Beretta EELL 28 bore game gun

The test gun is a Beretta EELL model in 28 bore. It is a side plated over and under from a very famous stable. It has 30” barrels, a narrow game rib, and a game scene and scroll engraved action. It all looks very smart. The gun is also equipped with very neat little Mobil multi-chokes (which delight me almost as much as the .410 tubes Beretta make as well). The woodwork does not let the side down either, the stock has some contrasting figure in it, though it is a little light in colour and might have benefited from staining down a bit.

Test Bench

Quality of finish is good or better in all departments. The blacking is well done, while metal to metal, and wood to metal fit are well up to standard. The stock is neatly chequered and the rather glossy finish is well applied (and has proven very durable in this extended test). As the gun comes to face and shoulder one notes a very steady 28 bore - it is heavier than the average at just under 6 ½ pounds - but, it feels very stable and it is not lacking in life between the hands either.

The 30” tubes combined with a narrow, ventilated ‘game,’ rib, make it really pointable. The weight is not excessive, so it swings well too. The stock shapes - upon which more shortly - provide both comfort and good purchase at both grip and forend. Indeed, you could not ask for much better handling characteristics in a small bore gun. Balance is excellent and that magic combination
of pointability, swingability and controlability is there.

Putting the gun under the microscope, there are no unpleasant surprises. On the contrary everything is well up to the usual high Beretta standard. The monobloc barrels are well constructed and nicely finished. They have been proofed at the in-house facility in the Beretta factory for 2 ¾” (70mm) shells (there being no 3” 28 bore load yet commercially available as far as I am aware). The quality of Beretta barrels is never in doubt. My only quibble concerns the rib, the gun would be even better with a solid design because it is less delicate in a working game gun.

The action which combines trunnion hinging with Beretta’s conical locking bolts is arguably the toughest ever made. With the addition of side-plates it becomes especially attractive - all the more in the case of this scaled down version. The design is a classic and I am not going to attempt to fault it in any significant way. The inertia operated single trigger is perfectly reliable, everything works and continues to do so no matter what you do to the gun. In an ideal world, I would make the barrel selector (mounted on the safety) a little bigger and increase the gape of the action slightly (to facilitate rapid reloading).

The stock shapes were first class. The comb is fuller than the average small bore and all the better for it. There is plenty of support for the head - the comb is not too thin - and it remains well anchored. The grip is not too small either - a common malady in some very expensive bespoke guns. One can hold on to the EELL effectively, and hence control the muzzles well too. The
classic Schnabel is very good of its type (though I prefer the new Beretta American style).

Shooting Impressions

This is a really great little gun. I have used it for more than a year. It has never missed a beat. Not one malfunction or misfire. I have shot it at clays, pigeons, partridges and even at high pheasant (not that it should be considered the ideal tool for this job). I have used all the Lyalvale Express range of 28 bore shells in it, up to and including their one ounce (28 gram) load. This might
sound too much in a 28 bore, but it works well - without undue recoil - and brings birds down in decisive fashion. My favoured choking has been three-quarters and three-quarters for clean, hit or miss, kills.

The advantage of using a relatively heavy payload shell in a machine-made 20 or 28 of medium weight is that one can end up with a gun that shoots and handles much like a bespoke 12 (and which can throw a similar weight of shot) at a fraction of the cost. I think this explains the success of the Beretta 20 bores - and all the good things that apply to them apply to the 28 bore version too. It’s just more fun!

On the practical front, the trigger pulls on the test EELL were good (though not quite up to the standard of a leaf sprung side lock). The build quality is superior. The aesthetics are very pleasing too. Best of all, it works in the field, and for me, it works as well as a bigger bore gun in many circumstances. You are not going to use a 28 bore to win most clay shooting competitions (though I did manage joint second in the world 28 bore championship with a similar gun) or for wildfowling. But, it is an ideal gun for walking up, for pigeons (where the reduced bulk of the cartridges is a real boon), and, for ‘social clays’ if you are willing to take up the challenge (and put the effort into developing your technique accordingly). It is a super gun for ordinary driven shooting (and may turn average birds into something much more interesting).

A 28 bore is not for everyone, but you will have to go a long way to find a better 28 bore than the Beretta EELL. I might end by noting that the very latest models have a slightly enhanced engraving pattern.

PRICE: £4,880