I was not especially fond of the chequering on the thumb-piece of the top lever, nor did the shape and finish of the safety appeal: the ramp needed to be a little steeper to achieve good purchase. I also liked the articulated front trigger, and the unusual catch on the fore-end iron which allows one to turn off the ejectors if desired. The machining and general finish quality of the action was excellent and the jointing between barrels and action impeccable. The monobloc barrels, for example, appeared to be especially well made. The Beretta 471 Silver Hawk has 28in, multi-choked barrels and looks smart with silver action and fore-end furniture as well as a scroll-engraved, silver-finished, subtly scalloped action.įirst impressions are good rather than outstanding, but this is a gun that impresses more as you explore its detail and finish. This is more or less the old 470EELL as was, another side-plated gun, which looks quite expensive now at a cost of £10,500.Īll of which brings us back to the test gun. And there is a fixed choke model for those content with quarter and three-quarter choke or a modification of those constrictions (my preference would be improved and half).Īs well as the basic grade guns, which cost something over £2,295 with scroll-engraved, silver-finished actions, there is an SC model with an ersatz but attractive chemically achieved ‘colour case-hardened’ finish at £2,540 an EL model with side plates and gold inlays (£5,100), and a ‘bells and whistles’ Jubilee II deluxe. There is also a single-trigger gun with or without a semi-pistol grip. The current line includes the multi-choked, straight-hand, double-trigger gun as tested in 12-bore. Nevertheless, Beretta still makes a large range of side-by-sides in both 12 and 20-bore. Of course, Beretta – the world’s largest sporting gunmaker – has been making side-by-sides for generations, but in recent years its over-and-under production has eclipsed the manufacture of side-by-sides by a massive margin. It’s not an over-and-under but a fairly traditional, double-trigger, boxlock side-by-side called the Beretta 471 Silver Hawk. Beretta’s products need no introduction to Field readers, but this month’s test gun is interesting for being a little different to the modern Beretta norm.
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