Guns International #: 101366678
Seller's Inventory #: 06-2020

Category - Beretta Shotguns - O/U - Shotguns - Italian Double

Category
Beretta Shotguns - O/U
Shotguns - Italian Double

Beretta Sidelock S3 EL, 12 ga., 28"bls, engraved by TURRINI

Description:
Beretta Model S3 EL, 12 ga., 28”bls., Turrini engraved,
Hand Detachable Sidelocks – Exc. Plus

P.Beretta Model S3 EL, Sidelock Ejector, 12 gauge with 28” Boehler Antinit steel barrels fitted with a hand-filed cross-hatch ventilated rib with single silver bead front sight, choked Full and Modified, with 2 ¾” chambers, a single non-select trigger with a checkered face, a pistol grip stock with field forend, hand detachable sidelocks, and jeweled forend iron on the inside and the barrel sides.

Features:
Beretta experts will tell you that the S3 EL is the exact same gun as the SO5 as named by Garcia from 1968 to 1975. This gun was built in 1968, just before Garcia. After Garcia no longer distributed these guns, Beretta changed the name from SO5 back to SO3.

This pre-Garcia EL engraving is very full and exactly like the later EELL engraving, but without the gold crown, the pierced top lever and the gold washed pins. I have owned two SO5EELLs and I know this engraving pattern is identical in every way, including the concealed hand-detachable locks and the location of the master engraver’s signature. After 1975, Beretta’s EL engraving is much different and much less full.

Specifically, this EELL pattern is full coverage (100%) acanthus scrolls executed masterfully in a heavy bouquet/floral design with intertwined vines and fitted with the two concealed (thumbnail operated) hand-detachable trap door through-bolts disguised artistically into the intense foliage pattern. The engraving is of the highest order, true for all SOEELL’s and is signed by the master engraver,”G.Turrini” on the bottom of the action, right side of the trigger bow.  

This piece has retainer screws, including the replaceable locking shoulders on the barrel, and the locking screws hidden inside the forearm iron.

The English walnut stock here is conservative compared to my former SO5EELLs, but preferred by many for its dark and warm colors and pleasing figure comprised of black and brown streaks planned so that they run in the direction of and parallel with the toe line. The finish is hand-rubbed oil  It is shaped with a Prince-of-Wales pistol grip with horn grip cap and a field forend with perfectly executed hand checkering in point patterns on the pistol grip and a generous full wrap-around pattern on the forend (checkering is 26 lpi).  Dimensions are LOP 14 1/8” to its original hand-checkered butt; DOC 1 ¾“ and DOH 2 ¼” and its weight is 7 lbs 4 oz. A leather-covered recoil pad could add up to any custom required measurement up to 15 1/8”. Neutral stock for the right or left hand. The serial number, “34237,” is marked on the barrel block and the water table and the serial number is inscribed again on the trigger tang. The Roman Numeral XXIV is on the bottom of the barrel which indicates the gun was made 24 years after 1944, or in 1968, just ahead of the Garcia distribution period or the gun would have been marked SO5 EL.

Richard Rawlingson, Fieldsports writer, claimed the Beretta SO5 sidelock to be one of the most influential guns of the 20th Century. “The best competition shooters in the world choose the best shotguns in the world: and with five gold medals in five different Olympics and countless awards in prestigious international competitions, champions consider the Beretta SO5 over-and-under the finest competition shotgun ever made. A premium gun in every respect, the SO5 is a sidelock shotgun optimized for bringing clay shooters to the podium.” Last year’s trap champion at my own range told me “the only competitor he was worried about was the one who pulled out his Beretta SO5 sidelock.”

These high grade Berettas are known for their incredible fit and finish of wood to metal and this one is a magnificent example.

Condition:
This gun would grade 98% overall with only slight handling marks.  The wood finish remains at 96% condition, the checkering remains at 100% with no diamonds missing or worn, the original barrel blue is still at 99%. The trigger guard and tang still have 100% blue. The bores remain new as they were when made. This gun appears that it has seen very little use in the field. Comes with Berettta’s fitted trunk case. Installment Plans available.

Price here to sell at $ 8,200.00

Seller is the author of The Rifleman’s Rifle (Winchester pre-64 Model 70s) and will furnish a Letter of Provenance that this gun is from his collection.  Please check out author’s feedback on ebay under rcrwin70roger.  3-day non-firing inspection for full refund, shipping is $60 to buyer’s FFL, payment by MO, certified check , wire transfer or personal check with wait for validation. For questions, call (678) 971-4173 and ask for Roger.

Footnote:
Beretta SO Sidelocks Place in History:
When Browning’s Superposed over/under became the first factory-manufactured over/under and was met with success, Beretta’s head of design, Tullio Marengoni, was not impressed by Browning's design, finding its under-slung lumps clumsy and inelegant. In a thinly veiled side-swipe at the rival gun, Marengoni, in an early Beretta catalogue, described the Browning design as 'very high, heavy and ugly', an insult that the Italian trade continued to use against the Superposed for the next 70 years!

To reduce the height on his design Marengoni rejected conventional lumps and instead turned to a system used by Boss of England, mounting the barrels low in the action body on stub pins. This, however, had been expensive to make, as it was only a hand-made proposition. In 1932, Marengoni re-worked the design so that it needed less handwork and added his locking design with a cross bolt that emerged from the upper left side of the receiver. Further security was provided by trapezoidal barrel shoulders that engage cut outs in the action walls, a feature that has become a Beretta signature. The SO’s other distinguishing feature is that it was designed from the outset as a true sidelock. Recognising early on that this would be an expensive gun to build, Beretta opted for a premium specification.

At the time, Marengoni’s idea was considered radical and risky; however, we can of course see the system is still in use today, in all the current SO models.   The first Olympic Gold Medal won by an SO was in 1956, with an SO3.  Since then, many gold medals have been taken with other SOs and recently Russell Mark of Australia has won multiple gold medals using his SO5.
 

SOLD