pheasantaddict
New member
I had seen Conn Shotguns in mags before, but got to see them at PH Fest. Looked real nice. Does anyone have one these double guns?
Connecticut Shotguns
- Thread starter pheasantaddict
- Start date
jnormanh
New member
I almost have one. Mechanically they are exact copies of the recently discontinued SKB/Ithaca design, but with a bit nicer wood and in a very nice leather case...and twice the price.
http://www.skbshotguns.com/side-by-side/385.php
http://www.skbshotguns.com/side-by-side/385.php
tmrichardson
Banned
Think you are a bit off there.
CSMC (Tony Galazan's operation) makes high quality guns of various designs, but nothing approaching the SKB that I know of. They make a close copy of the original fox and Win. 21 designs, for example.
Their bread and butter, very popular gun for a number of years has been the RBL. RB stands for "round-body" and is most closely patterned after fine english rounded actions like the Dickson.
CSMC employs american craftsmen who build all their guns here in the states. They are not cheap, but they sure are nice!
CSMC (Tony Galazan's operation) makes high quality guns of various designs, but nothing approaching the SKB that I know of. They make a close copy of the original fox and Win. 21 designs, for example.
Their bread and butter, very popular gun for a number of years has been the RBL. RB stands for "round-body" and is most closely patterned after fine english rounded actions like the Dickson.
CSMC employs american craftsmen who build all their guns here in the states. They are not cheap, but they sure are nice!
Uncle Buck
New member
definitely not SKB. They look more like the Italian Fausti DEA RB for instance that I wondered if they were not buying actions in the white and building them up. They are fine guns wheverer they come from.
I am not positive, but they may have quite producing their O/U.
I am not positive, but they may have quite producing their O/U.
The original RBL SXS are no longer in production. Some are still available as unsold stock and others are available on places like gunbroker. They are very nice guns. All American made and very handy. The new O/U A-10 American is available for orders but none have been produced yet. CSMC makes very nice guns. If you find one you like at a price you can afford, buy it.
jnormanh
New member
Sorry, Uncle Buck, but the CSMC RBL SxS is indeed, mechanically, an out-and-out copy of SKB.
Great news from Tony Galazan
Subject: Great news from Tony Galazan From: tj303. Email: Date: Sun, Nov 23, 2008 - 09:41 AM ET Website Address: The RBL is an American made SKB. .
Per Tony Galazan...shipping starts in April, and I am sure it ..... And I'm not one of those bemoaning the fact that it's a copy of the SKB. ...
http://www.uplandjournal.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard312a/ikonboard.cgi?act=Print;f=1;t=20113
Galazan (CSMC) bought the tooling from the SKB factory to make the RBL. ...
http://utahbirddogs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6903
Believe me Tony Galazan is an astute businessman and if he did not see a ... It was going to be a dressed up SKB action with a look I was .
http://www.16ga.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=53927&sid=49456d012ebff64c01421424d3326040
Not that there's anything wrong with copying a good design. Now that SKB has stopped manufacturing shotguns, Galazan is the only source for a new SKB, just as he is the source for a new Fox or Win 21.
Uncle Buck
New member
Mea culpa. The SKB had scalloped receiver and were not nearly so thick at the wrist as one thread responder once mentioned The RBL is a round body so tho the innards/boxlock must be the same the outward appearence is quite different from the photos I have seen.
We had a 200 SKB in the family for a while. It was good gun but apparently very few were made with a straight stock and most had the high gloss poly finish which is not for me.
We had a 200 SKB in the family for a while. It was good gun but apparently very few were made with a straight stock and most had the high gloss poly finish which is not for me.
Brad6260
New member
Addict,
Tony Galazan's CSM guns can be quite high quality. The RBL seems to be a good gun for the money in that price category.
The main issues are the people involved. Galazan has many folks who are big fans and very loyal to him. There are however an awful lot of people that want nothing to do with the company because of.....shall we say questionable business practices and questionable representation of their guns.
I was eager to purchase a few guns from them a couple of years ago and had no opinions good or bad before my initial conversations with them.
My personal experience found them to be horribly arrogant and deliberately misrepresented several of the guns I asked about. When I asked about the serial number of a Model 21 I wanted to buy but wanted to get a Cody letter on I was told " That's only disclosed after a purchase".
This happened on two other guns. One being a touched up Parker that was described as 100% original.
There seems to be a lot of people out there with similar experiences.
My 2 cents.
Regards,
Brad
Tony Galazan's CSM guns can be quite high quality. The RBL seems to be a good gun for the money in that price category.
The main issues are the people involved. Galazan has many folks who are big fans and very loyal to him. There are however an awful lot of people that want nothing to do with the company because of.....shall we say questionable business practices and questionable representation of their guns.
I was eager to purchase a few guns from them a couple of years ago and had no opinions good or bad before my initial conversations with them.
My personal experience found them to be horribly arrogant and deliberately misrepresented several of the guns I asked about. When I asked about the serial number of a Model 21 I wanted to buy but wanted to get a Cody letter on I was told " That's only disclosed after a purchase".
This happened on two other guns. One being a touched up Parker that was described as 100% original.
There seems to be a lot of people out there with similar experiences.
My 2 cents.
Regards,
Brad
tmrichardson
Banned
I've seen a few RBL's now and can see they are in no way the same design as the scalloped SKB's. Just because you buy some gun-making equipment from someone doesn't mean you will have to use to make the exact same gun, you know....
RBL's IMO initially were a bit of a gamble. An american craftsmen-made fine s x s for app. $2500 was a pipe dream, some thought--and especially in the much harder to produce round action design.
Those initial guns were pretty well thought of and if you look around today you'll not find many if any selling for less than $3,000--I've seen them for $3600.
I don't know that they are as good a value at that price point as they were initially, but they are sure nice.
There was a pile of negative stuff on webboards on RBL's before any of them even got into customers hands, that's what JNorman grabbed, although interestingly enough he didn't choose to print the following responses out of the same link...
I have held the prototypes, so I am very confident that we will all have good reports.
Oh, and no SKB ever looked as good as an RBL...and that is gospel.
Shotster...... Black&Tan:
Agreed Lee. But the people who scream "SKB clone" do so to try to put the gun in a negative light. Why, I don't know.......
RBL's IMO initially were a bit of a gamble. An american craftsmen-made fine s x s for app. $2500 was a pipe dream, some thought--and especially in the much harder to produce round action design.
Those initial guns were pretty well thought of and if you look around today you'll not find many if any selling for less than $3,000--I've seen them for $3600.
I don't know that they are as good a value at that price point as they were initially, but they are sure nice.
There was a pile of negative stuff on webboards on RBL's before any of them even got into customers hands, that's what JNorman grabbed, although interestingly enough he didn't choose to print the following responses out of the same link...
I have held the prototypes, so I am very confident that we will all have good reports.
Oh, and no SKB ever looked as good as an RBL...and that is gospel.
Shotster...... Black&Tan:
Agreed Lee. But the people who scream "SKB clone" do so to try to put the gun in a negative light. Why, I don't know.......
jnormanh
New member
I've seen a few RBL's now and can see they are in no way the same design as the scalloped SKB's. Just because you buy some gun-making equipment from someone doesn't mean you will have to use to make the exact same gun, you know....
RBL's IMO initially were a bit of a gamble. An american craftsmen-made fine s x s for app. $2500 was a pipe dream, some thought--and especially in the much harder to produce round action design.
Those initial guns were pretty well thought of and if you look around today you'll not find many if any selling for less than $3,000--I've seen them for $3600.
I don't know that they are as good a value at that price point as they were initially, but they are sure nice.
There was a pile of negative stuff on webboards on RBL's before any of them even got into customers hands, that's what JNorman grabbed, although interestingly enough he didn't choose to print the following responses out of the same link...
I have held the prototypes, so I am very confident that we will all have good reports.
Oh, and no SKB ever looked as good as an RBL...and that is gospel.
Shotster...... Black&Tan:
Agreed Lee. But the people who scream "SKB clone" do so to try to put the gun in a negative light. Why, I don't know.......
You're mistaken, tmrichardson. Yes, the RBL looks a bit different externally since the back of the receiver is a straight line, and it's heavily laser etched, but internally it's an SKB.
I've seen the actions of the RBL and SKB 385 side by side (stocks removed) and they are identical internally. The only differences are external and cosmetic. Go look at them for yourself, or talk to a gunsmith who has worked on both.
Comparing SKB to the RBL does not put it in a negative light, unless you think SKBs are somehow inferior guns, which they are not. The RBL is an attractive and well made gun.