From our July/August 2025 Issue
The Scottish round-action is the most elegant of guns. As a 1935 John Dickson & Son's catalog boasted: “The design is unique, having neither straight nor sharp edges. The whole is rounded in every part and highly artistic in outline and finish.” Mature examples where the dished area immediately behind the fences echoes the curve of the action body turning into the top strap are absolutely gorgeous. Now comes the news that F.lli Piotti, in Gardone, Italy, has created a round-bodied gun with Anson & Deeley innards.
According to Dan Moore of US importer William Larkin Moore: “The Piotti Round has the appearance of a Dickson round-action with a modified Anson system. This project was a concept that I was responsible for getting underway. We first started working on it in about 2020, but Covid stopped production. Then the Piotti family lost Sergio Piotti, their head machinist, and we had two major setbacks ot the development. We studied the Dickson, McKay Brown and others and wanted something that was more than just a radius or rounding of the edges.”
A 28- and a 20-gauge are now on offer, with a 16 and a .410 on the horizon. Each will feature appropriately scaled actions. Design changes have permitted Piotti to scale the frames to two-thirds the size of a standard boxlock. The currently available 28-gauge weights just five pounds with 30” barrels and has a 15” length of pull. It is as sleek and slender as the gun that inspired it.
Read our Newsletter
Stay connected to the best of wingshooting & fine guns with additional free content, special offers and promotions.
