doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Universal Firearms Model 2035

Yep, that's it. I really like the way mine handles, especially compared to my Citori. It has to be a pound lighter.

Mergus

Action looks VERY much like an Antonio Zoli I had in the 1970s, a nice field grade gun.

I remember getting a double on chukars with it in the canyon of Asotin Creek, WA one fine morning. And a "single" on a diamondback!

There were also some 'lesser' Rizinni made guns along those same exact lines, but w.dif engraving and the actions finished in the 'light', for lack of a better expression. It was not a French gray and they were not polished either. I had one for a while, TTBLNE. Horrible triggers, but otherwise not a bad gun at all from a form and function perspective. If you look long and hard & use a good glass and strong light there is likely a maker's mark present. I almost think on some of those guns it was intentionally lightly stamped; it was so on mine, but who knows? Had the triggers in the one I had been better, I would have kept it, but I wasn't in the mood at the time to put much money in it and traded it away on a gun I was much more interested in owning & shooting. Triggers aside, it was actually a well enough made and good pointing 20ga. gun w/well regulated bbls. & light enough to lug about all day too. I actually quite liked it, but those triggers ultimately were the deal breaker for me and off it went. I'd given serious thot to having K. Merrington fix them or rebuild from scratch as necessary, but such undertakings have a way of easily becoming boat like and so I restrained myself, that time;-) Still, it could have been a very nice sow's ear.

I finally picked up my gun and after cleaning darned if it isn't a pretty decent looking gun. Actually it's a model 2036 Not an English Best but neither is it an Italian worst. One of the barrels is marked kgi 400. I think that is a Zoli model number. So my guess it's a Zoli. I'm about to quit beating my brains out on the Army&Navy project and use this darned thing instead to annoy winged creatures. I don�t know where I could get as nice a gun else where for $300. Though I have heard the Beretta BLs go for a low figure. I don�t know what my future status on this august forum will be now that I have tainted myself as a shooter of cheap Italian O/U shotguns. Perhaps if I call it a Zoltetti 12 bore

You won't find ANY Beretta O/U for $300, unless they've been sleeping with the fishes for a long while, and have the rust to prove it.

You will find that your Zoli KICKS if you try 3" 20s in it. Mine would kill pheasants fine with 1 oz. loads, so I quit with the magnums.

This one is a 12 ga er bore and it's only chambered for 2 3/4. I lean toward lighter loads as only wish to kill the birds in the air. I plan to process them on the ground. There is a shell call the Texas dove load, it could also called the low flying airplane load as it contains enough powder and shot for a Jihad. I�ve asked why people buy these loads and am told they are the only load that will cycle in their gun and all they get with lighter loads is feathers. I have to bite my tongue to not tell them to clean their gun and quit shooting the birds in the butt.

Looks exactly like the Zoli (made for Sears) I bought several years back.

Isn't "cycle" a dirty (half-ass pun intended) word in these parts? Except when applied to Indians and Nortons, of course.

Ok, Pooch, pictures of the proofmarks and other markings
would help to establish a maker.

Mike

Every thing is pretty straight forward; Italian stuff is not that complicated. Nitro proofs, date, chamber length, inspectors ititials. The one number that didn't seem to belong was kgi 400 stamp and I think that is a Zoli model designation.