Good Morning Gentlemen ,I have found an older Beretta with Krupp Steel barrels in 20 Ga. The gun has fine scroll engraving on the receiver and on the bottom of the receiver it says ," Beretta Monoblock" Thats all the info. It also has the proofs on the barrel flats and Three stars on one side of the flats and four on the other ! The proprietor won't put a price on the gun and wants an offer ,I know nothing of the gun other than it balances very nicely and weighs around six lbs. The wood has a poor refinish like a thick polyurethane finish but no cracks and very fine checking ! Any info. would be very helpful and possibly a ball park figure for this Beretta in 60 to 70 percent condition . Thank you in advance for any info. . OOHAY

Beretta started using Krupp barrels back in the 1920's, perhaps earlier. Is it a hammer or hammerless gun? Is it a boxlock or sidelock? On the receiver flats is there a roman numberal?

Without pictures, it will be nearly impossible to determine the exact model. It could be a Silver Hawk, 425, GR-3, GR-2 or perhaps an even older model.

Pete

Many older Berettas had the model number stamped in the forend wood.

If he won't put a price on it that's prolly because it's "old and worth a lot of money". My experience in situations like that has been that no matter what you offer will not be enough cuza the oawalom factor.
The stars are the choke markings. Somewhere on the bottom of the barrels will be a small stamped square with Roman numerals or a pair of letters in it. That is a proof code that will date the gun.

good luck

Dr.WtS

if the chokes have been unaltered *** is modified and **** is improved cylinder. I never bother looking at old european 20ga or 16ga guns as i see no reason to pay gauge premium when 12ga european game gun can be found with weight of 6.5 to 6&3/4 pounds.

Hi Fellas ; Thank you all for your input ,Its appreciated ,and I believe Wonko is right ," Whatever I offer ,Won't be enough " !To answer a couple of questions ,it is a Box Lock gun ,it is Hammerless ,and it does have a date of 1929 ,I stopped tonight after work and took a couple of pics. of the barrel flats and I haven't had a chance to download them from my bcamera yet ,but will eventually ,I like the gun ,but have no idea what kind of price ,guess ,I will keep asking questionbs and try to figure out the model ,the only thing on the foreend wood is the serial # . Thanks again and if you think of any other suggestions ,they would be appreciated also ! OOhay

Six pound gun are fun to carry but will kick the crap out of you if you have to shoot them a lot. I have seen too many husbands ruin a would be spouse shooter by giving them a six pound gun and have them shoot a few rounds of skeet. It kicks the crap out of them and they quit. Carry a gun all day, shoot ten shells out of it hunting and you are still in love. Shoot the same gun on two station of Skeet an you are flinching before you know it. Been there and done that.

It is not worth the money you will pay. Buy a light 12 or 16. I have paid two grand for a gun that I later took 3/4 that amount and was happy for the loss. Kicks like a mule and kills on both ends is no joy. Worse is to try making it into a clay target gun. Shoot a six pound gun a hundred rounds every Sunday and you will soon develop a world class flinch.

Berettas are not in high demand from collectors. As described it is a gun I would offer less than a grand. Wiggly lines, on a gun that will thump you, is no real bargin.

If you can get access to RL Wilson's book "The World of Beretta" he has some discussion on Beretta's 1920's SxS. The write-up is a little confusing, but it looks like Beretta had a model 922 and model 311 around this timeframe and within the description these may be called Stella, Pigeon Model 7, 1011, 311, 311E. The guns pictured and described show monoblock barrels. Price today is anyone's guess because you don't see them offered for sale.

Thank you guys for the latest info. ,much appreciated ! OOhay

Post some pictures. I have some Beretta catalogs from that era. The gun may be worth more than most expect if the model is rare enough and the condition is good. KDGJ is correct about the pricing. The earliest guns I have seen for sale date from the 1930's.

The Wilson book is good. The task he took on was huge and he was not really trying to document every model. It is a good starting point.

This is from the 1910 catalog, with Krupp tubes.


This one dates to 1930, a Model 1010 Pigeon.


Pete

Re how much a 6# gun kicks . . . You may (or may not) find that 7/8 oz loads in such a gun work just fine. But you can always shoot 3/4 oz loads in a 20ga, and unless there's something else going on with the gun (like bad stock dimensions), you shouldn't notice much kick. Shouldn't be any different than the 3/4 oz loads I shoot in my sub-6# 28ga, and I can shoot that gun all day.

Give him a, within reason, low ball offer (if you figure the guns worth 3K offer him 2K) and when he turns it down ask him to quit screwing around and tell you what he wants for it. Be a little put out "well you asked me to make an offer, what's the problem..." be a little offended that he didn't take your generous offer. Two people can play that tired old game.
JMHO.
Steve
PS as far as hard kicking guns go I have a 5# 16 gauge that I hunt and shoot sporting clays with and I love it! Some people are recoil sensitive some aren't, I guess I'm just lucky!