FAS 6007 - finally in my hands...

[Leon]

A couple of initial impressions -

Very high quality (including the packaging) - it seems that Chiappa has lifted the bar on these.

Lighter than a 607, which is a good thing.

[deadeyedick]

Congratulations !

I look forward to hearing what you think after it has a few round through it.

[Dr. Jim]

So, Len, next stop Oz national champion?

[scerir]

I did not see the Chiappa FAS 6007 in the Italian ranges, so far.
There are rumors about the strange or messy feeling of the trigger.
And about malfunctions due to the magazines (but .... using the old FAS 607 magazines there are no malfunctions).
BTW the price, here in Italy, is between 1,300 and 1,400 Euros.

[Leon]

Some more impressions -

The 6007 is lighter than my 607 ( 980gr vs 1095gr), but you do have the option of adding more weights to the shroud.

When I did fire it the other day, I thought that the bore line was lower than my 607. Well, it turns out that I was right. You can move the pistol up & down in the grip and can also adjust the rake fore & aft, and also to the left & right.

Excerpt from the manual below.

The take-down now has a spring-loaded pin to stop it from working itself loose...

The frame, slide and shroud have been CNC machined and are all made to a very high standard.

The trigger box is removeable - as per the image below...

[Leon]

More pictures...

[deadeyedick]

Looks better by the minute. The 607 had the simplest and cleverest design of any pistol I have owned with complete takedown needing only a turn of the lever on the frame, and it looks like the 6007 has upped the ante with the grip adjustment and bore height.

[Leon]

I was asked what 6007 parts are interchangeable with the 607 ?

And the answer is - very little !

Apart from the magazine and the complete rear sight assembly, I don't think anything else is...

Not even the barrel shroud - which is the shame as I like the new lightweight version so much I would have liked to fit the 6007 shroud onto my 607...

[Leon]

Shot my first match with the 6007 today - Sports Pistol

Performance was faultless - and recoil recovery is typical FAS - a little blip upwards and the gun settles back to exactly where it was before. I should have shot my 607 at the same time as I think the recoil disturbance of the 6007 is less than the 607 and it would have been nice to do a side by side comparison. The 6007 also seems to have an additional recoil buffer as well - located at the end of the recoil rod. I didn't use any of the supplied factory weights either.

I think the new mags are made to tighter tolerances than the old ones as .22 rounds fit quite tightly. Slightly longer American .22 ammunition means that the 5th round needs a little bit of jiggery and pokey to fit.

I also changed the rake of the grip to have similar, or slightly more, angle than a Pardini. Boreline is very low too

Next project is to adjust the trigger. Unfortunately the English manual seems to have been produced by putting the Italian manual through Google translate. Of all the match guns that I have ( a lot), Benelli has the best User Manual by far. By far.

The grip is a quality piece of walnut and is very nicely made . It does not seem to have had any oil treatment at the factory applied - so is slurping up whatever oil I am applying to it.

And now for some bad news for our American cousins in shooting.

The 6007 does not have a safety catch and I think that this means that it cannot be imported in the US. I also think that there will be little interest from the factory in providing a version with a safety catch too, but you can live in hope.

[SlartyBartFast]

I think the new mags are made to tighter tolerances than the old ones as .22 rounds fit quite tightly. Slightly longer American .22 ammunition means that the 5th round needs a little bit of jiggery and pokey to fit.

CCI standard 40gr LRN and other American 22lr jams my 607 all the time. Too cheap to shoot pricey european stuff.

Found CCI 40g subsonic HP works flawlessly and as a bonus it's the cheapest 22lr I've found locally as well.

[Leon]

I think the new mags are made to tighter tolerances than the old ones as .22 rounds fit quite tightly. Slightly longer American .22 ammunition means that the 5th round needs a little bit of jiggery and pokey to fit.

CCI standard 40gr LRN and other American 22lr jams my 607 all the time. Too cheap to shoot pricey european stuff.

Found CCI 40g subsonic HP works flawlessly and as a bonus it's the cheapest 22lr I've found locally as well.

Hmm that's weird. My 607 ( and 602 ) have no problems digesting CCI Standard or Federal Champion ammunition.

Nor does my 6007.

When you say it jams your 607, what actually happens?

[SlartyBartFast]

Hmm that's weird. My 607 ( and 602 ) have no problems digesting CCI Standard or Federal Champion ammunition.

Nor does my 6007.

When you say it jams your 607, what actually happens?

They don't even always load into the magazine easily. Moving he follower the cartridges obviously bind and the movement is jittery.

During firing I've had failure to load, and various cases of the bolt stuck on a misfed cartridge from a bit of the bullet shaved off to a full banana of the cartridge.

The CCI SS HP works flawlessly, so haven't concerned myself further with it.

What I noticed is CCI QA seems to be very permissive for the OAL of the cartridges. The HPs have everything from well pronounced holes and flat noses to rounds that are indistinguishable from LRN.

[Dipnet]

Does anyone know if these are these available in the US? Is there a groove for mounting a red dot on top of the receiver? Nice looking pistol. Dipnet

[JKR]

Dipnet,

The FAS is not a good choice if you plan on a dot sight. The magazine is inserted from the top like the Walther SSP. I mounted an Ultra Dot on a 602 once. I mounted it on the barrel in front of the port. This turned a beautifully balanced pistol into a dog! Perhaps a custom mount for a mini could be made to replace the rear sight. Bottom line is, there are better choices if you must mount a dot sight.

JKR

[Leon]

Does anyone know if these are these available in the US? Is there a groove for mounting a red dot on top of the receiver? Nice looking pistol. Dipnet

No, they are not available in the US and I don't think that they will ever be - the reason being is that they do not have a safety catch. From what I understand about US firearm laws, they cannot be imported without one.

I have had several generations of Pardini pistols and I was very surprised (and disappointed) to see in the latest iteration ( Pardini All In One ) a safety catch on the LHS. It is quite tiny and, frankly, looks ridiculous. An obvious sop to the US importation requirements.

The FAS 6007 is an ISSF pistol and has no provision for mounting a red dot - which I think is a really good thing. You will find little interest from Chiappa in a change of engineering to the FAS 6007 to fit such a monstrosity.

If you can't live without a red dot sight, get a Ruger or something like that. ISSF pistols are not for you.

MY 6007 is beautifully made ( as are all of them) and continues with 100% flawless operation.

[Dr. Jim]

Actually here in the Great White North - the important western part anyway - a few smiths have made aluminium shrouds to replace the steel one, and mounted red dots. This retains the excellent balance and functions well in NRA style matches. Sorry Leon, some of us old guys need the sighting advantage more as our eyes get dim.

Cheers Jim

[Leon]

" need the sighting advantage more as our eyes get dim"

And that is why they invented shotguns Dr Jim :)

How's your P240 with the Dave Wilson barrel going?

My ones really like a load of 2.3 gr of Bullseye propelling a Speer 148 Gr HBWC. They very politely eject the cases straight into a small round Tupperware container positioned close to my right elbow on a ledge in the shooting bay.

How cool is that?

Meanwhile my FAS 603 ejects empty cases in a full 360 degrees circle and, to stop you from becoming complacent, at varying distances as well.

The designers at FAS/Domino must have employed some very clever engineering to achieve this feature !

[Dr. Jim]

Hi Leon, well the P240 with the Wilson barrel works perfectly fine no natter what it is fed. My standard for several decades has been 2.8 Bullseye and hard cast Hensley & Gibbs #244 - a flat based wadcutter. I've had the mould since the mid 1970s and Jim Gibbs told me it had been made prior to 1944 because they moved up to Oregon that year. Unfortunately health issues mean that I have not had it out in over a year. BTW the serial on mine may make it one of the oldest still operating - 200015!

My FAS 603 likewise sprays cases around but the catcher I made for it does intercept about 40 percent. That at least reduces the amount of grovelling needed for case recovery. Now for a really wild ejection pattern, my DES 32 without the case catcher throws them three metres right, and three metres forward not good for shooting stations near the wall as ricochets spread them all down the range.

Never could hit diddly with a shotgun,

Winding down the shop - mill is gone, next biggie is the lathe, Oy Vay!

Cheers Jim