Guns International #: 102918732

Category - Famars Abbiatico & Salvinelli Shotguns - Shotguns - Italian Double

Category
Famars Abbiatico & Salvinelli Shotguns
Shotguns - Italian Double

Abbiatico & Salvinelli Venus, SLE, 12 ga. 27 5/8" Bl. Moretti engraved and signed, Best Gun, Near Mint

Description:
Abbiatico & Salvinelli (FAMARS) Venus, Sidelock Ejector, Moretti engraved, Best Gun 12 Ga., 27 5/8” Bl., 99% New and RARE.

Abbiatico & Salvinelli, a.k.a. FAMARS (Fabbrica Armi Mario Abbiatico & Remo Salvinelli)  Via Cinelli, 29. 25063 Gardone, Val Trompia, Italy. The Venus is a round lock sidelock ejector side-by-side engraved by Master Moretti, 12 ga., 2 ¾” chambers, with traditional double triggers, well-struck chopper lump chrome-lined barrels with smooth concave rib, choked IM (right) and F (left) with 2 ¾" chambers.
This is one of the rarest A&S models by the master gunmaker. .

 Metal: The Venus is built with the highest traditional quality. Lock up is with Purdey’s double underlug system. Features include: H&H high-grade 7-pin double seared sidelocks with double triggers (the front trigger articulated), beaded fences, H&H Southgate automatic ejectors, bushed strikers (removable striker disks) with engraved locking screws, gas escape valves, and manual safety (to give the shooter control). These are features generally found on Boss's, Purdey's and Holland & Holland Royal grade guns which new cost between 100K and 200K!

Stock: Made of Circassian walnut (a high quality English walnut): the buttstock has stunning color with rich figure in the classic style with English straight-hand grip that matches in color and figure with its splinter forend. Wood to metal fit is perfect. It is finished with a French polish, a hand-rubbed oil finish that takes many coats.

The hand checkering is generous wrapping around the forearm with a diamond field design and coming together in a pattern over the wrist and under the lower tang with designed elements exclusive to the Venus model, all perfectly executed with 32 lpi diamonds with single borders. The butt is checkered as well.

Engraving: The action has a bright coin finish with a traditional small scroll and bouquet pattern engraved by the famous Italian Master engraver Moretti and signed on the trigger plate. Each sidelock has three bouquets and the bottom of the receiver has two large bouquets.  All blossoms are surrounded with tedious scroll work. The pierced top lever is carved with a dragon.


A special characteristic of the Venus is its sleek appearance and sleek handling with rounded grip giving the appearance that the sidelocks are molded into the stock (without the traditional panels and teardrops -- sometimes referred to as Boss styling or round lock sidelocks). No one does it better than A&S, especially all their guns made during this era -- a testament to the maestro’s stock making craft. The flawless hand checkering surrounds the coin-finished inlaid trigger guard tang that ends with an inlaid point. 

Inscriptons: The inscription, “ARMI FAMARS” is very small on the topside of the left barrel, and very small MORETTI is inscribed on the trigger plate.
Hidden from view: The water table shows: serial number, FAMARS, PSF, and Finito with Italian proof marks. The barrel flat shows the serial number, PSF, Finito with Italian proof marks, XX9 (for 1973), and FAMARS.

Dimensions: 14 ¼” to checkered butt, 1 ½”drop at comb, 2 ¼” drop at heel with ¼” cast off -- ideal measurements for the right-handed hunter today. Weight: 6 lbs. 10 oz. A wonderfully balanced gun, this is the kind of gun that makes sense to carry for upland birds over hill and dale with a lot less fatigue than other 12ga. guns. 

Condition:
With perfect screws, perfect mechanics and strong well-timed ejectors, the bores are “as new” and the barrels remain tight on face and ring like chimes. Lockup feels like shutting a vault door. The blue remains 99%, wood at 99%, and checkering is 100%.  The gun remains in excellent condition, retaining near all of its barrel black, and the locks remain bright and untarnished. This is a true, sidelock ejector side-by-side that was handmade and hand-engraved. Guns by A&S during this period were superb in every sense. The pleasing figure and rich color of the walnut contrasts stunningly with the clean polished coin-finished frame and deep blue barrels

Includes maker’s leather trunk case with accessories.

Special Note: On December 11, 2023 Dan Moore of William Larkin Moore wrote an email about this gun: “FYI  this was one of my dad’s personal shotguns” – William Larkin Moore’s personal gun.  Of the thousands of guns he had at his disposal, being the largest shotgun dealer in Southwest, this is the one he chose.  If you get a chance to handle it, you would know why.

Closest Italian Copy: After A&S introduced their Venus, within a year Bertuzzi copied it and brought out their own version with the same Italian name, Bertuzzi Venere, which today command prices in the upper twenties. The Bertuzzi Verere does not have a dragon top lever, but the two makers use most of the same master engravers. Bertuzzi was a guild gunmaker while A&F was a soup-to-nuts, fully in-house, maker (See p. 120 The Italian Gun).

Price: $14,450.00

Seller is the author of The Rifleman’s Rifle (Winchester pre-64 Model 70s) and will furnish a Letter of Provenance that this gun is from his collection.  Please check out author’s feedback on ebay under rcrwin70roger.  3-day non-firing inspection for full refund, shipping is $60 to buyer’s FFL, payment by MO, certified check , wire transfer or personal check with wait for validation. For questions, call (808) 989-1863 and ask for Roger.



About the Maker: Abbiatico & Salvinelli, a.k.a. FAMARS (Fabbrica Armi Mario Abbiatico & Remo Salvinelli)  Via Cinelli, 29. 25063 Gardone, Val Trompia, Italy.

In the book, The Italian Gun by Steve Smith & Laurie Morrow, the authors classify A&S “right up there with the best and brightest of the Italian handmade-gun makers” (page 174). On p.154, the authors add, “they are in the company with Fabbri, F.lli Rizzini, and Luciano Bosis.”
In the book, Gamefield Classics, published 2008, the authors devote an entire chapter to Abbiatico & Salvinelli entitled, “Incomparable Italian,” and stating, “The genius of gunmakers Abbiatico & Salvinelli can be found in much more than exquisite engraving.”
In that chapter, they write…

”total output is only about sixty guns and rifles each year and that includes the SO9 Berettas that A&S makes under contract for the big company down the street. No wonder that the workshop has a quiet air about it. No one’s in a hurry, certainly not their master engravers, who work in a small side room off the shop.”

In 2012, FAMARS became FAMARS USA forming a partnership between the Abbiatico family and an American entrepreneur.

The guns are still made in Gardone with many of the original craftsmen from the earlier company managed by Salvinelli. They continue to produce approximately 100 bespoke guns yearly in Italy with a small group of the original master craftsmen.

From Abbiatico & Salvinelli’s marketing:  “With unparalleled performance, reliability, and quality we emulate what every gun maker strives for… perfection. The intricacies of our mechanisms have been copied by others, but do not approach the genius and innovations that have turned FAMARS Shotguns into icons. Our technology and everlasting beauty turns our shotguns and rifles into family heirlooms. Designed for the discriminating hunter this Venere shotgun is a crafted masterpiece.” 


 

Price: $14,450.00