Even with stout 3-inch turkey loads, the new Franchi I-12 proved to be quite tolerable to shoot, a testament to its action desing and its excellent recoil pad.

If you take a close look at its bolt you will see that the body and its rotating locking lug head are two separate parts. Positioned between them is a rather heavy inertia spring. One end of a small steel shaft (called the locking head pin) is fastened to the shaft of the locking lug head while its opposite end engages a curved cam slot in the bolt body. This is what causes the locking lug head to rotate to its locked and unlocked positions inside the barrel extension as the bolt body moves to and fro during firing.

The receiver roof of the 1-12 turkey gun is drilled and tapped for scope mounting, so it took me only a few minutes to attach a Burris 1.75-5X Signature Safari scope in preparation for a hunt. Before installing the scope, I had fired a few rounds of skeet with the gun and in doing so found the comb height of the stock to be an excellent compromise: low enough to allow the eye to see just the right amount of rib when using the gun for wingshooting but high enough to allow contact between the stock and the cheek of the shooter when looking into a scope.When mounting the scope I used low Warne rings, which set the scope height perfectly for me. Located in the trigger guard just behind the trigger, the transverse safety button operates so quietly no gobbler will ever hear it being disengaged.

You can buy the new Franchi I-12 with a walnut or synthetic stock and fore-end, the latter available in black and two camo patterns (Realtree Timber HD and Max-4). Those guns wearing a synthetic stock come with an integral sling swivel eye in the buttstock and a swiveling eye in the end of the magazine cap.

Barrel-length options are 24, 26 and 28 inches, all with ventilated ribs and 3-inch chambers. Sights consist of a red fiber optic bar up front and a .070-inch gold middle bead. Screw-in chokes are the flush-mounted type in cylinder, improved cylinder, modified, improved modified and full. An extended extra-full turkey choke is available at extra cost.

As it comes from the factory, the I-12 weighs 7.5 to 7.7 pounds depending on barrel length and whether it is wearing a wood or synthetic stock. I shot the gun offhand and from the bench enough to become convinced that the gel insert in its recoil pad is not just there for looks. I found it quite tolerable to shoot with heavy 3-inch loads.

I did experience one glitch with the gun and that was a tendency for its bolt handle to pop out during firing. I solved the problem while hunting by carrying the handle in my pocket. After the hunt I called Franchi's customer service department and had a replacement bolt and handle headed my way quicker than you can say "outstanding service". From that point on all went well.