Baschieri & Pellagri launched many new products this year, both for hunters and shooters. Fans of "smaller” bores will be spoilt for choice.
Smaller though only in terms of size, because there’s been growing interest in 28-gauge and .410 shells in recent years with many people starting to use these smaller bore sizes.
This growing interest was not only in the guns of course, it immediately translated into higher demand for ammo and loads in these bore sizes, so much so in fact that the manufacturers of shell components have now expanded their offer to include these gauges.
Even the 16-gauge has been revisited!
After almost fifty years of obsolescence the 16-gauge has now become a preference for young hunters and enthusiasts alike.
There was an immediate positive response from companies offering new guns who extended their range of shells to include a much wider selection of loads.
While on the one hand the new Baschieri & Pellagri shells meet the requests of Italian hunters and shooters for small-gauge and 16-gauge shells, on the other there are also some 12-gauge new entries with a range of hunting and shooting shells updated to meet a variety of needs.
Let’s get started!
We already had quite a wide range of slug ammo for boar hunting, but this new White Blackout slug was designed to produce the most effective stopping power and max. expansion thanks to a well-studied balance of weight, slug structure and velocity.
The slug weighs just 28 grams, making it one of the lightest, and due to this feature it can develop the unprecedented initial velocity of 575 m/s, producing a ballistic performance similar to that of a rifled bore.
In fact, the shock that stops the game in its tracks is to a great extent the result of the injuries caused by a high velocity impact.
This new slug is also coated with a special anti-friction paint that limits and all but eliminates lead laminar fouling in the first section of the barrel. That’s something worth considering when you’re firing a lot of consecutive shots.
This surface treatment, which gives the slug its particular white color and helps keep the barrels a lot cleaner, means a great improvement in precision and how constant your impact point will be.
While we’re on the question of precision, once again tests at the firing range clearly show that the White BlackOut is one of the most precise boar hunting slugs on the market. The patterns produced using the new slug at a range of 50 meters left one single hole in the target just a few centimeters across.
Last year was the year of the MB Tigre, in a special limited re-edition. The MB Tigre was one of the first shells to be made and sold by Baschieri & Pellagri in the early 1930s. It’s loaded with MB powder.
After the success of the new MB Tigre, what else could you expect but yet another historical comeback. In this case Baschieri & Pellagri decided to let Italian hunters and shooters choose which historical shell to re-introduce in 2018 as a limited edition.
After over two months of surveys and looking through the answers, the winner was announced, the F2 Super Flash.
Perhaps you we’re too young to have used this shell, or have never heard of it, no problem. We are here for this!
The F2 Super Flash was made at the end of 1962 and was initially intended for sport shooters, and in particular for pigeon shooting, which was very popular at the time, but it was also widely used in clay pigeon tournaments.
In fact, Ennio Mattarelli used this shell at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Thanks to its excellent ballistic performance, the F2 Super Flash, in particular with No. 7 shot, was often used for hunting too, and made its name as highly effective multipurpose ammo for your first barrel when hunting many species of game.
A closer look at the F2 Super Flash from the 60s:
Of course the primer and above all the wad have now been updated in the new version. The F2 Super Flash in fact has a plastic wad that helps perfect and optimize the performance of this new edition.
In consideration of the growing demand from hunters and shooters for smaller gauge guns, unlike the MB Tigre, the new F2 Super Flash will also be available in a 20-gauge shell.
The properties of this shell designed for pigeon shooting, make it perfect also for hunting sedentary game like pheasant and hare.
Another new entry hunters with 16-gauge guns were calling for; in recent years this bore size has made a comeback too.
The F2 Extra has a 16 / 70 Type 3 case with a brass head, and a 32 gram pellet load, which can be considered a heavy load for the 16-gauge shell. The F2 Extra is therefore an excellent alternative for hunting game at long ranges, in particular thanks to the number of available pellet sizes.
This shell goes to complete the range of ammo for this bore size, adding a shell with a high ballistic performance, very useful for hunting in difficult conditions, taking shots at the limit of your range. Due to the length of the case it can only be used in guns with a 70 mm chamber.
The other two pre-existing shells, the F2 Classic and the F2 Classic Fiber with a 67 mm case and a standard homologation can also be used in guns with a 65 mm chamber.
The new range of 16-gauge shells is even more complete now thanks to the F2 Short Range Dispersante spreader shell. This shell was inspired by its bigger 12 gauge version, and today is one of the few spreader shells available for this bore size.
The F2 Short Range, producing wide and generously dense shot patterns, is designed for the very close to close ranges you’ll typically be taking shots at in woodland / brush when hunting with pointers.
We deliberately decided to use a heavy load as the F2 Classic Fiber is already an excellent solution for those who prefer a shell with a standard load for short to medium range shots.
The 31-gram load of the new F2 Short Range shell, with medium-sized pellets when used with not too much choke or cylindrical chokes produces a wide and very dense shot pattern at a range of just 18 / 20 meters.
The F2 Short Range Dispersante will also be available for 20 gauge and 16 gauge guns. Baschieri & Pellagri was already making a smaller gauge spreader shell with a lighter load.
The new F2 Short Range shell with its "Semimagnum" 32-gram load, like the 16-gauge shell, with open or unchoked barrels, produces a very wide and dense shot pattern.
In recent years Benelli has concentrated on the evolution of its 28 gauge automatic, which resulted in the new Ethos chambered for the latest 28 / 76 shell.
The 28 gauge Magnum with a 32-gram load produces the same performance as the 16-gauge, and comes very close to that of the 12 gauge.
The Baschieri & Pellagri Extra Rossa shell offers truly exceptional ballistic performance, producing an initial velocity of 400 m/s with a 32-gram pellet load. When used with chokes in the modern shotgun made in Urbino, this shell gives you absolutely superlatively versatility.
The high performance of the Extra Rossa Magnum shell lets you exploit the full potential of a 28-gauge even on difficult game like hare and pheasant late in the season, woodcock and wood pigeon when shooting from a stand, or when hunting from a hide on the ground using live decoys.
The innovations in the smaller gauges continue also for clay shooting, with specific tournaments held in recent years for these bore sizes. In this case the new shells in the Flash line are intended respectively for 28 gauge and .410.
The 28 gauge and .410 Flash shells in particular, are characterized by ballistic performance not often found in these bore sizes. The bench parameters of this new clay pigeon shooting shell show a very high initial velocity, producing dense and well-distributed shot patterns.
Both shells, considering their superior ballistic performance, are obviously also very effective for hunting, producing excellent results on game that can be hunted with the pellet sizes used in these shells.