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Beretta SO Sparviere Sidelock Over and Under


Guest stevo
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Trouble for me is as soon as you get past the 20k mark with modern guns I cant for the life of me see where the extra money goes. At that price every component should be perfect with the crispest trigger pulls and perfect gun balance. Special engraving thats took a year or more the yes you pay for that but even the walnut dont look any better on some 100k plus guns than on a 20k gun. All main big named modern guns are machined and only hand finished.

Edited by figgy
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It is a lovely gun, but what a truly eye watering price!

 

When I was young, I always wanted a sidelock - and either a Beretta SO or a Merkel 303 sidelock was the gun I wanted.

 

I later bought an SO 6 game model, brand new (and for a small fraction of the prices they are now). I had it fitted and used it (reasonably successfully) for well over 10 years for everything from walked up grouse to clays. Apart from some initial slight teething troubles quickly sorted it has been fault free and remains tight and crisp after many thousands of shots, though the chequering is now a little worn and the wood has the occasional mark etc. I still have it, but now I have aged, it is really rather a heavy lump.

 

Years later I was lucky enough to also acquire a Merkel 303E (second hand 1960s example) - and (ignoring depreciation cost) with hindsight I wish I had bought the Merkel, not the Beretta originally. The Merkel is lighter, faster, slightly smoother and slicker in operation and generally feels even better quality. Its only downside is slightly heavy trigger pulls. I shoot well (for me) with that as well.

 

If I was buying a sidelock o/u again, a 2nd hand Merkel 303 (not the more common 203) would be my choice over an SO ........ but the gun I now use for almost everything; an old AyA No 1 s/s.

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It is a lovely gun, but what a truly eye watering price!

 

When I was young, I always wanted a sidelock - and either a Beretta SO or a Merkel 303 sidelock was the gun I wanted.

 

I later bought an SO 6 game model, brand new (and for a small fraction of the prices they are now). I had it fitted and used it (reasonably successfully) for well over 10 years for everything from walked up grouse to clays. Apart from some initial slight teething troubles quickly sorted it has been fault free and remains tight and crisp after many thousands of shots, though the chequering is now a little worn and the wood has the occasional mark etc. I still have it, but now I have aged, it is really rather a heavy lump.

 

Years later I was lucky enough to also acquire a Merkel 303E (second hand 1960s example) - and (ignoring depreciation cost) with hindsight I wish I had bought the Merkel, not the Beretta originally. The Merkel is lighter, faster, slightly smoother and slicker in operation and generally feels even better quality. Its only downside is slightly heavy trigger pulls. I shoot well (for me) with that as well.

 

If I was buying a sidelock o/u again, a 2nd hand Merkel 303 (not the more common 203) would be my choice over an SO ........ but the gun I now use for almost everything; an old AyA No 1 s/s.

 

Wiseman's at Cannock had a nice Merk on their shelf 2 weeks ago. Lovely gun.

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Wiseman's at Cannock had a nice Merk on their shelf 2 weeks ago. Lovely gun.

Thank you - they don't seem to list their guns on a website, but in any case, I'm not looking for another (unless it was straight hand stock and double trigger!) Older examples can be very good value. Merkels have particularly appealing handling for me due to the very central weight distribution I think.

EDIT - spotted on Gunstar; nice gun but single trigger and stock much too short (even for me). At least I assume it is the one you saw.

Edited by JohnfromUK
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  • 2 weeks later...

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