A friend of mine is looking at a Wischo Combination Gun in 12 over 7x57R. He asked me about it and I have never seen or heard of "Wischo" branded guns. I thought that Wischo is (was?) a West German sporting goods company. The combo guns in Wischo's current cataloge appear to be Heyms, but my friend's description of this particular gun "sounds" like an Italian Zoli or Sabbatini(sp?) to me. Please advise, quickly, since the gun is on a retail rack and could get snatched up at any time!

Jeff

Jeff,

Wischo is a German sporting goods company, to my knowledge they do not make any of their own guns. Certainly Heym would not let them put that name on a Heym. You are most likely looking at a fairly "cheap" Italian made gun ,lots of them out there. Today many companies market these contract guns under their own name, e.g. Husqvarna of Sweden has sold some combination guns like that and now they market a Husqvarna drilling made by Merkel - this one is high quality though.

Vasa

It's probably a crap Zoli or Sabatti!

Wischo is a "Sporting Goods" distribution company. They represent & distribute others wares. Their main claim to fame to date is that they are the German national Smith & Wesson Distributor. They have been around for about as long as I can recall.

Here is their current list of manufacturers they represent.

http://www.wischo.com/Brands.html#Shotguns

It is certainly NOT out of the realm of possibily that they could have in the past distributed combo guns with their company logo stamped on the barrels. Who exactly these could/would have been manufactured by? Couldn't say.

quote:

Originally posted by D99:
It's probably a crap Zoli or Sabatti!

Funny......I have an Antonio Zoli O/U combination that is priceless in all respects ...fit, finish,wood, triggers...ALWAYS 1/2 inch at 100 meters....wonderfully patterning shotgun barrel as well as the extra set of shotgun barrels. It is a pleasure to encounter the opinions ( and ego) of a real expert, as you obviously are!!

It is my opionon after looking at several Zoli and Sabatti drillings, double rifles, combination guns, and single shots that I will never choose to own one. As I don't feel that any of them would be something I am proud to own.

If yours works for you, and you enjoy the it then bully!

Expert..... hmm you know I have several pieces of paper that claim that I am a firearms expert. They all came from previous commanders of mine.

I would never claim to be an expert of guns regardless of what anyone of my previous bosses thought. I just don't like the way most of the Italian combination guns, double rifles, and single shots are made.

Kind of like those folks talking about how wonderful their Huglu shotgun is. Or those that choose to tell you their wife is beautiful at 300 pounds, a hairlip, and thinning hairline.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I finally got a response back from Wischo. They report that this particular combination gun was made by Fabarm in Brescia, Italy, but didn't provide any additional information.

My friend has decided to pass on it, so if anyone is interested, please shoot me an email at remguy260@msn.com and I'll give you the dealer's contact information.

Jeff