Betetta s57

The S57 is a typical high quality Beretta and I've read from a good source that it was the European version of the BL series that was sold in North America, the same at least in most regards but not all. My first o/u was a Bl-4 and it was an outstanding gun once I got the action broken in.... the barrels were so tight in the receiver from new that I had to break it open over my knee to start with and it took several thousand rounds before it would fall open like most new guns do today, good thing I was young and strong at the time! My gun had a single selectable trigger but many of them have double triggers soooooo....:) And the barrel selector was easy to accidentally switch from lower to upper when I opened the action, I got in the habit of closing the receiver and pushing the barrel selector button to the left for the bottom barrel in the same motion.
Compared to the new 686's it's of probably of better quality, handling is a bit different and I think this is due to the barrels being a little bit lighter as they were not threaded for choke tubes from the factory. The bores will be tight by today's standards which may or may not be an issue depending on your views on bore diameter.
It might be troublesome finding parts for but on the other hand I don't think you'll need many! They're very nice guns in my opinion, would I chose one for a sporting clay's gun, not likely because they're just too light and I've grown accustomed to mild recoiling guns, but they'd be a really nice field gun!
 
Quality is comparable except these earlier models had real hand cut engraving.S 57 stock is a little trimmer than the SP 686 The action is somewhat different in the cocking mechanism, the S 55,56,57series tend to spring back slightly from full gape sometimes making loading the bottom barrel a little awkward. Great guns but getting a little long in the tooth.
 
Ive seen many 55 seties that were plain and ribless but have recently came across pics of several 57 guns with nice wood. Better then whats on most new 686 sp guns. The older 57 guns seem to be half price of a new 686 as well. Im mostly a sxs guy but id like to upgrade the ou i currently have as its a cheap turkish
 
Find one that hasn't been used much and has been looked after and have at 'er.. S56 and up have ejectors, S55 and below have extractors. The amount of engraving ( and it's the real thing) goes up with the grade although the increases in wood quality is modest. All have fixed chokes and to me they handle better than the newer Berettas with choke tubes. They are a great choice for hunting and for a side by side guy like me they feel better than any other over/under. I've had a few of them in 12 and 20 ga, always moved them on, looking for the "perfect" gun, always regretted it later. These guns were also marketed in the US by a different distributor at one time as the Beretta BL series. Roughly the S 55 = BL 3, S 56 = BL4, S 57 =
BL 5 and up, minor cosmetic differences between S series and BL series such as engraving pattern, action blue or silver, etc. Same guns. Except for the trap model they are too light for serious target work but make dandy field guns.
 
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The S55, 56, 57 series are notably light for gauge, making them an excellent Upland gun.

I had an S57E two barrel 20/28 gauge set in my hands once, and chose not to buy it. There was a bit of scarring of the barrel stub around the trunnion lugs from clumsy assembly, but utterly concealed when put together. I've always had second thoughts about that choice.

Funny how people make an issue of parts not being available. The same people wouldn't hesitate for a minute on a British or German gun of quality, with no parts available either.
This series of Beretta over/under guns offers excellent quality and reliability, and often at a very modest price.
 
I picked up a BL4 cheap for a winter project. I was going to refinish and sell it. Mine was altered as the top barrel was opened up to IMP CYL and the bottom was left MOD with 28 inch tubes, select barrels. Obviously I shoot the top barrel first and have never noticed a difference in spite of reading that it is noticeable to some. I made the mistake of taking it out in early October for a pheasant hunt and it quickly replaced my go to late season gun. My friend hunts with a beautiful SP 28 inch 20 that must have been a custom order and an above average Onyx Pro 28 inch 12. I carried and hunted with both as I owned them for over a year. IMO the BL4 is much nicer to carry than the Onyx, better balanced than both, has finer scroll work and much nicer checkering and is all done by hand. Upon striping the wood it is between the Onyx and SP which is well above average. It weights in at 7 lbs which is about 4 ounces less than the Onyx and about the same more than the SP 20. In my hands it feels like it has a little less cast and at just a hair over 14 inch LOP it is just a hair shorter than the skinniest micro core Beretta pads. At under 1/3 the price of the newer models I think it is an awesome value. My intent to sell changed to shoot it until it breaks and sell for parts, to shoot it until it breaks and look for parts.

The spring back issue is there with mine as mentioned above. It ejects strong but you have to hold it open to load or unload the bottom barrel. It quickly becomes habit but it a very slight annoyance at first.
 
Ive seen many s55 guns for sale for around the $5/600 mark. Do the 56 and 57 series sell for much more? Im looking for a bird gun and ive never found a beretta i couldnt shoot. Id prefer a top rib which is why i havent settled on a 55 and was looking at the 56 and 57. My birthday is coming up i think a new double gun would satisfy me lol
 
20 gauge sells more readily at significantly higher price than 12.
Better engraving and ejectors justify higher prices for higher models.
A nice 20 gauge with ejectors under $1K is a bargain in my world.
 
All of the S55 and up that I have seen and all the BL3 and up that I have seen (dozens) have a top rib. S55 and BL3 are the most common, mostly 12's but some 20's. According to my books they never made other gauges but you know old guns - never say never. Higher grades get progressively more scarce. As noted, people who have used these guns love them, if the modern Beretta over/unders suit you the older ones will delight you. I once had a very rare S57EL, the fore runner to the current 687EELL, BIG mistake letting that one go!
 
It is funny how history with a gun adds attachment. A week after the final pheasant releases I decided to take the hounds for a hike with little expectation other than exercise. About an hour into the hike they became very birdy in a slough full of cattails. I had expected some migrating black birds had left some scent in there and was caught off guard when the first pheasant of the day was exiting stage left at full throttle with a good tail wind. I swung past him and squeezed off at about 10 feet in front. He crashed into the cattails but it certainly wasn't a dead fold. My gun was open as I approached and he broke up out of the cattails again only to be quickly snapped up by a very high jumping and determined Chesapeake. It was one of the most impressive leaps I have ever seen by a dog and the frost and fluff flying from the cattails made quite the spectacle to behold.

About 20 minutes later I came to a place where an old abandon farm build is collapsing back into the earth. The farm yard is grow up with willow and brush making for a very picturesque back drop. The type off scene you would picture on the front of a 1960s Outdoor Life Magazine. As you already guessed the guys pinned a beautiful rooster near some old farm implements. He came straight up at about 20 yards towards the north east. With the sun shining and him pumping desperately for altitude it was the type of flush pheasant hunters dream about. I let him create some distance then folded him clean to end a perfect morning hike.

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I really liked the Bl4 in 12 g that I had and several years later jumped on an opportunity to pick up a great little Bl3 in 20 g with 26 inch barrels. I figured it would be a great pheasant and grouse gun due to it being slightly over 5 lbs and before I took it out hunting I decided to take it to the skeet range to get a feel for it. I got a feel for it alright, I didn't make it through a box of target loads before having to call it quits. In those days I was shooting thousands of rounds a year and was not recoil sensitive at all but that light weight 20 kicked me so hard I just couldn't finish one round of skeet with it! So I thought I'd give it one more chance and take it hunting reasoning that I wouldn't be shooting many rounds through it and the recoil would be fine. I think I put 5 or 6 rounds through the gun that day and never shot it again. That little gun was by far the worst kicking shotgun I've ever owned and it didn't take me long to decide that it had to go. The funny thing is that the guy I purchased it from said that it was his wife's gun, if it kicked her as hard as it kicked me then I'm surprised that the gun never caused a divorce between them!
 
So to buy on guns international id buy it have it sent to a ffl dealer who would ship it to a place like prophet river once the permits came thru then to me correct? Do i handle the import and export papers or do i just pay one of the 3rd parties to do it?
 
Just a fyi on Canadian prices - the two barrel 20/28 set that I was offered, perhaps 6 or 7 years ago, was just over half that price in Canadian dollars.
 
IF the seller agrees to go this route ( some sellers won't ship to a third party, even if FFL ) he will usually add shipping to the dealer Prophet River specifies, perhaps $25-50 US. Prophet River uses a designated dealer, a business associate, who will trans ship to Lloydminster Ab. Prophet River looks after all US export, Canadian import and shipping, taxes, etc. from their US agent to Alberta and on to you. Expect cost of the gun in your hands in Canadian $ to be about +55% more than the US selling price in US $. Ie, a $1000 US buy will put you out of pocket about $1550 Canadian dollars total, all in. Expect the whole process from seller shipping the gun to having it in your hands to take 6-10 weeks, could be a little less or a little more. 100% recommended. However, our American cousins certainly seem to value these guns highly, those website prices are off the charts! You would be looking at the price of a new 686 Silver Pigeon in Canada and up.
 
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