doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com RBLs Again

Just for reference purposes I measured two 16s I have at hand, one French one German:

Manufrance Id�al:
-Receiver width (across the balls) 54.3mm
-Between firing pins 26.8mm

Simson:
-Receiver width (across the balls) 54mm
-Between firing pins 26mm

JC

Very NICE gun Dave, As you know I have one the "Beasts" My 12ga RBL 32" Straight grip gun with a butt plate weights 8lbs 9oz It measures 2 5/16" across the breech balls. The distance between the firing pin holes (center line to center line) is 1.182"
It is my go to waterfowl gun when the weather conditions are to nasty for the Foxes.

Eightbore,

At my request Adam of CSMC made me a lighter 32" RBL 12 than my 9lb 3oz RBL which has a PG, BTFE, and vent rib.
- Oh, the vent rib popped loose so I sent the gun back to Adam for repair. He returned it within a couple weeks and it had an assisted opener installed! With the opener the gun weighs 9lbs 4oz.

My companion 32" RBL 12 weighs 7lbs 9oz. It is a SG and BTFE.

The barrels from my light RBL 12 fit the heavier receiver perfectly with but one exception. The firing pins and breach balls are much wider on the heavier receiver.

The barrels of the heavier are obviously much thicker at the breach/chamber area.

Mark

Researcher,

Thank you for your reasoning. There are some of my concerns in your response. I am not sure at this point I would like the heavy gun, heaviest I have used was a NID 16Ga that was 7#.

L.Brown,

According to CSMC the 16 is built on a "scaled" frame. They did not define scaled. It would appear that it is both a 16 and a light twelve. A set of 12ga. barrels for my 16 ga might be interesting. I do not believe that that the weight issues with the 16 ga RBL have much to do with the frame or the barrels. My 16 weighs 6# 3 Oz. in my view that is a light 16, would you agree? Consider that you would be hard pressed to find many SxS 16's that are less. I do believe that my RBL is not typical from what most that have them have reported. It's the wood/pad system!

Chief

I remember that when I got my big RBL-12 I measured the frames, and the body of the frame was the same size on the RBL-16 and the RBL-12, the RBL-12 just had a higher and wider standing breech. My RBL-28 and RBL Launch Edition 20-gauge are both totally seperate frames.

I shot the new one today, and there must be something wrong with it as it missed the low six on the doubles on the second round --- 49 x 50. I thought about quitting after the first round, cleaning the gun and putting it in the safe!!! Leave it the gun I never missed with.

Researcher

Yes, definately a reject. Cast it aside quickly!

A couple of follow up questions for you.

A previous poster observed that the lump or hook looks thinner on the 16 ga barrel set. True or optical illusion?

Would you compare the weight of the 12 ga. barrel set to the 16 ga. set?

Chief

The lugs are exactly the same width -- .354"

The 30-inch 12-gauge barrels weigh 3 pounds 2.1 ounces and the 29-inch 16-gauge barrels weigh 2 pounds 12.2 oz for a difference of 5.9 oz which accounts for all but 0.2 oz difference in the guns weights.

Getting this all going I tried swapping barrels and forearms. The 12-gauge barrels and forearm go on the RBL-16 receiver like they were made for it. The 16-gauge barrels almost go on the RBL-12 receiver, but I wasn't about to force anything.

Researcher,

Thanks for taking the time to measure/weigh your guns. I would think that a shorter set of 12 ga barrels, 26-27" would be close to the same weight of the 16's at 29" I think you know where I'm going with this idea. A 6# 8 Oz 12 would be a nice pheasant gun. Walk a bit, shoot a little! Hmmmmmm.

Chief

My 28" barreled RBL-12 which weighs exactly 7 pounds ( BTFE, SS ) with the thinner pad on the interchangable pad system measures 2 1/8 inches ( 54 millimeters ) from outside the breechballs and just shy of 1 3/32 of an inch between firing pins. With a splinter FE and a regular butt-plate (i.e., no interchange system) I am fairly certain the weight could be down close to 6 1/2 pounds. FWIW.

btdtst,

I think you're right, maybe less than 6-8 with short barrels SG/SFE and HRBP. Not for the recoil sensitive and the skeet shooters. Pheasant hunting would be a different story, I could withstand a few shots spread out over a few hours. I used to have a Ithaca/SKB 100 12G that was 6-7. Her name was Kickatha! The stock had no CO and in all other dimensions didn't fit, a slap to the face in every shot! Sold to help with the RBL 16.

When you ordered your RBL 12 did you request a light gun? I have read posts where some RBL 12's have been under 7#, they were requested as light guns. Could be that they too are on the 16Ga. frames as your's and researcher's are.

Chief