F.a.i.r Iside

Hutcho

Hutcho

Active member
Anyone here have experience with these. I've been thinking about one for quite a while and found a really good deal on a bnib one in 28ga. I haven't heard anything bad on the Facebook pages but doesn't hurt to ask here too.
 
Many positive comments. Only neg I've heard is the checkering on the stock is not to everyones' liking. If I can find the money I'm going to buy one...I never had a 20ga, but most of my upland now is pheasant so a 16ga is hard to ignore.
 
I've eyeballed theses myself. I haven't committed yet but have owned two F.A.I.R. o/u 16s. a 400 and 500. Both are very nice guns. I gave the 400 to my youngest grandson.
 
Rogue Hunter said:
Many positive comments. Only neg I've heard is the checkering on the stock is not to everyones' liking. If I can find the money I'm going to buy one...I never had a 20ga, but most of my upland now is pheasant so a 16ga is hard to ignore.
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I have a 16ga bobwhite that I love and can hit decent with, but on the longer walks it can get to be pretty miserable. On several days hunts I find myself reaching for the old trusty al48 just because it weighs like 5lbs. I love that gun(my first gun) but I really like a side by side more, so the thought of having a 5 or 6lb side by side really appeals to me. Not sure how effective 28 is on the occasional pheasant, but I have no problem getting them with 20 so I'm sure it won't be an issue. Time will tell.

I really wanted to splurge and get the taratuga gold, but I love having double triggers and not a fan of ejectors either. I know you can custom order it, but I'm impatient and I've never shot one yet, if I love it I may have to add one later 😂
 
I had a 16ga Iside EM with 30” barrels, double triggers and ejectors but I didn’t shoot it well so it went down the road. It only weighed 6 lbs, 2 oz so it was a joy to carry. I didn’t care for the checkering but had I been able to shoot it well it would have stayed.
 
Several other forums have reviews on them and all are pretty positive. I hate the checkering, but that can be fixed with some of the wife's money...
 
cheesy said:
Several other forums have reviews on them and all are pretty positive. I hate the checkering, but that can be fixed with some of the wife's money...
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I keep seeing comments about that. Is it that uncomfortable? Or just an aesthetic thing?
 
I personally think it’s an aesthetics thing.
 
Hutcho said:
I keep seeing comments about that. Is it that uncomfortable? Or just an aesthetic thing?
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I just hate the look of that skip line basketweave laser cut abomination. I could live with it, but for a few hundred you can have somebody do a traditional cut checkering to fix it up right proper like.
 
I probably would've never noticed it, but now when it gets here (yeah I bought it, could pass it up for bnib and $1300) that's gonna be the first thing I look at lol!
 
Man, now I really want to get a 20 ordered. Double triggers. 30”. Extractors. Taratuga Gold level finishes.

Think my wife would notice the deposit missing from the checking account?

Share pics and thoughts after you get yours.
 
cheesy said:
Man, now I really want to get a 20 ordered. Double triggers. 30”. Extractors. Taratuga Gold level finishes.

Think my wife would notice the deposit missing from the checking account?

Share pics and thoughts after you get yours.
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That's exactly what I wanted to order! If this one fits and I can hit with it decent I may have to special order another one someday lol!

Mary be a week or 2 before it gets here but I'll put some pics up for sure.
 
Wind River said:
In theory yes, in reality no. All my phez weapons in 20ga are 25" and 26". All are SxS or O/U. Before you can say weight forward, the phez is dead.
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Totally agree with the theory (for a trap gun} but give me 26s. I can miss a lot faster!!
 
I prefer the shorter barrels too, 26 would be ideal. I think the gun I got comes with 28, not ideal but it will work fine I'm sure.
 
I have a FAIR Iside in 16ga with double triggers. Very nice gun. I pheasant hunted with it last year and it was a joy to carry and shoot.
 
For the record I don't have any sub-gauge guns for game or otherwise. But when I read the last few posts it struck me, as I had just read earlier in the day some info on the matter in a book called Shotguns and Shooting by M. McIntosh. To quote directly off page 95, "To my mind, the worst-balanced guns in the world are the current crop of short-barreled, light-nosed game guns, especially the small bores. If I had my way, 28 inches would be the minimum length for every set of 20-gauge barrels. If I were having a 28-bore built to order it'd have 29- or 30-inch barrels. It's radical thinking, and you're probably skeptical, but I'd bet a hundred dollars against a handful of spent primers that if I had such a gun and you tried it, you'd want to buy it."
 
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