doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Thoughts on 28ga Beretta 687 EELL with 28" barrels

I'm considering a local purchase of a Beretta 687 EELL in 28 gauge. The gun appears new and has 28" barrels and comes with the blue Beretta hard case and chokes.

It's very hard to explain why I am so interested in this piece. I don't have an over-under and I have never shot a 28ga. But the balance and appearance are so compelling to me. Particularly the engraving by Giovanelli.

While I would have to part with numerous other pieces to fund the purchase, I'm really thinking about going after this.

Any thoughts as to the practicality for doves or sporting clays? Am I paying too much at $5400? Basically this would be a very high $ purchase (for me) that is driven by the heart, not the head. Any thoughts you can share on either value or ways you evaluate similar potential buys would be appreciated.

$3,500 of your quoted price is simply embelishment.

The 680 series guns are well designed and made. They are very reliable, parts are available, they handle well.

It's a trigger plate action as you know, the side plates are an addition for engraving space.

I would not personally sell other guns to acquire what is under all the makeup still a Beretta 680.

Also, I'm no fan of the 28. It's unreasonably expensive to shoot, and the same gun in 20 gauge will handle the same and actually be a little lighter. If you really want to shoot 3/4 ounce, you can load 3/4 ounce 20's.

I'm trying to talk you down out of your tree here.

Take a deep breath, and carefully evaluate.

It's a good gun... but it's nothing near as special as you seem to think.

Unfortunately, there is no one on this board who has any experience with impulse purchases of doubleguns

I had a 687EELL 20/28 ga combo for awhile that was a great gun. Unless you find one that has been abused or subject to bad gunsmithing, they are hard to go wrong with. I sold mine only because I wanted to shoot a sxs instead. That said, there are plenty of them out there, and that price seems high - unless the gun is NIB.

The SP V 28 ga is on a scaled frame - is the 687EELL also a scaled frame? If not, then there is not real upside to getting a 28 ga., same weight (maybe even heavier) for less payload.

Having spent that much for two different 28 gauges, I have to say anytime you spend that much money and it's not from the heart, it's a mistake. You will probably want to start reloading if you haven't already to make shooting the 28 affordable. I happen to love the 28. I thought the 680s had a scaled receiver, but if not than the info about the weight above is probably true, and a plainer 680 will feel and shoot the same. But hey, you only go around once.

That's a good question Dover.

What would be the purpose of scaling a frame that you're going to put side plates on and make heavier?

Oh, you can load 28's fine.... but the damn hulls are worth a quarter... and they don't last like 20 gauge hulls do.

I think it is more of a barrel issue - the 28 ga barrels on a 20 ga. frame have the outside diameter or a 20 ga (at least at the breach end) and the bore diameter of a 28 ga., which makes for thicker barrels. A scaled frame allows the breach end of the barrels to be smaller in diameter and lighter. My 687EELL weighed more with the 28 ga barrels than with the 20 ga. barrels.

Thank you for the thoughts so far. From what I have read, at this grade, Beretta's 28ga uses the baby frame, but the 20/28 combination sets (and the 686 28s) use the 20ga frame.

The gun is new, but has been at the dealer for some time now. I compared it to a silver pigeon 1 or 2 (sorry, don't recall which) that had 30" tubes and no side plates to better understand what the extra $3,500 was buying. What I saw was better wood, and more importantly, engraving that appeared to be hand done or at least hand chased that really appealed to me. Gun was marked "bottega giovannelli" on the trigger plate.

While I would be letting go mostly older pieces, none are truly rare. I know this sounds like a rationalization. Thank you all for your patience.

Anyone know where to get the actual frame measurements for the 20 and 28 gauge frames?

CJF,

The new 687 EELLs are lucky to be hand cased. Giovannelli is the design studio for the engraving pattern. If you intend to shoot the gun, you may want to see want to look at some used ones. The 680 series guns are very durable. There are plenty around so take your time.

Ken

Shotgunjones - I really liked your phrase "I would not personally sell other guns to acquire what is under all the makeup still a Beretta 680"

Re costs of shooting, I'm not sure it's all that bad for the volume I do, which isn't much. Midway has 250 round cases of Winchester AA SS 3/4oz loads for $10/box of 25, plus there's a $2 rebate in effect thru August.

If I were in your shoes I would call Ken Pendleton and ask him about the gun and the engraver. He is a Beretta expert and will know if the gun is hand engraved, chased or whatever. I know your sentiment re wanting a gun bad. ;-). www.pendletonfirearms.com