Beretta’s Prevail SV10 competition 12 bore

Like all Berettas the Prevail is delivered to customer in the usual fitted travelling case complete with all the usual accessories and tools, although the test gun came with just two of what should have been a full set of extended Optima multi–chokes. The first two noticeable aspects of the SV10 Prevail are the dark coloured, oil finished walnut and this particular model’s distinctive and in my opinion, attractive stippling effect. This picks out the detailing on the semi-matte nickel plate finished steel alloy boxlock action that decorates the sides, bottom, fences, top-lever and part of the trigger-guard… only the familiar tear-drop scallops to both sides are left blank apart from the appearance of that all important name.

A tour d’force in Beretta’s latest technology, the innovations start with the furniture. Locked into position with a Deeley & Edge style latch, the London style fore-end mechanism embodies what Beretta refers to as Nano Ceramics. A complete treatment, this molecular process reputedly bestows increased strength and hardness whilst a series of conical washers constantly adjusts the barrel to receiver pressure. In themselves all very technical but what this means is a shotgun that should require reduced amounts of maintenance allowing the shooter to enjoy the well sized, neatly chequered panels of the semi-pistol grip and fore-end. 

From a purely aesthetic perspective, not only are both the fore-end and stock visually pleasing, their individual designs makes the Prevail a comfortable gun to hold and use whilst the Q-Stock system allows instant access to the Prevail’s lockwork.  By inverting the gun the small silver trapdoor in the base of the grip make’s its appearance. Inserting the short stock key and rotating it anti-clockwise allows the wood and metal to gently disengage although the quality of fit and finish means you’ll have to carefully when easing them apart.

Action Stations

Encompassing Beretta’s tried, trusted and familiar trapezoidal shoulders, the action locks into the newly re-profiled barrels via two short pins that locate either side of the top 3” chamber. Nicely blacked, the 30” monobloc tubes are joined together with a vented mid-rib and topped off with a similarly vented 7-10mm tapered rib and a large white bead. Elsewhere new long guide ejectors and replaceable reinforced hinge pins compliment the Prevail’s new lockwork that’s an amalgam of tried and tested 680 and the radically new, especially the trigger group that’s now fully removable.

Fitted for Purpose

Even with nothing more than the Arrow Laser shot inserted into the bottom barrel it was obvious that everything about this 12 bore Prevail was on the money. In other words the drops at comb and heel of 1 3/8” and 2 3/8” along with the 14 ¾” length of pull meant the Prevail looked exactly where I did. So without further ado it was off to Rishton SG for a double helping of their Sunday morning fifty birder, plus some demanding Compact and a healthy selection of 28gram Express cartridges.

As I’ve commented the Prevail came fitted with Skeet and Improved Cylinder extended chokes so with no other option my only variance was shot size, 8’s for the normal birds along with 6½’s for the more demanding targets. It soon transpired that the Prevail and the slightly wider than I prefer restrictions were more than up to the task, as was the consistency and quality of the 60:40 patterning.

Nudging the scales at 8lbs 2oz with a point of balance directly beneath the hinges, the Prevail is one of those rare breeds that works with the shooter in smoothing out the swing whilst still acquiring the clays with what seems like relaxed, unhurried ease, the 5lb average trigger weight of the non-adjustable blade adding to the overall smoothness of the Prevail.

Even with the supposed handicap of wide chokes, nothing seemed out of it, the Prevail comfortable and rewarding to shoot, confirming Beretta’s confidence in this - their latest mid-range product. And it wasn’t only me who came away more than impressed. Various friends were more than keen to try the Prevail for themselves and to a man they thoroughly enjoyed their all too brief Prevail experience, each of them agreeing with me that the gun seemed to perform the task in hand more or less all by itself.
 
The Pleasure is All Mine

After shooting just short of two hundred sporting targets on more than one occasion, the best way I can sum up the Prevail is by saying what a genuinely nice shotgun it is to shoot. It suffers from not a single vice or dynamic peculiarity whilst the dimensions are such that unless you’re unusually small or have very short or long arms, the Prevail should be more or less a perfect fit straight out of the box.

Similarly, unless you’re particularly susceptible to recoil, unless you have a particular need to add the optional £210 dual-piston Kick-Off recoil reduction system first seen on the Perennia and Prevail models, I personally don’t consider it an imperative. Even when loaded up with powerful cartridges such as Express Supremes and World Cups, the Prevail remained extremely soft to shoot, even when wearing nothing more than a thin shirt and skeet vest, only the last vestiges of any form of recoil finding its way back to the stock.

Price wise all the SV10’s currently hover within £270 of each other, be it the various Prevails or Perennias with or without the stock options of alternative game scene engraving, the sporter as tested sat on the dealers’ shelves at no more than £2,740. And whilst the price places the Prevail firmly in one of the most competitive sectors of the shotgun market, once you’ve tried a Prevail for yourself you’ll soon realise why this Beretta’s competitors should become very worried. Equally, it doesn’t actually need me to say so; the SV10 Prevail instantly proves itself a winner from the moment you fire the first shot.

PRICE: £2,740 srp (As tested)
CONTACT: GMK Ltd: 01489 - 579999