doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com V. Bernardelli "Gamecock" questions

Can anyone tell me the difference(s) between the "Deluxe Gamecock" and the "Premier Gamecock" imported by Stoegers? I have a "Deluxe" which is a sideplated boxlock with ejectors, a case-colored action, "English" stock, and limited engraving. Is the "Premier" the same but with higher finish? My "Deluxe" has decent, handsome brown walnut--does the "Premier" have upgraded wood?

Did Stoegers ever import the non-sideplated V.B. boxlock called "San Uberto" in Italy? Was it a plain extrator gun or did it have ejectors? What did they call it? Just plain ole "Gamecock"? (Nah, that would be too simple....).

Thanks for any help the board can give!

All the V. Bernardelli guns I`ve seen had rather plain wood even the higher grades. At one time I had a deluxe gamecock and a premier and I think they were the same gun just different production times. There were the Uberto, Gamecock and Roma series all boxlocks most were sideplated in several grades 1 through 9 and I think an E and M meant ejector and single trigger.

I saw a S Uberto FS 28ga which was game scene engraved and a model Elio 12ga light weight nice guns. The Holland was a side lock model and a much higher class.

IMHO the Stoegers imports had the better quality, all were good guns.

Hope this helped you.

Thanks, Bill! I suspected that the "Deluxe" and "Premier" were essentially the same gun, since I've never seen a Stoeger gun that was of a higher finish than the two "Deluxes" that I've had. Agree that the wood is rather plain on the Stoeger imports, but I've never seen really OOOOGLY wood on one either (and some of the San Uberto grade imports were really "pallet grade"....perhaps Italian gentlemen at some point really DID "prefer blondes"....).

Another question--I've owned two Gamecocks, one 12 and one 20, both naturally 3" magnums--with 25" barrels yet! I've seen 28s.

But did Stoeger ever import 16s?

I know that Bernardelli made them because a friend of mine in Idaho has a Roma 3E (same gun) in 16 with 27" barrels. It is not a Stoeger import; he ordered it direct from Bernardelli back when you could do that fairly easily (it DID have "pallet" wood; he ultimately had it restocked in the US; nice double now).

Mike, This last year I found a nice 12ga. V. Bernardelli, GameCock Deluxe, import by Stoeger, BL w/sideplates, straight grip, ejector, mildly engraved, plain wood. Last week picked up a V. Bernardelli, Uberto, 20ga. BL with Scallop, minimal engraving, extractor, manual safety, beautifully balanced at 5 3/4 lbs. A little bity with Federal Factories. If not smitten by the vintage sxs thing, these two guns would make a great battery for most upland,waterfowl,clays games etc. Both are tight,solid, apparently well made SXS's. I bought them under the excuse for foul weather hunting, but as with most other lame excuses I use, it seemed to make sense to me. Glad I did. I'm not dissapointed, I've even used them when the sun was shining. Randy

RMC, I've found the V.B. guns to be very reliable and "stylish enough." Haven't had much use for the 12, but have used the heck out of the 20, with good results on grouse and cottontails and the occasional woodcock and ringneck. Only tried 3" steel in it once--ow! Now that I'm in CA, I'll try it on CA quail if the cover is tight (my 20 is choked C/IC or Skeet1/2, not sure which). In the open spaces I do better with a longer barrelled gun; either my unc's NID 16 or an old Beretta hammer 16 I got in Italy some years ago.

I'm "smitten by the vintage SxS thing" all right but have never had the $$ to do it right, so have misspent my life with field grade, well-thumbed American doubles and "Eurotrash" like these VBs.

What a tough row to hoe! A dirty job, but someone's got to do it? I'm sure SOMEBODY must feel sorry for me.....heck, I paid almost $600 for my VBs (EACH!).

Have fun with your VBs; thanks for the answer!

The VB Gamecock I inspected last week is a minty 20 boxlock with no sideplates. The VB Holland is a wonderful gun, often underpriced when found. One, a nearly unfired European light pigeon gun, was offered not long ago for $9000, a serious bargain. What is the value of the 20 gauge Gamecock I looked at last week? I was tempted, but didn't know what to offer.

Mike, I had a premier gamecock years ago and it was sideplated,ejectors and single non selective trigger. The deluxe was offered at same time and i believe it was double trigger gun.All i have ever seen had plain wood. I have a Stoger catalog somewhere if i can dig it up and i think there was a gamecock,deluxe and premier model. They had 25" and 28" barrels. Bobby

I have a VB Gamecock 20 gauge double trigger extractor with 25" barrels that I've owned since 1977. For a time, it was my only shotgun and so shot skeet, doves and even hunted deer with slugs (not successfully performing as a slug gun, I'll add, but it was all I had at the time and the location required shotguns with slugs, so...). I had my best day ever on a dove field with it, killing 11 birds with 13 shells.

It mostly sits in the back of the vault now, as I've acquired a number of target shotguns, a couple of hammer guns and some pre-1900 guns for use in the field. I find it hard to shoot these days, as it's very light and short and I tend to stop swinging the gun. I'm sure I could correct that flaw if I shot it regularly, but for now it sleeps awaiting a grandchild (in some indefinite future time) to whom it will introduce the joys of side by side shotgunning.

In terms of pricing, I've seen 12 gauge Gamecocks similar to mine with asking prices in the $800-900 range and 20 gauge guns at $1000-1100. I don't know what they actually sell for, but if you could get a 20 for under $1000 I'd say you did well.

So Bobby I SUSPECT that what makes a "Premier" so "premier" is the single trigger; that's the only extra feature the "Deluxe" doesn't have.

Remington40x, VB did make a dedicated slug 12ga sxs once upon a time. I saw one in Italy, looked like a hammerless "lupara" with sights. Right at home in the woods (or "Godfather 13").

"Gamecock" was strictly a Stoeger model name. The official Bernardelli name for that model was S. Uberto. "E" was the VB designation for an ejector gun; "M" for a single trigger gun. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Gamecock Deluxe and Gamecock Premier were actually the same gun, just different names at different times. My old "Shooters Bible" (1961) still refers to the guns as "S. Uberto", so that must've been pre-Gamecock nomenclature. Gamecock Deluxe and Roma 3 are the same gun, just different names. I owned a 16ga Roma 3E, and both the Blue Book and my Shooter's Bible show that all the guns were available in 16ga. Can't recall ever having seen a Bernie Gamecock 16, but expect there are some out there.