The author's Argentina hunting group fired over 30,000 rounds through their 391s in four days.

By Greg Rodriguez

-- Like Sylvester Stallone's heavyweight character, the Beretta 391 can take a lot of punishment.

Any shotgun used on the whitewing dove fields at Rancho Caracol, Mexico, has to be tough. Offering some of the best dove shooting in the world, the lodge keeps an ample selection of Beretta 391 autoloaders on hand for its American clients.
 
Those gunners burn thousands of boxes of shotshells each year. But because of Mexico's Draconian gun laws, most visitors use the lodge's autoloaders rather than take their own. Those Italian guns see a lot of abuse, not only because of the number of shells they fire or the rough treatment they get in the field, but also due to the quick-fouling Mexican shells they are forced to digest.

"Our guns fire an average of 25,000 rounds per season," said lodge owner Dean Putegnat, whose armory contains a good selection of wood- and synthetic-stocked Beretta 391s and a few over-and-unders used mostly for quail. "Some of those autoloaders are six years old, but every one I bought when I first opened the doors is still in use today. I replace a few parts at the end of the year, and we clean the guns thoroughly after every hunt, but other than that, they just keep on going."

By Dean's count, some of Rancho Caracol's guns are still going strong after 150,000 rounds! 

During my stay at the lodge, I fired roughly 400-600 shells through my loaner gun each afternoon (don't ask how many birds I dropped) without a single malfunction. Most other hunters' Berettas were trouble free, too.  There were a few malfunctions, but considering they arose over the course of two dozen shooters firing more than 12,000 rounds of dirty Mexican ammo, the malfunction rate was almost insignificant.

The Beretta 391 I used pointed and shouldered well. Its gas action also significantly reduced felt recoil, a welcome benefit given the number of shotshells expended on whitewings. I was so impressed with the 391 that I ordered one as soon as I returned home.

My Beretta 391 Gold's 28-inch barrel, 3-inch chamber and five screw-in choke tubes make it very versatile. With a polished receiver and a highly figured stock, the gun looks good, too. I was anxious to put it through its paces at the range and in the field.

My first foray with the gun was at a special dove warm-up course that my local range sets up each year prior to the dove season. This is a fun course that challenges shooters with realistic target presentations. I got off to a rough start before I realized the gun was a bit long for me. But after replacing the standard recoil pad with the thinner one that came with the gun, I started breaking targets at a pretty good clip.  I left the range optimistic about the upcoming dove opener.

When the Texas dove season kicked off weeks later, I took a quick limit of the gray speedsters. The only thing I didn't like about the Beretta was its thin plastic recoil pad.  Fortunately, it was an easy fix. Briley Manufacturing of Houston, Texas, shortened the stock to my preferred length of pull and added a Kick Eez pad, which did a wonderful job of softening the recoil. I couldn't walk out of Briley's showroom without a few of their choke tubes, too. With my length of pull set and a full compliment of choke tubes, I was content to do all of my wingshooting with the 391 Gold. 

I spent the next few months shooting skeet as well as hunting doves, quail and waterfowl with the gun. I fired over 2,000 rounds through it without a single malfunction, despite the fact that I never found time to do anything more than put a few drops of oil into the action. The gun was so filthy that by the time I decided to clean it, I had to enlist the help of a friend and a strap wrench to remove the fore-end cap.

After that initial torture test, I continued to use the 391 for everything from waterfowl hunting to predator calling. The 391 certainly lived up to its role as my "do-everything" gun, but an upcoming trip to Argentina made me contemplate adding another 391 to my battery.

Steve Jones of Argentina Wild Wings advised me to bring a 20-gauge autoloader. "Benellis and Berettas are the best, but I prefer Berettas because they are easier on my shoulder," he said. "We have Beretta 391s at the lodge if you want to use one."

I seriously considered the offer, but elected to add a 20-gauge 391 to my collection instead.

Argentina was everything I hoped it would be. The food was delicious, the people were friendly, and the birds swarmed the skies all day long. I could have picked a spot on the edge of the field and shot from dawn to dusk were I so inclined. But I am not that "mad" at those little birds. Once I got over the initial feeling of being overwhelmed at the sheer number of doves and quit firing at a pace more like an anti-aircraft gunner than a hunter, I settled down and worked on different types of shots. 

First, I concentrated on birds that were crossing left to right, then ones that crossed right to left. I practiced overhead shots for a while, and then moved to going-away presentations. Before I knew it, the first afternoon was over, and a mountain of empty shells littered the ground around me. Through it all, my new 20-gauge never missed
a beat.

I continued to shoot the gun for the first day and a half.  It performed very well except for just a few malfunctions. I attributed those to a single faulty box of ammo. The shells in that batch were so bulged, they wouldn't feed. I couldn't even stuff them into the chambers of a 20-gauge over-and-under. I retired the 391 after firing well over a thousand rounds through it.

Most of the other visiting hunters were using 20-gauge Beretta 391s, too. I estimated that we shot over 30,000 rounds through our autoloaders in four days. While most hunters won't fire 100,000 rounds through their shotgun in a lifetime, it's nice to know there's an autoloader that's up to the task.

Have it Your Way
Beretta's 391 is available in many variations. Waterfowl, turkey and predator hunters can choose between 3- or 3 1/2-inch versions in black, Advantage Max 4 HD or Realtree Hardwoods HD. There are trap and sporting clays models as well as wood-stocked hunting guns in standard or fancy grades. 

If I had to choose one gun to handle all my shotgun needs, it would be the 26-inch AL391 Urika Optima Hardwoods HD model (MSRP: $1,195). This gun may not have fancy wood or a pretty receiver, but it is a serious hunting arm offering 391 performance in a camouflage package.

Greg Rodriguez
GunHunter Magazine - December 2005
Buckmasters | GunHuntermag.com | Rackmag.com | BADF.org | YoungBucksOutdoors.com