It’s Finally Here! | Custom Made Italian Shotgun

The wait is finally over! Last year we did a video collaboration with the Upland Gun Company. UGC is a shotgun brand based in Minnesota that facilitates the sale of fully custom-built break-action shotguns. They work with an Italian gun maker and deliver an absolutely amazing product. We'd highly recommend you check out our first video with them  (HERE) to learn more. But to catch you up, our custom shotgun has arrived and it's time to do a review. Let's go!

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What's The Process?

• The first step would be to get a fitting from a reputable gun fitter. UGC works with a network of gun fitters across the country to get customers fitted.
• Steve went through this whole process with gun fitter Dell Whitman in another video -It's super interesting stuff! Watch it (HERE)
• Once you have your gun fit dimensions, you go to their website: uplandguncompany.com and choose a base model and start custom building your gun down to the finest detail.

 What Can You Customize?

• Everything from the butt to the bead is customizable.
• A big part of this is selecting the wood - You can select your grade from standard, all the way up to exhibition grade. The customer can select the specific wood blank from which their stock will be made. So cool! (Image below of Steve's options)

• You can choose the butt pad material.
• There are options for the type of grip. 
• checkering is another popular customization (with a range of options).
• You can opt for a single or double trigger.
• Basically everything - If you can imagine it, it's as simple as contacting the company to make it happen
• Our favorite feature is the ability to choose the receiver finish and engraving. For example, you can literally send a picture of your dog and their Italian hand engraver will put it on your receiver. That is just incredible! 

Steve's Customizations

Here is a run down of what we picked out for Steve's custom shotgun. His goal was to make this a very traditional-styled shotgun for upland hunting. 

• Grade 4 wood
• Straight english stock
• Side-by-Side break action
• 2 Barrel set (20ga and 28ga) Got it primarily for the 28 gauge
• Double trigger
• Wood butt-end (with checkering)
• "Fine" checking on grip points
• Color-cased hardened reciever with deep-scroll engraving
• Auto-safety
• Semi-swamped rib
• Single Brass bead
• Splintered forend
• Long trigger tang
• Silver plate with gold inlay for initials (on bottom of stock
• Improved cylinder and modified fixed chokes
• Both trigger pull under 3.5 LBS
• Both the 20 and 28ga set-ups are right over 6 LBS

Cost

Pretty much everything on this list above is customizable to your preferences. Upland Gun Company has seven basic models to start with. Steve chose the Venus SxS which starts at $3,500. With all of these alterations and customizations, it came out to about $8,000 with the additional barrel set being a large portion of that. Below are the other templates available to start your custom shotgun-building journey!

Why Get A Custom Shotgun?

• There are many reasons to get a custom gun. Firstly, if you have the means to do so, having a gun that fits you properly is very important to your success in the field. UPG knows how important this is and works to find you a gun fitter to ensure that your investment is actually going to work well for you. You can spend all the money you want, but if the shotgun doesn't fit, you'll shoot like...well, not as good as you would with a gun that fits you.
• Everybody is different: style, preference, body type, and style of hunting: Upland Gun Company recognizes that one size doesn't necessarily fit all and wants to create an experience to get you in a gun that is perfectly tuned to what you do.
• You can truly make one of these guns your own. Our favorite reason is the idea of creating a custom heirloom that can be passed down for generations knowing that this special gun wasn't just a mass-produced gun from some factory. This is a gun that is specific to you as an individual with meaning and value.
• And finally, Upland Gun Company is in a market of its own. We are not aware of any other manufacturers offering customizations at the price point that UGC is. Their base model starts at $1,999... That's basically a Benelli Super Black Eagle 3... Except you're getting a gun that is custom for you and unlike any other gun. Of course, you could go through the gun builder and run up the price with expensive wood and custom engravings, but even then, you're still getting a relatively good deal in the world of custom shotguns.

We are stoked about how this shotgun came out. It feels great to have a shotgun that actually fits. We'd highly recommend you check out the Upland Gun Company and see what you can come up with on their gun builder! uplandguncompany.com

Whether our targets in the field or our targets in life, we will only hit what we are focused on, so live the #targetfocusedlife