This past Saturday a friend of mine went to a sportsmen's show in Lancaster, PA. He knows of my interest in Balillas so when he spotted two at a table he called me with the news; I talked him through what to look for and initially thought he was hallucinating, but he wasn't. Here are the particulars: The first one was "sporterized"; bayonet and bracket removed, rear sight replaced with a home-made fixed sight, identifying marks on barrel chamber ground off, stock replaced with a Monte Carlo type stock. Asking price $350. Second one had the barrel facets machined off and the chamber contoured conically, stock sanded removing cartouche and serial number, handguard missing, and, allegedly, the Balilla was rechambered to fire a .222. Asking price $575. These Balillas fall into the Three B category: Bubba'd Beyond Belief. My buddy sent me pics from his cell phone which confirms all of the above. I was really disappointed, not only over the fact that these quasi-guns had been so badly screwed up, but even more so because I couldn't get any serial number info from them. The only thing I could determine was that they were not Grazians, based on the magazine configuration and the separate handguard on the second one. Anyone else go to the show and see these pieces? Ralph
Bubbad Balillas in Pennsylvania
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In my book pile at home, I've got one by Frank de Haas in which he states the Balilla moschetto would be suitable for that caliber. I have my doubts. 32-20 maybe... SW
Fritz, I'm not sure just exactly what the show was billed as, something like the Sportsmen's and Outdoors show; I think it had a lot of antique sporting and camping stuff like bear traps, fishing gear, etc. 5th Dragoons, the Balillas were not made to fire real ammo; I really can't relate to chamber pressures, etc., but if you have ever looked at what the barrel and chamber are like on a Balilla (the barrel screws into the chamber, which also acts as a sigh base), which in turn mates with the receiver ring. Somebody tell me, would a bronze chamber (on many if not most of the Grazians) stand up to any kind of pressure? Add a bronze bolt to the mix and...These "guns" were made specifically for firing blanks, materials were not the same quality as used in the real weapons (as far as I know). I'd be really wary of firing any kind of live round; actually, I wouldn't even venture to try. Ralph
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