Tony Galazan has announced his 3rd-generation pinless automatic over-under shotgun. While a pinless design actually does have pins, they do not protrude through the lock plate, leaving the gun with an unobstructed surface for engraving. This “best” full sidelock shotgun is joined to the combination chopper lump and sidelump barrels, by means of a bifurcated lockup system, arguably the most elegant and smoothest means of opening and closing a fine shotgun. Additionally, the lock bridals are integral to the lockplates, providing an unmatched level of rigidity to the mechanism. The stock is attached to the action with a patented system that is far superior to any other “best” gun, which instead relies on a tang screw to do the same. In fact, this patent has already been successfully defended by CSMC against another maker.
The lockplates themselves open automatically when actuated by the shooter. This is a great benefit because the locks can be lubricated, inspected, and maintained without disassembly. Another technical advancement of the Galazan 3rd Generation shotgun is the use of rubies on the bearing surfaces, which reduce friction. This is very similar to the jeweled movements found in fine mechanical watches. Additionally, the Galazan 3rd Generation shotgun is available with a titanium frame as an option.
Because these guns are fully bespoke to the customer's requirement, the combination of features and options is almost limitless. These features and options include a single trigger, double trigger, custom stock dimensions, customer-selected wood, and virtually any type of engraving. These guns are also available in 12, 16, 20, 28, and .410, all on scaled frames.
Galazan started the first workshop in the garage of his fathers 3 family home in New Britain, CT and in 1975 and subsequently as the company grew CSMC moved into the old meat packing factory on the east side of the city. In 2001, the factory moved again to its current Burritt Street location, where the new building encompasses 100,000 square feet of gun manufacturing. In this progression, the company has become vertically integrated to produce its shotguns completely under one roof, where every last detail of each “best” bespoke shotgun is ultimately controlled by Tony Galazan himself. His ethos, which on paper may be simple but in practice is very complex, is to produce the most robust and reliable shotgun in the world whilst maintaining the very highest level of elegance and beauty.
