I ordered my Launch Edition 12/28/2005 and got it 10/3/2007. Straight grip, slim forearm, double triggers, case color, 4x walnut. Weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces, exactly the same as my favorite 1913 vintage 28-inch Krupp barrel Ansley H. Fox A-grade 20-gauge. I got into the RBLs to because of the cryogenically treated barrels with the tuf-coat bores so I'd have guns to shoot whatever the government forces on us. I got them all.
Not long after I got my RBL-16 I was hunting out in the Channeled Scablands. I was watching Skitso on point and not my footing and took a tumble. I fell into a big clump of grass, but the RBL wasn't so lucky. Got a couple 25 cent piece size gouges in the wood ahead of the checkering and some scratches in the bluing on the barrels. I'm sure that if I'd have been carrying one of my vintage doubles those would have been dents. So, the RBL-16 has become my go to hunting gun where non-tox is needed. I've also shot a lot of skeet with it. I also love to shoot skeet with my RBL-410. Far and asway the best balanced .410-bore double I've handled at a fraction of an ounce over five pounds. My smaller RBLs --
RBL-20, RBL-28, RBL-410 left.jpg
The RBL-16 --
22 Nov 2013 01 Tucannon cropped 02.jpg
The original RBL-12 I got, was exactly as I'd ordered, but it was just way too heavy, eight pounds fifteen ounces. So, I took it with me back to the 2010 Vintage Cup at Pintail Pointe. I talked with Lou at the CSMC booth about it. He said to leave it with him and he'd see what he could do. In early December I was on my way to shoot sporting clays at Double Barrel Ranch when I got a call from CSMC saying my gun had been shipped to the FFL I had on file with them. A few days later I took possession of an RBL-12 built on the smaller RBL-16 frame that weighs a fraction of an ounce over seven pounds with 30-inch barrels.