doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com lightest weight steel framed O/U?

It is an odd request.

Just ignore all the advancement in new design and modern metals, and insist on steel where steel is no longer strictly required.

Q: Would anyone actually prefer a Belgian Browning "steel" gun over a modern alloy gun with hardened steel inserts at the stress points? Anybody?

Composite metal guns are no longer experimental.

Oskar a page or so back said "There is always the Bretton but I think they had an alloy frame."

I have one of the "Deluxe Baby Brettons" - 20 gauge, that is so light I suspect very few people can shoot it well. Roger Barlow wrote about the Brettons in a couple of the early Gun Digest books. Since I was so taken with his Barlow Simca Special sports cars, I had to have one of the shotguns he loved. Now, having it in hand, I suspect his infatuation had something to do with his suffering with ALS, thus the light weight was a requirement for him.

The Beretta BL2-S would be the gun I would try & find for your project. They were quite light to begin with and could easily be customized to your client's need's. The speed trigger is remarkably easy to get used to and it is indeed fast to use afield w/plenty of room for a gloved finger. I still enjoy carrying one afield some days when the walking is rough and the opportunity for shots at game are few.

I think Beretta made a plain jane o/u that was really lite.

I would think the Beretta guns that preceeded the BL series would fit the bill. Most of the Silver Snipes had 26" barrels, and some came with a little stub rib at the monoblock and a ramp for the bead that was lighter than a full rib.
There was just a write up on the early Beretta production guns in The Double Gun Journal, and it was noted that if the 'snipes had a fault, it was that they were too light. I own a 12 with 26" tubes that can't be but 6 1/2 lbs, although it does have a ventilated rib.
I've always felt the same way about the 20 gauge ASELs, also. Just too light.

Best,
Ted

Here's a 686 I'm presently modifying. I think it will end up somewhere around 6 5/8 pounds.

SKB,

I second the thoughts on Merkel 200E - steel and light weight, but am not sure if you can get it with 26" barrels.

If a Beretta 686 can be less that 7 lbs, I think you can get the S56,7,8 series for lighter than that. If I remember correctly the 68X series is really a beefed up version of the S5X series. The S56,7,8 were not so popular with the US because they were too light for the American market. Beretta beefed up the action and gave it a little more weight - and marketed it to the US as a super durable gun. Although it's essentially the same gun as the S5X, the 68X series is extremely popular in the US. So, I would think you could get a lighter gun going to the S56,7,8.

Dave Erickson, how did you remove the Beretta rib and how were the sub ribs facricated? Did you weigh the barrels before and after? I specified the Boss rib option on my new CSMC Inverness and I expect it to be pretty light. If it is not light enough, I will start drilling on the stock.

There is a bretton steel frame 12 ga they have screw in chokes. the barrels are on threaded rails that jack away from the frame.They weighted at 5lbs?(2.2 kilos). I may have spelled the name wrong.