doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Beretta Shows New Custom SxS

A sidelever looks good on a Grant or other classic vintage double. Kinda out of place on a new shotgun. Like a buggy whip outside the driver's window of a new Ferrari.

Alright... I'll be the first to admit that I'm appreciative of a new design although it will certainly be out of my price range. At first glance, I thought it came with a black synthetic stock, but after watching the video, it appears to be wood. I appreciate anyone who is willing to try to modernize a 125 year old design. Beretta won't sell a lot of these guns, but at least they may bring some new blood into the market.

I'll offer this: make that a satin blue, a full pistol grip, a long semi-beavertail, a raised vent rib, with 32" barrels, @ 8 lbs., and I would definitely consider one.
JR

When it does not sell well, they will just push another model.
The images provided above leave me cold.

However, a Parker gun gets my attention!


BTW, my family own and shoot a variety of shotguns makes and styles and I am not prejudiced against Beretta guns. In fact, I have just purchased a circa 1964 Beretta GR 2 double trigger gun and when it arrives next week, I will do a separate post about it along with some interesting details and pix.

My take is this.

We live in an age of hyper-accurate CNC machining, and of CAD-produced machinery and processes which can put forth a degree of repetitive quality per price point that is parabolic in comparison to yesteryear.

And while these are amazing technological advances, in some ways they mean the death of authenticity in many creative human endeavors. (For instance, a computer can recreate a Monet...and make it even better, without a single little drip or odd brush stroke.) As such, and rather ironically, each technological leap forward is less and less impressive by degrees...even as it may be "better" in some measure. (A space-age recoil pad that absorbs 6% more impulse!!!)

This is why a Purdey from 1888 blows me away...and one from 2018 is practically boring.

This new Beretta is striking to me. Yes, there's nothing "new" about a side leaver. But the lines are new enough that I think they're taking a risk in moving away from their very tried and true designs.

And THAT's the most impressive thing a company can do to distinguish itself in this age. Everything else...fit and finish, exacting tolerances...we should EXPECT those things. Technology makes them quite easy as long as there is a man wealthy enough to pay for it.

But new designs are not easy. And ESPECIALLY so when your entire reputation is steeped in your old tried and true designs.

Is it Earth shattering? No. But I'm quite impressed. I think this took some balls.

- NDG

Side levers are not only ugly but clumsy. WTF is that doing on a gun made after top levers are figured out? A totally sleek greyhound of a gun with that THING hanging on the side. But it only makes ugly uglier so maybe it doesn't make any difference.

And it is obvious from this excrescence along with a O/U that the new concept and design team has discovered drugs and not yet worked their way up to the good ones.


They must be getting together with the Perazzi guys after work.

Wow, somebody finally invented a side lever double shotgun! If this trend continues, we may even see someone invent a gun with external hammers.

A push button for the top lever would have been more in line with this gun.

Given that it's a sxs--which automatically means it's more attractive to hunters than to target shooters--they wouldn't be likely to sell very many high dollar purpose built sidelever target guns. Now if it were an OU target gun with a sidelever . . .

Not an especially warm and fuzzy air about it.

I'm trying to imagine sitting by the fire, dog nearby, wiping the gun down after a day afield, but instead my vision runs toward sticking the thing in a decon chamber.