Gun Review > FAIR Carrera One HR

My favorite gun tests/reviews to do are on shotguns considered all-clay, all-around or all-sport shotguns. That is, shotguns which are believed to be suitable for breaking clay targets in all three shotgun disciplines: trap, skeet and sporting clays. When I found out I would be doing a review on the Fabbrica Armi Isidoro Rizzini (FAIR) Carrera One High Rib, I was looking forward to it because I think this shotgun falls into this category.
After I received the FAIR Carrera One HR at Cabela’s in Thornton, CO, my opinion was confirmed when, out of the half-dozen Outfitters who handled this shotgun, some remarked it would make a great trap shotgun while others said it would be ideal for either skeet or sporting clays.

The FAIR Carrera One HR arrived in a navy blue hard plastic case with the name FAIR and the company logo printed in white lettering on the top. The case has four latches on the outside and a place for two padlocks to be inserted for security near the handle. The top of the inside of the case is felt-lined in navy blue with the same white lettering of the name FAIR and the company logo. The bottom of the case is molded plastic with three compartments; one for the barrel and forearm, one for the stock and receiver and one for the choke tube box and other miscellaneous items.

The FAIR Carrera One HR over/under went together like most break-open shotguns. The barrels attach to the receiver securely, and the forearm fits quite well against both the receiver and barrels. Initial opening and closing of the Carrera felt quite stiff. I solved this by putting a good coating of STOS Lubricant on all metal-to-metal surfaces. After that, the Carrera opened and closed easier, but still maintained just a little of that ‘new shotgun’ stiffness.

Inserting two snap caps into the FAIR Carrera One HR highlighted the fact this shotgun has ejectors which adequately eject hulls after being fired but not so aggressively a shooter has to walk backwards to find them. The snap caps showed the first trigger pulled measured 5 pounds, and the second trigger pulled measured 5.5 pounds. The snap caps also revealed the trigger mechanism of this shotgun is mechanical, thus making it a great candidate for the utilization of sub-gauge tubes.

Upon initial mounting of the gun, I was looking at the top lever (given that the adjustable comb shipped in its lowest position). With this Carrera having an adjustable comb as standard equipment, I used the included Allen wrench to loosen the screws and remove the comb. This shotgun has cylindrical posts in the adjustable comb hardware, so washers can be used to easily raise the comb to the correct height without having to guess at the desired height. The fixed ventilated rib is 15mm high, 11mm wide and has a single fluorescent-red-colored bead at the muzzle end of the parallel rib. With three nylon washers added onto the posts, I saw an upsloped rib as I mounted it — hoping this would give me a 60/40 Point Of Impact (POI). The adjustable comb’s hardware cylindrical posts also move left-and-right such that the four-way adjustable comb can be adjusted for cast.

The FAIR Carrera One HR uses Select European Walnut for the stock and forearm. This wood is very attractive and the dark accents in the wood are highlighted by the black receiver. There is checkering on the forearm and pistol grip of the stock. The checkering can best be described as ‘medium’ in assertiveness (i.e., not overly jagged or sharp but will ensure a shooter’s hands do not slip when sweaty, wet or wearing gloves). On the back of the Monte Carlo stock is a ¾" ventilated black recoil pad which has a very slight curve — so slight it would not inhibit a low or off-the-face mount from coming up the shoulder smoothly. The shotgun sent to me for review was a right-handed model having a right-handed palm swell and a small amount of cast-off.

The Length Of Pull (LOP) on the FAIR Carrera One HR is 14.5". The trigger is black (to match the color of the receiver), slightly curved and not adjustable for length. The single selective trigger uses a combination (manual) safety and barrel selector lever located behind the top lever. Changing which barrel to fire first as well as engaging the safety is easy and very straightforward. Pushing the safety lever backward displays the letter “S” in a circle and shows the shooter the safety is engaged. The shooter will move the barrel selector left-and-right to determine which barrel fires first. When a single dot is showing, the bottom barrel fires first. When two dots are showing, the top barrel fires first. One feature I really like is the barrel selector can be changed without having to engage the safety first.

The receiver is black with the name “Carrera” in gold on all three sides. A clay target is etched on both sides of the receiver, and a gold clay target is inlaid on the bottom of the receiver. The wood-to-metal fit of the stock and the forearm to the receiver were excellent.

The 32" non-ported barrels had a bore diameter of .725. Each barrel accepts a 3¾" choke tube with ¾" of this choke tube extending beyond the muzzle. Five choke tubes come standard with the FAIR Carrera One HR: Cylinder, Improved Cylinder, Modified, Improved Modified and Full. The full name of the choke constriction is written on the length of the choke tube. And, the ‘industry-standard’ use of notches on the end of the choke tube (i.e., one notch = Full, two notches = Improved Modified, three notches = Modified, four notches = Improved Cylinder and five notches = Cylinder) is what allows the shooter to identify what choke is installed in each barrel.

The FAIR Carrera One HR has a beavertail forearm which uses the Deeley & Edge lever pull-release-style iron mechanism to attach to the barrels and receiver. Once attached, it is very solid with no unwanted movement. The overall weight of this shotgun with two chokes installed is 8 pounds.

My plan was to shoot the FAIR Carrera One HR at trap and skeet on a Saturday at Golden Gun Club in Watkins, CO, and shoot it at sporting clays on a Sunday at Colorado Clays Shooting Park in Brighton, CO.

The patterning board at Golden Gun Club was out of order. So, with the three spacers I inserted previously, I set the trap to throw straightaways and parked myself on Post 3. After shooting three shots, I knew right away my guesstimate of a 60/40 POI was quite close. Since I shoot an 80/20 POI at trap, I added two more spacers and set the machine to oscillate. I ran a 25 straight with the Modified choke in the bottom barrel and had a super solid hit on every target.

Moving the microphones back to the 27-yard line, I inserted the Full choke in the top barrel to confirm the POI would be the same. Starting on Post 3, I finished with a 23, having missed a straightaway from Post 5 and a straightaway from Post 1.

Watching me the entire time was Sonny Young, a very accomplished trapshooter. He is one of the few ATA shooters to complete the “ATA Grand Slam” (i.e., 200 straight in singles, 100 straight in handicap from the 27-yard line and 100 straight in doubles). And, in 2014 he was inducted into the Colorado State Trapshooting Hall of Fame. During his shooting career, Sonny had 45 100-straights and nine 200-straights in singles, three 100-straights in doubles and one 100-straight from the 27-yard line in handicap.

I moved the microphones back to the 16-yard line and asked Sonny to do the same thing I did. Sonny ended up with a 25 (at singles) and a 24 (at the 27-yard line, letting a quarter-angle left from Post 2 fly away after being dusted). While Sonny was changing the machine over to doubles, I put the microphones back at 16 yards. We took turns shooting the FAIR Carrera One HR at doubles. When we were done, Sonny beat me by one target (i.e., he shot a 49 and I shot a 48).

In comparing our impressions of the FAIR Carrera One HR, we both agreed it moved exceptionally well on both singles and doubles targets and the 15mm high rib worked exceptionally well for rising trap targets. Sonny was impressed by how little recoil was felt…even with handicap loads. I liked how well the Carrera balanced between the hands.

Before leaving Golden Gun Club, I shot one round of skeet with the FAIR Carrera One HR using the Cylinder choke in the bottom barrel and the Improved Cylinder choke in the top barrel. I ended up with a 24, letting the Low 6 target on my first shot of doubles fly away intact. On a super-positive note, watching those 32" barrels with the Cylinder choke completely smoke both targets on Station 8 was a thing of beauty!

Prior to heading out to Colorado Clays Shooting Park, I removed the two spacers I added for trapshooting. When I got to the patterning board there, I patterned for both POI and distribution (but not pellet count). With actual measurements, I determined that with two spacers the FAIR Carrera One HR had a POI in both barrels of 55/45, which I felt would be great for testing the gun at sporting clays. Pellet distribution at 40 yards within a 30" diameter circle was very even in both barrels — with no noticeable gaps or clumping.

Shooting sporting clays with me was Todd Willis, an avid clay target shooter who competes in trap, skeet and sporting clays. Todd and I shared the FAIR Carrera One HR shooting 100 targets each by going to all 15 stations. The course had a mix of easy, somewhat-difficult and very-difficult targets that day. We both shot in the mid-80s and felt good about our performance. I was pleased to shoot that score with a gun which was new to me, and Todd shot significantly above his average of 72.

With the Improved Cylinder choke in the bottom barrel and Modified choke in the top barrel, the Carrera had no issues crushing the close-in rabbit and incoming targets as well as the faraway chandelle and springing teal targets. Given the very slight-curved recoil pad, it worked well using a static mount, dynamic mount or off-the-face mount.

The impressions I had about the FAIR Carrera One HR on the trap field were reinforced on the sporting clays course. Todd, who predominantly uses an off-the-face or low mount, was extremely impressed at how well the gun came up to his face and aligned with his eye.

There are many shotgun manufacturers which market one of their clay target models as being the perfect shotgun for competing in all clay target disciplines. In my opinion, the Italian Firearms Group (importers of the FAIR line of shotguns) should consider marketing the FAIR Carrera One HR as this type of shotgun. With standard features such as extended choke tubes, a 15mm high rib, a four-way adjustable comb and mechanical trigger, this shotgun would quickly rise to the top in that market.

The FAIR is manufactured in Marcheno, Italy (Marcheno is located in the Gardone Valley in the province of Brescia) with the highest-quality Italian made components. With a MSRP of $2,430, the FAIR Carrera One HR is an outstanding choice for the avid clay target shooter seeking a shotgun which will post high scores at any clay target game. SS

Mark H. Taylor has over 40 years of shooting experience. He has won many regional, state, national and international clay target competitions. He is the author of the book Clay Target Shooting – The Mental Game and co-author of the book Break ’em All. Mark is a NRA Certified Advanced International Shotgun Coach and a High-Performance Shotgun Coach for USA Shooting. He is a Caesar Guerini and Cabela’s (in Thornton, CO) Pro Staff shooter, and teaches monthly beginner shotgun clinics at Colorado Clays in Brighton, CO, and travels nationally and internationally teaching coaching courses and working with world-class athletes. You can email him at coloradotaylor@gmail.com.