Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns weatherby makes fatal blunder.

in yet another move of stupidity by a gun manufacturer, weatherby has announced it is going to cease importing skb o/u for it's line of shotguns instead going with fausti/traditions of italy. doing this will allow them to market guns well under the 1000.00 dollar mark. this has to rank as one of the top ten stupidest things a gun company has done in awhile considering the quality of skb/weatherby guns and the service of weatherby. i don't see the fausti guns as being in the same ball park or even the same league as the skb line of o/u shotguns

That is stupid. Weatherby is/was known as a premium producer of firearms (and priced that way too). Why should they worry about underselling Browning and Beretta? I think they've gone overboard with this cheap and good kick.

I agree. Those SKB made guns are very solid. The Fausti guns just don't have the same feel and craftsmanship.

Weatherby is not a gun manufacturer.They merely market guns manufactured by other companies.

That is correct, however, they are far from alone in this practice. I would agree that dropping the solid, well built, SKB's for the Fausti is a huge mistake. I really shoot well with a Weatherby SKB .20 gauge O/U, it handles extremely well for me. I haven't fooled around with any of the "higher end" Fausti's (if there is such a thing), however, no way can I see that being in the same class as the SKB.

Actually, I believe Weatherby is nothing more than a marketing company now; contracting with various manufacturers to produce firearms under their name..

I agree. Going with Fausti and cancelling SKB is just another example of bean counters running the roost..

Best thing to do, in this particular case, is just go and buy an SKB.. I have nearly 4 decades experience with SKB's dating back to my first one in 1968. I still have about 10 of them and many of my customers use SKB's as well. Their internal parts are very well made as opposed to the rough, crude parts found in most of the cheaper European stuff.. Some critics point to the triggers as being a weak spot, but frankly I've not seen that at all. But most of those flames come from owners of Perazzis or Krieghoffs... Not quite in the same league..

They function well, parts are readily available in the rare case anything's needed and the service from GU in Omaha has been first class.

Oh yeah there are high end Shotguns that will make your eyes bulge . Our market here and frankly I have not considered one but Weatherby will never be a player in the US shotgun market and if they were serious would have gotten one of the ladies upper end shotguns as well.

JMO - but people I know whom have purchased Weatherby shotguns do it because of a perceived exclusivity/quality they think comes with that name.

Used to be a WBY cost a bit more than everything else - well not so much anymore and those that can see quality can and do see it in other places - not relying on the name on the box to tell them what is or isn't good.

They are nice but far from the exceptional that many want to put on them because of the "Weatherby" name on the box.

Were I in the market for an O/U; Weatherby wouldn't even be a blip on the radar 200 miles out.

The Weatherby's typically had better wood than an equal model SKB. While they were made by the same company, the Orions and to a higher extent, the Athenas, were definitely made with nicer wood over the SKB 500 - 600 models.

Yep, When I think of Fausti, I think of The walmart OU's marked "Traditions by Fausti". That's not the type of image normally associated with Weatherby.

Weagle

Prolly because WBY specified 685/785 class wood.. The inner workings are no different in any way/shape/form..

redneck, couldn't agree more. i have an skb 685 12/20 combo for sporting clays and i can't believe what a great firearm it is. First, the wood is fantastic. Better than on Browning/Berettas of the same price. Add to the fact the greener lock-up and the fact that you can get wood upgrade and graco adjustable combs for the same as standard Brownings/Berettas and you start to see why I love them so much. I do admit though, I am seriously looking at a Cesar Guerini Summit Sport in the near future. Now I just have to find 3000.00 laying around somewhere.....Keith

This is just me playing devils advocate, but I heard that the weatherby/fausti shotguns have a completely different locking systems then the typical fausti's we see at wally world. could it be that these guns are a better feeling gun since the italian know shotguns? Don't know but I think I will wait to judge until I get one in my hands.