I picked one up and have been quite pleased. I'd say it's an excellent gun for the money, no failures or issues with mine and probably have 1000 rounds through it. Check out the over/under's for sale, seen quite a few of them for sale with photos.

 

I'll try to get a phot of my son's this evening. I think it's a very nice looking gun - better looking than my Browning Citori Satin Field! Nice wood, reasonable fit. Did I mention, nice wood???

I like his very much. If I come up with some spare money, I'll pick one up for myself this year.

- Jimmy

 

Depends what you intend to do with it. For light duty and field use, it should be just fine. For heavy volume clays, I'd suggest you search elsewhere...

 

I recently purchased a Dick's Special "Diamond Elite" 12 ga. o/u with 28" barrells. I purchase a couple of skeet chokes from Carlson's, and sent it and my 17 year old son out to our skeet field to break it in. It worked flawlessly through four rounds of skeet and a single round of doubles trap. My son said that he had a little trouble at first adjusting to it being lighter than his Spartan 310S, but that it swung very smooth once he got used to it. He shot his usual 20 -22 in skeet, and trap, well it was just not his day. Overall, it is right around 7 1/4 lbs. but my son felt very little recoil. We have used it a few more times with simular results. I will never put 50,000 rounds through this gun, but it's good enough to last me and my son a life time.

 

Picked up a used Franchi 12 gage Diamond with a pair of Briley Chokes and a grind to fit Limbsaver pad just after Christmas. Test firing has been satisfactory and the gun seems pleasant to handle, pretty much shoots where I point it, patterns well. Because of other issues, I have not had a chance to take it to the field, but will do so next week. # 1 Son and I have a pheasant hunting trip planned which should give me a good idea about it.

The plan when I bought the gun was to use it for skeet and field work. We'll see how that goes.

Enjoy if you choose to buy.

sbclvl61

 

The Diamond is a good gun for moderate use. I own one in 12 ga. and shoot around 3 to 4 hundred shells per month. What are you planing to do with this gun?

 

I hunt with a 12 gauge Diamond. In my opinion, it kicks harder than the higher cost Franchis but I really don't do that much with clays so its not a problem. The action is still somewhat stiff after more than a year.

 

I've had this gun for over two years now with NO problems. I don't shoot as much as some of the others here, maybe 200-300 rounds per year, but this gun has been GREAT. Fit, look, and PRICE are fantastic. My only complaint is that the action is still stiff, although it is 200% better than when I got it, and 100% better than my brother's who only shoots 100-200 rounds a year.

 

does anyone know if this shotgun has shell ejectors???? im interested in buying but this is the deciding factor. thanks

 

does anyone know if this shotgun has shell ejectors???? im interested in buying but this is the deciding factor. thanks

I am a little late on this one, but yes, it has ejectors. My old O/U did not so I have had to snatch my snap caps out of mid air a couple of times now.

I just picked one up a few days ago... I couldn't pass up the deal since they were willing to give me an additional 20% off of the sale price plus the rebate because it had a small ding in the bottom of the stock. So far I am impressed. I looked at some other more expensive Franchi O/U's in a store yesterday and it compares favorably. I have not shot it yet, but I have four cases of shells and a date at the sporting clays course on Saturday morning. I'll have to update the post afterwards.

What I do know is that fit and finish is nice, the wood is excellent for the price range, and the gun handles perfectly.

 

My son bough the diamond elite about 3 wks ago. We are having problems on the second barrel not firing. My problem is posted on the topic - Franci Renaissance Field Problems. if you skip this post I can say that we are going to give it another chance before sending it back. It may be we are too slow on the trigger and so it may be us and not the gun. It is good looking for the money. I believe he paid less than $650 tax included with all the incentives and rebates. I know it had a very small scratch and he got $50 off for it. He got another 10% off the top for opening a credit account. And he got a $65 gift card and I dont know what all else. This cost is about half of the full retail price. That is a good deal for a new full warranty Franci O/U IMO.
We have about 600 rounds on it so far. The only other thing I see cosmetic wise it that the gun has no bluing on the receiver and no gold inlay, as I see pics of this model when I read reviews of it. This is no big deal as we love the gun just as it is. Customer service says it should be blue and gold. I actually like the non- elite model without the selectable barrel feature. It has a nickel satin finish that I like better then just case coloring on ours. The not elite retails for $899 I own a winchester super x model 1 and an 870. I have never shot an O/U before and I really like it. It is light and fun to shoot. My son wanted a break open gun because that was required at his dog training club. For this price the only quality gun we could find was the CZ. He really liked the Bobwhite s*s model with the english stock. I am just a casual shooter and don't know all than much about guns but I though any Italian gun was going to be a quality gun and when we found out we could buy one for this price, we were sold, as the CZ would have cost another $150.

 

It may be we are too slow on the trigger and so it may be us and not the gun.

Huh? I don't understand.

Do you mean that you are trapping the trigger (not releasing it fully before trying to fire the second shot)? If that's not what you mean, I have no idea how this otherwise could be your fault.

 

I don't really see how it could be my fault either, but Dick's did not want to return the gun because the counter clerk cycled it 40 times with no problem. When I pull the trigger after the clerk gave me back the gun, on the 2nd try I pull the trigger and hear 2 clicks instead of one. Then when I release and pull again for the second shot the trigger will not move. I release again and pull again and it clicks and the gun fires the second barrel. Not releasing the trigger fully is another cause of a misfire also but that is more easily remedied by letting off of the trigger, than is pulling too slow on it. I don't really want to send it back because it is so new yet and we only had 3 or 4 misfires out of 200 rounds or so. I am thinking it will get better with age. I am usually a pessimist but in this case I am hoping it will fix itself. If it doesn't, I have 3 years on the warranty.

 

I looked at a 20 gauge Diamond at Dick's today. It was $799 and a very nice gun. Satin nickle reciever with lots of engraving, very ornamental top lever and excellent wood. It has been on thier shelf for a long time.

A rebate and incentives were mentioned in a previous post. Can someone fill me in on what those are?

Thanks

mark

 

You are looking at the non-elite model. The Diamond Elite retails over $1000.
On the Elite model we bought:
1. It was on sale at $200 below full retail. Check their weekly flyer. The prices may change.

2. $200 manufacturer rebate. Go to the Franci website and you can download the rebate form.

3. Open a credit card account and get another 10% off the full sale price.

4. Find a problem on the new gun, like a nick, scratch, or dent and if you still want to buy it you may get $50 off or maybe another 5% off.

Add this all up and you have what I would call -- A DEAL.

 

Wis Quail,

I found the $200 rebate form for the Renniasance, but it said specifically that Dick's Sporting Goods guns were not covered by the rebate. I guess they have discontiued that rebate, or it is buried somewhere on their website.

Thanks

mark

 

Here is the webpage that shows the rebate. My son bought this gun and downloaded the rebate form. I thought is was on the franci site but it is not. The form is on the dicks site. Just call a store and if they want to sell you a diamond, they should give you the form or at least tell you where to find it. If you really want the gun, go and buy it. Talk to the store manager. Don't waste your time talking and thinking too much or before you know it the sale will end and you will be seeing a $1000 + price again. Call the store. Maybe your store does not have the rebate or the gun and all this writing is for naught.
Here is the webpage from my store. It shows the rebate.
http://dickssportinggoods.shoplocal.com ... DSG-110925

 

Sorry threepdr. I just checked the flyer. Here it is.
http://dickssportinggoods.shoplocal.com ... 4258786353
The $500 off list price just expired sat. oct. 1st. It actually expired just before my last post.
This is in the weekly circular which means its on sale for one week. However it was on sale 3 weeks ago also, when we bought ours and it was a different sales pitch. So keep your eyes on the weekly ads and it may be on sale even this week again or next week. This expired ad was actually a better sale then what we paid. If you spent over $500 they gave another $100 off. This was something new. Like I said, find the gun at a store and ask how much it is because at these prices they will all be sold sooner than later. This gun lists for $1300. This last week it was selling for $699. What other quality O/U gun can you get for $699?

 

Thanks Wis Quail,

I went by Dick's today. The Diamond Elite is on the shelf for $1049. They are offering $100 off on any gun over $800, plus the $200 rebate. That gets it down to a repectable $749. They only have 12s on the shelf, so I'm going to call some of the other Dick's within an hundered miles or so and see if I can find a 20 gauge. If not, I go and get the 12.

Mark

 

I've had the chance to put a few hundreds rounds through the gun so I am updating my post. Simply put, I absolutely LOVE (!!!) this shotgun. I've done four rounds of sporting clays and maybe 10 rounds of trap. I had one failure to fire because I didn't have the barrel selector firmly clicked over to the left (my fault), but other than that it has operated flawlessly.

I went out about a month ago to a new place planning on shooting 100-200 sporting clays, but their clays course sucked. They had some trap fields there and I had never shot trap so I figured I would give it a try after the first 50 disappointing sporting clays. My second round out I was breaking 20/25, which is poor by a trapshooter's standards but pretty good for a first timer I think. Last weekend I went on Saturday to shoot trap and it was raining. I didn't want to get my new Franchi wet so I took my Browning BPS Magnum Stalker (my duck gun - built like a tank and never corrodes). I couldn't hit crap... I was maybe hitting half. The next day the weather was nicer so I took my Franchi back to the same trap field and was back to hitting > 20/25.

The gun shoots where I point it and consistently breaks clays. Rarely do I have a situation where I miss and can't figure out what I did wrong. My ONLY complaint is that the comb could be either a bit higher or thicker or both. As is, it sits right underneath my cheekbone in such a way that every shot causes the stock to bang the bone pretty hard. I look a bit like someone hit me in the face. I plan on picking up a comb raiser for it to fix the issue, and the added benefit is that the neoprene will also protect the nice wood on the stock.

Shameless plug... pick up an EasyHit fiber optic sight for it. They are $20 (ouch for a piece of plastic) but well worth it.

 

Mauser,

Do you have the Diamond or the Diamond Elite? 12 or 20 ?

Thanks

 

I have the Diamond Elite 12ga with 28" bbls. They had some there that were the non-elite version I believe (they had a silver receiver instead of case colored), and although at first I thought I'd prefer silver, now I am very happy with case colored. If nothing else, when I go to the trap course I can tell my gun apart from the mountains of wood stocked blued bbl O/U's with silver/nickel receivers that every other shooter seems to own.

In addition the Elite had MUCH nicer wood and I've been told that the non-elite does not have a barrel selector. My old O/U didn't have one either so I wasn't sure if I'd ever use it, but I've found it invaluable on the sporting clays course for bird/rabbit - rabbit/bird stations (I try always to use the less constrictively choked bbl for the rabbits). There was only a $50 price difference between the two when I bought mine, so it was an easy call.

 

In the last 10 days I put two flats of shells through her... still no issues, and my scores are steadily improving. From 16 yard singles I shot a 20, 21, 22, 22, and 23 in succession. Then I moved back to the 27 yard line and shot a 19. Considering I am still new at this, I am pleased with the results so far.

 

I'm wisquail's son and I just wanted to chime in since I've owned the Franchi Diamond Elite from Dick's since August. I have shot 800-1000 rounds through it so far and it has not misfired for me at all recently. It did misfire 3-4 times during sporting clays in September, and we discovered that it happens from pulling or squeezing the trigger too softly. If pulled softly the trigger will not reset for the second shot. Apparently Benelli USA is willing to fix this issue under warranty, but it has not been a big enough problem to send it in, at least until hunting season is over.

However, since hunting with it this season, it's slayed three chukars and two pheasants (and missed a few more), and has not misfired once in the field including on a few birds that required two quick shots.

I did read a previous comment on here about the gun stock hitting the shooter in the face. This actually just happened to me when I shot 3 rounds of skeet last week and I do have a bruise on my right cheek. It was my first time shooting skeet, and I'm not sure if I could blame the gun. I believe I was so excited by the true pairs requiring some fast swinging that I did not have my gun mounted properly. Other times I have shot 3-4 boxes of shells per day on trap or sporting clays and have not even had an issue with recoil, shoulder pain or my cheek. It seems to be the perfect fitting gun; when I shoulder it, my eye is looking straight down the barrel.

Overall, I really love the gun. It weighs about 7 lbs 2 oz so it's easy to carry all day and it swings nice with its 27.5" barrels. The case colored receiver with engraving is fairly nice, and there's a lot of ornamental engraving around the barrel and trigger guard as well that add a fancy Italian touch. The wood could be better, but it's definitely a step or two up from the CZ Bobwhite that I was planning to buy until I found this gun. I would bet it's a big step up in overall quality over the CZ, and it was actually the same price as or cheaper than the CZ after sale price, rebate, rewards points, etc (I believe my final price was around $650). To clarify previous comments, the Elite model does not come in a 20 gauge, although the standard Diamond O/U does. Bottom line: if you're looking for a quality 12-gauge O/U that's light enough for lots of upland hunting and under $1000, check out this gun. If you have $1,000+ to spend, I'd check out some other guns like a used or new Browning Citori or possibly Beretta.

 

I'm about to take mine on its first hunting trip this weekend. We will primarily be hunting deer with crossbow so I don't know if it will even make it out of the truck but I am excited nonetheless. I did take off the slip-on comb raising kit so I am a bit worred that 3" BBB's might cause me to need some reconstructive surgery on my cheekbone, but my gun mount is now a lot more consistent so it may be a non-issue.

I still absolutely love the gun... I prefer it to every other shotgun in my safe which includes a 12ga BPS and a 16ga Ithaca M37. The big debate today was whether or not it is too nice to hunt with.