Chiappa Firearms Triple Crown 28 gauge shotgun

February 27, 2017 - 6:20am

Posted in:

Shotguns

Italiano

The unique Chiappa Firearms Triple Crown, three-barreled break-open shotguns have been available in a new 28 gauge variant since early 2016 – and it's due time we take a good look at them!

The 28 gauge Chiappa Triple Crown is a pleasant and fun shotgun

The Triple Crown and Triple Threat shotguns were first introduced by the Chiappa Firearms company at the 2013 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, and immediately catched the attention of the public mainly due to their unique nature.

As a matter of fact, and exception made for some hand-made models and for some prototypes manufactured in early 20th Century by brands such as Dickson or Westley Richards, Chiappa's Triple Crown and Triple Threat shotguns are the first three-barrel shotguns to be manufactured in modern times, and to be mass-produced for the general public.

Guaranteed, triple-barreled guns are nothing unique nor anything new for hunters, shooters and collectors out there: we all know what a drilling is. But the typical drilling layout envisages a rifled barrel positioned underneath two side-by-side smoothbore barrels; Chiappa's Triple Crown features three smoothbore barrels positioned in a pyramid-like structure.

The triple-barrel shotguns distributed in Europe and north America under the Chiappa Firearms brand are manufactured in Turkey for the Italian company by the Istanbul-based Akkar arms industry. The Turkish arms manufacturing industry as a whole can be described today as the powerhouse behind the global shotguns market.

Chiappa's three-barrel shotguns have been available for commercial sales since late 2013: after the 12 gauge and 20 gauge variants, Chiappa has then introduced the small-bore 28-gauge version of the design – a soft-kicking alternative for small-game hunting and sport shooting.

The 28-gauge version of the Chiappa Triple Crown shotgun

The shotgun features a pleasant design

The safety button, just behind the key

The shotgun disassembled

Chiappa's triple-barrel shotguns are built around a forged steel receiver which can be nitride-finished in matte black or in an elegant white fashion.

The barrels come with a single, triangle-shaped extractor (not ejector) and are threaded for Rem® Choke type chokes; each Chiappa triple-barrel shotgun comes issued with five chokes (Skeet, Im.Cyl, Mod., Im.Mod. and Full).

The stock and handguard are manufactured out of Turkish walnut, checkered for slip-proof gripping on the contact areas – that is, the sides of the pistol grip and the hand stop.

The muzzle view, with 3 chokes inserted

Barrel and forend, disassembled

The breech, with the extractor pulling out the catridges

The checkered pistol grip and forend

Two variants of the full-size Triple Crown shotgun – dubbed the Triple Magnum and Triple Tom, and available only to U.S. customers – come instead factory-equipped with polymer furniture and are available respectively in full matte black or Realtree camo.

In any way, the stock of Chiappa's triple-barrel shotgun is 37 cm / 14.5" long overall and sports a 5,4 cm / 2.125" drop at heel and a 2,85 cm / 1.125" drop at comb.

So far, both main variants of the Chiappa triple-barrel shotgun platform are available in 28 gauge: the classic 66 cm / 26" barrel Triple Crown and the shorter Triple Threat, which does not only come with the shortest barrels length available – 47 cm / 18.5", but also features a breakdown stock that chops it down to the minimum overall legal length for more convenient storage or to make it just as compact as it gets to be easily maneuverable in confined spaces, such as those typical of home and property defense situations.

The stock, with the pistol grip

The rubber buttplate

View of the three cartridge chambers

Depending from the model, the overall weight of Chiappa's 28-gauge triple-barrel shotguns ranges between 3,4 and 3,7 kilograms (7.6 to 8.2 lbs.); despite the bulky look, they're perfectly balanced for a practical handling, with the balance point located just around the pivot pin.

Although a little high, the overall weight of Chiappa's triple-barrel shotguns plays a role in reducing felt recoil and muzzle climb even in the 3", 12-gauge version when using the hottest available loads. By comparison, the light-kicking 28-gauge shells are a breeze to shoot through those toys.

All variants of Chiappa's Triple Crown shotguns come with a single-action, sequential, mechanical trigger. The firing pins are automatically cocked when the receiver opens for reloading, and the barrels fire in this order: right-left-top. A manual sliding tan safety is located just behind the break-open lever, at quick and easy thumb reach.

The Chiappa Triple Crown shotgun comes with a 7mm aiming rib and a red fiber-optic front insert: the peculiar design handles like a side-by-side shotgun but by all intents and purposes aims just like a single-barrel shotgun, for a quick and practical target alignment.

These may just be the most unconventional shotguns you'll ever see or handle, guaranteed. Chiappa's Triple Crown and Triple Threat shotguns are all-rounder tools – a good choice for hunting, wing shooting, home and property defense, particularly where and when local laws and regulations do not allow much more. Their overall design and appearance make it fun to shoot for the field sport shooter.