farmer7 Posted February 3, 2018 Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 Hello, I just wanted to do a quick little review of the Fabarm L4S. I decided on ordering one through my local gunshop sight unseen after reading positive things about the L4S on US forums - they seem to have really warmed to it. I decided to go for it and take a punt predominantly because of the light weight, mine fitted with Fabarms thickest pad at 27mm and a 28" barrel tips the scales at just 6lbs 12oz. With the 26" tube and 12mm pad you'd be closer to 6 1/2lbs. My reasoning for looking for a light weight gun was twofold; firstly I decided after doing some roughshooting with my 8lbs 13oz 30" Remington 1100 I was being too hard on myself lugging the steel receivered beast around; when it came to taking a shot it felt like a 2x4! Secondly my fiancée has developed a keen interest in shooting clays and despite only having shot a few times with the afore mentioned 1100 she is doing really well but finding it too heavy. I have a Beretta 692 but it hits her too hard so wanted to stick to a gas auto. Anyway I thought this could do double duty for both of us! It came in a very nice fitted lockable Negrini case with 5 thinwall chokes, choke key, instruction manual, cast/drop spacers and two sling swivels. They are of the flush cup variety that you often have fitted on tactical type rifles. You just press the centre button for fast removal. Their is no danger of pressing it accidentally as you need to press them pretty blinking hard to remove, which is a good thing. Another plus side of them is they don't spoil the lines of the gun when removed. To assemble the gun you remove the red anodized magazine cap and fit the barrel - with the bolt closed, (I tried the usual method of doing it with the bolt open but the bolt carrier extension won't allow it. No big deal just a quirk) then on refitting the red cap you then slide on the forend and tighten down the captive external forend cap. Apparently with this set up the forend isn't stressed at all, so no danger of cracks developing and it also allows for giving things a quick clean or lube without stripping completely. I also disassembled the entire gun which is easily doable in a couple of minutes without any tools (other than the rounded end of the choke key handle to push the trigger group pins out) certainly faster and easier than most other semis. Little things like removing the firing pin and spring is achieved as simply as pushing the firing pin forward and the retaining pin drops free. Saves time and effort. The locking block then just swivels up and out for cleaning. The spring that operates the bolt is cleverly fitted around the mag tube acting directly on the twin action bars. No more rusty, neglected springs in the stock to deal with! Once I'd reassembled and lubricated the gun I took it out to shoot some clays on the farm and was very impressed with it's handling and complete reliability and it's apparent ability to vaporize the clays! The lightest cartridges I had were 28gr which it fed without a hitch, but bearing in mind this is a 3" chambered field gun fitted with Fabarms pulse piston specifically aimed at heavier field loads which regulates bolt speed by the expansion of a polymer sleeve on the outside of the piston with heavy loads I was mightily impressed. It is extremely soft shooting, it felt every bit as soft as my 9lb Remi and handles really nicely I'll definitely be taking it for a round of clays at my local sporting ground. Overall I'm extremely happy with the Fabarm, especially at £800. It feels very well made, is very nicely finished and generously chromed for easier cleaning. It has superb wood to metal fit, nice panels of chequering and stippling and a very nice piece of timber. I'm not bashing other guns here, I've owned Beretta,Browing and Winchester semis but I just don't think you can get this lot for £800 anywhere else! Bearing in mind it doesn't come in a cardboard box and has five chokes not the usual three! Anyway, I hope this may be of use to others looking for a new semi for pigeon/rough/clays. I couldn't find much about it here in the UK. I also spoke to Mike at Anglo Italian Arms the Fabarm importers who was a real gent and arranged for a 27mm pad to replace the standard 12mm before shipping to my local gunshop. I have long arms! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancer425 Posted February 3, 2018 Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 Nice write up i have always liked the fabarms think they are often over looked in favour of better advertised guns from Italy mate had a eligi many years ago was reliable worked well he used it as his main pigeon gun nothing went wrong with it he sold it to raise the cash towards a Brand new Browning 325 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer7 Posted February 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2018 I think you're maybe right, hopefully things will start to turn though. I think they were bought or partially bought over by Caesar Guerini a few years back and they're making good headway in the O/U market. The Fabarm comes with a 5 year warranty too which is a lot better than most of the others give you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancer425 Posted February 4, 2018 Report Share Posted February 4, 2018 9 hours ago, farmer7 said: I think you're maybe right, hopefully things will start to turn though. I think they were bought or partially bought over by Caesar Guerini a few years back and they're making good headway in the O/U market. The Fabarm comes with a 5 year warranty too which is a lot better than most of the others give you! I met a chap on the wash the other week he had a camo 3.5 inch fabarm O U he had had it ten years no problems i never knew fabarm did a 3.5 inch OU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westward Posted February 4, 2018 Report Share Posted February 4, 2018 18 hours ago, farmer7 said: I think you're maybe right, hopefully things will start to turn though. I think they were bought or partially bought over by Caesar Guerini a few years back and they're making good headway in the O/U market. The Fabarm comes with a 5 year warranty too which is a lot better than most of the others give you! Yes, CG bought a majority stake in Fabarm a few years back after a 10+ years of working together and added their "way" into the mix which has improved the design, fit and finish of Fabarms and raised their profile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billytheghillie Posted February 4, 2018 Report Share Posted February 4, 2018 21 hours ago, farmer7 said: I think you're maybe right, hopefully things will start to turn though. I think they were bought or partially bought over by Caesar Guerini a few years back and they're making good headway in the O/U market. The Fabarm comes with a 5 year warranty too which is a lot better than most of the others give you! Franchi Affinity 7 year warranty, and cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer7 Posted February 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2018 1 hour ago, billytheghillie said: Franchi Affinity 7 year warranty, and cheaper. A Hatsan is also cheaper! I've no doubt the Franchi is cheaper but it doesn't have the same features such as an overbored barrel, extended length choke tubes x5, not 3 as with Franchi or as nice a piece of wood and it's an inertia operated gun, I specifically wanted a gas operated gun. Nor is it as nicely finished or as attractive - in my eyes at least! Saying that the Franchi is a fine gun - I still use my old AL48, it just keeps going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billytheghillie Posted February 5, 2018 Report Share Posted February 5, 2018 Enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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