it lamentable.

Best,
Ted

Ted, unless my memory is fading, I believe some of those 20ga Richland imports from Italy (Prandelli & Gasparini?) had 30" barrels. That was pretty unusual back then.

When I got mine I could have got it with 30", 28" or 26" barrels. The 26" ones came IC/M & the 28" or 30" both came with M/F chokes. I opted for the 28" which is my all-time favorite barrel length. They were made to Francis Sell's specs which meant a slight overbore & 1�" forcing cones. I recall him writing about using one & his had the 30" tubes.

They had the usual double under bolts & a hidden cross bolt, which didn't protrude out the left side when open like a Greener. It had the "Purdey" type push rod forend release.

Sell was a big proponent of the 3" 20ga.

What the heck is that supposed to mean ?

Read 2-piper's post. Here..............I'll help.

Larry,
Indeed, the 707 was available with 30� tubes, but, would have been factory bored full and full:



This is an image from the 1968 Richland catalog. The dividing line between quality, and, of course, price was very sharp between the Italian built guns, and the Spanish guns. I�m guessing they sold far more of the Spanish guns, which, would be just one reason why people like ed think Spanish when they hear the name Richland.
The 707 was also available as a two barrel set, per the catalog, as were the Spanish versions.
Miller has described the action nicely, along with the modifications from standard 20 bore to what F.E.Sell prescribed as ideal. The weight for a 28� 20 gauge in the catalog is 6 lbs, 8 ozs, almost exactly what my gun weighs, porky for an upland 20 gauge, maybe perfect for a 20 that would see a lot of 3� fodder.

In a few years of looking at the guns for sale on the internet that Al Gore invented, I have only seen 28� model 707s. I would love to stumble onto a multi barrel 707.

Stan, you suffer fools well. God bless you.
Best,
Ted

This example has been lingering a long time:

https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-f...un_id=101047002

The white line spacers have been exorcised, and a replacement pad has found it�s way onto the gun. The barrels appear to have some freckling. I think $1500 is pretty optimistic, but, Italian 20s seem to surprise me on occasion.

Best,
Ted

Ted;
I note that Guns International list that one as weighing 6lb 2oz. Mine weighed an even 6� lbs. I seem to recall, though strictly on memory here & has been a long time ago, Sell saying his with 30" barrels went at least 6 3/4 lb or maybe even 7. "IF" I were planning on using very many of the fully loaded 3" shells I would want a minimum of 6 3/4 lbs. Even at the time, I bought that one & still to this day for 1� oz of shot I prefer the 12 gauge.

I know a lot of folks disagree with me & that's fine, but the only reason I can see for going down in gauge is to obtain a lighter gun. I would much prefer to load a gauge down than up.