doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Beretta 425 Question

I had always wanted a Beretta SXS shotgun, and after getting some help from several members of this board I finally managed to find a 12 gauge 626 Onyx in good condition and bought it last summer. I found that the gun fit me well and I have enjoyed using it. It was my dove gun last season and I hope to use it again this year. I shoot it reasonably well on clays; about as well as I shoot anything.

A few months ago I had the chance to buy a 425 12 gauge in reasonable condition at what I thought was a good price, so I bought it. It was made in 1968, which according to one of Jim Bode's excellent publications would have been during the time that Garcia was importing the GR line into the USA, and the 425 was not sold here then. It has sling swivels, so it appears to have been made for a different market. I've no idea how it got here, but here it is:



When I first shouldered it, I could tell it didn't fit me at all. The 626 with its high rib has me looking right down the rib when I shoulder it, but I see a lot of the barrel with the 425. In order to look down the rib on it, I have to drop my head in an awkward position. I brought it home and set up the clay thrower and proceeded to miss 5 straight going away shots. I took it to a pattern board and found that it shoots about 6" low at 25 yards if I look down the rib and see only the bead.

I added fiber optic sights to the rib to show me how much barrel I need to see, and can shoot it a little better now, though not well enough to have the confidence in it to use it for anything.

Here is my question: Is this a simple case of the gun not fitting me, or is the gun flawed because it doesn't shoot true to the rib?

I've always been of the opinion that when you look down the rib, a shotgun should either center the pattern on the bead, or the bead should be somewhere between centered and the 6 o'clock position of the pattern. For the bead to be at the 12 o'clock position of the pattern seems like a flaw in the gun to me.

I know I could add a rib to it and make the gun more usable, and I might do that. I have considered making it into a turkey gun where I am only shooting at a stationary target with it. However, testing showed that it acts like most light SXS guns with heavy turkey loads - the right barrel shoots to the right and the left barrel shoots to the left. I could solve that problem by filing the end of the chokes, but it would then shoot all other loads far out of alignment.

If the gun is flawed, as I think, I don't mind so much filing the chokes. It looks like its seen very little use, and I suspect that's because it shot low for everyone else who has ever owned it. I wouldn't sell it to anyone unless they understood how it shot and were willing to deal with it. But if there is really nothing wrong with the gun and it just doesn't fit me, I hate to take a file to a Beretta. I'm sure the gun will outlive me and there will likely be many others to own it during its useful life. It would be better to just sell it if its nothing but a fit problem.

Thanks for any and all opinions!

Many of the older guns had more drop.

Before you modify the shotgun
Try one of these

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Triple-K-Leather-Cheek-Pad/706669.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dcheek%2Bpad%26x%3D10%26y%3D6%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=cheek+pad

Because of the long sting, you will have to copy and paste the string to view this item.

If it does for you want I think it will, you can either leave it on or have the stock bent

Good luck
Mike

it doesn't matter how much rib you see.....pattern the gun at 30-40yrds by bringing the gun to shoulder putting the bead on target and firing.....where it is hitting will tell you if the gun is a reasonable fit.....

Thanks for the replies. I take it that both of you are saying that there is nothing wrong with the gun and it not shooting to the poa on the rib is not considered a flaw?

I don't think the gun is that bad of a fit for me. The dimensions are very close to the 626, with the biggest difference being the pitch of the stock. When I didn't try to force my head in position to look down the rib, I shot it reasonably well. The high rib of the 626 is what makes it line up so well for me.

But the thing is that I am an AL redneck and sometimes a redneck uses a shotgun to shoot a stationary target. You need to aim the gun instead of pointing it in that situation, and this one doesn't aim right. I don't think it would shoot to poa for anyone.

If the gun does not shoot to POA when taking a careful aimed shot, it is a gun flaw. If it does not shoot to POA when mounting and firing like one would at a flying target, it is a fit issue. I think you have a gun issue. I believe it could be fixed by bending the barrels very slightly (by a pro, not over the backyard fence).

Would you buy a gun with bent barrels ?

Maybe I am missing something here but when I am seeing lots of rib before the bead, it's too high at the comb

Try a slip on recoil pad. That will drop your cheek lower at the comb

But, he doesn't need it to shoot lower, he needs it to shoot higher.

If it shoots 12" low when aimed it's a gun problem. When a shotgun is mounted properly, and you can't see any of the top of the rib, only the bead, it should shoot flat, 50/50. If it has two beads and you stack them, it should shoot about 60/40, possibly 70/30. It should NEVER center the pattern 12" below the POA.

As another poster said, the barrels could be bent to fix this, but that's a lot. I'd let it ride on down the road, if it was mine.

SRH

I once had trouble with an 11-87 I was using for Turkey hunting. I put an aftermarket special turkey choke in it and began shooting the beards off of every bird for a season or two before i figured it out. I agree it's a problem with the gun...Geo

Stan- I agree with you. I did not read the op info thoroughly.

Could high trigger pull force be causing barrels to drop at shot? I have/have owned more than a dozen berettas of this era and have never had a barrel regulation prob. But stuff happens...