Page 60 - GUNS Issue n.01

The shotgun, with a 24” barrel, has a weight of 2,695 grams
(5.9 lb.) and an overall length of 1,195 millimeters (47 inches).

elongated and with an hourglass shape, comfortable
but at the same time not too bulky. On the right side of
the trigger guard, we have the Benelli-style cut-off system,
a lever that allows you to move onto the lifter the first
cartridge contained in the magazine tube, in order to be able to replace the chambered
shell by simply racking the bolt. The stamped sheet metal lifter is chromed, with the front part
beveled and contoured to make loading easier and avoid pinching the finger, a feature particularly
useful for those with large hands, especially on a smaller size 20 gauge shotgun. Both the feeding and ejection
ports are 3 mm oversized. The only engravings on the receiver are the names of the manufacturer and the model.
Consolidated operation

From a mechanical point of view, the Affinity 3 does not make any updates to the scheme used for the
previous Affinity, which in itself is particularly basic and reliable. Therefore, the typical Front-Inertia operating
mechanism, an inertial system with a recoil spring placed forward, was reconfirmed. The bolt is equipped with
a rotating head with two lugs used to lock the action, in addition to the kinetic spring which, at the moment
of firing, is charged with the energy released by the cartridge. The bolt remains locked for the time necessary
for the pressure peak to drop, then the spring relaxes and the cam track allows the rotation of the bolt’s head

1_The feeding port is 3 millimeters wider.
1 The chromed lifter is made of stamped
sheet metal. The lightweight alloy
cartridge follower is orange anodized.
2_The operating mechanism is
Franchi’s Front-Inertia, an inertial
system with the recoil spring placed in
the front. The locking mechanism uses
a rotating bolt with two lugs. The bolt is
made of blued steel.

3_The firing mechanism is mounted
inside a polymer trigger assembly,
with the sturdy steel hammer pushed
by a spiral spring.

2 3

58 TesT shoTgun_Franchi aFFinity 3 Black Synt 20 gauge