doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Beretta S57E malfunction

I have a 20 gauge Beretta S57E (the European version of the BL-series sold in the US) that has developed a problem. It has a single trigger that is recoil operated for the second shot. However, the second shot is not firing. On the range, the first shot was the lower barrel and the upper started not firing while shooting five stand last week. I had shot a round with no problems but then it started. If I selected the upper barrel it would fire OK, but not consecutive to firing the lower barrel first in shooting a double. I didn't try shooting a double with the upper barrel first. I noticed that I had been using a Remington "ShurShot Heavy Dove" load (1165 FPS, 1 oz shot) in the first round but had changed to a Winchester "SuperTarget" load (1200 FPS, 7/8 oz shot) when the problem started in the second round. I removed the stock and cleaned out the action - but it didn't really appear to be very dirty at all - and relubricated it. Upon reassembly I tried it out using snap caps and using a light bump on the floor to reset the trigger. It would not switch to the second barrel unless a pretty sizeable bump was administered. I have never had any problems shooting light loads in the gun before. What is going on here? Ideas?

My first thought was that it needed a good turbo cleaning, but you said you did that. Does it fire the second shot if you fire the top barrel first?
I'm interested in what you find as I have one of these too.

My first suggestion would be to see if the heavier loads work OK, even though your second load doesn't sound like a light load to me. Could be several things. Light loads, gumminess, holding it too loosely, etc.

I should have done a better job of testing out the problem at the range! Well, if I changed the barrel selector then the gun would fire OK. This, of course, is a bit slow for doubles! I didn't figure out the different loads until at home thinking it over... So, I cleaned it and relubed it and then tried it out with snap caps using the carpeted floor as a "bump" device. It seemed to take a lot of bump to make it reset to the second barrel - but it did do so after a sharp rap. I took off the stock again this evening and cleaned it out again and sparingly lubed (suggestion from another board) and tried it out. It seems to be operating better than before. It seems to take less "bump" to reset the trigger and fire the second barrel than it did before. So, I will try it out at the range next week and see what is up. I hope it was just dirty/gunky and is now OK. First problem I have ever had with my BL and S57 guns after years of use. However, these were primarily hunting guns, not clay game guns so they haven't had tremendous amounts of shells through them. Thanks for the thoughts.

Skip the bouncing it on the floor

Ok, Homer, how do you reset the trigger to enable the second barrel? Without, of course, firing a shot shell, that is.

I have a BL-3 with the interia trigger. Just thump the butt with the palm of your hand. It doesn't take alot of force to make the mechanism shift.


Bryan

I've had the same problem with several Beretta hunting guns I own (686s not a S57E) as well as another make of Italian gun the problem was easily fixed by my local smith (literally a 10 min. fix and at minimal charge) and I'll second the "Skip the bounce" I always hold the gun vert. and bump the back with my knee...That way I can tell better if it seems like it takes an excessive amount to set to the second barrel...when bouncing it on the floor it's way too easy to use a LOT of force and thus give one the idea it is switching properly....Unfortunately Only my 682 will set with a thump on the palm of my hand and that is only because the interia block has been fine tuned for the use of .410 tubes by Briley....Art

I don't have any problem getting my BL-3 to reset via a bump of the hand . . . and it even has a recoil pad to absorb some of the bump.

Well....I decided to give my Berettas the "palm bump" test. My 20 gauge BL-3 resets just fine with a "palm bump" as does the 12 gauge S57E. The 12 gauge BL-4 does also but with a bit more effort. However, the S57E 20 gauge in question requires significantly more bump - to reset. Therefore, in my small sample size there is significant differential in the amount of force needed to reset them. I wish I had a local gunsmith that I felt comfortable with working on my guns. Any recommendations for the San Antonio area? I know Kirk Merrington and I am sure he could easily do this, but he is pretty busy with his barrel work and I doubt he would be interested in fooling with this, but I suppose I could / should give him a call. Thanks for the ideas and suggestions.