Another Walmart Bargain....

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Dave McC

Staff In Memoriam
Some of us recently took advantage of the great deals on 1100s at Walmart, and now it looks like another good deal is coming along.

A few folks on the Bargain 1100s thread bought the Beretta 390s for sale there. A matte finish, no mag cutoff, and synthetic stock seem to be the major differences between Sam's 390s and the standard ones, hardly crucial for most budget conscious shotgunners.

Now, over on the Shotgun Report,Ron Delong is passing the word along. These are very durable shotguns, and mnay are in use by heavy shooters, the guys that burn up thousands of rounds a year.

Bruce Buck, AKA the Technoid(My role model!), on Shotgun Report is a long time fan of the Berettas, and regards them as a great tool needing little in the way of mods or addons. Durability, sayeth he, is second to none, and he regards the Berettas as great gamer guns for shooters from entry level to world class.

Lots of Berettas end up in the trap,skeet and SC stats as winners.

For comparison, an 11-87 or Beretta 391 will not leave much change from a $1K bill.

Price is $530, roughly...

Downside? 2 3/4" only....
 
Hey Dave!

Can you give me a link or address to the report on Shotgun Report? I bought a WM 390 and love it, but more information would be appreciated.

BTW, I think my 390 has a 3" chamber, but I have to look...
 
shotgunreport.com, Harry. Sorry, I'm a technodunce and don't know how to imbed links.

Oh yes, the 390 in question has three chokes tubes, correct?

Thanks...
 
I think those are 3". I drove to the local wally to get one Sunday. Got there, told them I wanted it, he broke out the 4473, then told me the only one they had left was the display model. Couple of scratches on the barrel, one pretty noticable on the forearm. Pointed them out to the guy (sporting goods mgr, I think), and asked him if he could make a deal. He said no, I said see ya. Ended up bidding on a synthetic 1100 on gunbroker, hope it will be here later this week or next.
 
As a Walmart Sporitng Goods Employee, I thought I'd chime in. The Beretta 390's that my store carries (both of them) are Black Synthetic, with 28" VR MCbbls, and 3" chambers. Price is $529.99.
I think that they do have the mag cut off. The ones I inspected operate exactly like my 1201 FP, and other AL390/391 I've used, in that they have the little shell release button to load a shell onto the carrier. That seems useless without a magazine cutoff.

As I mentioned in another Walmart related post, always ask if the have any in the back room. If you don't trust the type of answer you receive, ask them to check the log book.
The fumble fingered, careless employees damage the display guns quite regularly. Most of the time the marks are merely discolorations due to lack of maintenece/lubrication, tape residue from stickers or price labels, or rubbing the cradle of the display and will wipe away with a silicone cloth. I always tell customers to ask for a discount if the gun is cosmetically flawed or mechanically damaged. If the Sporting Goods Manager won't help, ask to speak to the Support or Store Manager. Usually the Sports Manager will bend, or the Store Manager will cow out and knock 10-25% from the price.
 
I picked up an AL 390 Advantage camo with 24" barrel, Mag cut off and three tubes for $539.00 I liked it so well, I went back and got the Black Matte version w/24" barrel for $516.00. The black came with a fiber optic sight kit called Hi Viz. Both are three inch magnum. These two came from B&S Guns in Mesquite, TX. A year ago, they went for $729.00.

I have found two stores in the Dallas area that buy in huge volume on deals like this and now I never buy any weapon unless it is a special.I bought a NIB Smith 3953 for 379.00. There are Performance Center 4506's tricked out for 450.00 NIB right now at Bachman Pawn and Gun in Dallas.
 
Dave mentioned one downside. There is one other. The 390 was dropped by Beretta in favor of the 391. The 390 is no longer produced.

These models have long been praised for their durability, looks, and performance. I am sure there will be a parts inventory for them for a long time.

Good gun, good shooting.
 
here's the link:

http://www.shotgunreport.com/Updates.html

MY 390 came with three tubes, IC, M and F. It is 3" chambered. It does not have a recoil pad installed, nor the stock adjusting shims. It points great--I shot a 23 on the trap my second round with it--after a 15 year layoff.

Mine was the last display model--several scratches and label goo. The manager knocked down to $450. When I got home, it cleaned up nicely.
 
Thanks, Harry. A good deal for sure....

Lack of a shim set is a minor nuisance. Toothpicks, pieces of old hulls, folded aluminum foil, etc, all can be used, or a set of factory shims should be available from a Beretta dealer.

I think Pachmyer makes a no fit Decellerator pad, or one can adapt a standard one, or use a slip on.

Cthulhu, how do you pronounce that(G)? And yes, I've read some HPL...

And, IMO, parts inventory is a non event. Any of us living long enough to wear one of these out is truly blessed. For heavy use, a couple of small parts should do the trick. The Technoid has something on this over on Shotgun Report, and I think they have upgrade parts for sale.
 
Thanks for the info. I would've walked out with that thing for $450.00, no questions asked. I hung around for several minutes looking at other stuff while the guy I spoke with talked to someone else. I thought they would offer to do something, but didn't. Of well. I am a little anal when it comes to new firearms and half a G note. I have heard nothing but good stuff about the 390s, but I have prior experience with 1100s, and have used an 870 the last several years, so I will be happy, I'm sure.
 
Hey Dave,

No need to be a technodunce. Imbedding links is easy with the TFL software. It automatically recognizes an http link as such and makes it active. The easiest way is as follows:

If you're posting on TFL, just right click on any active link and select "Open in new window". (This way, you don't have to lose your place on TFL.)

In the new window, pull up the desired site for which you want to provide a link.

Highlight the http address up in your URL field (where the address shows up on Netscape or Explorer.)

Right click and hit "Copy".

Then go back to your TFL window, right click again, and hit "Paste". There's your link, and it will be active when you submit the post.

Simple as Cut & Paste....really.
 
Dave, maybe I should have said "Copy and Paste" since those were the commands I mentioned.

The Copy command puts a copy of a line of text (eg. an http address in this case) into your clipboard but leaves the original. The Cut command cuts the original and places it in your clipboard. The clipboard is nothing more than a temporary cache for info.

You can use either Copy or Cut in order to Paste in a line. Once you get the hang of it, it's a breeze. Just try hightlighting any of this thread by holding down your left mouse button and moving your selector. The highlighted portion will appear as inverted--usually with a blue background. Leaving it highlight, you should then click on your right mouse button. You'll see the Copy command I mention. Once you copy, you can paste this same text elsewhere. Works the same for a web address.

Like I said, with web addresses, there are no special commands to make them active. The TFL software does it for you. So really, all you have to do is Paste the line into your thread.

On that Shotgun Report thread, the Technoid mentions that Wal-Mart may eventually want 391s from Beretta for the same price. If so, I may have to think hard about another 12 gauge.
 
Thanks!

As to the 390s and 391s, I may have to think this over also.

I expect to get into ATA next year, and one of these would make an outstanding all around gamer gun.
 
Dave,
There is a debate over how to pronounce it. Lovecraft himself described it as something like "Khlûl’-hloo," in personal letters to his friends, although those who spoke with him said he pronounced it "Koot-u-lew." For simplicities sake, I usually just say it as many of his fans do, "kt’hoo-lhoo," gutteral accent on the first kt'hoo.
 
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