Help with a Beretta O/U

[Phil Yearout]

I have a chance to buy this gun from my bro-in-laws estate - I've been wanting a gun for skeet and doubles trap. I don't know a heck of a lot about shotguns of any kind, but this one is way outa my scope of...whatever. It's a 12ga Beretta and we don't see any model or numbers indicated anywhere. I do know that his father-in-law bought it in Germany probably in the 60's or 70's. Condition is good/fine but I don't have it in hand and the only thing I have is some poor cell phone shots. The ask right now is $1100 but could get it for whatever I want to pay. But I don't want to rip my sis-in-law off if it's worth more, and yet I don't want to invest much more than that for myself. I know it's not much to go on but any thoughts, opinions, etc. appreciated...thanks!

https://i.imgur.com/PGhkBvjl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TTsPqDyl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2hpmfasl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/O4o5bMBl.jpg

[Daniel Carter]

Phil, I have 2 bought in Germany in the 60's. My guns are a 20 and 12,26 in. barrels. The choke is indicated by stars on each barrel under the fore end. 1 star full to 4 stars cyl. Mine are , the 12 cyl. and ic, the 20 ic and mod. No problems and a quality gun. Mine have a model number of 53E under the receiver but seem identical to my 686 12 and 28. I will look on GI and see if any of those are listed.

[Timothy Salgado]

Phil, looking online it looks like a Beretta S50 series gun based on the years of manufacture you posted , on the berettaweb website there was an image of the period catalog page for the S55 and the S56 the latter looks similar to the one your looking at. I’m sure someone here has more accurate info but it’s a start.
Tim

[Daniel Carter]

GI only lists 3 of that period all 20 ga. After 7 pages my eyes got tired of scrolling. For a fixed choke gun today the price seems a little high and for your purposes you will have to find out how it is choked.

[Ken Hill]

Phil,

It looks like an S56e, but not quite. The picture of the bottom looks like it says Sauer Beretta and not just Beretta. If that's the case, these guns were built by Beretta in a joint venture with Sauer. The mechanics are the same as the S50 and BL series (BL series were imported for the US market) of Berettas made in the 60s and 70s.

Here's a link to an S56e review https://www.shootinguk.co.uk/reviews/shotgun/looking-at-a-secondhand-beretta-s56e. These guns were before the 68x series of guns and won't have replaceable barrel hinge lugs, but they are well made guns. They are more a hunting gun than a target gun.

This link shows the date codes for Italian guns https://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=73492.

Ken

[William Davis]

Barrel length will affect the price. Short slow sellers. Premium for long, as much as double.

William

[Phil Yearout]

Pretty sure they're 28" or so but need to verify.

[tom leshinsky]

Beretta will tell you about the gun call or email them.

[Bill Murphy]

Look up the date codes from the prior post link. They are stamped on the barrel. A sixties Beretta will be hard to get parts for. 28" or longer are the only acceptable barrel lengths for a gun costing more than $500. Sorry, but that's the way it is. If you want a reliable Beretta to use, a 686 in many configurations can be had for $800 and up. That is the best choice for a using gun.

[Bruce P Bruner]

Phil, For a comparison there is a Beretta S56E for sale here locally. It is the blued receiver variety (European market?), vent rib, barrel select safety and nicely engraved. It's new in the factory box, still coated in it's original cosmoline and it has all the accompanying paperwork. The barrels are I believe 26" and the light walnut, almost "perch belly" stock is a gloss oil finish. It's a consignment and the best price they offered me was $1100.00. The gun is brand new tight when assembled, really tight. I've tried to convince myself to go pick it up but I'm just not a short barrel guy. There is not a mark on the gun and the bores have little pieces of packaging Styrofoam stuck in them. Good luck!

[Tom Jay]

Bought a S56e new in the mid ‘80s for $700.00. Blued version with 28” barrels. Also same as Beretta BL-4. Nice gun. Real workhorse. Had Briley thin wall chokes installed to replace the original M/F chokes.

[Carl G. Bachhuber]

The gun you are showing appears to be a 680 series. The barrels shown in the last photo look like they are from a side by side, which is a bit confusing. The 680's are good guns.
C.G.B.

[Phil Yearout]

Carl, you're just seeing the barrels with the forend on. They're definitely stacked.

[Carl G. Bachhuber]

I got it. The wood of the table(?) was blocking the lower bbl. Are there swivels on the bbls. or stock? A lot of the guns sold in Europe came with them. For some reasons Americans don't seem to like them. I prefer them on my duck guns since it seems like my hands are always full hauling stuff to and from.
C.G.B.

[Phil Yearout]

I got it. The wood of the table(?) was blocking the lower bbl. Are there swivels on the bbls. or stock? A lot of the guns sold in Europe came with them. For some reasons Americans don't seem to like them. I prefer them on my duck guns since it seems like my hands are always full hauling stuff to and from.
C.G.B.

As I recall there is a lug for a swivel on the barrels but no swivel, and nothing on the stock.

[Tom Jay]

FYI. A while ago I wanted a second set of barrels for my S56E and contacted Cole who told me 680 barrels will not fit S56e or other S5x or BLx Beretta variants. Don't know what the difference in the barrels is and was why I added Briley thin wall chokes.

[Phil Yearout]

My sis-in-law took it to the local guns shop to help her with it; he pulled the barrels and researched it via serial number and they came up with an S56E Sauer. It does have 26" barrels so I don't think I'm interested in it for my intended purpose. But it will be for sale if anyone is interested. Thanks for all the responses.

[Bill Murphy]

A Beretta that "looks like" a 680 series gun, is not neccesarily a 680 series gun.