Guys, I recently purchased a Beretta/Orvis Uplander. It has a straight grip and slim forend. I'd like to do some "upgrades". I thought about restocking the gun (work done by Coles). But I've also considered changing the finish on the action. Right now, it has a blued receiver (polished... not matte). But I thought about color casing it... or even better, would be a "French Gray".... kinda like the finish found on the old 682s...

I found this gun and I just love the look of the receiver and how it goes with the high grade wood.




Any reccomendations or thoughts? If you have an upgraded Beretta, please share photos!

Thanks for your input!

Adam

Why? If the gun doesn't meet your needs/standards the lest expensive way to get what you want is to sell it or trade it to get one that does. It isn't as if you are working with a rare or extremely high end gun here. You will get more for your money this way than the upgrade route and that buttplate is hideous!

Adam,

To my knowledge, the gun you have there is a Beretta 686 Black Onyx (or White Onyx) that has been enhanced by Orvis' special upgrades.

Bottom line, when I had to restore one I had I needed to use HK tactical finish on the receiver (Duracote) because the metal could not be blued or color hardened. I believe the receiver is Aluminum or an alloy thereof. Incidentally, the black painted on matte finish looked excellent and the gun did sell after full restoration for $3000, so it certainly didn't turn out as cheezy as it sounds. (the entire value of these guns are the Orvis upgraded wood with the leather covered pads and the 28 LPI checkering)

Adam - Coles does CCH and engraving work as well as restocking. I don't know what it cost you to buy the Beretta Uplander, but it may be cheaper just to have Coles build you a custom Beretta from scratch than have him restock and refinish your gun. I think his basic custom (687 non-sideplated action, CCH, no engraving, custom stock) is in the $6k range, and $8k and up if you want engraving.

The silver finish Berettas have a coating on the action that I believe would make engraving and CCH difficult if not impossible. I am not sure if they used that same finish for the blued actions.

I have owned 680 series Berettas for about 25 years now, think they are the best $1200 over under gun ever made. No matter what upgrades you perform, the 680 series will never be a $5000, much less an $8000 gun. If you want a fine Beretta 12 gauge, find and restock an ASEL or a nice old SO.

Adam,
If you have enough wood to change out the pad for a leather covered one and add two triggers that should satisfy the customizing urge for a lot less money than a full restock, etc. I had Cole upgrade a 20 gauge 686 DU banquet gun with his "field grade" wood and double triggers. The wood had plenty of figure for the $300 it cost but is no where near the beauty of the wood on your gun. My original wood was pallet grade. The double triggers cost was just under $300. The wood on your gun looks pretty good to me, but do something with the pad if possible. Gil

Sorry for the confusion guys. The gun pictured above is not my Beretta. Its a 682 I found. I just like the way the finish on the action looked with the high grade wood. I'd like to achieve something like this with my Beretta.

I don't have a photo of my new gun but here is a shot of another Orvis Uplander that I've owned. My newer one is basically the same except the figure in the wood is not as nice as the one pictured below.





Another route I thought about, was sending the current stock and forend to fellow board member, Mark Larson, and let him "enhance" the figure.

Regardless, I'd still like the refinish the action. Its not a matte blue like you often see on the Onyx models so it can easily be refinished. There is quite a bit of wear on the edges. Any recommendations for a good smith to "French Gray" the action?

Adam,

Read my post again. It's an alloy receiver. Standard finishes may not be possible.

Beretta used several finishes on the 680 series of actions including a “painted” finish which is like a Duracote finish (682X), the Greystone finish which I think is an electro deposited finish as well as a satin nickel finish. I believe this satin nickel finish is what is on the gun displayed above.
The 680 actions are apparently capable of having a color case hardened finish as is seen on the Coles website. However, I do believe that they are made of an alloy that does not accept traditional bluing well due to the particular alloy - not aluminum. For that reason, I believe that all of the Beretta production guns are either electro deposited with nickel or similar finish or are “painted”.
I would think that a gunsmith that can due electroless nickel deposition, like on a K80, could do a Beretta 680 series action. If you want to have a case hardened look, then I would try Coles.
Thanks
Z

You will probably exceed what you have into the gun already,and never be able to recoup it either.Your best bet in my opinion,is to have your metal fully nickle plated,and have your wood stripped and oil finished.

Thanks for the help guys. I wasn't aware the receivers were made from an alloy. Even so, it can accept traditional color casing. Like zwego said, there are example on Cole's site. Also, here are a couple shots of Beretta 680 actions with real case colors.

Webley & Scott O/U built on a Beretta action.


The bottom gun in the photo does have chemical case coloring... the top is the real deal.



I wouldn't mind dropping some money on this gun. I got it at a heck of a good price. My last Orvis Uplander sold quickly for $2500, so even if I restocked this gun with super nice wood and refinished the action, I could sell it and break even (or even make a little).

Adam

Check out the custom Berettas (built on 686 actions) from Kennedy Gunmakers. It might just change your mind!

http://www.clayshootingusa.com/html/archive/apr_may08/Custom%20Guns.pdf

Adam

Adam did you watch the Jefferson's allot when you were a kid ?

The 680 Ultralight used an aluminum alloy receiver with a titanium insert in the breech face. They are easy to identify. The vast majority of 680 receivers, however, are made of steel and Beretta has used a variety of finishes: Blued (matte and satin), Bruniton (a black, Teflon-based coating found on the 682 Super Sport and X models), Greystone (titanium nitrate based - found on 682 and ASE guns of a certain vintage), brushed chrome, and electroless nickel plating. Cole uses the basic black-framed guns as the basis for his case-hardened custom guns. Turnbull case-hardened Cole's early custom guns. I am not sure if this is still the case.

FWIW, the pic in the first post is of a standard production 682 from the 1985-1995 timeframe that's been restocked. They sold new for about $1800 at that time. There are several on Gunsinternational now. The finish is a factory silver nitride and it's not an upgrade, but I do believe it's probably the most durable finish Beretta ever used. Mine has been rode hard for 15 years and still looks new.

Joe maybe you missed the topic to the thread but we are talking about shotguns here... not your favorite sitcom. Please try to keep up.

Mike, Bluestem... thanks for your input! Do yall know who might be capable of finishing a receiver with silver nitride? Thanks

Silver nitride....no. But there are a lot of outfits doing hard chrome and nickel plating of guns. The only exposure I've had to those types of finishes is through the trap shooting community. A couple of the more popular options are Doug Braker at

http://dougsgunsmithshop.com/index.cfm/pageid/15

and Dan Lokker at

http://www.giacomosportingusa.com/

Neither does the plating in-house. They have the gun expertise and deal with others who have the plating expertise. For a one-off project, I'd prefer to deal with one of them rather than directly with the metal finishers.

Have you looked at a White Onyx ?

I have to agree with "homeless joe". A false sideplated 680 series with a $2000 stock has "movin' on up!" written all over it. The same year I bought my new 682X for $1200, I bought a new SO2 light pigeon gun for $2100. Today, the 682 is worth about $1200, the SO2 is worth about $7000. If I were putting bucks into an inexpensive upgrade, I would use a Browning Superposed. Not that I don't like my 682, I'm just not going to spend money on upgrading it.

Bill,
I think you might be a couple decades behind the times. $1200 won't buy a new 682. But you might get the barrels for that.

I believe all the "silver" receiver lower end (early Silver Pigeon) 68x guns were hardchrome. 68x guns of the last 10 yrs or so had either hardchrome or nickel plating depending on model and year of mfr. Real silver nitride is a pretty fragile plated layer, having worn thru it on a couple guns. Winchester 101's used real silver nitride and many of you know that they didn't hold up all that long.

Adam,
to settle whether your gun is an ALUMINUM alloy or not, just see if a magnet will attract to the frame. All guns, steel framed or aluminum, are made from alloyed metals. "Alloy" is like saying "metal", it can mean any metal or any alloy. Gun mfrs just think "alloy" sounds more hi-tech, I guess.

If the frame is aluminum, it can be anodized. Anodize can be either "hard anodize" which is available in at least gray, o.d. green, and lousy looking matte black, and probably more colors by now. Hard anodize exceeds the hardness of chrome, believe it or not. Other chromic anodize colors are available such as blue, red, gold, clear (silver) and probably more. There was a guy on the net...something like Ford gunsmithing, that specialized in finishes.

If it's steel, you are probably as aware as any of the many choices of finish. I will say I hardchromed a BSS after it had wear, and I regret it. I would rather have worn blue than hardchrome. Also, if it's blued (not black chrome) steel, it can easily be made to look like a coin finish or a french gray.