Bettinsoli’s Diamond Line Deluxe 12 bore
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Comments
- Last updated: 13/12/2016
We have tested Bettinsolis in these pages before and found them to be attractive guns offering especially good value for money. The Diamond Line Deluxe - a bells and whistles model - is certainly not bucking that trend at an RRP of only £760 including VAT (and there is a standard model without side-plates for about £40 less).
Test Bench
The Diamond Line Deluxe is a 30” game gun with a single selective trigger, and it tips the scales around 7 ½ pounds - a good weight for an over and under. It looks smart, even though gold inlays and side-plates are not quite my thing. First impressions are of a gun that has been finished with care and a good eye for detail. Closer inspection does not reveal anything untoward. On the contrary, it makes you wonder how Bettinsoli can create the product - imported into the UK by RUAG - for such a reasonable bottom line. The blacking on the monobloc barrels of the gun, for example, is of good quality (with evidence of careful preparation work). Wood to metal fit is good too. The machining and finish of the action are well up to standard - the norm for other well-priced guns coming out of Italy these days. Its all part of the Brescian CNC revolution. All Bettinsolis, moreover, now come proofed for steel shot. Five chokes come with the gun which is supplied in a smart ABS travel case too. It’s obvious that specification is increasing, but not price.
The Italian proofed barrels are manufactured on the monobloc system. What else? Monobloc manufacture - perfected by Beretta - offers an economic way of creating a set of strong tubes. These are chambered for 3" (76mm) cartridges (the norm with most high-volume Italian producers). They will accept shorter 2 1/2" and 2 3/4" shells as well, of course. Workmanship is generally good. The barrels are nicely presented inside and out. They have ventilated joining ribs for most of their length (unusually, the section under the forend is solid) and a ventilated, subtly tapered, sighting rib. It goes from 10mm at the breech to 7mm at the muzzles. It presents a good picture to the eye and I also liked the traditional metal sighting bead (less easily damaged than some of the plastic types that have become trendy recently).
A close inspection of the tubes revealed no significant imperfection. The jointing between monobloc and tubes was competent, as was all the ejector work. The barrels are straight and generally well constructed too. The interchangeable chokes are neatly machined, though my own preference is for the extended type with a knurled front (available in some other Bettinsoli models or as a ‘retro-fit’ for this gun). Extended chokes make cleaning so much easier in my experience. If you don't have them, chokes tend to get left in guns (and as a result may become hard to remove).
The action style is familiar. Inspired by Browning, Beretta and described many times in these pages. There are bifurcated lumps on the sides of the mono-bloc (as on a Beretta) which engage the usual stud pins on the inner action walls. It results in a fairly low action profile – a little less deep than a Browning or Winchester over and under, but not quite as shallow as a Beretta, Blaser or Perazzi. Engineering is competent too with neat machining and coil springs used to power the hammers (a feature as expected these days as monobloc barrels in mass-produced guns).
All the controls – safety, top lever, barrel-selector etc. function well (although, I thought the pierced top lever a bit OTT - it comes into the same category as spoilers on Fords and pierced navels of less than nubile ladettes). My only significant gripe concerns the trigger pulls which I thought rather average. I am not a great fan of gold-plated triggers either (although they seem to be very popular with manufacturers). The action finish certainly gets my technical approval, though. The machine engraving and inlays are well done - the former with well formed scroll and the latter with life-like birds.
The wood work on the test gun was quite impressive as well. The butt and forend are made from reasonable timber. The figure was not outstanding, but there was some character to the grain. The figure, moreover, was real, not the result of transfers or other artificial enhancement processes. The shapes and dimensions were reasonable too. The full pistol grip was comfortable if a little tightly radiused. The stock measured about 14 1/2" from the middle of the trigger to the middle of the black recoil pad. Bettinsoli offer a range of pads from 11-25mm to cater for different stock length requirements to achieve a 15" stock if required.
With regard to comb height, drop at the nose of the comb was about 1 3/8" and 2 1/8” at the heel. This was all very sensible. The cast was good for a production gun too - just a little cast-off for a right hander. The forend is of schnable pattern, but the lip at the front is less pronounced than in some designs. Both butt and forend are oil finished or finished in imitation of traditional oil and well chequered (my guess would be by laser).
Shooting Impressions
The gun did not, frankly, excite me that much when I shot it at the Braintree Shooting Ground. On the other hand, I have been spoilt recently and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. In fact, everything functioned just as it should have done. The gun just lacked a bit of life in my opinion - perhaps because the weight was distributed fairly evenly throughout, rather than being concentrated in the middle. Trigger pulls were a little rough as discussed. Felt recoil was a little above average too. Handling was pretty neutral as noted. It broke the birds well enough, though, but it did not ‘sing’ to me as some guns do (admittedly, they are usually more expensive).
The finish and look of the Diamond Line Deluxe are certainly excellent for the price. No great vices were apparent. I don’t want to damn it with feint praise. The gun is a real manufacturing achievement for the money. There are other guns in this excellent and well-priced range that appeal to me more though. That’s the truth.
PRICE: £760 approx.