Galazan's Affordable Masterpiece - Brief Article

Guns Magazine, Dec, 1999 by John Fasano

You may have a hard time telling this delightful stackbarrel from one costing $50,000 or more.

Anthony Galazan has been creating shotguns for 20 years, shotguns for the enthusiast whose love of the scattergun is as expansive as his wallet.

Galazan's exquisite re-creation of the A.H. Fox, built by hand in his New Britain, Conn., factory, will set you back at least $30,000. A Galazan Bosslook O/U, with its receiver milled from a single billet of tool steel, and butt and forend of the finest Turkish Circassian walnut will relieve you of 40,000 U.S. dollars -- without engraving. For the Winchester lover, a newly crafted Model 21 Super Royal can be brought home for only $60,000.

Each of these guns is an artistic masterpiece, melding traditional styling, modern manufacturing methods and Old World care, but they are fairly out of reach of most of us in the real, Clinton-is-raising-my-taxes-again, world.

Tony Galazan recognized the need for a shotgun for the enthusiast who wanted the famed Galazan fit and finish but who was -- in double gun terms -- on a more limited budget.

Finding The Right Gun

Lucio Sosta of Perazzi USA suggested Galazan look at the fine O/U being produced by Sabati of Italy. A sturdy, well-balanced boxlock double with removable triggers, the Sabati was available in 12 and 20 gauge and the factory was producing a limited number of these guns per year. Galazan made arrangements to purchase parts from the Italian firm, and fit and finish them in the United States.

The result, the CSM Double, is the first shotgun from Galazan's Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing company that is not completely handmade on the premises, a custom gun that clearly fills the market niche occupied by Perazzi's $30,000 SCO sideplate guns, but at a retail price of $12,000.

Galazan had a sample of the new CSM on the West Coast, and I made arrangements to shoot and photograph the gun alongside an un-engraved "in the white" CSM. Truly a handsome gun, the sideplate is fully engraved. Each pattern is laid out by machine, but hand-finished with over a month of hand engraving (the same method used for Beretta 687 EELL guns). Each gun is signed by the engraver.

The CSM is equal in fit and finish to shotguns costing three or four times as much. I walked it over to the skeet field and shot a round. The gun swung and mounted smoothly, like a fine Italian stackbarrel.

I fired the gun under the nervous eyes of the shooter who had ordered it, so I didn't wring it out on a 100-round sporting run, but it exhibited the feel and operation of a fine double gun.

Available with a grey or case-hardened receiver, with barrels from 26" to 32", every 12 and 20 gauge CSM comes standard with engraving and exhibition-grade fiddleback grained wood, cut to the shooter's dimensions.