Sporting Gun UK – May 2019

90 SPORTING GUN M AY 2019 http://www.shootinguk.co.uk

USEDGUNS

Blast from the past

T

he family fi rm of Bettinsoli has long
been producing guns in the Italian
town of Brescia in northern Italy.
The name is well known in shooting
circles and has always enjoyed a reputation
for turning out well-built, attractive and
reliable but inexpensive shotguns.

The Bettinsoli Super Sport is aclayshooter’sdreaminthe

quality of its build and the wayit handles,nottomention

its competitive price, says CharlesSmith-Jones

Style and

substance

TheSuperSportwasbasedontheolder

Silvermodelandisanexcellentexample of

itswork.Itbecameavailableinthiscountry

justunder 20 yearsagoandwasimported

byRUAGAmmotecofCornwall.Production

endedonlyfairlyrecently.

Goodvalue

Asthenamesuggests,theSuperSport is an

out-and-outsportinggun,aimedspecifi cally

attheclayshootingmarket.Itoffersa lot

ofgunfora modestprice.Youmaycome

acrossit wronglydescribedastheTarcisio.

Infact,theengravedBettinsoliTarcisio on

thebarrelsisactuallythefullnameofthe

companyratherthanthatofthemodel,

whichappearsnowhereonthegun.

Boththisgunanditssuccessor,theSuper

SportII,wereimmediatelyrecognised

asastonishinglygoodvalueformoney

whentheyfirstappearedandconsidered

theequalsofgunscostingdoublethe

amount.Theearlymodelsweresupplied in

a smartlylinedcase,laterbecominga more

functionalonemadeofimpactplastic. A full

setofchokes,anoptionalrecoilpadand a

compatiblescrewdriverwereincluded in the

priceand,withluck,willstillbewiththe gun

whenit enterstheusedmarket.Mostshould

beproofedforusewithsteelshot,although

it alwayspaystocheckproofmarks.

Atfirstsight,thisshotgunsimplylooks

right.Theraisedventilatedtopandmid-ribs

immediatelysuggesta gunintendedfor

Itisnotoneofthemajorplayersbutfull

orderbooksreflecttheenduringpopularity

ofthebrand.Fora smallcompanyit hasa

surprisinglyhighoutput,thanksinnosmall

measuretoanupgradetocomputerised

manufacturingtechnologyinthe1980s,

whichenhanceditsproductioncapabilities.

Most Super Sports

were steel proofed,

but do check

Stocks can be

a little short

for some

Action

The actions are

liberally and

tastefully engraved

Extras

A spare butt pad was

originally supplied

with the gun