Photographs courtesy of steniron.com
Italian gunmaker Giacinto Zanotti in 1906 produced a a sidelock shotgun. On the surface it looks like a Holland system side by side, and some commentators rush to label Zanotti guns as Holland types. Nevertheless, the Zanotti guns are not Holland clones, they offer substantial improvement over the Holland system, improvements that classify Zanotti guns as special in the history and development of the side by side. The Design was further refined by Renato Zanotti and today a few are made on the original patterns for very discerning enthusiasts of double guns.
To undrstand the improvements brought about by Zanotti it helps to remember grade school Physics and specifically levers. There are three types of lever:
A type– where the load is at one end,the fulcrum in the middle and the effort at the other end, the crowbar is a type A lever.
B type- where the fulcrum is at one end, the load in the middle and the effort at the other end, the nutcracker is a type B lever.
C type- where the fulcrum is at one end, the load at the other end the effort in the middle, tweezers are type C levers.
On the left is a conventional lock up, on the right the Zanotti improved version where the rear lump extends beyond the breech line and significantly strengthens the lock up.
In break open guns the barrel cross pin (also called hinge pin) is the fulcrum. The rearmost end of the barrels is the point of load. The bite of the rear lump is the point of effort. The load are the foces the try to open the gun on firing. The effort is the resistance ot the rear lump bite in resisting the load and thus keeping the gun closed. In almost all English side by sides the bite of the rear lump is in front of the barrel breech ends, that is to say they form a type C lever.
Zanotti extended the rear lump so that the bite is behind the breech ends of the barrels. In effect he turned the lock up into a type B lever and thus increased the strength of the side by side gun in resisting forces that tend to open it. The Zanotti lock up is stronger and requires very minor changes to incorporate it into a side by side design. The extended rear lump needs room to fit under the standing breech. This room is provided by a recess machined at the bottom of the stnding breech.
Ialian gunmakers were quick to appreciate this Zanotti improvement and a fair number of them incorporated it in their side by sides. English makers faithful to the axiom “we do it the way it was always done” have kept their original design with the lump in front of the carrel breech ends. One wonders how the great makers like Purdey, Holland, Lancaster and others would have reacted to this improvement in the shotgun lock up. These makers were pioneers who in their time were quick to accept and use new patents and ideas. However, by the time that Giacinto Zanotti’s improvement hit the market the great makers had passed on, they were succeded by descendants who were content to keep making the same guns, happy to rest on their inherited laurels and valuable brand names.
The Zanotti lock with the rebounding feature and the improved intercepting safety.
Rebounding hammers are one of the most important inventions in gunmaking. They were patented by the English maker Stanton in 1867 under patent number 367. Stanton had devised an ingenuous yet very simple way to use the main spring, (by extending one of its limbs) to do two jobs. One job was obviously to power the hammer and deliver a blow to the firing pin. The other job was to retract the hammer a few millimeters after the blow, so it no longer made contact with the firing pin. Retracting the hammer provided greater safety, it i did away with the old system of using a half cock notch in the action and it also eliminated striker binding. Sdtriker binding occurs then the firing pins remain stuck onto the primers after firing, and it makes a gun very hard to open, a potentially deadly situation when hunting dangerous game and a real pain in all other situation.
Zanotti incorporated rebounding hammers to the sidelock system, making it safer and more practical. The changes needed to achieve this were few and simple. Like all great inventions they tend to generate that “why didn’t I think of that “reaction when you see them. A simple extension of one limb of the main spring and a small change to the shape of the tumbler make the sidelock a rebounding lock.
The third improvement Zanotti brough to the sidelock action was an improved intercepting safety. Zanotti’s intercepting safety exploits more efficiently the inertia force from an external blow or bump to the gun, reinforcing its engagement with the tumbler.
Superb shape! The side pedal leaves the action streamlined unencumbered by a top lever.
These improvements are further enhanced by the sheer beauty of the side by side in which they were employed. It is a remarkable feat of shotgun aesthetics. As can be seen in the photographs it is a side pedal 20 gauge. The smaller caliber allows greater harmony and balance between the barrels and the action body. The side pedal configuration leaves the top strap free so that its contours flow smoothly into the stock. It manages to look classic and streamlined at the same time, a truly timeless shape. A very desirable shotgun! The gun in the photographs is a revival of the Renato Zanotti gun which was based on the original Giacinto Zanotti improvements.
A Manufrance Robuste monobloc, shows the extended rear lump pioneered by Zanotti.
As it often happens in the world if shotguns, the inventor is more often copied than praised. Approximately a decade after Zanotti introduced his improvement the lock up of the side by side, the French giant Manifrance introduced its side by side Robust shotgun. The lock up of the Robust featured a rear lump that extends backwards beyond the barrel breech ends. Coincidence? Who can tell!
Zanotti is not alone among the unsung heros in gun design. The Baker ejector of the Boss, the Lancaster 12/20 and other patents are used with no mention of their inventor William Baker. Pieper first experimented with barrels jointing and developed the monobloc and demibloc systems so widely used today with no mention of his name. Petrik showed the trapezoidal barrel shoulders in his patents. These patents, along with the improvements of Zanotti had expired and their used was free, it would have cost nothing to recognise their inventors. This article is an act of recognition for Giacinto Zanotti, one of the pioneers of shotgun design whose inventions offered positive improvements that we still enjoy today.
A special thanks to Piero, Steni and Paolo for allowing use of photographs from their wonderful site www.steniron.com, a must visit for anyone who is serious about quality shotguns.