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Beretta Silver Pigeon

Beretta Silver Pigeon

The Silver Pigeon range from Beretta has been a success story from the off. The 686 model has a very diverse range of calibres and specifications and product range to suit a beginner to the seasoned connoisseur.

If I am to use a shotgun for vermin, I tend to favour the smaller gauges or bore, in this case, the 410 version of the Silver Pigeon. There are plenty of cheap single and doublebarrelled .410s on the market but those wanting a premium brand and excellent build quality, coupled to very good patterns, then the Silver Pigeon model is for you. It is available as a 28- or 30-inch model, the latter having an adjustable stock and is aimed at clay shooters, where the sport of small bore clay shooting is growing in popularity.

This is all trimmed down to suit the calibre and is beautifully proportioned, as well as great handling. The typical mono-bloc construction action is made from a single block and has a jewelled finish to spruce it up a bit. Regardless, the lock up is good and tight, as the barrels hinge on trunnions where pins engage the abutments machined in the mono-bloc lumps. The .410-bore is actually a high pressure shotgun round, more than a 12-bore, and so despite the scaled down size, the Silver Pigeon has a great strength and longevity built into it. However, it opens and closes very sweetly and the ejectors are very positive, with two to three-inch shells.

External finish is your typical Beretta semi bright, almost brushed, so attractive without being too reflective and spooking those pigeons. There is machine/laser cut engraving to the action surfaces and underneath is the SP1 logo.

This 410-bore came with 28-inch barrels and are made from cold hammer forged barrels that are chrome lined. Three inch chambers are proofed to magnum loads, so hot Fiocchi and Remington loads are fine and reloaders can take advantage of this.

Five chokes are included with the Silver Pigeon and a choke key but really only the half or full will be used and trying differing loads can give the spread or density you need without changing them any way. At least with a double barrel you can choose between the two barrels/ choke quickly for close woodland use to longer fieldwork.

The rib is 5mm wide and ventilated, with a single gold bead up front and I have to say, the overall centre of the patterns were very centrally placed.

Trigger and safety

The Sliver Pigeon has an inertia type mechanism: shoot the first barrel and the second is then cocked for the second barrel, pretty standard. The single trigger blade is slim with smooth edges but has a bright gold washed finish. I have said this before but the lock time does seem quick on these Berettas, with noticeably less trigger movement to shoot the second barrel, so a follow up shot is there instantly at hand.

Barrel selection is easy, with the large lozenge shaped safety button sited on the rear tang. As the locking lever is opened, the safety is automatically engaged to the rearward position. Personally I prefer a non-automatic safety, as I always forget to disengage it!

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You can select barrels by an inset, grooved slide within this safety. Right for top barrel (two dots), left (one dot) for bottom barrel, it’s a bit fiddly i.e. the button is not high enough to get a good grip for me.

Starter stock

Being the starter model, you have a grade one walnut stock and colour and figure to suit that price range. It is plain to be honest, with a honey hue and small amount of figure to keep you interested. From a practical point of view, that’s fine, as I can see this model being used for vermin primarily, so the odd scratch and bruise is par for the course. It has a semi-oiled finish that becomes better with use and a solid rubber black recoil pad is practical and mounts well, without catching on your jacket.

Dimensionally, you have a length of pull of 14.5-inches and drop at the comb of 2.65-inches, so quite low but it gets your eye aligned right down the rib. Proportionally, this 410 model is scaled down to suit its size but not without compromising the feel and balance. The forend is slim with chequering to both sides and pistol grip is cut and affords ample grip.

In the field all pattern boards where placed at 25-yards for this 410-bore and the Beretta had a full choke fitted.

Fiocchi

One of my favourite 410 cartridges, it is a three-inch case with maximum loading. You have 19-grams of No 6 shot size and a total of 155 pellets hit the board, 49 of these were in the outer 30- inch ring and a whopping 106 pellets hit within the inner 15-inch circle. Very dense pattern and hard hitting, in fact ½ choke would give a better, more even spread at closer ranges and an ensured hit. With this full choke, pigeons or crows over decoys can be taken to 30-yards at a pinch.

Eley Subsonic 3 inch

Despite being a subsonic round, I use this load because it works and gives very good patterns. Again, a good dense pattern, with the full choke at 25-yards.

A more even spread than the Fiocchi, with 59 pellets of No 6 shot in the outer sector and a good concentration of 98 pellets in the central 15- inch circle for a total of 157 pellet hits. Quieter and low recoil and very good patterns, what else do you need?

Lyalvale Express three-inch Magnasonic

On a similar vein, I used some Magnasonic loads, as these too are subsonic loads and are excellent at .410 ranges that I shoot. Very quiet, even without a sound moderator fitted, probably due to lower velocity, as the pellet stacking was more loose with the No 5 shot size and rolled paper carded closure.

It gave the best overall pattern despite having a smaller payload of larger shot size No 5. I had 128 pellets strike the pattern board with a lovely spread pattern, with few holes at 50 pellets in the inner circle and 78 in the outer 30-inch ring. These spread more, despite the same full choke and to me was a better overall load for hunting rabbits, squirrels or pigeon around the woods.

Conclusion

Like the lighter weight 20-gauge Silver Pigeon, this 410 bore version is far more to my liking, as it is so smooth and fast to operate. It has a myriad of uses too, from informal clay days, teaching youngsters, competitive clay shooting, vermin or pigeon decoying that will appeal to beginners, as it will to seasoned shooters wanting a challenge. It would be great with a set of 28-gauge barrels too.

  • Beretta Silver Pigeon - image {image:count}

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  • Beretta Silver Pigeon - image {image:count}

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  • Beretta Silver Pigeon - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Beretta Silver Pigeon - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Beretta Silver Pigeon - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Beretta Silver Pigeon - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

gun
features

  • Model: Beretta Silver Pigeon
  • Type: Over/under
  • Barrel : 28-inches (30-inch option)
  • Lengths: 45.5-inches
  • Gauge: . 410 bore
  • Stock: Walnut
  • Choke: Multi choke
  • Weight: 2.95 kg
  • Trigger: Single
  • Safety: Auto select barrel.
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