Gun Review

I was looking over things in the Beretta display at the 2007 SHOT Show when the 28-gauge Silver Pigeon V over/under field gun simply jumped into my hands. Like a puppy at the dog shelter, it picked me-I didn't pick it. It handled perfectly as I waved it at various klieg lights and logo banners hanging from the ceiling. I could shoot this gun! And it was good-looking too. What could a gun reviewer possibly do but try one out? It was my duty.

Beretta makes a ton of 28s. Currently you can get Beretta boxlock 28s in nine field grades and three sporting clays grades. The interior mechanics are all the same, but the exterior embellishments change as the list prices go from the $1,875 Onyx Pro to the $7,275 687 EELL Diamond Pigeon Sporter, plus a good bit more for the Giubileo model. There is something for everybody. In the middle of the pack is the Silver Pigeon V at $3,575. I was drawn to its particular combination of scaled receiver, perfectly shaped forend and optional English or pistol grip stock.

The Silver Pigeon V's 28-gauge receiver truly is 28-gauge-sized. In today's Silver Pigeon lineup, the S, IV and V come with true 28-gauge receivers. The others currently are built on 20-gauge frames.

Does the difference in frame size really matter? Both the 20- and 28-gauge receivers are 3-1/8" front to back. Interior widths are the same, and the 28-gauge barrels seem like they could interchange if fitted. On the outside the scaled frame is a minuscule .08" narrower and a slightly more noticeable .11" less tall. You just can notice the difference when the guns are placed together if you look for it. This may be a princess-and-the-pea-type deal but, when carrying the guns by the receivers, you can feel the difference.

The basic 680 action design has been around forever and doesn't need any further praise from me. It works. It's reliable. It's clean and tidy. It is proven beyond the slightest doubt. I've had a half-dozen 680 Series Berettas over the years and cannot remember a single mechanical problem. One of the biggest pluses is that it is a sealed action with no locking lugs running through the floorplate like the Brownings. This keeps it clean. The stub hinge pins are easily replaced if they ever should wear. The split locking lug engages halfway up each side of the monobloc and comes in different sizes for easy replacement as it ages.

The gold-plated single trigger on our test gun released the under sear at 4-3/4 pounds. It was consistent and crisp but with noticeable over-travel. The over sear let off at a reliable 4 pounds but with some creep. This is perfectly adequate for a mass-produced gun, and only the most digitally sensitive soul would require further tuning.

The safety on our field gun was automatic. You easily can have a gunsmith return it to manual operation if you prefer. The size and let-off of the safety were fine, but once or twice a shooter inadvertently switched the barrel selector when opening the gun. The barrel selector is a little left-right toggle on top of the safety. When pushing the opening lever to the right, a shooter might brush his thumb over the selector, accidentally selecting the over barrel. It happened, but only rarely and shouldn't be a problem once you are familiar with the gun.

On the outside, the receiver, forend iron and trigger guard have a case-colored look. The colors are applied by a new chemical process, not in the traditional bone, charcoal and oven procedure. The advantage to Beretta's approach is that there is no possibility of the metal warpage that can occur during the oven process. It involves less labor too. On the downside, not everyone liked the application. The color was very nice indeed, noticeably more vibrant than some oven coloring I've seen. The problem is that the chemical process left some uncovered areas. To some shooters it looked as though it had been dipped and hadn't taken at several of the edges. Opinions differed, as others felt it looked fine. The "holidays" were more extensive in some samples than others. I have no way of telling how durable the finish is, but just about anything holds up better than real case coloring. The receiver has two gold-washed birds on each side and a gold logo on the bottom. The gold looks pretty against the colors. The underlying engraving is mechanically applied and perfectly nice.

The SPV 28-gauge is available with 28" or 26" barrels. Ours were the former. The barrels themselves are typical Beretta: very nice indeed, thanks to the most modern cold-hammer-forging machinery. There were no ripples or flaws. This is noteworthy, because the barrels are joined by brazing, a more durable but higher heat process than soldering. Brazing requires more care to avoid rippling due to overheating. The untapered and narrow .235"-wide vented field rib was on straight and level. There is an appropriate simple steel bead at the muzzle.

The side ribs are solid, but they run only from the muzzle to 8" from the breech. The area under the forend has no side ribs. My wife's faithful 15-year-old Beretta 686 Special 28-gauge has full-length side ribs that go from muzzle to monobloc. The SPV's shorter side ribs are lighter and move the barrel balance forward. The big issue with little guns is almost always whippiness, because they are so light. Moving all the weight possible forward helps, and Beretta has made that effort with the SPV.

The barrel interiors are chromed, as they are on all the Beretta 680 Series guns I'm familiar with. Chroming makes the bores easier to clean. For the slothful among us, chrome is rust resistant if you fail to clean as often as you should, and it also rustproofs the choke threads if you forget to lube them. On the downside, it makes further forcing-cone alterations more problematic, though certainly not impossible.

Chambers on the Beretta 28s I've measured have been 2-3/4", unlike some of the German 3" 28-gauge chambers. The chamber forcing cones on our gun were 1" long-plenty of length to gradually introduce the shot into the barrel and keep shot deformation to a minimum. I've seen shorter cones on many 12-gauge guns.

The barrel tubes are joined by the usual Beretta monobloc. Beretta has used this jointure for more than a century. The seam is disguised by a small engraved line. The monobloc carries Beretta's simple ejectors powered by spring-loaded plungers.

The barrels and chokes are suitable for use with steel, which would be nice if there were steel 28s. Which there aren't that I know of. But a moot point is better than no point at all.
Both barrel bores are .551". Nominal bore for 28 gauge is .550", so these are about dead on. It's nice that both barrels have the same I.D., which is not always the case with other shotguns. Barrels with different I.D.s play havoc with changing screw-in chokes. The Silver Pigeon V comes with five screw-in Mobilchokes mounted flush with the muzzle. They are Cylinder Bore (measuring .004" constriction), Improved Cylinder (.010"), Modified (.015"), Improved Modified (.023") and Full (.028"). These constrictions are certainly in the ballpark for their designations. The .004" and .015" would make ideal 20- and 30-yard upland chokes.

The choke tubes are only about 1-1/2" long, but each has a surprising 3/4" to 1" of parallel after an abrupt constriction. The shot is quickly squeezed down and then allowed to stabilize in the parallel. Perazzi takes the opposite approach in its 28-gauge barrels, using 4" fixed chokes with 3" of gradual constriction and then 1" of parallel. The Perazzis produce exceptional patterns. It is interesting that Beretta, within the confines of a short screw-in, chose to maintain the long parallel at the expense of a short constriction section.

One area where Beretta didn't get it right was with the supplied choke "wrench." It is a wretched flat stamping, awkward and inconvenient to use. But it was cheap to make, I'm sure. Beretta's 12-gauge screw-choke wrench with the plastic collet is ever so much nicer. Briley makes a very nice fishing-reel-handle wrench for all gauges.

The standard Beretta sub-gauge field stock has been unchanged for many years. My wife's old gun has the same stock and pistol grip as our test SPV. Unlike the oversized vertical pistol grips of many Italian competition guns, the Beretta field pistol grip is nicely relaxed and seemed to suit a broad variety of those who tried the gun. And if you prefer an English stock on your over/under field gun, the SPV is available in that configuration also. It looks gorgeous. I believe that the SPV 20, 28 and .410 are the only versions of the 680 series currently available with an English stock. All the English-stocked guns come with 28" barrels. There's a gold-colored metal oval on the underside of the stock for initials or a family crest.

According to my faithful Combo Gauge, the stock dimensions of our gun were 14-7/16" x 1-7/16" x 2-5/16", with 3" of stand-off and a modest amount of cast-off for a right-handed shooter. This is pretty standard stuff, but the gun seemed to me to mount just a touch higher than others. Perhaps it is the relaxed pistol grip changing the angle of the right wrist and thus raising the shoulder.

The forend is slender and very nicely shaped and was one of the things that attracted me to the gun. It eschews the finger grooves and passe Schnabels of the other models. It reminds me of the marvelous minimalist forends of the early Browning Superlights. Again, this delightful forend comes only on the SPV and Silver Pigeon C grade. The latter is made for the discerning English market.

The forend is attached with a properly fitted Deeley pull-down latch. I think this is much nicer than the Anson buttons I see on some other over/under field guns, because it allows a smoother forend-tip transition. You Boss over/under fans may disagree.

Checkering on our SPV was done by laser, with a narrow double-line border and a moderate lpi. The amoeba-like shape of the checkered panels might put off the purists and does make the checkering look machine-cut, but it is well executed. Unlike some recent samples of laser checkering I've seen, Beretta's work did not look burnt.

Wood-to-metal fit on our gun was pretty good. There was certainly nothing egregious, but the wood around the receiver was about 1/32" proud. There were no gaps. It was just a little high to allow for shrinkage and the like. There was considerably more of an issue where the stock met the top rear of the receiver and the wood overlapped by 3/32". That's too much, and Beretta ought to tweak the pantograph.

The stock ends in a 1/2" solid-black-polymer recoil pad. Our gun case also contained a fitted green 1/2" Beretta Gel-Tek pad in case you prefer its slicker surface and higher recoil absorbency. Thicker pre-fit pads are available if you need more length. Nice touch.

The finish on the SPV is listed as oil. It successfully resisted my universal-solvent sunscreen, so there is obviously more to the oil than just linseed. Our gun had a dark-stain, non-reflective matte finish with considerable open grain. The figure of the walnut was fair on one side, so-so on the other. It wasn't great wood, especially considering the price for this model.

And therein lies a lesson. Shotguns aren't identical. If you are paying extra for an upgraded model, make sure your gun meets your cosmetic requirements. Most of the SPVs I've seen have had very nice wood. This particular one didn't. It happens. There are good photos of available wood and guns at two of the larger US Beretta dealers: www.joeletchenguns .com and www.colegun.com.

The Silver Pigeon V comes in a decent plastic takedown case. It's fine protection for the boot of the shooting brake but no match for a testy baggage handler. The case contains the aforementioned wretched wrench, five chokes, a TruGlo luminous light tube front sight for those shooters with a psychedelic bent, sling swivels for the Europeans and the extra Gel-Tek pad. There's also a generic tri-lingual manual. The factory warrantee is for three years.

This gun was a hoot to shoot. It was everything I'd hoped it would be when I saw it at SHOT. Of course, I'm biased. I'm an unabashed fan of the 28 gauge. If you miss with a 28, everyone sympathizes with your handicap. When you finally do make a shot, you're a hero. That's my kind of deal. A killjoy might note that the 20 gauge is more versatile and, in the case of the Beretta, weighs about the same as the 28. I don't care. The fact is that out to 30 yards or so, the 28's 3/4 ounce of shot is just fine for appropriately sized birds. It's the ideal quail gauge. With enough choke, a 28 can take doves at silly distances.

Of course, not all 28s are equal. This Beretta is simply more equal. It feels so absolutely right. The balance and handling are prefect. Because of the excellent, very slightly weight-forward bias, the gun was a delight to shoot. The light 6-1/4-pound weight made very fast shots possible, and the balance made more measured swings easy. As expected, mechanical reliability was 100 percent. The ejectors were properly timed and tossed empties about four feet. That's not hard enough to discipline your loader for a snide comment, but it's enough to clear the chambers.

My only real complaints were about the cosmetics of this particular test gun. It had spotty case coloring and wood that wasn't up to the price point. I've seen other examples of the same model that were better in both respects, so just pick one that meets your preferences and you'll be happy. The balance, handling and reliability are built in. Don't worry about that.

There's a very good reason why Beretta has been in business for almost 500 years. The company makes good stuff. When you buy a Beretta over/under-any Beretta over/under -you can expect reliable performance honed by years of experience. The firm makes enough different models that there's a good chance you'll find one that pleases you. I certainly found one that pleased me.

Author's Note: For more information on Beretta guns, contact Beretta USA Corp., 800-237-3882; www.berettausa.com.