Franchi Raptor -v- Beretta 391

[blindjim]

i recently aquired a new Franchi raptor, looked fantastic, xtra finish wood, polished action.....got it home and discovered a horendous machining fault! there was clearance between the gas piston and the operating sleeve of about THREE mm! it went straight back to the shop and was upgraded to a Beretta 391.....now THATS a good gun :-)
other franchis may not suffer from this fault but it might be best to check, with the action closed shake the gun and listen for the clonk......

the 391 has been "broken in" with 32gram shells, and has functioned perfectly so far, 300 shells and no misfeeds.
the gun also comes with stock drop adjusters to alter drop between 50, 55 and 60mm, and if this isnt enough Beretta can provide an additional 65mm spacer. also supplied are two different depth butpads to alter Length of Pull!

a well balanced, good looking, well finished, reliable new toy.

i couldn't be more pleased, id recommend one to anyone.......

[cookoff013]

i`ve fired a 390 or a 391.
i cant be sure which it was (i`ve fired lots). was impressed with the reliability. never had a misfire with it at all. it changed my oppinion of the auto`s but i`ll still stick to the o/u.

the auto was light to use. it had been broken in good. smooth action.

i saw some guys gun and he took off the forend, it was like a coal mine. aparently he never cleans his gun and hasnt had a misfire at all.
i`d never tempt fate like that.

cookoff

[jkata]

I shoot a 391 synthetic and I love it.

Have had it for about 3 years and have never had a problem, I put 100 or so rounds through it.

I am not the best for keeping it clean however I do make sure it is well oiled and the gas parts are free to move.

It is a joy to shoot, 28" tubes are very pointable and having put 350 shells through it in one day, didnt even feel a thing the next day.

Top gun in my opinion.

[chrissy69]

Got one myself not a bad word to say about it a lovely gun well ballenced and real low recoil. A pleasure to shoot. A friend got one of those escorts and was raving about it untill he tried my beretta, now he's saving up for one. Id recomend to anyone a real class gun.:cool: :cool:

[mikebike]

also supplied are two different depth butpads to alter Length of Pull!.......
Right, but the thin one is plastic and the thick one is rubber.
I want a thick plastic buttpad, because the rubber one sticks to my clothes.
A better solution would have been to include a spacer (or two) to use together with the plastic buttpad.

Apart from that it's a great gun, very happy with mine.
Have had 3 shells that didn't eject properly, all being cheap 24 g steel trap ammo.
I've shot some 500+ shots with it....

[BIG STEVE]

the raptor is great too,fired over 1500 assorted shells with no probs,and a peice of pish to clean:D also had a 391, but prefer the raptor,it proberly just fits me better

[666]

391 all the way for me. Big Steve when are you going to go to Toddington? Around this Sunday weather dependant?

Pete

[steve-o-]

Mikebike, try putting some insulating/duck tape over the 'sticky' rubber buttpad. It won't stick to clothes and 'mounts' a lot easier!! :eek:

Had two 391's so far - excellent guns.


Steve-Oooo,eer-

[Super Shooter]

has anyone tried the new Webley & scott semi auto??

[O'ringer]

Yup i agree,

The Beretta autos are far superior to owt else on the market but to be fair the Franchi Raptor is a fair tool for the price too (Franchi are owned by Beretta nowadays).The Tek-wood is better than the rubbish Beretta call Xtra wood.

As for GEL Tek pads they are ace too, got one on my DT10:D

As for the Webley autos my friend had one of the first and it's been back twice already.If you take my advice you'll buy something everyone has heard of from ITALY!!;)

[JDP]

I was in the market for a semi about a month ago. With the budget I had, lined up in the shop a Franchi Raptor (New), 391 Field (new) 391 sporter (all but new) and some sort of Remmy.
Raptor came with 3 year warranty rotating locking bolt- and in truth I nearly went for it, till I asked the question about resale value a year down the line.
I left the shop with the 391 Sporting. :D

Cheers


Jonathan

[throdgrain]

Yup i agree,

The Beretta autos are far superior to owt else on the market but to be fair the Franchi Raptor is a fair tool for the price too (Franchi are owned by Beretta nowadays).The Tek-wood is better than the rubbish Beretta call Xtra wood.



Pah! Benelli are just as good! :)

[GordonR]

Benelli are fine - just a little too light for my liking.

[andy cook]

how much are the 391's - brand new?

[patsmash41]

ive a beretta al391 synth and its the mutts nuts brand new £675 from the essex gunshop

[south paw]

I bought a franchi 912 vario max ok it was 3.5" chamber using mostly for clays.it was rated that it would be ok on 28gram cartridges even by GMK+marketing bumpfh? after being run in.did it hell for ever jamming.took it back GMK opened ports.worked ok first time used then started not cycling 2nd round for ever after.even after you cleaned gas valving area.then forsight bead fell off!that was icing on cake it went back to shop..And Joe at the gun shop east barnet true to his word refunded me my monie.But as it wasn't realy his fault had a look round and bought off him a Fabarm Lion H368. and ive never looked back its a true left handed action&stock.very light.easy to clean.ive put lots through it 3" 60gram mags also so little recoil for such a light gun.so reliable.put 1000 rounds through it one week even when i hadn't cleaned it still worked faultlesly.i also love the 391's used afew of them at club.the other good gun is the stoeger.

[Paul.]

Al391- Fantastic shotgun, I sold a Winchester X2 for mine, Fitted a GelTek but pad, the reduction in felt recoil on 28g loads is femoni... fenoromi.... fenominal :D Has cycled faultlessley for me, apart from one missfire, which was due to crap carts.

[lucky trigger]

al391 is an awesome shottie. I sold my remington 1100 to finance one. I nearly bought a brand new franchi raptor but eventually chose the 391 just because of all the rave reviews on them. Mine is the al391 field.

[bluejay22]

My mate shoots a Raptor and a Winchester x2. He let the Raptor go after a years service. Apparently v. easy to clean, cycled no.9 skeet loads with ease and a solid shooting tool but that second hand value issue really hurts them thats why he moved it on probably.

[richness]

I've owned both and much prefer the Raptor, not that the 391 ever gave me any trouble.
I find the Raptor to be very very high quality in its build (myself and the gunshop owner were really impressed) and i love the smooth firing cycle, the looks, the stock (ok it's not wood but it certainly looks realistic and about Grade 3!) and also the handling of it suits be better than the 391 did.
There are some v nice autos about these days and they all seem dead reliable. For example, I also have an escort magnum which i use for rough work and big cartridges and that's bl00dy great too. Not pretty but solid as the day is long, and with a full 3 yr warranty. Solid handling, too, for me - i get better clay scores with it than i did with my o/u! :) I had to extend the stock with a slip-on butt pad to get it to fit; i see that the newer ones come with a longer and better recoil pad - nice to see that the makers/importers are staying attentive :)

[SheepShed]

ok it's not wood but it certainly looks realistic and about Grade 3!
There was a long discussion of this on Shotgun World - it is actually wood (remove the recoil pad and see) but has a 'weathercoat' finish on top of the wood that gives it a different appearence.
I've got a 712 black synthetic which I chose over the Raptor - gives the same performance but doesn't look like one of Jimmy Tarbuck's golf clubs :)