Zoli Kronos Sporter

Hi anyone shooting a Zoli Kronos 32" I'm thinking of buying one any thoughts?

Cheers

Yes me , got me one a while back as back up clay gun and for field use as the 682e/PFS is a bit too whacky for that. I knew what I was letting myself in for but I opted for a sporter as I didn't fancy the fixed route of the Trap model. The gun is awesome for the money, very stable when fired and easily out-trigger pulls the 682, a little over-engineered in places (the ejectors need an allen key to remove) and to be fair it's fairly obvious Zoli UK forgot to consult someone clued up about our market but these are all fixable.

I don't shoot sporters as well as Trap guns but that should be addressed fairly soon. On the way back from the Essex Masters I dropped it off at a gunsmith in Essex with a few mods to take care of , should be fun having it back. You're more than welcome having a full round with it if we cross paths.

Thanks its the 30" i have an offer on. What your saying the Zoli Kronos is a good bet for sporting clays. Can i ask what mods you are having done?

Cheers

I went for the 32", it's worth having a close look at the weight stamped on the barrels of the one you're looking at, mine are 1.720 which is 300 more than my 682e!! The old 682 was often criticised for having dead weight handling which Beretta cured by lightening the barrels on the 682e's. I shot an old spec 682 sporter with 30" barrels for 10 years and agree the handling wasn't it's strong point.

People often say (or think) front heavy is a good thing, I strongly suspect they're wrong, neutral guns ask less of you on most presentations and they don't tire you out which happens without you being aware, often towards the last couple of shots on a stand.

I have asked for the mid rib to be completely removed, crushed and binned :.: , the comb raised very slightly, not too much as it has had an adjustable comb and recoil absorber fitted already by me previously, the pitch was way out so that was next on the agenda, the beavertail for-end which I prefer was nonetheless too bulky so that is being slimmed a tad as is the grip itself, lastly I asked for the grip area to be somewhat lengthened by chopping a few mm's off the front of the comb (something I've had done to good effect on a few guns before).

If Zoli had looked at the market in any detail they would have known 1720 barrels are silly, same as bulky woodwork. :wink:

PS. I don't recommend the new importers in charge as anything special, in fact their handling of my request so far has been shamefully inadequate.

Zoli Barrels 1.470 KG 30" Beretta 682 sporter 1.450 28" Do you feel the Zoli would be an improvement on the old 682 and where does it stand against the 682e ?

No pressure

Cheers

The 682e is a very hard gun to beat for the money, probably the best there is £ 4 £; it has next to no tangible issues. No FTF's, few mechanical breakdowns, barrels are chromed, needs no servicing, plenty of aftermarket gizmo's, hard as nails, handling is close to ideal for most straight out of the box, plenty 2nd hand and cheap parts. It's nemesis is poor triggers, but even then only compared to guns costing at least double!

The old 682 is all of the above except less forgiving in the handling department. The Zoli is in my opinion the best value classy used option out there, it takes a little knowledge maybe to fine tune it but there is nothing out there (for the money) that could fool most people for thinking it a Perazzi if you could just erase the name. :wink:

The Zoli has better triggers, it feels more like a DT10 in use, opens and closes as you would expect and has a drop out trigger mechanism which is vital for car park oneupmanship . Early models lack the long multi chokes though so you need to keep quiet about that, but they mince clays just fine in reality. People ask me why I didn't just buy another 682 :???: , my answer is that life is too short.

Finally, I'm very bombastic regarding barrel length, I simply cannot accept that there is a valid argument for anything other than 32" for the vast majority of sporting applications. It is true many will be perfectly happy with 30", but I firmly believe that unless you only shoot occasionally, that putting the effort into 32" will pay dividends.

My advice is to buy a 682e if you are in any way concerned about a quick resale, here too the Beretta is King. If you want a slightly better gun and are prepared to put a little effort in, then get the Zoli.

Hamster said:

The 682e is a very hard gun to beat for the money, probably the best there is £ 4 £; it has next to no tangible issues. No FTF's, few mechanical breakdowns, barrels are chromed, needs no servicing, plenty of aftermarket gizmo's, hard as nails, handling is close to ideal for most straight out of the box, plenty 2nd hand and cheap parts. It's nemesis is poor triggers, but even then only compared to guns costing at least double!

The old 682 is all of the above except less forgiving in the handling department. The Zoli is in my opinion the best classy used option out there, it takes a little knowledge maybe to fine tune it but there is nothing out there (for the money) that could fool most people for thinking it a Perazzi if you could just erase the name. :wink:

The Zoli has better triggers, it feels more like a DT10 in use, opens and closes as you would expect and has a drop out trigger mechanism which is vital for car park oneupmanship . Early models lack the long multi chokes though so you need to keep quiet about that, but they mince clays just fine in reality. People ask me why I didn't just buy another 682 :???: , my answer is that life is too short.

Finally, I'm very bombastic regarding barrel length, I simply cannot accept that there is a valid argument for anything other than 32" for the vast majority of sporting applications. It is true many will be perfectly happy with 30", but I firmly believe that unless you only shoot occasionally, that putting the effort into 32" will pay dividends.

My advice is to buy a 682e if you are in any way concerned about a quick resale, here too the Beretta is King. If you want a slightly better gun and are prepared to put a little effort in, then get the Zoli.

Click to expand...

Thanks

Front end weight isn't totally a matter of what's stamped on the barrel. The barrels on the 32" Prevail at 1.57 are nominally heavier than a Gold E but it balances and handles at least as dynamically not only because the extra weight is at the breech end, but also because the forend is very light.

The modern Zolis have always appealed to me but I'd never even seen one let alone handled one when I was in the market for another sporter. I think they could sell a lot of guns if they went about it properly, but appointing a minor dealer in the far north as the UK distributor is never going to work out well. I'm certainly not going to do a 475 mile round trip just to look at a couple of guns in a shop, particular after a less than impressive phone call to them, so that's a potential sale lost right there.

All the same I've seen a couple of 32" Columbus sporters advertised at not much money so I might yet dip my toe in.

must admit I havent seen many - I like the look of the newer models- especially the adding of weights to the barrels and grip but very little info on any uk website

Spot on Westward, you either do it properly like CGuerrini or mess around like Blaser. They need an importer with energy not just an organisation with marketing tentacles and no real clue. I don't know if anyone has noticed but they've been doing a bit of subtle pre-marketing teasers with full page Z logo ads. If you ask me they'll be launching a similar gun to the CG Impact with ad on weights like the Blaser for around £4.5k + !

What they really need is a £3.5k sorted, good looking gun a bit like the Perazzi 2000S, that'll do the trick.

Edgar Brothers are now the Zoli importers, they are having a launch day at Cloudside Congleton Cheshire tomorrow.

Is this who you guys were dissing or were you talking about Stephen Fawcett of Lancaster?

I spoke to (a) Fawcett at some point but they were already in the throes of hand over so one can't expect the earth.

I did expect a reply to repeated e-mails to the man in charge at EB though ! First rule of good business, talk to your potential customers, it beggars belief so many fall at this first hurdle. He was OK on initial contact but the line's gone dead since. :???:

I was thinking of Fawcett. Hadn't heard about the switch to EB. I don't know how good they are but at least they're a proper distributor. Wonder when they'll decide to update their site...... :huh:

TBH I despair at the almost universal marketing ineptitude amongst shotgun makers - and many dealers too. I'd love to see some of the less well known makers such as Zoli making some inroads but it seems that all their expertise is in designing & making the things and yet the concept of rolling out the products to what is likely to be a receptive market seem beyond them.

Can anyone name any shotgun maker with an up to date, modern, accurate, informative and effective web presence?

My previous experience of Edgar Brothers is very bad. Tried to order some Remington 1100 parts, only to be met with rudeness and inefficiency. I then ordered the parts from the US and they arrived next day by parcel post. A few days later I received an apologetic telephone call from Edgar Bros. Sadly damage was done.

Crazy in this day and age. People buy from people they like. Any firm with poor customer service deserves to go under IMO.

Occasionally after placing their order with me people open up and tell me how indifferently they'd been treated elsewhere; these are people parting with thousands by the way, no different to the gun world in many ways.

I once spent some time visiting several London/Scottish gunmakers' web sites looking at what sporters were available around the £40-£140k mark. Some have next to no web presence, others are plain shabby and even the better ones suffer from poorly laid out, difficult to understand and navigate formats, unbelievable really. Marketing seems like an alien concept to many gun makers it seems.

Hi,

I've been shooting a Zoli Kronos Club for a few years and it's proved to be an excellent gun.

I think the Kronos is a bit of a bargain, every bit as good as some well known and very similar looking guns from the same region of Italy!

If you have any mechanical knowledge a quick look at the drop-lock trigger mechanism will show a very well finished bit of kit.

Mine has 32" multi choke barrels and an adjustable stock. It has fired thousands of rounds and remains tight at the action - no real signs of any wear at all. Apart from changing a firing pin I've had no problems at all (parts supplied in kit with gun but extra spares obtained from a very helpful John Fawcett in Lancaster).

Like many guns of similar design the only thing to be careful with is the fore-end - when unclipping it to remove, don't swing it away from the barrels front end first. The woodwork will catch on the ejector mechanism and you could split the wood. Unclip it and slide it down and forward and it will be fine

When I first used it I had the comb a little low, for me it pays to see a fair bit of rib with this gun.

Hope this helps,

Tony

They just dont like us pikeys drooling over hi-res images of their guns, If you can afford one you make an appointment to bespoke design it :.: :.:

Yes but suppose you did have the money, I'd want to research and see which maker to make that appointment with. Besides I'm sure there are a few dozen idle rich foreign gents who'd order over the phone if they could see the ruddy things.