16ga.com ~ View topic

Are Costco guns the French hardware store equivalent of Manufrance Robusts?

Member Joined: 17 Feb 2007 Posts: 497

I believe so - the Costco I own is identical to the Manufrance Robust, just a little plainer finish.

Thank you! I thought so. I have a soft spot for French guns, although I have never owned one. I would LOVE to have a Manufrance Ideal, which to me looks like a Ruger Gold Label except it also comes in 16ga., weighs about 6 lbs., has double triggers and very nice engraving.

I still can't believe Ugartechea's are the only new guns under $2k I can think of with the above features. How sad is that? Confused

Member Joined: 17 Feb 2007 Posts: 497

Wait a minute - is COSTO not COSTCO Embarassed

I have a Ideal N0 6 in another gauge, they are really finished well, and well built. I have an eye out for another in 16.

Costo makes sense, but the gun listing I saw said Costco. Probably an oversight.

Ideals are really stunning and distinctive guns. If I ran across a 16 in person, and it handles as good as it looks, I would have a hard time resisting the temptation to trade up.

I've got a Costo AND a Robust. The Costo is really new, the Robust is prewar and needed work, but is fine now. The ejection springs on BOTH guns are mounted between the bbls on the underside, one behind the other in a line, and not inside the forend. Never seen that before on any other guns. They both self open unless fired, then the spring is transferred to kicking out the spent hull. They are both light and well made guns. I have 3 French guns in total. My go to gun is a 5 pound non-ejector. I LOVE the French guns best of all I've ever used and shot.... (that includes a stint in the gun trade importing and selling English shotguns!!)

Britgun, A 5 lb. 16? Wow, I can't even imagine that. Where do you find them? Are the Costo guns light as well? The stepped down barrel in front of the chamber is odd-looking, but other than that they look fine and seem like a great value. BTW, if you happen to run across a semi-affordable 16 Ideal, let me know Smile

Can I see pics of your Ideal ?

my Robust isn't an Ideal, I don't think....it has the stepped down barrels you mentioned and so does the Costo. The Robust is about 5 1/2 pounds, but I achieved that with hollowing out the buttstock and trimming the stock and comb, then refinishing. It has 15" UNCUT barrels, which is weird, as most of these have 27" barrels (some metric thing).... the Costo isn't really very light, more like 6 1/2 lbs.

The Robust is a little higher grade, with full scroll coverage, but the engraving is kind of lame, and has that funky basket weave looking checkering, but it's worn enough to not be too offensive. It was also proofed in England for 2 1/2".... but I think it's 2 3/4" now.

If you can find a light French gun, you won't be disappointed.... they are really sturdy, sturdier than English built guns, even though they are often so light and trim. They resemble Belgian boxlocks very much, though are frequently lighter and trimmer in the action and buttstock, which brings the weight down at least a half a pound, well under 6 pounds.

These lighter loads I've been making with Longshot and vintage Alcan waxed fiber wads are great in these light French guns and really take the sting out of the recoil....

The only Yankee gun that comes close to this in weight and feel is my Sterlingworth which weighs in at about 5 3/4....

I was going to ask you about recoil. A meaty 1 oz. chukar load seems like it would pack a wallop in a 5.5lb gun, and even low pressure Longshot reloads aren't exactly low recoil. I could actually see a gun like that doing double duty as a nifty quail gun with 28ga. inserts. My 6.7lb Lefever has almost no recoil, and points great. I wish it was a little lighter from a carrying standpoint, but it points plenty quick enough. Having said that, if I could actually find a 5.5 lb 16 to shoot, I might do everything in my power to get it.

Recoil really hasn't been a problem, I have a Decelerator Clay's pad on each light gun, and they have never bothered me. Only when they had their original horn butt plates did they beat me up a little. I have shot 100 rounds of sporting clays with factory 1 1/8 oz. at a charity shoot, and won it with the 5 lb gun!! Even after all those shots, I didn't get effected. I guess I can conclude that a pad would be mandatory for these superlights... but the recoil isn't prohibitive.