Beretta shotgun help (Updated with pics!)

sigp220.45

sigp220.45

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I did an impulse layaway on a Beretta over/under yesterday and I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what it is. Maybe someone here can help.

It is a 20 gauge 3" with a silver-colored engraved receiver.

The end label on the box says "S686 20/28/3 MC3 ONYX". The serial number is L2677xx.

It seems like there were several versions of the Onyx over the years. I put the serial number into the Beretta website and it said it wasn't found.

The gun is used but has the original box with papers and two snap caps.

Price was under 7 bills and it fit me like it was built for me.

Ive seen descriptions of Onyx models from the Essential to various Pigeon grades with prices all over the map. Does anyone know exactly what model this is and when it was made?
 
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I'm not a Beretta expert, but I remember that the basic 686 Onyx had a matte black finish.

It could be the 686 Hunter Sport or the white Onyx but I'm not sure.

Best bet would be to call Beretta and inquire about the S/N.
 
If it were the 'sporting clays' model it would have 30" bbls. So, it is a field model of some sort. Anyway, IMHO, you stole it for that price. The 20 ga. is my favorite shotgun for upland game. And with the ability to shoot 3" mags you can shoot ducks with great success. ........... Big Cholla
 
I'll try to get some pictures. I mistook the last digit of the serial number for an 8 when it is actually a B, so the website shows it as a 1994 made model S6865X8. All the not-so-helpful guy at Beretta customer service would say is "its an Onyx".

I figure even a basic one is worth the price, and this one is definitely not the bare-bones Essential so I'm happy.
 
You've got yourself a great shotgun at a fair price. It sounds like a standard "Silver Pigeon" 686, 20 ga, 28" barrels, 3-inch chambers with the standard Beretta-system interchangeable chokes. They made the gun in several stock styles. I prefer the typical US-pattern pistolgrip version, which is probably what you have, but elsewhere they made a Prince-of-Wales version and some semi-straight (English) stock guns have made their way here, too. I had one of those and had a devil of a time with it. Just did not fit well, for me.

686 Berettas are excellent quality, good sturdy guns and will stand up to a lot of shooting - but they should be kept clean and properly lubed. No matter what you may be told, they should be lubed with grease - not oil. Any good grease is fine. Always close it gently! and do not horse it closed on a shell that is a little too large. I do not think they are as sturdy as Browning Citoris but I doubt you will ever wear yours out if you take good care of it.

For the price mentioned, if in nice condition, I would say you hit at least a home-run - maybe a double. :) If it was an Onyx, it would have a black receiver.
 
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The 686 style guns are made to be rebuilt several times. Instead of a pivot pin, they use "trunions" the little round nubs that work like an axel. hose need to be greases! If the grease gets gritty clean it off and grease it again. Those are replaceable, and there are oversize ones too, with reasonable care and a factory over haul every 250,000 rounds, you should be good for a million rounds. Don't laugh, I know guns the first generation put over 1/3 million rounds through and the second and third generation, have taken it well past the 1/2 million mark. Unlike Browning, you can get factory parts installed on any Beretta made since 1578 (it isn't free, but it is available).Ernest Hemingway's SO2 was a 20 gauge from the 20's (Ernie bought it used when he was in Spain) and it is still going strong. Ivan
 
I visited the Beretta in the layaway holding cell for another look.



On the underside of the receiver it says 686 Special, and Google images shows very similar guns to this one, so I'm pretty sure that's what it is. There sure is a bewildering array of Beretta shotguns.

Can't wait to bail it out. I'll be sure to post better pictures then.
 
Everything in Italy is "Special," "Super," or some other such Italian-nonsense. :D

That is a Silver Pegeon and all the other stuff doesn't really matter. As Ivan said, this model is constructed with replaceable trunnions and the next step up in grade of construction used to have replaceable trunnions and barrel-shoulders. The other differences are mainly window-dressing.

It's a great little field gun and if kept clean, properly lubed, and used with common sense, it will last longer than you care to use it. :)
 
sigp220.45 said:
I visited the Beretta in the layaway holding cell for another look.



On the underside of the receiver it says 686 Special, and Google images shows very similar guns to this one, so I'm pretty sure that's what it is. There sure is a bewildering array of Beretta shotguns.

Can't wait to bail it out. I'll be sure to post better pictures then.
Click to expand...

I have a 12 ga. that has S 686 Special on the bottom of the receiver and there is a gold "L" on the trigger guard. Mine has been drug all over the country in all kinds of weather and shot unknown thousands of shells. It will take a rich person to buy enough shells to wear out a Beretta O/U. Congratulations. You have a good gun so shoot and enjoy it. Larry
 
I had a 686 ONYX lightweight 12 gauge. Of all the shotguns I had and traded off it was one I should have kept. Fit me like a handmade suit.

The action hinge sits lower in a Beretta and I like it better than the Browning style OU.

I feel for under $700 you stole it.
 
Nice Silver Pigeon!!! It is on my list, but a Sig Aurora TR-30 came available as new with nice case-hardening on the receiver. I got it for a great price so I jumped in with my Silver Pigeon money. Great deal you got there!!
 

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Does it have the Greener or Kersten/Merkel style top bolt, to better hold the gun tightly closed on firing? That's an advantage that Beretta has over the Browning Superposed and Citori.

Don Zutz spoke well of Beretta guns in, "The Double Shotgun" , and Jack O'Connor liked them, maybe as well as his treasured Winchester Model 21's. Jack had one of the fancy SO series and he told me in a letter that he'd given a Beretta boxlock gun similar to this one of yours as a tip to his white hunter after a safari. I think the hunter was probably very glad to have it.

My only Beretta shotgun was a M-391 Urika 20 ga. auto. I liked it very much and spent quite a bit of time in the Beretta Gallery picking it out. I was devastated when I had to sell it while out of work a few years later. I'd buy another if I had the funds.

I have handled some of the very best high grade SO series Beretta doubles and one of their .470 double rifles. They make nice guns. Some are priced above $100,000, normally territory that you'd expect to see mainly in a London-made Best gun.

In, "The Shotgun Book", O'Connor noted that whoever designed the SKB guns made in Japan had obviously taken a good look at Beretta shotguns. I think they're better for that.
And I think that Howa rifles have got Finnish ancestors: Sako-like, they are.
 
I finally bailed it out and took it home.



It is a lovely and lively little gun. I've always wanted a really nice over/under and this is as nice as this government wage-slave is likely to get.



The engraving isn't hand done, but it looks pretty enough.





As some of my friends have noted above, the lockup is unique. Instead of a big bar at the top, it locks with little pins into these recesses on the barrels. That makes for a very trim receiver.



The safety will also select which barrel the single trigger will fire first. A neat touch.



I'll have to break the code on these chokes.



It came with the box and apparently all of the docs, including a certifica in Italiano. The little box that probably held chokes has two 20 gauge snap caps in it. Thanks to a very generous forum friend I now have some spare choke tubes, too.





I haven't shot it yet, but I'll right that wrong soon enough.
 
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Can't see the notches on your top tube. The bottom one (4 notches) is likely improved cylinder. (1 notch = full, 2 = IM, 3 = M, 4 = IC, etc.)

Great little field gun. I probably have too many shotguns but I wouldn't have passed up that one at $7-bills. If you hit well with it, it looks like a keeper to me. You're not likely to get another quality over-under as nice as that one for less $$. :)
 
Pretty little gun. I have a 20 ga Ruger that I REALLY like with the trunions rather than full length pin and it really makes for a tiny light handling gun-would love to get one in 28 ga
 
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