Mum's Beretta 391 20 gauge-need help

S

Scott Bear

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My mum has a Beretta 391 20 guage (auto loader) with a 24" barrel.

15 out of a box of 25 shells don't eject. Just wondering if any one could help?

Is it:

-weak ammo
-the length of the barrel
-type of choke used
-possibly a wrong spring installed
-something else

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott
 
Mum's got good taste in guns! Have you pulled it right apart for cleaning? Is there anything binding anywhere? What kind of ammo is it? Do you have another brand available for testing? I'd lean more towards ammo than anything, knowing those guns.
 
i think thy have a rubber the same as a reminton 1100 .look on the tube that holds the shells and see if there is a grove for a rubber ring on the forarm under the wood close the the cap DUTCH
 
dutchhunter said:
i think thy have a rubber the same as a reminton 1100 .look on the tube that holds the shells and see if there is a grove for a rubber ring on the forarm under the wood close the the cap DUTCH
Click to expand...

391's do not have the 0 ring like the 1100's do. Try different ammo in it and give it a good cleaning.
 
Make sure the gun is well lubricated. 391s like to be shot "wet." That doesn't mean dripping but don't spare on the oil. Check the gas ports in the barrel. They may be clogged up. And as noted previously try different brands of ammo.
 
If mum is disenchanted with her 391, I would be willing to help her recover about half of her investment in spite of the fail to eject.;)
 
From my dad:

"The bolt does not retract enough to completely eject the shell casing. The casing may partially eject (it sticks out at an angle to the receiver) or the bolt may retract only a portion of its designed travel so that the shell is exposed but still requires another half inch of travel to complete its rearward travel (this I do manually by re-cocking the bolt)."

He thinks it's the cheap Walmart ammo.

Unfortunately, my mum has no intention of selling but thanks for the offer!
 
Your problem is very likely the ammo. I have the same gun in a Sporting 20 that has given me no problems at all with good ammo. Had it out recently with the kids for some informal Sporting Clays practice and used up some old Cannuk 20 gauge ammo. Had the same failure with fail to eject and the bolt stopping at 3/4 return.

Clearly the fault was in the old ammo in my case but same failure you describe. I ran some Kent Sporting ammo through mine afterwards and "O" problems.
 
I would strip down and clean as per manual. Makle sure you do the gas system and especially the vents. I would apply a product like g-96 or breakfree to the action parts and wipe off so that it almost appears dry. Try that. If that does not cure the problem, run a couple boxes of heavy loads through it and try again. A quality gun like a 391 should be able to eat and spit out anything even that cheap wally world stuff.
 
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