Richard Atkins tests the William Powell Perdix ‘crossover’ shotgun

It is the advent of CNC machining centres, along with improved materials and metrology, that enable guns like the Perdix to achieve the close tolerances and refinement at their retail price levels. Batista Rizzini has invested heavily in these machines to enable the manufacture of these guns, which it can build and refine thanks to an established artisan workforce.

Format

The format is simple: take a proven model from the Rizzini range and give it an English-style stock, made of good grade walnut and an excellent oil finish, plus further touches such as the semi-pistol grip with a wooden butt plate, not a recoil pad. Add in some side plates to give the appearance of a side-lock and plenty of metal area for the engravers to embellish the gun and you have an attractive gun at moderate cost.

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Its design follows similar guns from Italy’s Brescia region. Barrels are built on the monobloc principle with each tube fitted into a steel breechblock that features an attractive and oil-retaining jeweled finish.

The barrels hinge on two large-diameter trunnion pins set into the receiver side walls similar to the Beretta 680 guns. They are struck off well and polished inside and out, with chrome-lined bores and a deep lustrous blacking external finish that should prove durable. As ventilation is less desirable for field use, they are joined with full-length solid side ribs. Muzzles are machined to accept Rizzini internal chokes, five of which, ranging from Imp/Cyl to Full, are supplied in a sturdy plastic case. These choke tubes are 70mm long and threw good patterns with a variety of ammunition.

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