BeeMaa
AH ambassador
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2017
- Messages
- 7,051
- Reaction score
- 18,581
- Location
- Alexandria, VA USA
- Media
- 144
- Articles
- 1
- Member of
- NRA Life Member, SCI Member
- Hunted
- Eastern US & RSA
After owning and shooting 2 Beretta 686's (matching 12 & 20 bore) both with 26" barrels, I sold them recently. The reason for selling them was simple, they didn't fit me well and it made shooting them not so much fun.
I have resigned myself to using my Benelli SBE2 on the clays range and for future bird work. For some reason this shotgun just fits me like a glove and breaks clays and kills everything. That being said, I still want to be one of the "cool kids" with an O/U. This also goes to the fact that I don't want to lob trash out of my ejection port on a hunt, then have to reach over and police it up.
So it would seem that I should be looking at the Benelli 686U right? After all it's a Benelli so it's awesome. Comes with shims to adjust drop and cast. Will perfectly match the dimensions of the SBE2 I have. And to top it off it take the exact same chokes as my SBE...bonus! So the deep dive began on the 686U.
My guns are tools, tools that get used and hunted with. They will get banged around a bit and need to be built accordingly. The 686U has a carbon fiber top rib that I've been told you might as well go ahead and order a spare...what? Next is the wood of the forend is rather thin and has been cracked/broken by several users during disassembly or putting it down in a truck bed...what the hell? The trigger design, while innovative and removable for cleaning, has been reported to drop out during use...WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL IS GOING ON?
OK, so the 686U has been taken off the table at the moment. What does this leave me in the way of getting a O/U that fits me properly for a price of $4K or less. I don't even know what to expect when looking at a custom stock, making stock alterations or the prices to expect. I live in Northern Virginia and have yet to find a competent shotgun gunsmith that I would trust with anything more than removable choke change. Wood grad above 4 is lost on me. I appreciate fine wood, but not on a game gun that I'm likely to beat up in the field.
I'd consider the Beretta 686 the entry level for my search. Durability, ubiquity along with the good looks and lines of a true game gun (without being obnoxious) are what I'm looking for. I'd also like screw in chokes and if they matched my SBE2 it would be a great. All thoughts and considerations are appreciated. Thank you for reading my Saturday morning rant.
I have resigned myself to using my Benelli SBE2 on the clays range and for future bird work. For some reason this shotgun just fits me like a glove and breaks clays and kills everything. That being said, I still want to be one of the "cool kids" with an O/U. This also goes to the fact that I don't want to lob trash out of my ejection port on a hunt, then have to reach over and police it up.
So it would seem that I should be looking at the Benelli 686U right? After all it's a Benelli so it's awesome. Comes with shims to adjust drop and cast. Will perfectly match the dimensions of the SBE2 I have. And to top it off it take the exact same chokes as my SBE...bonus! So the deep dive began on the 686U.
My guns are tools, tools that get used and hunted with. They will get banged around a bit and need to be built accordingly. The 686U has a carbon fiber top rib that I've been told you might as well go ahead and order a spare...what? Next is the wood of the forend is rather thin and has been cracked/broken by several users during disassembly or putting it down in a truck bed...what the hell? The trigger design, while innovative and removable for cleaning, has been reported to drop out during use...WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL IS GOING ON?
OK, so the 686U has been taken off the table at the moment. What does this leave me in the way of getting a O/U that fits me properly for a price of $4K or less. I don't even know what to expect when looking at a custom stock, making stock alterations or the prices to expect. I live in Northern Virginia and have yet to find a competent shotgun gunsmith that I would trust with anything more than removable choke change. Wood grad above 4 is lost on me. I appreciate fine wood, but not on a game gun that I'm likely to beat up in the field.
I'd consider the Beretta 686 the entry level for my search. Durability, ubiquity along with the good looks and lines of a true game gun (without being obnoxious) are what I'm looking for. I'd also like screw in chokes and if they matched my SBE2 it would be a great. All thoughts and considerations are appreciated. Thank you for reading my Saturday morning rant.