High velo in Franchi 48 al

Labradinger

Well-known member
Recently purchased a 1973 Franchi 48. No recoil pad. Shot a box of target loads on light setting and no problem with recoil at all. I have about 6 boxes of prairie storm. Im not, to my knowledge, recoil sensitive while hunting. I have switched to the heavy setting and plan to pattern some loads this weekend. My question is will those hot loads potentially damage/crack the grip like so many i see for sale? Or is that just from guys shooting heavy loads on light setting? If the consensus is the ps could cause damage i wont even pattern with those shells in case its awesome and ill be tempted to use them. I have several other rounds to pattern, just have an excess of these loads at the moment.
 
A gun made in 73 is not well suited to shoot those loads in. What choke is in it? If its mod or tighter ,that wont be good at all. You didnt say what gauge it is either. A 12 would be shooting 1500 fps. You may not be recoil sensitive yet but go out and shoot a couple of those quick, like at a bird, and then see what you say. I have a 20 ga, and theres no way I would shoot those in it. Not made for that. Now all of this is just my opinion and like everything else , everyone has one.
 
Thats kind of the way i was leaning. I bought a few boxes of 1250-1330 fps rounds. This is a 12 in fixed mod. I barely felt the 1200 fps loads on light setting in a tshirt tho. Im sure ill feel something from this gun if i mount it wrong. May end up putting a really thin recoil pad on that wont change lop much, mostly so it’s not as slick
 
I can assure you its a whole other level with PS loads from any gun. I had a friend that shot them from a Benelli Ultra light. After he shot 3 times at a pheasant , cussing mind you, after each shot, he emptied his coat of them and traded them to me for regular shells. One of the funniest things I have ever witnessed. Still makes me laugh to tell it. And your 48 would be just like that. Im just saying. But he was a bit more sensitive I would say. Lol
 
O ive shot PS. Never felt them out of the Affinity I had but I remember shooting straight up with a light russian o/u and I felt every fps. Mostly curious if todays hot loads are what caused so many 48 al grips to crack or if its just guys not having the friction rings set right. Sometimes I like knowing whether or not I can do something, even if I dont plan on it.
 
I would say as long as your nut is tight on the forearm it shouldnt be the cause of them cracking. What will however ,since it is recoil operated like Browning A 5's, is slamming the reciever shut without it loading a shell. Seen it many times on both guns. If you have action locked back , hit the button as you hold charging bolt and ease it forward. Dont let it slam forward. We used to sell both guns in my Dads store many years ago and saw it countless times.
 
I definitely have never heard that. It really does slam when u do it though. Thanks for the heads up, i wont do that anymore.
 
After shooting a couple in another light semi auto off sticks today, i promise i wont be shooting them in the 48. I also have never seen a poorer patterning shell out of 2 different chokes
 
I tried imp cylinder. On a 48 by 42 inch paper there were approximately 15 holes. Mod had maybe 35-40 total. Next was a scheels pheasant plus and i didnt hate it but wasnt overly impressed. All were off shooting sticks.
 
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