Franchi Affinity

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Franchi Affinity

Postby Jack's My dog on Sun Oct 22, 2017 5:43 pm

Hello Everyone,

Wondering if anyone has any experience with the Franchi Affinity shotguns? I currently have a Franchi 712 that has served me quite well for the last 15 or so years, but thinking it may be time to try something new. I know Benelli makes a nice gun, but with my overall extremely positive experience with the 712, I would like to give Franchi another go. I shouldered several shotguns today and the Affinity felt the most natural coming to the shoulder. Handled some Brownings, Winchesters, Berretas, etc and nothing else felt as good.

I am not a huge fan of the manual of arms on the Affinity, M2, SBE3, but I know I can learn it. I much prefer the safety to be at the front of the trigger guard and unloading is a bit cumbersome.
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Re: Franchi Affinity

Postby rtk on Sun Oct 22, 2017 6:44 pm

My son has one. It is awesome!
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Re: Franchi Affinity

Postby grimbeaver on Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:32 am

My friend has the sporting model. Apparently when he took it hunting it took them forever to figure out how to unload it at the end of the day. That said it's a fine shooting gun.
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Postby goalie on Mon Oct 23, 2017 1:17 pm

I shot one for two rounds of clays.

I ended up buying a Winchester SX3 from SOSS for 600 bucks after rebate instead.

Both worked, but the Winchester fit me a lot better

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Re: Franchi Affinity

Postby Jack's My dog on Sun Nov 19, 2017 9:41 am

I went with the Affinity 3, 28in 12ga in black synthetic. It shoulders nicely for me, carries well and having always had a 26in. gun, the 28inch barrel feels like it swings better for me. The gun feels pretty darn light actually. A box and a half of shells doesn't tell you much about about reliability, but it made it through those rounds with no problem-trap/game loads and some Blackcloud 2 3/4's. The only other gun that really interested me was the Benelli M2 which was out of my budget at the time. The M2 Comfort stock looked cool, but the palm swell in the stock did not work in my hands. The gun feels like it shoots pretty soft for an inertia gun, but to be fair I did not shoot it side by side with anything, and I had a sweatshirt and jacket on when I shot trap with it.

I have had it out trap shooting, a couple hours squirrel hunting, and a day of pheasant hunting. I would like to try a practical shotgun match with it as well, if I can ever make it work with my schedule. If someone is looking for a sub-$1k semi-auto shotgun, I would recommend checking out the Affinity 3.

So far I am happy with the purchase. While I was planning on getting the new gun, I was not planning on doing it when I did. The bolt handle sheared off my Franchi 712 while I was missing a pheasant in grand fashion the weekend before deer opener. Last year I fell on the slough ice, and essentially smashed the bolt handle into the ice. I think this may have cracked the bolt, but I would not rule out plain old metal fatigue as well. The handle sheared off clean at the bolt. You can unload that gun without the bolt handle, at the peril of smashing a digit in the action and with way more dinking around then one should with a loaded firearm. As I could not stand the thought of not having a properly functioning bird gun, I verified Scheel's in St could had the above mentioned firearm and picked it up on the way back to the Cities. (No LGS that I checked had one, in the configuration I wanted, on the shelves at the time of my emergency)

After I "panic bought" the Affinity and got it home, I tore it down along with the 712. I was worried that the circa 2000-712 bolt handle would have some weird proprietary detent pattern, and that the remaining portion of the handle would not come out. I was in luck, I was able to drive easily drive the 712 handle out with a punch from the backside of the bolt and, the detent pattern was the same as Affinity, which it turns out is a common Benelli pattern. A little google-fu and a call to Arnzen and I was able to pick up a Nordic Components extended bolt handle for less the $30 out the door. On a side-note, Arnzen was the only LGS that I contacted that had NC stuff actually on the shelves.

On reflection, the only downside to this saga is that my wife is now to savvy to the old "I broke a cheap and easily replaceable part on my gun, so I need a new gun trick". :lol:
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Re: Franchi Affinity

Postby rtk on Sun Nov 19, 2017 11:21 am

:high5:
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