Affordable elegance: the Weatherby Athena D'Italia shotgun

Guns Magazine, Oct, 2005 by Dave Anderson

When Weatherby introduced a side-by-side shotgun in 2001, it was a well made, quality gun at an attractive price. Unfortunately the Spanish manufacturing company wasn't able to produce the guns in the quantity Weatherby needed.

Weatherby believes there is a need for a traditional, high-quality double gun distributed and supported by an established American company. The search for a maker led to Italy and the well-established and respected firm of Fausti Stefano.

"We were looking for a gunmaker with the same passion for fine guns and commitment to quality our customers expect from Weatherby," commented Brad Ruddell, vice president of sales and marketing. "We found the company we were looking for in Fausti Stefano."

Stefano Fausti trained as a gunmaker and started his business in 1948, making classic, double, hammer guns. As years went by and the company grew, his three daughters, Elena, Giovanna, and Barbara joined the firm. They helped establish export markets, increase distribution and production, and currently manage the company.

Today, the firm of Fausti Stefano has a modern, well-equipped and efficient facility with some 50 highly skilled employees. In 2003, Fausti built 11,000 shotguns, both over/under and side-by-side. Fausti guns are popular with trap, skeet and sporting clays competitors and, of course, with hunters.

For many shooting enthusiasts, no other firearm matches the beauty of a well made double, and no double gun surpasses the beauty of the classic English pattern SxS. Although to a considerable extent the center of fine shotgun production has shifted to the area around Brescia, Italy, the great Italian gunmakers acknowledge the English design with respect.

Mario Abbiatico, another outstanding Italian gunmaker, spoke eloquently about the appeal of fine doubles (in an Italian magazine Diana Armi, as quoted in Gun Digest, 1975): "Note the elegant line of the straight English stock, the action and forearm blending and flowing gracefully into the barrels. The ideal is reached when no part of the gun interrupts this line; the eye is never disturbed by any detail and the profile in its entirety is beautiful to behold."

The new Weatherby Athena D'Italia is an outstanding example of the classic English double, with straight stock, slender forearm, double triggers and selective automatic ejectors.

Some ultra-conservative purists feel even internal hammers and automatic ejectors are going too far; the proper double, they say, should have external hammers and simple extractors. That way the gun can be opened and closed more easily, without the effort of cocking internal hammers and ejectors.

Personally, I prefer the appearance and function of internal hammers and the convenience of automatic ejection. The Athena is built on a boxlock action, fitted with side-plates and engraved in a handsome design by the Cesare Giovannelli Studio. The nonautomatic tang safety is easily accessible and operated smoothly and reliably.

Two frame sizes are offered, in 12- and 20-gauge. There's also a 28-gauge on the 20-gauge frame. The 20-gauge model shown here is a sweet little arm, nicely balanced and fast handling. I had the opportunity to hunt with this model at the fabulous Highland Hills Ranch, near Condom Oregon (about which I'll simply say, it is as close to heaven on earth as I'm ever likely to see. Check 'em out at www.highlandhillsranch.com).

Every Athena I've seen was stocked in a very nice grade of Turkish walnut, checkered in a striking pattern known as New Scottish. In her charming Italian-accented English, Giovanna Fausti commented on the discussions her firm had with the walnut suppliers.

"At first they didn't understand what we wanted. They would say, buy 50,000 blanks, you get a better price and just pick out the good ones. We finally got them to understand we wanted only fancy wood and wouldn't have any use for plain stock blanks."

Chambered for 3" shotshells (28 gauge 2 3/4"), barrels of the Athena are chrome-lined for durability and easy cleaning, backbored and have lengthened forcing cones. Barrels use the Weatherby Integrated Multi-Choke system.

Elegant, refined, handsomely checkered and engraved, this is a shotgun you can carry with pride anywhere. Should parts or repairs ever be needed, Weatherby's service is unsurpassed.

SHOTGUN ATHENA D'ITALIA FAUSTI STEFANO

Weatherby 3100 Et Camino Real, Atascadero, CA 93422 (805) 466-1767, www.weatherby.com.

ACTION TYPE: Anson & Deely boxlock

GAUGE: 12, 20 (tested), 28

CHOKE: Multi-Choke

CAPACITY: 2

BARREL LENGTH: 26" (20, 28 gauge) 28" (12 gauge)

LENGTH OF PULL: 14"

DROP AT COMB: 1 1/2"

DROP AT HEEL: 2 1/4"

OVERALL LENGTH: 44 1/2 "

WEIGHT: 6 3/4 to 7 1/4 pounds

FINISH: Silver slade chrome action, blue barrels

SIGHTS: Brass bead front

STOCK: Turkish walnut, oil finished

PRICE: $2,840, ($2,976 for 28 gauge)