Beretta 409 Monobloc

Did for a number of years. The 409 PB's ( monobloc is just a means of barrel attachment ) first appeared c. 1940 and were last offered in 1964. Eventually traded up for a higher grade Union Armera (Grulla) box lock chopper-lump ejector gun of the same period (c. 1958) that fit me better, had fancier wood and was nicely engraved.

The 409 PB was a box lock mono block action, leaf mainsprings, 3 - lock game guns. Mine was a 28" Ausonia (alloy chromium steel) barrels, bored mod. and (very) full, with Prince of Wales (semi) pistol grip and splinter forend with Anson push-button release. Articulated front trigger. A real delight to shoot at waterfowl with Kent Impact non-toxic loads and deadly for game preserve pheasants ... but you had to let them get out there a bit or you'd ventilate them ! Good, reliable double. Not fancy, but not ugly either.

If you take your forend off, it should read 409 PB branded into the wood.
 
I own a 16 gauge 409 pb. Its one of my favorite guns to shoot. Beretta boy's description is accurate. The gun is well balanced and swings remarkably well. I will also second the comment about the chokes. My gun has full/modified chokes, although xfull/full may be a bit more accurate! I have patterned the gun with numerous types of shells (whatever i can find in 16g) and it continues to amaze me. It is no exageration that you better let your target move out a bit before you blast it as you will ventilate it. My 16g is very light and gives a nice kick with decent loads. I would recommend putting on a good butt pad if you plan on using it for sport shooting. The barrel is not designed to shoot steel shot, but I would be lying if I said I havent shot steel loads out of it. I have dropped my fair share of geese and ducks with it. At the moment, I only use the gun on the odd pigeon/pheasant hunt, and it fits the bill perfectly. My particular gun was manufactured in 1963, but dispite the age, the gun remains tight and reliable and I've never had an issue with it.
 
I went and looked at it today and it appears to be in pretty good shape. The action locks up tighter than a drum. No mechanical issues that I could see. I don't know the date of manufacture as I could not find the date markings.

This gun has been hunted and based on the forend, I can tell you this gun was carried a lot too. The bluing is fading in some places such as around the barrels near the chamber and just ahead of the forend. It has nice wood so I think this gun would benefit from the wood being stripped and tru-oiled as the varnish is worn on the forend and the stock is marked up from hunting. Someone shot it with the stock a bit loose so there is some issue with the wood by the action but there does not appear to be any cracks or breaks.

I found it to swing nicely with the 30" barrels. It's not overly heavy in my mind, and the balance feels good.

The barrels are marked 18.3/17.3 (0.039) and 18.4/17.6 (0.031) which mathematically is Full and Improved Modified as far as I can tell. That being said, without patterning it those numbers are just guesses.
 
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As long as it's tight on face and there's no sign of barrel/rib separation, bulges or dings... in other words "good" or better condition, that's a great price. I would spend a little extra dough to have it fitted to you ... stock bent for cast-off, comb/heel drop, pitch & LOP. As a SxS you may want to shoot a lot, a good pad like a Pachmayr Decelerator Old English is worthwhile, as is opening up the chokes a bit if you're going to do much upland work with it. I had my current 12 SxS opened to .007" & .015" ... works for me !
 
Thats a bummer! Keep your eyes and ears open for another as they are fantastic guns. You will likely not find at that price unless its rough, but even still, a 409 in excellent condition may fetch around $1000-$1200, but even at that, its still a good buy in my opinion! Black book value as of April 2013 lists the value at $800 US..however, its hard to find someone who will part with one at that price
 
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