Fixed LengthД«arrel-wise its 28 inches or nothing, the three inch chambered tube featuring a vented 7mm stippled rib sat on wide stanchions, a small orange bead crowning the muzzle. And be sure to dog the mag cap up as tight, otherwise it has a habit of backing itself off after a few shots.

Similarly, the bolt must be in the forward or battery position for the barrel and forend to slide over the action spring and twin runner guide or once again, the gun wonвЂ™t go together, the bolt needing to be drawn back and locked out as the three pieces finally come together. A word of note at this point, when you assemble the Affinity, you need to fit the forend to the barrel before offering the barrel extension up to the receiver, otherwise the gun wonвЂ™t go together.Д«y sliding the barrel ring into the front of the forend, taking care to ensure the barrel ring flange seats correctly, lift the rear of the forend into position and then slide over the magazine tube as the barrel extension slides into the receiver. Move forward and a long, contoured forend that, like the grip encourages freedom of gun movement is comfortable and more than long enough for the leading hand to grasp the gun in a variety of positions. Synthetic from front to back, the game stock features a deep, sculpted black rubber recoil pad that fits neatly into the stock, a slender, stippled, ambidextrous grip feeding into the stock head. Complete with a set of three steel proofed, flush-fit choke tubes and additional stock shims that you stand a chance of needing, what you get is what you find in the cardboard carton. The Affinity on test was the Max5 camo model which meant that apart from the black polymer trigger guard, trigger, bolt and mag cap the rest of the Franchi was cloaked in RealtreeвЂ™s reed based disguise. The down and upside to all this is that when you take a close look at the new Franchi Affinity what you actually see is a budget-orientated Benelli, the positive aspect being itвЂ™s a Benelli thatвЂ™s enormously affordable.

Similarly, given that Beretta and sister brand Benelli produce some of the most desirable semiautos on the market, it comes as no surprise that when a new Franchi comes along, especially a semi-auto, it owes a significant part of its being to one or the other. Now part of the Beretta group of companies, over the years Franchi at times seem to have taken a decreasing part in proceedings, new guns not exactly a frequent occurrence, the brand more an R&D facility. So itвЂ™s with a degree of irony that this once maker of fine, top-end Italian double-barrelled shotguns is best known for the large capacity Spas-12 and Spas-15 military shotguns that combine both semi-auto and pump-action facilities.

Over the years, Franchi has produced some excellent over unders, the sidelock Imperiale Montecarlo Extra, the Astore and Albatros, none of which are still in production. The town вЂ“ like Franchi вЂ“ are of historic significance. Based in the famous Italian town of Brescia, a part of the world that holds a very special meaning for me as the home and starting point of the famous Mille Miglia road race, an event in its modern form that IвЂ™ve had the great good fortune to participate in. Established around the mid-1860s, the company that bears Luigi FranchiвЂ™s name has seen its fortunes wax and wane.

Franchi affinity