Beretta chrome bore - need options!

A

Arizona Fusilier

New member
I bought a used over-and-under Beretta; nice gun. Have had it a few years now. Not sure what model it is though, but believe it is one of the Silver Pidgeon line. The photos of all the models look very much alike:confused:

It is choked improved-modified and full; although I have had a gunsmith tell me the Europeans don't exactly follow SAAMI standards and often choke them a little tighter. This is verified with my experience; it hits hard.

I wanted to get some removable chokes installed, so I could shoot improved cylinder and modified. I thought of Briley's, but besides wait and expense, wanted to see if someone local would do it. So I took it to a gunsmith who did that work, just to make sure there was enough material to work with. Upon examination, he said it had a chrome bore and he could not perform the work. Even my backup gun (a "Universal" import, 80s era, but still Brescia, Italy) had a chrome bore.

So, what are my options? I see Beretta barrels for sale, but they insist on a Beretta-certified gunsmith installer. Anyone ever have this done? Has anyone ever had chrome bores worked on?

Or do I just use this as an excuse to get another gun?:D
 
Bigger shops, like Briley, can do the job, but it does cost more to cut a chrome barrel. You might also look up George Trulock (Trulock chokes), or Mike Orlen in Maine, a highly regarded shotgun barrel smith on Shotgun World to see if he can do it. His work is always praised as are his rates.

Another option would be to have them simply opened more from IM/F to M/M or similar.
 
You say the gun "hits Hard" , have you ever taken the gun to a pattern board and checked actual percentages?

If you reload then there are wads that will open patterns up to what you want. I also think there are some shell company's that load a spreader load that will give you more open patterns.
 
Polywad and RST sell "spreader" loads, originally designed for those shooting grandpa's old F/F double gun from the 30's - they work well. IIRC, Polywad also sells the inserts themselves so you can load your own spreader loads. basically, if you shoot a 1oz load, then you would load everything the same except you only drop 7/8oz of shot and place the "tack" shaped insert on top before crimping
 
I used one of those simple drop-in gauge tools before I took the gun to a gunsmith that recognized Beretta's barrel marking. The gauge suggested they were Full and even more Full, which squares away with the European vs SAAMI observation. That same gunsmith talked about the spreader loads. I do not want to go there, as often gun for AKC hunt tests and practice events and most of the ammo is provided.

I only got into bird hunting and shotgunning in the last several years of my life. As I get better and hit the birds square, well there ain't much left!:eek:
 
I used one of those simple drop-in gauge tools before I took the gun to a gunsmith that recognized Beretta's barrel marking. The gauge suggested they were Full and even more Full, which squares away with the European vs SAAMI observation. That same gunsmith talked about the spreader loads. I do not want to go there, as I often gun for AKC hunt tests and practice events and most of the ammo is provided.

I only got into bird hunting and shotgunning in the last several years of my life. As I get better and hit the birds square, well there ain't much left!:eek:
 
Sounds like it might have been for pigeon shooting or high-flying driven birds at one time.

Older and fixed chokes, it might be a Silver pigeon, but it might also be an even older model. I do not know when Beretta started with chrome bores, but the folks I mentioned above can typically help you.

Or save for distant pheasant and get something else for field trials.
 
I believe were taling about a 12 gauge, so you need a minium barrel diameter of .805 for Thin Wall chokes. True Tube chokes the minium diameter is .825.

Most barrel smiths will charge extra for installing chokes in a chrome barrel, the chrome is really hard on the tooling.

You may want to consider having the forcing cones lengthened at the same time.

Go to www.shotgunworld.com and under the gunsmithing forum Mike Orlen has a sticky listing his prices.
 
I have had a gunsmith tell me the Europeans don't exactly follow SAAMI standards
Click to expand...
That may be misleading. Some imported guns have been required to meet higher safety standards than domestic ones. The Europeans do things a little differently, but that doesn't mean the imported guns don't meet SAAMI safety standards. Beretta started making guns c. 1526 and SAAMI was formed back in 1926. Somehow Beretta got along for 400-years without SAAMI.

Historically, different gun makers had different ideas about how many different chokes were needed. Their most constrictive was typically know as full, but the intermediate constrictions can be confusing. These days, Briley lists 9 named choke constrictions in 0.005" increments. With European shotguns, their bore diameters and choke constrictions are metric based, so there may be slight dimensional differences; but, they are well within SAAMI specs.

When a choke is cut, the cutting tool may be fresh or worn, but the label will be the same. As with all shotguns, you're best served if you ignore your chokes' labels and see how the they actually perform.
 
+1 on a lot of good comments...

If I were you ....I'd either keep your gun as is / or sell it as is - if you don't want to keep it...and invest in a new gun with screw in changeable chokes.

If you really want to know what the gun you have is choked at ...you'll need a bore gague ( not the - sort of or sometimes accurate gague you stick in the end of a gun / but a real bore gague where you can measure your bore ...and the choke area of the barrel and calculate the amount of restriction) ....and then take it to a pattern board and see what type of effective choke you have with a given shell at 21 yds, 30 yds, 35 yds....

Hitting targets hard ..is not necessarily an indication of a tight choke ...a lot of good shooters can "smoke" targets 100% with a Skeet choke ...with 7/8 oz of 8's or 9's in a 20ga / or even 3/4 oz of 9's in a 28ga ...on all 8 stations of a Skeet field.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. Since I already have the stock modified and a recoil pad invested, I am inclined to pay the extra $$$ and get the screw in chokes by someone who can deal with chrome bores. I would still have a Beretta shotgun for considerably less than normal (paid $500 originally).

I will pattern the current set up to keep the faith. But trust me gang, between the drop-in tool cbecker, the gunsmith's analysis, and the mutilated quail, this thing is really choked tight.
 
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