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So I would love to have a modern 12 ga shotgun with straight grip and splinter, or semi beaver tail forarm.
I have been looking at the Fausti DEA, I think they are beautiful guns, but don't really know anything about them except for the sisters of course.
I have done searches, but only find threads that are several years old, so just wondering if they are good, well made guns, and as a side note, I'm not really a collector, tho I do have several doubles, do they have a reasonable resale value?
Thanks
TM
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Yes, but good field guns. Trap and SC shooters say they are to light to be effective target guns. "In March 2009, Joe Cunniffe and Craig Johnson launched Fausti USA – the manufacturer’s own distribution arm in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Under their stewardship, Fausti of Italy is rapidly establishing a national network of American dealers and sales representatives to supplement Cabela’s. So when you walk into your local gun store, you’ll find Faustis now displayed alongside Brownings, Berettas, Krieghoffs and other staples of the shotgun sports."Their custom guns are very expensive. https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/vi...mp;action=click
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Thank you for the reply.
I really don't shoot a lot of clay, and when I do it's my wife and I taking the thrower up in the mountains and using that, noting at a gun club.
I have been to the fausti site several times, but was hoping to have those with some hands on experience give me some input on these guns.
I know about 5 years ago they were considered some of the lower grade guns from Italy.
Some of their custom guns are beautiful, and expensive.
Thanks again
TM
Last edited by TMair; 11/11/17 09:14 AM.
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They make [ or did make ] both cheap and expensive guns. You get what you pay for. JMHO Paul
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Perfect example of 'buy the gun, not the name'.
I'd have to add here 'don't buy the guns just because of the girls'.
They're apparently not included.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
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Yes I'm sure I would be allowed to fondle the gun a lot more than the girls!!
So Shotgunjones what is your opinion of Fousti?...the gun not the girls, and the DEA particularly!
Thanks
TM
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What aspects of the DEA underpin it's value to you?
Why the DEA as opposed to another shotgun?
Out there doing it best I can.
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My experience with the Fausti Stefano line is limited to two examples from more than 10 years ago. They did not sticker for anything like $5k.
They were O/U guns purchased by a friend who was, shall we say, 'thrifty'.
The guns were unimpressive. They cost 70% of what a similar Beretta of the day did. They were price point guns with ponderous handling and poor triggers.
I don't see a lot of them at the clubs.
The Dea thing might be a whole nuther story, I just don't know.
I cannot find a review with point of impact testing. That would be my first concern. If it proves to not shoot to point of aim, what will the dealer/maker do for you?
This is the biggest issue facing the two barrel consumer in the market today.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
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I cannot find a review with point of impact testing. That would be my first concern. If it proves to not shoot to point of aim, what will the dealer/maker do for you?
This is the biggest issue facing the two barrel consumer in the market today. Amen. SRH
May God bless America and those who defend her.
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I won't go into details, but on a recent buying foray, I quoted out a bespoke .410 target shotgun.
Essentially,:
machine made gun at retail price
+ wood upgrade
+ outsourced hand chased laser engraving
End price, with 1 year wait, was 4X the price of the retail gun it was based on. No evidence that under the skin there was anything different than the retail model.
Who wants that?
It was 99% machine done, no special dimensions, and the engraving was 95% machine done. Where was the value added?
So, when I see an upgraded retail shotgun, I always ask the prospect, "What aspects of this bring additional value to you?"
Out there doing it best I can.
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I cannot find a review with point of impact testing. That would be my first concern. If it proves to not shoot to point of aim, what will the dealer/maker do for you?
This is the biggest issue facing the two barrel consumer in the market today. Amen. SRH Exactly why I came here looking for answers, I cannot seam to find any real reviews on the DEA 12 ga. and that might just be the answer. TM
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What aspects of the DEA underpin it's value to you?
Why the DEA as opposed to another shotgun? Actually nothing, in fact the reason for the question in the first place was to find out if there are any aspects of the DEA that would cause me to want to own one, from this thread there doesn't seam to be any. However since this thread was posted, and because of some of the replies I am now looking at the Beretta 471 as a possible candidate. What I am looking for is a well built, or at least built by a reputable manufacturer that is established, just in case I need any parts in the future, side by side 12 gauge that doesn't weigh a ton, has interchangeable chokes, that can handle modern ammunition, steel as well as lead. Where I live waterfowl is just about the only real bird shooting we get unless I could catch these stupid Eurasian pigeons in an area where it was legal to shoot. I live at 5800' and by the time dove season hits most of the dove have decided to get killed in Mexico. And I just love fondling double shotguns! Thanks TM
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There are plenty of reviews and all of them really like the Fausti DEA. For an upland game gun. But you may not like how light it is if its going to be a dedicated waterfowl gun. But then again I know people who use their old Model 37s for waterfowl and they're light. Call them. http://www.faustiusa.com
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There are plenty of reviews and all of them really like the Fausti DEA. For an upland game gun. But you may not like how light it is if its going to be a dedicated waterfowl gun. But then again I know people who use their old Model 37s for waterfowl and they're light. Call them. http://www.faustiusa.com Thank you for the reply, actually recoil doesn't really effect me, I shoot a lot of magnum large bore guns, and have had several 10 ga shotguns, but carrying those heavy 10ga.'s leaves a lot to be desired,I used to pack them jump shooting all day long, but now not so much. Thanks again. Terry
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Treb- Would you call a salesman to ask why you should buy their wares?
Probably the best place to ask is if Don Amos has one in his database. It's pointless to ask the maker, the dealer, or the person that was handed one to use gratis for a puff magazine piece.
There are no "bad" shotguns coming out of Brescia.
Interchangeable parts, close tolerances, monoblocking, and quality control, see to the tremendous consistency of Italian made shotguns.
Whether the design pleases the owner is another matter. Perhaps the dynamics of a game gun, however beautiful, prevent an owner from shooting it well.
Out there doing it best I can.
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Is it too much to expect at the $5,000+ price point that the gun be individually targeted, advertised as such, and be supplied with targets that show POI?
THAT might sell me the gun.
It seems that modern production techniques do not equal the old style way of individual regulation regardless of country of origin and we hear endless sob stories of guns that simply don't shoot where they are pointed.
If the double gun industry, what's left of it, wants to increase sales it would seem that this is the problem to solve.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
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SGJ I don't think I've ever read of any convergence problems from Italian manufacturers.
If I understand how their assemblies are made, I'd expect either none, or thousands.
Out there doing it best I can.
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Here's a start: http://doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=102631&page=1I've heard POI issues with Ruger, CSMC, Rizzini, and Dickenson to name a few specific ones. I'd submit that induction brazing in a jig does not necessarily always result in acceptable barrels. More importantly without individual targeting like they used to do (because the customers demanded it) in the old days, there's no way for the maker to know what he's shipping.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
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Yes, I had a 20 gauge Ruger Red Label that had horrendous POI. The only shotgun that had a worse POI was an old 20 Gauge Flues I had.
Then I bought this no name Italian O/U but built in Brescia for a song and it threw a perfect POI with, I might add, a great pattern.
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It's the luck of the draw, I guess.
I had a 12 gauge RRL that shot well but I just couldn't stand the heavy barrel set.
Hopefully a happy Fausti Dea ('goddess' in Italian) shooter will chime in soon and enlighten us.
They don't seem to have made a huge impact in the market, at least here.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
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Given the Dea's price point, I wouldn't have expected them to have flooded the market. Talking new guns, someone asks about a CZ or a Dickinson, they'll likely get quite a few responses.
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I think Fausti’s being sold at Walmart more or less ruined the name in this country. They were cheap, ugly, and the name was plastered all over the gun. Hard to spend 3 to 7k on a gun with that kind of “brand damage”. I know they are very capable of making a good, well finished gun...but I’d never spend 3 to 5k on anything with their name on it. The nicer guns by Fausti that I looked over were all fat through the wrist and still sort or had that cheap gun stigma attached to it.
The same could be said for Antonio Zoli. They put out some real crappers in the past but the Kronos-Expedition-Pernice guns are in a much different class than let’s say the SA-3 that SigArms brought in. Yuck. They also suffer brand damage from flooding the market with cheap guns. If Zoli would’ve stuck with the better stuff, people wouldn’t associate their name with cheap guns as much and their higher end stuff would be held in higher regard.
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Since you were all kind enough to reply to my thread here is the update, I decided to buy a Fausti DEA, there is a dealer in the lower valley, 30 minutes away, their web site showed that they had 6 in stock so I took the drive down there.
Turns out they are in stock with their distributor, and are not in the store, kind of irritated me, but I thought I had seen one on a previous visit, in a little case they have sitting to the side so I went and took a look, turns out it was a brand new Franchi Highlander, 12 ga, prince of wales grip, splinter for arm, weighs 12 pounds 13 oz. and fits me perfectly, it had some handling marks so they gave me $80.00 off of their listed price, picked it up for $1500.
Once I got home I took it Duck hunting to pattern it, this is one of those guns that fits so well that you can't miss...almost, I did miss one, what a fantastic gun, I can't believe they stopped making them.
Thanks
TM
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I think Fausti’s being sold at Walmart more or less ruined the name in this country. They were cheap, ugly, and the name was plastered all over the gun. Hard to spend 3 to 7k on a gun with that kind of “brand damage”. I know they are very capable of making a good, well finished gun...but I’d never spend 3 to 5k on anything with their name on it. The nicer guns by Fausti that I looked over were all fat through the wrist and still sort or had that cheap gun stigma attached to it.
The same could be said for Antonio Zoli. They put out some real crappers in the past but the Kronos-Expedition-Pernice guns are in a much different class than let’s say the SA-3 that SigArms brought in. Yuck. They also suffer brand damage from flooding the market with cheap guns. If Zoli would’ve stuck with the better stuff, people wouldn’t associate their name with cheap guns as much and their higher end stuff would be held in higher regard. This was a problem I was having with deciding to get a Fausti, but from what I've read they make a fine gun now. Years ago I bought one of those less expensive Zoli guns, it was a Delfino, and to be honest I loved it, but no choke tubes, I gave it to one of my sons when I bought a RRL, and he still has it, but says he can't hit anything with it. It came with a very nice hard gun case that is covered with fabric, not canvas, but heavy like that, I kept the case! Thanks again TM
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Might want to recheck weight. I'm guessing 6 lbs. 13 oz.
Congrats on acquisition.
There appear to be some coincidental similarities to a gun labeled Weatherby and outsourced to... Fausti.
One does wonder who actually makes some of these brands, and how much of it is done in Italy.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
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Fausti was making guns being sold in the States for a long time, under other names, before I recall seeing anything under their own name. The first Fausti I can recall was the Style, a relatively inexpensive (mid-teens price range) sxs they made for Cabela's. I had one briefly. Nothing particularly wrong with it, but a friend wanted it more than I wanted to keep it. They were much better than some of the guns they'd been making for other companies. They eventually made the Athena d'Italia guns for Weatherby and the 12 and 20ga LC Smiths for Marlin (which were essentially the Athena d'Italia with different cosmetics).
They then did some fancier sxs under their own name for Cabela's--the original Deas in either round body or side-plated versions. Originally priced at $4K, Cabela's had to discount them pretty significantly in order to sell them. Don't think they were bad guns, but at that point they had not established enough of a reputation to hit that price point. And back then, you could still buy a new AyA #2 for about the same money.
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Once I got home I took it Duck hunting to pattern it .............
TM Certainly different from how I do it. I pattern it ........... then take it duck hunting, if I like the patterning results. I cannot tell a thing about where my pattern placement is, or the quality of it, by shooting at ducks. SRH
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Fausti was making guns being sold in the States for a long time, under other names, before I recall seeing anything under their own name. The first Fausti I can recall was the Style, a relatively inexpensive (mid-teens price range) sxs they made for Cabela's. I had one briefly. Nothing particularly wrong with it, but a friend wanted it more than I wanted to keep it. They were much better than some of the guns they'd been making for other companies. They eventually made the Athena d'Italia guns for Weatherby and the 12 and 20ga LC Smiths for Marlin (which were essentially the Athena d'Italia with different cosmetics).
They then did some fancier sxs under their own name for Cabela's--the original Deas in either round body or side-plated versions. Originally priced at $4K, Cabela's had to discount them pretty significantly in order to sell them. Don't think they were bad guns, but at that point they had not established enough of a reputation to hit that price point. And back then, you could still buy a new AyA #2 for about the same money. The Walmart guns with Fausti all over them were from the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Much earlier than any of the guns you mentioned, especially the Cabela guns. What other names were Fausti’s being marketed under before then?
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Might want to recheck weight. I'm guessing 6 lbs. 13 oz.
Congrats on acquisition.
There appear to be some coincidental similarities to a gun labeled Weatherby and outsourced to... Fausti.
One does wonder who actually makes some of these brands, and how much of it is done in Italy.
HaHa, a 12 lb 13 oz gun would be a boat anchor!! You are correct 6 lb 13 oz. I think the Weatherby uses different chokes than the Highlander, which could prove to be a problem, when I bought the gun there were only two chokes that came with it instead of the five that were supposed to be with it, fortunately they are improved cylinder, and modified, the two chokes I use most of the time, however they said they would get me the missing chokes, that might prove harder then they think, I can only find one source for those chokes, and they are $50.00 each. I think most of the gun makers in Gardone V.T. source out work to specialty makers, from what I understand Gardone is a town full of cottage industries. I have read that Fausti did make the Hylander but I have also read that they didn't. All I know is I really like the gun, and it shoots where I point it. Thanks TM
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Once I got home I took it Duck hunting to pattern it .............
TM Certainly different from how I do it. I pattern it ........... then take it duck hunting, if I like the patterning results. I cannot tell a thing about where my pattern placement is, or the quality of it, by shooting at ducks. SRH I was being a little facetious, when I got home I had the opportunity to go hunting, and I had a new gun so I decided to take advantage of both, turns out the gun hits/fits perfect for me...at least with Federal Black cloud ammo, never wounded one duck, killed them dead in the air, on a side note I am impressed with Black cloud, I thought it was just a gimmick, this stuff reminds me of the good o'l days of hunting with lead, devastating is the only word I can think of. TM
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I have a friend who ordered a DEA from a local gun shop that was a Fausti authorized seller. He paid up front and it took a year for his new 20 bore gun to arrive from Italy. The distributor blamed the Italian laissez faire attitude toward business for the delay. For about 1/2 the money, a fabulous English-made A&D boxlock is hard to pass up.
Owen
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Owen, I'm not sure which of the Deas your friend ordered. But if you can regularly find smallbore British A&D's in really good shape for half the price, you're doing well. Brit boxlock 12's at half the price . . . lots of them on the market. But the 20's carry a pretty hefty premium. British 28's . . . the premium is well beyond hefty.
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Owen, I'm not sure which of the Deas your friend ordered. But if you can regularly find smallbore British A&D's in really good shape for half the price, you're doing well. Brit boxlock 12's at half the price . . . lots of them on the market. But the 20's carry a pretty hefty premium. British 28's . . . the premium is well beyond hefty. Brit 16's seem to me are a little higher in cost than a 12, but well below a 20 and often carry like a 20.
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Yes, but he wanted more of a waterfowl gun that is steel rated.
The Italians know how to regulate and choke barrels that throw incredible patterns to POA.
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Yes, but he wanted more of a waterfowl gun that is steel rated.
The Italians know how to regulate and choke barrels that throw incredible patterns to POA. This has been my limited experience, I only have two Italian guns, a Beretta 20ga 686, and now this Highlander, and both seam to want to shoot where they are pointed. So which British A&D guns are selling for good prices right now in 12ga? Thanks TM
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Yes, but he wanted more of a waterfowl gun that is steel rated.
The Italians know how to regulate and choke barrels that throw incredible patterns to POA. Until you want them to do something about one that isn't right. We called Beretta a few years ago about an O/U that wasn't regulated. They said if the center of the pattern is within 8" of where it is supposed to be it is within their tolerances. That's not so precise, in my book. SRH
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Beretta has no customer service that I can tell.
They flat out will not warranty wood. Period.
They still will not admit the existence of '391 bent carrier syndrome'. That's not a design defect according to Beretta.
Cole makes a nice living supporting the Beretta products since Beretta themselves will not.
Last count I have 6 Beretta products. They are all good serviceable guns. They all shoot where pointed, although others have not had the same experience.
I would not even consider one of their high end guns such as a DT-10/11 based on my experience with their after the sale disappearing act.
This is one place where Krieghoff shines. They take care of their shooters.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
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