Sovrapposto: the new over-and-under shotgun from the Italian manufacturer Cosmi

Those who believe that the great Italian gunmaking tradition is linked only to Gardone Val Trompia and the Brescia area in Northern Italy are quite wrong! In fact, there was a time, not so long ago, when beautiful and highly-appreciated products were also made in the Marche and Romagna regions, where names such as Zanotti, Toschi and Zaccaria in the Ravenna area, as well as Cortesi and Fabbrizioli in Rimini, became true legends, creating side-by-sides, over-and-unders and unique guns (the legendary Cortesi triple-barrel shotgun) that would make the great history of Italian gunsmithing immense. One element characterized all of these productions: the search for innovation and originality in the mechanical choices, which had always been the goal of Romagna's genius.

Rodolfo Cosmi: the story of a brilliant gunsmith

Made of the same material as the receiver, the forend iron aesthetically follows the classic Boss design, giving the gun a timeless look.

And it is precisely in the wake of this tradition that our story begins. A story that merges with legend and that today can be read with a name that recalls infinity: Cosmi. It all began when, in a village in Montefeltro, a piece of Romagna forcibly transplanted into the Marche region by politics, Rodolfo, a craftsman who repaired shotguns and had a strong passion for hunting, in 1895 decided to make himself that "decent shotgun" that he could not afford to buy by using some gun scraps and an umbrella shaft as a barrel. The result was so promising that Rodolfo built others and improved them more and more, until he was able to patent a shotgun so unique that even the Italian king wanted one.

In over one hundred years, through three centuries, the Cosmi company has succeeded in blending tradition and research into a single product, offering its customers a shotgun that maintains its original classic lines while being made with innovative materials and state-of-the-art techniques, so that the Cosmi shotgun continues to draw fame as of the most exclusive semi-automatic in the world. 

Cosmi's innovation doesn't stop: from the model Rigato to the new Sovrapposto    

In fact, based on the same revisited platform, just over a year ago the Rigato came: a highly original rifle capable of replicating the charm and style of shotguns in every way, but made for shooting bullets!

Now, the company from the Marche region is back to astound the world with the introduction of the Sovrapposto (“Sovrapposto” simply means “over-and-under” in Italian), to implement the range with an offer that will not leave indifferent, among shooters and hunters, those who love fine guns that combine the beautiful and the new, tradition and high tech, in the name of style, engineering and advanced materials.  With the certainty to hold in their hands unique pieces with unbeatable performance.

It was a project that had been brewing for some time, but the decisive push came from the new owner, Luca Gaeti. From the very beginning, the watchwords were innovation and craftsmanship experience, to be merged with the best in terms of innovation and exceptional materials. Everything to give life to an over-and-under made according to the aesthetic canons of the most canonical and rigorous luxury firearm, while employing mechanical solutions and innovations entirely studied and patented by the company, thus bringing this category of firearm into the third millennium and to a level never seen before.

The result is a true jewel from a formal point of view, customizable on request in any way and at any level conceivable by its lucky owner – from engravings to materials, from types of barrels to wood, capable of guaranteeing practically infinite performance and versatility of use. The Sovrapposto over-and-under shotgun, like the famous semi-automatic and the "Rigato", is built according to the most rigorous Cosmi quality standards, and it too is available in two versions derived from the material of choice, steel or titanium. For a range of use that goes from clay shooting to driven hunting, up to all forms of hunting.

Cosmi Sovrapposto: technical details  

As you would expect from a high class gun, the Cosmi Sovrapposto over-and-under is built around a detachable lock system with a modern but at the same time traditional and well-tested trigger mechanism. To the benefit of maintenance and functional perfection.

The receiver, machined from a solid billet like every other component of the gun, aesthetically follows the most classic canons of fine luxury firearms, immediately conveying a dual idea of timeless elegance and robustness capable of challenging the centuries. 

The locking system, inspired by the timeless and highly efficient Boss system, has been designed to simplify interchangeability of parts that are subject to wear, with the two lugs designed to be easily replaceable in any case in order to ensure the eternal durability of the gun, and therefore an infinite usability whose not negligible by-product is a value that remains unchanged over time. 

Cartridge ejection is automatic and patented, and completes the uniqueness of the project guaranteeing optimal performance in any occasion and with any ammunition.

Cosmi Sovrapposto: the titanium version

The trigger group with combined mechanical/inertial single trigger (double trigger on request). Leaf springs, a profound innovation compared to the simple coil spring or the more fragile V-shaped spring.     

In addition to the all-steel version, there is another one where the receiver and fore-end iron are made entirely of titanium. No, this is not a simple style exercise, but a choice with very precise technical-practical reasons that it is good to know before proceeding, and starting from the material itself, that is titanium. 

Titanium is in fact a metallic element well known for its almost total incorruptibility, comparable to that of platinum. It is as resistant as steel even though it is 40% lighter, weighs 60% more than aluminum but with double the resistance: unique properties that make it very resistant to the usual forms of metal fatigue..

Stock and fore-end are hand-made according to the customer's measurements – including drop and cast – using the best walnut briar.

In its pure state it is quite ductile, lustrous, and metallic white in color. For this reason it is used in alloys in which it can express all its extraordinary qualities. However, these alloys are difficult to work with in machine tools, even more so than stainless steel, which is notoriously the most difficult to machine by chip removal. A problem for many, but not for those who, like Cosmi – one of the first manufacturers in the world to offer titanium firearms since the 1960s – wanted to continue in the wake of its tradition and offer its customers an over-and-under that could be made entirely from this noble metal, in order to meet the needs of a hunting world that is increasingly attentive to the lightness of firearm components and to practicality and reliability. These apparent opposites are perfectly matched in the titanium version, creating a gun that is as light as those whose mechanics are based on Ergal or aluminum, but as resistant as the "all steel" version, if not more. The countless studies and researches carried out in the last few years have allowed Cosmi, together with other very few noble names in the world of fine guns, to be one of the very few companies able to work titanium and offer a truly unique product in the world of luxury firearms.

Cosmi Sovrapposto specs