doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com RBL # 354 Comes Home

RBL # 354 arrived on 1-24-07 ordered 9-28-05 PIF The year and four month wait was bad, but the week it took for shipping was worse!

This gun is stright grip,splinter,double trigger,case color,Ex-Turkish,14 1/4" LOP,assisted opener, $3924.00 as ordered.

I'm very pleasantly surprized and pleased with my gun! I wanted an American made quality SxS in a price range that I could afford. This is exactly what I got with this gun.

The fit and finish are top notch on this one. Wood to metal is good,the action/barrel fit is excellent,the pores are filled with a nice finish that a good oil job should look like. The case color is dark and helps the engraving out. trigger pull's are crisp and lighter than most production guns.Balance point is where the wood meet's the metal on the forearm, but doesn't feel barrel heavy. The assisted opener helps on opening but makes it a little stiff on closing. The ejectors are timed and really snap "when using snap-caps, don't have them pointed at anything you care about" The checkering is good but different than I'm used to seeing, I can smell the lazer cut. The trigger guard tang is real trick and clean by not having any screw's in it.

I have been real nervous about my decision on EX-Turkish for the wood. I feel like I hit the lottery with the stick I got! I imagine it could be argued it's not a $700.00 blank but IMO I got my money's worth."I've had restock jobs that cost almost what this whole gun did"

Now that I have it there are things I would change and some I would do over.

I would:1.Order the Ex-Wood it may not be worth $700.00 but it sure makes a nice looking gun. 2.The case colors,this is just me but with the shallow machine-lazer engraving that Tony choose to use,I feel it tones it down and makes for a cleaner look.

I would not: 1.Get the assisted opener,it's a neat toy but I'm a hunter not a target shooter and should have saved the $450.00
2.I would not have ordered the engraved barrel wedge, I specified the original engraving when that whole thing went down after the first guns were delivered. There appears to be two different patterns now and this one is the small one that is set back about 3/16" from the breech. The proto-type guns looked good with it,but this new variation misses the mark and I feel is not what I ordered.

There are a couple of things I wish this gun had: 1.Hand cut checkering,the bottom of the checkering is dark from the lazer and hides the grain from view. 2.I wish Tony would have put a butt plate with some type of logo on it, rather than just a plain horizontal lined one.

Over-all this is a real nice gun that I'm very happy with. I know of no other SxS this nice offered at this price point."maybe Parker-repro's" Even at $3924.00 it's a heck of a deal and American made to boot!

The wait was terrible,the communication from Galazans a disaster,and the production out of sequence plain pi*sed me off.The end result helped make up for it!

Now I wish they would come out with different gauge barrel set's for it!

[img]http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q139/frbrit/P1010030.jpg?t=1169938043[/img]

I'm trying to post pictures of # 354 but with my limited computer skills I'am having a bear of a time. Could someone send me detailed instructions on how to do this!

I've tried the instructions in the FAQ with no luck! prehlers@comcast.net

Here you go:







Pete

Dogon, That's the nicest RBL furniture yet.
The lasers do that - same thing on the Rizzini B's.

Congratulations, nothing like a new gun day. You have a nice piece of wood there and I don't think anyone would say otherwise. It certainly looks Turkish and if there was any doubt it could also pass as top English so you're covered in my book. As far as the checkering goes, you can have it chased by any number of guys and that would reveal the grain, let me know if you need any leads.MazelTov.

That is a mighty fine piece of wood.

Brent

Nice run of grain up front and I like the color cast better than the Winchester red on the black walnut. The scroll on the barrels does look a bit isolated; simple ring on border at the breech would have looked a bit more acceptable/conventional.

jack

Pete,
Thanks for the help! I was able to get one picture up but then everything locked up on me.

Guy's thanks for the complements, I feel that I really lucked out with this one!

Paul

That certainly is a beautiful piece of wood!! Enjoy your gun.

Pete-
Nicest RBL I've seen yet. Excellent grain in grip and very nice quartersawn butt with black veins ( and seldom seen feather) in j.regia. I sent a similar photo example with my order last year.

My compliments !
best regards,
JBP