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Beretta 486 Parallelo

This gun came out in March 2013, as a replacement to the 471 Silver Hawk. When gunsmith Jason Harris tested it for Sporting Gun he gave it 24 out of 25 for handling, so you can’t criticise it on a score which would probably only be beaten by a “London best” gun.

The gun tested by Jason is the one illustrated here, and you will note that it is the version with the straight-hand stock, single trigger and splinter fore-end. It is also a multichoke, although fixed-choke versions are available – as are guns with beavertail fore-ends.

The current importer’s recommended retail price is £4,300, yet most new guns are selling around £500 less than that, so a gun within Brian’s price range is a realistic proposition. In fact, at the time of writing I have just spotted a super example for £2,700.

The gun has some very sleek and pleasing lines, and the hammers are powered by V-springs which provide excellent trigger pulls. In O/U style, the ejectors are powered by coil springs, and ejection can be turned off, which should save groping around amid the nettles and thorns to pick up cartridge cases after a drive.

An unusual feature is a safety lock which prevents the gun from firing when it is held upside-down. At first this seems to be an un-necessary feature, but have you ever winced when you have spotted a chap carrying a closed gun over his shoulder, trigger uppermost?

The barrels are built on the monobloc system, but again with an unusual feature. The tubes are welded in rather than hard soldered, so that after being struck off there is no visible join.

Weight of the gun is between 7lb and 7¼lb – in other words about the same as a good O/U game gun.