1. sports
2. hunting and shooting

Beretta
687 SPII
Trap Combo
by Ed Clapper
44 March 2005
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Shotgun Sports 45
> > > > > > > > > > > > Beretta 687 SPII Trap Combo < < < < < < < < < < < <
> > > > > > > > > > > > Beretta 687 SPII Trap Combo < < < < < < < < < < < <
ast September I was shooting
with some good friends of
mine, and during a conversation between rounds, Bill
told me Kathy was struggling
with her unsingle trap gun and he
would like to see her try a top-single
version of the same gun. As it happened, that was the very trap combo
my son Jason was using on those rare
occasions when he was both home
from college and felt like shooting. I
agreed to let Kathy try the barrel, and
we met at the club on the following
Wednesday morning. The barrel from
Jason’s gun wouldn’t fit into the
receiver of Kathy’s gun, so we put
Kathy’s stock on Jason’s gun. After she
shot it for about an hour, Bill made me
the proverbial offer I couldn’t refuse.
Having sold his gun, I called Jason
to tell him he temporarily didn’t have
one but I would replace it as soon as I
found something suitable. When he
said he was coming home that weekend and had planned to go shooting
with me, I suddenly had just two and a
half days to find that replacement!
I did some shopping around by telephone and the internet. One of the dealers
687 receiver in their Silver Pigeon II
grade with over & under and top-single
barrels from the 682 Gold E model.
The 682E barrels feature overboring,
long forcing cones and Beretta’s
Optima choke tubes that are much
longer than their standard tubes. They
also have a full-length weighting lug
on the bottom of the top-single barrel.
None of those features are offered on
a normal production 687. Using the
Model 687 receiver means the guns lack
the position-adjustable trigger found on
the 682s, but the trade-off is well worth
it, in my opinion, for you wind up with
an upgraded gun with attractive wood,
deep engraving of upland bird hunting
on one side of the receiver and a waterfowl scene on the other, with a lot of
tasteful scroll engraving elsewhere and
Beretta’s “better” barrels in a fitted hard
plastic case for just around $3,450.
Another plus in my book is the barrels
are not ported. If you like porting, you
can always have it done — and in the
style you prefer.
Joel also specifies a glossy oil finish
for the wood on these guns, which is
much easier for the gun owner to repair
or refinish. The stock drop dimensions
L
Here are the rib profiles.
I contacted was Joel Etchen in Ligonier,
Pennsylvania (see ad on page 50). Joel
had a couple used trap guns that sounded
interesting and his shop is only three
hours west of our home, so I drove out
that afternoon to look at them.
I considered a few guns and was
about to purchase one when I lamented
aloud how it was unfortunate I couldn’t
afford a combo right then, as Jason
really likes to shoot doubles. Yes, a
second barrel could be purchased later,
but that is something that often never
happens and almost always is a more
expensive way of obtaining a combo.
At that point, Joel told me I could
afford a combo…and a new one at that.
I wound up buying the very gun
described on these pages. Both Jason
and I like it so much I wanted more
people to know about it. When it comes
to bang for the buck in a new gun, I
think this one is just about unbeatable.
Every year, Joel orders about 150
trap combos from Beretta that are
“hybrids” — they have barrels from
one model factory-fitted to another and
include the stock dimensions, wood
finish and choke tubes Joel specifies.
The guns are built on Beretta’s Model
ith
w
t
n
u
H
Left side of the receiver with an upland engraving pattern.
reflect what his customers have
requested over his years in business.
While Beretta normally furnishes
improved cylinder, modified, improved
modified and two full choke tubes with
their combos, Joel specifies an additional IM tube instead of the second
full, as most of his customers usually
buy an extra IM tube or are constantly
No Limits
.
switching that tube between the over &
under set and the single.
The single barrel’s bore measures
0.733", so when the outlet diameters of
the choke tubes are subtracted from
that figure, the resulting choke constrictions are IC 0.007", modified
0.018", IM 0.026" and full 0.039". The
over & under barrels both have 0.731"
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46 March 2005
www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com
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Shotgun Sports 47
> > > > > > > > > > > > Beretta 687 SPII Trap Combo < < < < < < < < < < < <
bores, so their choking is exactly
0.002" less. The Optima choke tubes
measure 2.78" in length, which is on
the long side for flush-mounted tubes.
That length, coupled with less than 1/2"
of parallel, allows a very gentle taper
down to the outlet diameter, something
that should result in less pellet deformation, yielding good patterns and
reduced plastic buildup.
The triggers break crisply at 4.7
pounds (bottom) and 5.3 (top), which
are good weights in my book. They
seem to break easily but require
enough pressure to prevent the triggerinduced flinching that overly light triggers can eventually cause. The barrel
selector is in a customary location on
the top of the receiver’s tang and also
functions as the control for the gun’s
safety. The safety is not automatic, so
you don’t have to switch it off after
closing the action each time.
The second-shot trigger is set by inertia, meaning the recoil of the first barrel
being fired selects the second trigger. To
relax the gun’s hammer springs so the
gun can be stored without weakening
those springs, the butt of the stock must
be bumped against something stationary
before the second hammer can be fired.
In the owner’s manual, Beretta strongly
cautions against dry-firing the gun without snap caps in place (see page 79), so
to relax both hammer springs, snap caps
should be placed in the chambers, the
first barrel “fired,” the stock bumped and
the second barrel “fired.”
The hammers are cocked by transfer
bars in the floor of the receiver activated by cocking rods in the forearm iron.
The forearm should be removed so the
action can be broken open and the barrels lifted off without the hammers
being cocked again. Another nice
design feature is, aside from those for
the firing pins, the only openings in the
receiver’s inner walls are the ones for
those cocking rods, which are located at
the very front of the receiver floor, and
the lockup pins, which protrude from
the uppermost portion of the face of the
receiver. This should go a long way
toward keeping crud and moisture from
the action proper, unlike guns that have
openings for cocking rods and such in
the rear of the receiver floor. Finally, the
floor of the receiver curves up into the
receiver walls, so there are fewer nooks
and crannies to inhibit cleaning.
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48 March 2005
The ribs on the two barrels are quite
different in profile. The single barrel’s
rib tapers downward toward the muzzle, while the one on the over & under
barrel remains level for its full length.
Beretta claims that, regardless of the
rib profiles, the point-of-impact of the
two barrels is the same.
Like a kid with a new toy (someone
else’s toy, in this case), I couldn’t wait
to shoot the gun and gave it a whirl the
first chance I got. I have used release
triggers for over 10 years, so watching
me shoot trap with a pull trigger is usually quite entertaining. And shooting
Jason’s Beretta was no exception — I
took a step toward the traphouse before
being able to get the gun to fire several times over the course of the 50 targets I shot with it.
The very first thing I noticed was how
soft it shot, which I found both remarkable and unexpected. To me, that is
about the most important quality a target
shotgun can have, for if you are not
comfortable shooting a gun, you will not
shoot it well. Also, trapshooting is supposed to be fun. The fun factor increases
in direct proportion to the number of targets that break, and a requirement for
breaking targets is that the shooter stay
in the gun. For reasons other than that of
outright comfort, it follows that less felt
recoil means more fun!
The advertised weight of these guns
is 8.8 pounds. I like a trap gun to weigh
right around 10 pounds, so I added 8
ounces in the stock and 9 ounces on the
single barrel. The Beretta’s stock has
an opening apparently made by a second pass of the tool that cuts the stock
bolt hole through the wood, with the
second hole being cut right under the
one for the stock bolt. What you wind
up with is an oval opening that is great
for stashing weight while still leaving
the stock bolt very accessible.
To weight the stock, I used a 3" C&H
mercury recoil reducer (see page 48)
held against the front of the lower
“hole” by a piece of wood dowel that
was in turn locked in place with a wood
screw angled down into the belly of the
stock. Weight was added to the single
barrel by applying lead tape to the
underside and the top of the false under
barrel where it is hidden by the forearm.
As is to be expected, the gun shot even
softer after the addition of the extra
weight. Jason tells me the gun now
swings more smoothly and he is less likely to run up past targets being held down
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> > > > > > > > > > > > Beretta 687 SPII Trap Combo < < < < < < < < < < < <
Notice the stock figure and shape.
by a tailwind than with a lighter gun,
something he really came to appreciate
the first time he shot it in competition.
The gun now weighs 9.91 pounds
with the 34" single barrel on it and just
1
/4-pound less with the 32" over &
under barrels. Both 30" and 32" over &
under barrels are available. After
swinging guns with both at Joel’s, I
opted for the 32s. As they come from
the factory, the 30" over & under is a
couple ounces lighter than the single,
while the 32" set is a few ounces heavier. Which is the better length for you is
a matter of personal preference. As
always, trying a friend’s gun would be
Paralyzed Veterans of America
invites all trapshooters to come
test your skills on the PVA
National Trapshoot Circuit.
Veteran, nonveteran, wheelchair
user, able-bodied — all will
compete on an equal basis.
a good idea before buying one via the
telephone or internet.
I had a local craftsman make the
stock’s comb and recoil pad mounting
adjustable and replaced the factory pad
with a 3/4" Kick-Eez Rocker pad (see
page 47). The guns actually come with
two pads in the metric equivalent of 3/4"
WRAPID COMB
A BIO-TEK CO.
Take your best shot!
2005 CIRCUIT
2006 CIRCUIT
Nevada
October 14–16, 2004
Las Vegas, NV
Delaware-Maryland*
May 21–22, 2005
Baltimore, MD
Arizona
October 22–24, 2004
Tucson, AZ
Southeastern
June 17–19, 2005
Augusta, GA
Cal-Diego
April 7–9, 2005
Redlands, CA
Wisconsin
July 15–16, 2005
Green Bay, WI
Delaware-Maryland*
May 21–22, 2005
Baltimore, MD
North Central
September 10–11, 2005
Sioux Falls, SD
* Delaware-Maryland is the final
trapshoot of the 2005 Circuit as
well as the first of 2006.
For information, call PVA
National Sports and
Recreation Program at
(800) 424-8200, ext. 687
or visit www.pva.org.
www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com
This program is supported
through the PVA Outdoor
Recreation Heritage Fund,
a permanent endowment.
For more information, visit
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1/4"
3/16"
1/8"
pat. pend.
Detachable/Reusable
Shock Absorbent Material
Easily Switches from Gun to Gun
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Great for Trap, Skeet & Target Shooting
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Purchase includes one stock wrap and
3 additional spacers ( 1/8", 3/16", 1/4" )
2050 + $2.50 shipping and handling
$
To Order call:
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Several other models & colors available
on our website: www.gunsolutions.com
Shotgun Sports 49
> > > > > > > > > > > > Beretta 687 SPII Trap Combo < < < < < < < < < < < <
> > > > > > > > > > > > Beretta 687 SPII Trap Combo < < < < < < < < < < < <
and 1" thicknesses. The stock’s lengthof-pull is just under 15" with the thicker
pad installed. Jason’s a real stockcrawler, so I had the 3/8" metal plates that
comprise the recoil-pad adjustment system and the new pad installed onto the
stock without shortening it first, thus
yielding a length-of-pull of 153/8". The
stocks have a nice palm swell on the
right side and just a hint of cast-off (lefthanded stocks are also available).
The next time Jason was home, we
took the gun to our club for sighting-in.
I’m not a paper-puncher and prefer to
evaluate patterns by how targets break
rather than by counting holes. We first
adjusted the recoil pad so the top was at
the top of Jason’s shoulder and canted
the pad so it fit into his shoulder pocket.
(continued from Page 50)
the breaks and double-checking for any
point-of-impact changes that would
suggest a choke tube that was less than
perfectly machined. We saw no pointof-impact changes, but we did learn
why Joel orders the extra IM tube — it
positively hammers targets into submission, hanging some mighty impressive balls of soot in the sky in the
process! And, the barrel doesn’t seem
to care what it’s fed, as the results were
the same with an ounce of 8s or 11/8
ounces of 71/2s. You honestly don’t need
the full tube, except possibly from 27
yards, and I’m not real sure about that.
It’s been cold and windy here in
Pennsylvania and we haven’t really had
time to do any serious work on doubles
with the over & under barrels. When
we do start, I’ll first have Jason shoot at
least 50 singles with each of the over &
under’s barrels to confirm they both
shoot close to the same point-of-impact
as the single barrel. When shooting
doubles, we’ll likely start out with the
modified tube in the bottom barrel and
an IM tube in the top, although Joel recommends using the IC tube for the first
shot. Joel’s our current state doubles
I locked a trap for straightaways from
Post Three and had Jason shoot from
that position at 16 yards. He shot 25 targets and missed just a couple early on,
suggesting we were close to where we
should be. The largest piece of most of
his broken targets was going up, which
is the result of low hits, so we added 1/8"
spacers to the adjustable comb’s posts.
The result was the best possible indicator of a gun that shoots where the shooter is looking — targets consistently
reduced to smoke!
I moved him back to 27 yards.
Although Jason is a 22-yarder, the farther away from the traphouse you get,
the more obvious point-of-impact maladies become. We quickly found the
gun not only was shooting too low
(which is quite normal and to be
expected from longer yardage), but it
also shot slightly to the left, as the
largest pieces were going up and right.
We slid the comb over to the right
about 1/8" and raised it another 1/16", and
the breaks became centered once
again. Now, to go from 16 to 27 yards,
Jason simply has to insert two 1/16" blue
plastic washers. Using that type of
washer instead of the aluminum spacers that came with the adjustable comb
makes it easy to tell if the gun is set for
singles or handicap, especially for us
older guys with short memories and
without bifocal shooting glasses.
We returned to 16 yards and tried
some different choke tubes, evaluating
(continued on Page 58)
Joel Etchen Guns.com
www.
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Beretta 687 Silver Pigeon II 20/28 ga. 2-Barrel Set w/factory upgraded
EELL wood, 28" bbls. w/10 choke tubes & separate forearms.
Fancy Elk River cases available for $200 exchange ..............................$3,150
We also have a few of the same 2-Barrel Sets w/30" sporting bbls.
& choke tubes being made w/the same upgraded wood ......................$3,400
Beretta Teknys Gold Trap Parallel 30" or 32" w/adj. comb ................Now In Stock!
Beretta 687 EELL 12 ga. 30" Skeet Gun with knock-out wood, adj. comb ........$4,300
Beretta Gallery Grade 686 Onyx 20 ga. 28", upgraded wood, new ......................$1,895
JOEL ETCHEN GUNS - BERETTA TRAP SPECIAL RUN
687 SILVER PIGEON II TOP TRAP COMBO
• Deep-cut game-scene engraving • 30"/34" or 32"/34" barrel lengths
• Weighted single barrel • Backbored with Optima choke tubes
• Monte Carlo stock with palm swell • Factory upgraded wood
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AUTHORIZED BROWNING DEALER STOCKING: 525s all gauges - Field and
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Beretta 687 II 28 ga. 30" Sporter, cased.................................................................$1,750
Beretta 682E Sporting Clays 30" w/Optima barrel ..................................................$2,275
Beretta 686 28 ga. w/upgraded wood, 28".............................................................$1,300
Beretta 682E 30"/34" Combo, ported O/U bbls., adj. comb.....................................$3,100
Beretta DT-10 32" Sporter, adj. buttplate, 141⁄4" length-of-pull, nice .......................$4,250
Beretta 682 Gold (Greystone) 12 ga. 28" Sporter, 141⁄4" length-of-pull, cased .........$1,695
Beretta 687EL Gold 12 ga. 30" Sporter w/141⁄4" length-of-pull,
false sideplates w/gold birds, very nice ................................................................$2,500
Beretta 682E Sporter 28", as new ..........................................................................$2,350
Beretta 682E Show gun 32"/34" Optima bore & chokes, cased .............................$3,395
Beretta DT-10 32" Sporting Clays, unfired in case..................................................$4,950
Beretta 682E Top Single backbored, Optima choke tube bbl. only, off new gun..........$950
Browning 425 Sporter, 12 ga. 28", adj. comb ..................................................................$1,150
Caesar Guerini 28 ga. Magnus Light 28" w/false sideplates, 5 lbs., 7 oz., like new........$2,150
Kolar Sporting Clays 30" w/lightweight bbl. & 28 & .410 sub tubes, very nice ...............$6,600
Kolar Trap Unsingle Combo 30"/34", all trigger parts, release or pull, nice wood............$8,500
Krieghoff K-80 Sporting Clays 12 ga. 30", 2003 model ..........................................$5,695
Mon. 9-7 p.m.
Wed. 11-7 p.m.
Tues./Thurs./Fri. 9-5 p.m.
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50 March 2005
Krieghoff KS-5 Special w/adj. rib & comb, 34" Full choke, cased ...........................$3,395
Ljutic Stainless Ltd. 2000 34" w/choke tubes, 90% high........................................$5,100
Ljutic Medium rib 34" 90%/10%, shot 2 weeks, as new ........................................$5,495
Ljutic Dynokic 33" w/choke tubes, pull & release triggers, cased ...........................$3,350
Ljutic Dynokic 33" w/choke tubes, very clean ........................................................$2,950
Ljutic Standard rib 32" w/factory choke tubes, fancy wood, 1 yr. old......................$4,500
Perazzi MX8 Special Trap 34" Top Single, adj. comb & butt, 3 yrs. old, 97%...........$3,995
Perazzi TMX Special 34" w/choke tubes, adj. comb & butt, cased, release .............$3,400
Perazzi MX8 Sporting Clays 12 ga. 271⁄2" w/choke tubes, super clean.....................$3,750
Perazzi MX6 12 ga. 30" Sporting Clays, adj.-length trigger, choke tubes ................$3,495
Perazzi MX2000 32" Unsingle w/adj. rib & comb, choke tubes, 1 yr. old.................$5,000
Perazzi MX-8 30"/34" Trap Combo, Greco engraved w/gold inlays
& custom-made wood ........................................................................................$15,500
Perazzi MX2000 White Receiver 30" Sporter w/$2,000 wood upgrade,
choke tubes, bbl. fit to this gun from another gun by Perazzi, cased, 2 yrs. old.....$6,000
Perazzi Grand American Special Trap Top Single 34", Pro-port backbored
and choked, Himler wood .....................................................................................$3,650
(724) 238-0332 / Fax (724) 238-0334
1500 Route 30 • Ligonier, PA 15658
www.joeletchenguns.com • e-mail: [email protected]
champion, so he is certainly qualified to
make such a suggestion!
The gun got its first taste of compet-
Interior of the receiver showing the
smooth surfaces and rounded floor.
itive shooting on November 6, when
our club launched the winter version of
its Palmyra Trap League. We shoot 25
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Adjustable Combs $175
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• Height and Cast • Soft Comb Optional
www.shotgunsportsmagazine.com
singles and 25 handicap targets, with
each shooter’s singles score establishing his handicap yardage to a minimum
of 22 yards. Everyone shoots the second trap from between 22 and 25 yards.
There was a stiff tailwind blowing that
day and Jason hadn’t shot in several
weeks. In fact, he had never shot this
gun for a normal round of trap. During
league shoots, we don’t allow practicing before shooting for score, so he
went out “cold” and missed just one on
his first trap, meaning he would shoot
his second 25 targets from 24 yards.
Some of the targets were climbing, but
most were diving, so I suggested he not
raise his comb as much as he normally
would for that yardage. (In fact, when I
shot later in the day, I didn’t move my
comb at all.) Jason missed three targets,
two of which were divers he might have
had to shoot at through the traphouse to
have any chance of hitting them. High
for the day was a 49, I had one of two
48s, and there was just one 47, so Jason
was very happy with his 46.
Does Jason like his new gun? When
I asked him that question, he replied,
“What’s not to like?” He quickly added
I am not allowed to sell this one! SS
58 March 2005
“Call
Toda Us
y!”
Wed. 10 am-10 pm
Fri. 12 pm-6 pm
Sat/Sun 10 am-6 pm
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