Dear Bruce,
I have a Bettinsoli Diamond 2001 12 gauge u/o,a very nice gun, but just occasionally when i pull the trigger to fire with the safety selector set for the bottom barrel to fire first, both barrels fire.This really smokes the clays,and my shoulder.
Any suggestions as to what could be the cause(s) of this problem would be much appreciated?
Murray
Gisborne, New Zealand
Dear Murray,
What is happening to you is called “doubling”. It’s much less fun that a double date. It does give you some sense of how those poor clay targets feel getting pushed about the way that they do. Now you can sympathize.
I am not familiar with the exact type of triggers used in the Bettinsoli Diamonds, but most single selective trigger O/Us are easily cured of doubling with a little attention from the local gunsmith. The trouble could be something as simple as dirt under the inertia block or a worn sear. If you don’t have a gunsmith handy, it might be worth your trouble to pull the stock off (over a white cloth on the bench, you will be amazed what can fall out) and clean everything out carefully. Often that does it. I don’t really have the space and time (or knowledge, frankly) to get into much more detail about all the possible mechanical causes without having the gun here in front of me.
Sometimes doubling is caused by basic design flaws, but I doubt very much if that is the problem. Bettinsoli has been around for quite a while. The only guns that I have had doubling problems with was one of my Perazzis and a single trigger Parker Repro . The gunsmith fixed the Perazzi. The single trigger on the Parker Repro SxS was just plain a lousy design. Sometimes they copy those old guns too faithfully.
Best regards,
Bruce Buck
Shotgun Report’s Technoid
(Often in error, never in doubt.)
Shotgun Report® 
I would add that although it may seem impossible to the shooter, “fan fire” can sometimes be mistaken for doubling. The more common cause of a fan fire is the shooter holding the gun too loose and the gun bounces off the shoulder and fires the second shot as the trigger rebounds back into the trigger finger. It happens SO fast that it feels like a gun that is malfunctioning and doubling like the Technoid discussed.
Try holding the gun a bit more firmly into the shoulder pocked when firing and see if it still “doubles” If it is a true doubling then as always follow the Technoid’s advice. However, you may discover that you are not releasing the trigger enough between shots and when the recoil pulse pushes the gun forward slightly your finger will inadvertently cause it to fire again.
You indicated that it does this when bottom barrel is selected first. For that, I suggest try making your barrel selection with the gun broken open and see if it is not caused by the barrel selector button. Good luck.
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