Interesting facts about the Zanotti shotgun

Zanotti guns are completely handmade one at a time by master craftsmen. They are made directly from forged steel by milling; avoiding inferior labor-saving methods like micro-fusion.

The customer can inspect his shotgun at any time during the production process. He can go in person to the shop or ask for pictures via the Internet. Thus he can track the progress and see how his gun is made. No equal exists in the world.

The innovative Zanotti lock system with forward mainspring and bouncing hammer design ensures ruggedness; the horizontal flat is 56 mm. long, and can easily handle high power ammunition suitable for waterfowl. They are made from forged steel, milled and subsequently hand filed to perfection.

In several of the finest British shotguns, like Holland & Holland, the hammer in the “down” position causes the firing pins to protrude from the lock vertical flat. This requires the milling of two slots in the breech ejectors (one for each firing pin) to avoid the firing pins being cut off as the gun is closed by the hunter.

Stefano Zanotti never accepted this system, which he considered of poor design and inferior aesthetics, so he developed a “lever counter-lever” system that became a Zanotti trademark. With this system, when closing the gun, a lever bounces back the hammers, causing the strikers to stay inside the lock system instead of protruding out of it.

The Zanotti lock has a double safety lever bar. While on the Holland & Holland system a single safety bar locks only onto the lower part of the hammer. With the Zanotti lock, the hammer is blocked by the safety bar on both lower and upper parts thus providing a double safety against accidental discharge of the gun that could occur if the gun is dropped.

In the Zanotti system, the rear lump inserts into a recess made in the lock vertical flat. The lever system is thus transformed from a third genre (fulcrum – resistance – power) to a second genre lever system (where power is located between fulcrum and resistance). This lock is much more resistant to blast forces.

Looking at the gun from the side, the lock (resistance) engages the second (rear) lump protruding out of the breech face, thus having a more favorable lever system. This way the lock will handle much more abuse than traditional lock systems. This system makes the Greener triple lock system obsolete.

When a shotgun is closed the lumps find their way into recesses called mortises where they lock to keep the gun closed. Unlike all other shotguns, Zanotti lump recesses are made with a circular profile (instead of straight ones) so they match perfectly with the barrel lumps that are made in a circular form. This is one of the least known Zanotti innovations, presented for the first time at the 1906 Milan International Expo where they were awarded the first place prize. This method makes the lump fit with the recesses on a wider rotation arc, thus making the lock much stronger than traditional ones. The recesses are finally trimmed to perfection.

Matching the lumps to the recesses is accomplished using a hand actuated tooling machine that results in a perfect fitting of the parts. Hand manufacturing notwithstanding, construction tolerances are so tight that – when ordering a matched pair of guns – the barrels are interchangeable. Try to ask this of other producers of “handmade” guns.

Unlike other shotgun brands, the fore end bar is made out of forged steel, assembled and tempered only at the final stage of production. This is a very important detail as the fore end bar is the part getting the most abuse when opening the barrel system.

The opening lever is made out of forged steel and finished by milling and filing the material to exact specifications. Then it's engraved to match the gun's lock plates. In shotguns pairs, the levers are numbered to distinguish the two guns.

The hammer forged steel (demibloc) barrel system provides for the welding and grinding of the barrels followed by welding of the rib system. This barrel system was adopted by Zanotti and is considered of superior technology and aesthetics. It's also the most expensive for the producer, being used today only on the most precious and expensive guns.

The barrels are made out of Molybdenum or Nickel Chrome Molybdenum steels. The internal grinding and the chokes are made to customer specifications. The barrels are then hand polished to the final finish.

At the last manufacturing stage, guns are tested at the National Proof House in Gardone Val Trompia and again at the Baschieri & Pellagri ammo plant for the shot pattern. Guns with shot patterns less than 90% on target are sent back to the barrel maker for a new install. Pattern targets are available for the customer at the gun consignment.

The stock is made according to the customer's request. Zanotti avoids the modern polyester varnish and lacquers widely used today on handmade guns. They have opted to use a finish based upon an ancient British formula that requires from twenty to thirty days of work depending on the wood. And this is applied carefully by hand so that it penetrates the wood, protecting it for long time. The result is a polished but not glossy stock of considerable ruggedness. The wood grain will be show up like the grain in a marble slab.