Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Two Beretta O/U Failures

Grayling and i just returned from a pheasant hunt and had a great time. We found a lot of birds, just few dumb ones!

While there I had two shotgun failures with my well-traveled BL4 and my 686 Black Onyx. I have them for a combined total of something like 45 years without incident...

The 686 shoots the bottom barrel fine, but the top requires the trigger to be pulled twice. Have not looked inside to see what the problem is and have not looked to see if the barrel selection sequence changes anything. In other words I do not yet know if it is the "top" barrel or the "second" barrel failing.

I simply put it away and started shooting the BL4. After a couple days in the wind and dust it failed to eject from the top barrel. I oiled to carrier arms and forearm linkage and the problem disappeared, but the addition of oil should not have been needed. The addition of the dust to the oil will not be a good thing either, so now I have to strip it and see what the issue is.

Any insight into the 686 problem would be appreciated. I have taken it apart a number of times over the years just to clean the action guts and Dri-slide it. This is the first failure and I am at a loss to figure out the cause.

The hammers are mechanical, BTW...
thanks
art

Art,

Change that barrel sequence and dry fire.....it is mechanical triggers?......hmmm....sounds fishy.....have shot Beretta O/U for years and only had problems with lube in cold weather but they are all inertia.....

Vern

Art,

All the more reason, to have a trigger for each barrel! Just had to throw that in.

Not too hip as to what's ailing your guns. I just hope that if you send them to Beretta for repair, you have better luck, than I did.

Jeff

Art

Your Beretta has an inertial trigger. Essentially, the �inertial� part is something that pulls the trigger during recoil, and then resets to the next barrel.

When single triggers were first invented, they found that they most often doubled with one pull of the trigger. This is because you actually involuntarily pull the trigger a second time during recoil. So this was countered with by putting an inertia block that went forward during recoil to absorb the second �pull� (involuntary), and then reset on the second sear.

When these start to fail, it�s because they�re just dirty or gummed up. If you�re comfortable pulling the fire control group apart and giving it a good cleaning, then I�m sure it would return to normal when you reassembled it.;

The way to know if an inertial trigger is working right is: Insert snap caps. Pull the trigger once and listen for the snap. Now pull it a second time and you shouldn�t hear anything. Now bump the butt of the gun on the ground (solid, but don�t slam it, just try to replicate recoil), and pull the trigger again, you should hear a snap.

If it takes an especially hard bump on the ground, you know your inertia block is being impeded by either dirt, rust or dried up lubricant.

Best of luck to you my friend.

More news at eleven... Not sure what I know now... I thought the 686 trogger was mechanical, but I could be wrong. I have quite a few different brands of O/U... but shoot the Berettas and 101s first.
art

You got my interest very quickly because the two shotguns I use most frequently are a BL4 (skeet/skeet)and a 686 Black Onyx (31/2 chambers).
I've never had problems in the field but will mention that when I first purchased the 686 I removed the wood to clean everything to my satisfaction there was a small spiral of metal in the action area. Removed metal, cleaned. I've not had any problems in the ten or eleven years I've owned it. It gets cleaned well every year after goose season and taken down about every three or four years or when it gets wet.
The BL4 which I've had since the 70's just works. Does not get the same takedown cleaning as often.
Anyway, the BL4 has to have the stock thumped after pulling the trigger for the first barrel before the trigger for the second barrel will function. The 686 will function with a pull, release, and pull. No thump is necessary. I just took each one out and checked.
My suggestion would be very thorough cleaning and lubing before I got too involved looking for mechanical failures, although I've gotten rid of firearms that have malfunctioned--confidence is important. Cleaning may even require going to someone who will disassemble things like ejectors to assure that they have access to any foreign materiel.
Great combo.

Try some heavy loads, unless of course your pheasant loads are 11/4 or 13/8 oz baby mags, that could "exercise" the innards into smooth operations...Briley does first rate work...Bill

Was shooting heavy 3" Fiochi 4s... There was NO lack of recoil! My trigger is mechanical on the 686, too.

Two barrels, two triggers.

Was just looking into the trigger issue again and I erred! The mechanical trigger is NOT on the 686, but rather some other O/Us I was looking at. The 686 is inertia operated as most stated... Not sure how I did that, but...

Double trigger guns tend to ding my middle finger with the guard...
art

I had a Browning do this...usually the trigger mechanism is dirty and needs cleaning.

I had a bl 4 that the safety would come on while swing on a bird or clay I sent it in 3 times finally gave up on it. I now have a al391 seems to like abuse.

Art, you may have just trapped the trigger but I suspect that you would recognize that.

Were you down in the Dakotas on your hunt? I have a friend from Wasilla that goes down there every year. I didn't make it this year but am planning on being there next.

The problem was dust, lots of dust! And red scoria dust, too. It is fine and gets into everything there.

Yes, we were in ND, just North of Belfield, near Dickinson. I believe Riley would like to make this an annual event... He liked the idea of skipping school for bird hunting...

I know a number of folks that make the pilgrimage annually. There are worse ways to spend a week...
art