Beretta, you are having a laugh?

RED-DOT

Well-Known Member
Handled a brand new 2015 model EELL o/u yesterday with a price tag over £6,000 and i was disgusted in the wood to metal fit and as for their new fore-end design it looks like a lump of firewood and never matched the stock in either colour or grain.
I have heard stories that Beretta have virtually no quality control as the Yanks are out stripping demand and Beretta are fixated with shallower and narrower actions which leaves the internals weaker.
It's a shame that even £6,000 doesn't even buy a nice hand made gun any more!
 
Same with everything rd nothing's as good as it used to be innivitive design and high tech materials but not quality assembly anymore .
norma
 
A member on our shoot turned up on saturday with a brand new 690 (2.5k worth) and after a few minutes he couldnt move the top lever as it was hitting the wood to its side. I dont know if it swelled with the rain or what but he wasnt happy. (i should add that as I was beating I lent him my old 687 sp3 which has always worked fine)
 
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A member on our shoot turned up on saturday with a brand new 690 (2.5k worth) and after a few minutes he couldnt move the top lever as it was hitting the wood to its side. I dont know if it swelled with the rain or what but he wasnt happy.

Reminds me of someone who turned up for a large driven day with a brand new pair of 28b Perazzis. On the first drive one kept falling apart as the fore-end wouldn't attach correctly. Unhappy doesn't cover it!

If correct it is a great shame to hear that Beretta's quality is slipping. My old 687EELL has given sterling service over the years and still draws admiring glances because of the quality of the timber.
 
Beretta 680 series used to be a sub-£1000 gun. These have morphed into sideplated "hairdressers' "guns (I'm sure someone can come up with a better phrase). The profit margins on these must be eye-watering at 6-8 grand. They are very obviously masters of market manipulation.
I have no interest in Beretta shotguns but what worries me is they also own Sako/Tikka. I wonder what a sideplated T3 will look like...
 
It's a shame that even £6,000 doesn't even buy a nice hand made gun any more!
It's a long time since £6000 bought you a hand made gun RD. However, it never did buy a hand made 687EELL because the 687EELL is NOT hand made. It's simply a side-plated 687 with hand chased engraving and a wood upgrade. Hardly hand made. Even my Jubilee only has a Hand finished stock and it cost more than twice as much as a 687!
Sorry to disappoint but that's how it is!
baguio
 
I'm afraid you are a victim of fashion, R-D. As you know, Beretta guns of a higher grade will, mechanically, be the same as the base model. So they won't work any better or worse.

But that's not necessarily a criticism. One of the main reasons most of us shoot is for enjoyment and if having a nicer looking gun is part of that enjoyment, then power to your elbow. Others of course will indulge in posh clothing, pay exorbitant rates for a days sport or travel to South America or Africa. But I agree also that if you splash your cash in whatever way you want, then you should at least get a good service or product.
 
I only "handled" it and couldn't believe the poor build quality and the fore-end just looked like an after thought. As for the Browning stable including Miroku they went down hill years ago. I'm glad i was a "fashion victim" years ago and not today.
 
RED-DOT , have a look at the Caesar Guerini range of guns, more for you money, they feel alive when shooting ,not like your Beretta, browning , and Miroku, ive had most of the mentioned makes, then changed to a summit impact, and wow what a diffrence.
 
Beretta/Browning can never be classed as high end guns, even the hand made sidelocks are not in the same league as the top end shotgun manufacturers. If I remember correctly the EELL is factory made but some elements are hand finished? Kreighoff/blaser shotguns whilst still factory produced are designed along very different lines and include many modern innovations. Kreighoff also made the FG42 machine gun which is the coolest weapon of WW2 IMHO.


I still think all over and unders still look sh*te no matter how much they are worth :D
 
I have owned many Beretta's over the years, probably far too many.
I presently have just one shotgun, a 686 20 bore, I love it and the build quality is second to none.

What I have learned over the last 30 + years is if you want a decent Beretta then make sure it was
made in the 80's and no later.

Neil. :)

PS: I have had no dealings with side plate guns, and won't, as I see absolutely no point in them.
If you like the shape then buy a real side lock and not a pretend one and be done with it.
 
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