Adolph Zoli - 28 Gauge?

[Picher]

Didn't take a picture, but just finished improving the trigger pull on an A(dolph). Zoli, 28 Gauge O/U and installing a Limbsaver recoil pad (mostly to lengthen the relatively short stock) and was wondering what you folks think about that particular gun. I didn't fire it, but think it is pretty well made and has silver-colored engraving on the receiver.

I checked on the history and found that the company has made some very fine shotguns and even manufactured Weatherby-logo shotguns for a while, before going out of business around 1987(?). (I bought a 20 gauge Weatherby O/U made by Miroku (who also made Browning Citoris) which my son now owns.

The trigger on the gun was very heavy, way beyond my scale's capacity, but perhaps about 20 pounds. I got it down to about 7 lbs., but decided not to do any farther, worrying about getting into un-hardened steel and shortening lifetime. The trigger mechanism seemed to have more pieces than most O/Us I've seen.
JP

 

[jaguarxk120]

Please note, there were two Zloi's , Antonio and Angelo.
Angelo made the guns marked A. Zoli, yes they made some very high quality guns. But at the end quality suffered
and they went under. A maker by the name Rota finished building the guns with stock on hand.

 

[kudu]

I had an Antonio Zoli shotgun for a short period of time, it never really fit me, but was a pretty nice looking shotgun.

 

[jaguarxk120]

Check the date code on the bottom of the barrels as to when it was made.
Also check for a oval with initials in it, they will be the makers mark.

 

[George P]

No Adolph that I have ever heard of, but the two mentioned above, Angelo and Antonio, yes.

 

[trw]

The A. Zoli guns were the lesser gun, i.e, the Angelo Zoli guns. That is the newer company that went under. I'm not aware they ever produced any high quality shotguns, just lower end guns sharing a desirable last name and made to a price point.

Antonio Zoli is a long time well respected and established Italian maker; however, their initial introduction to the US market was mostly inexpensive guns made to a 'price point' for others and as a result some models were better made than others and the low end ones lacked in both fit & finish and that's where the confusion comes into play, because both entities became known for lesser quality guns and many people here made no distinction. Some models of those Antonio Zoli's were quite well made, but others not so much.

Its a shame in many ways as Antonio Zoli made some wonderful very high quality guns for sale in Europe and in their custom shop w/few ever being seen here. Today, they are known here as simply Zoli and they are marketing some very well made & finely executed 0/U guns w/drop out triggers and other highly desirable features. And to the best of my knowledge still undertake building bespoke models, inclusive of SxS's in their custom shop.

You could see similar confusion beginning in the late 70's w/names like Beretta & Rizzini where company's were formed using well known last names offering lesser quality products. The Belgians did it w/familiar English names at an earlier period in time that still causes some confusion.. enough so that an acronym JABC [Just Another Belgian Clunker] was formed among some double gun aficionados as a way of distinction. Just saying, to paint perhaps a clearer picture of an oft murky subject.

 

[jaguarxk120]

Angelo made some high end guns in the 70's, I've seen the ad's and the stuff was very nice.

I have seen only on angelo trap gun up close 2-3 years ago at a gun show, the seller wanted
$1200 for it. The gun was well finished, very nice wood, and great engraving. It opened just right and
locked up like a bank vault.
I did not have deep enough pockets to buy it.

 

[George P]

Antonio makes a gun, price and quality-wise, on par with CG, Blaser and similar "mid-price" point target guns.

For those who think $4-$5K is NOT mid price, it is. On the lower end of quality targets guns (that means 250K or more before any major tune-ups or repairs) you have the basic Browning Citori line and Beretta 68X series ( and Browning's siblings from Cynergy, etc.) Mid price is Blaser, Zoli, CG and on the very upper tier of that, the Beretta DT series. High end is basically 4 names: Perazzi, Kreighoff, Kolar, and Beretta SO....................which puts the Browning/Beretta base versions in the ~$2-3K range, the Blaser, Zoli crowd in the $4-$8K range and the top tier guys in the $12K+ range.

High end trap specific, you get into the likes of Ljutic, Seitz and several others. Then you can add a few grand for optimum barrel tuning by the likes of Wilkerson or similar

And we haven't really touched the upper-end pigeon guys who shoot Fabbri, Purdey, Hofer, Hartmann and Weiss, Bertuzzi, Ollendorf, and all the rest.

 

[PapaG]

I believe the zolis were either Antonio or Angelo