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For hunting: How does the Betetta stack up against Browning Citori?

Say with a range of: $2,000-2,600?

I have several, two Br, one Be. All good. I prefer the Brownings for no reasons I can articulate other than they "seem" more robust. One is a 1964 Superposed Lightning, still tight, and the other is a late Citori. Beretta is a 686 Essential, kind of an Express, and I'm shooting skeet with it. Not as well as with my 1100 but it is early.

hard to go wrong with either of the B guns.
All being equal I would go Beretta for one reason, you can get extra barrels, different lengths, and gauges for them as well as stocks.
You hardly ever see anything like that for a Browning

Great advice here.

Hard choice. Both make great shotguns. Pullit makes a good point regarding the availability of barrels and stocks. That makes the Beretta more versatile.

I have Berettas Blackwings in 12 and 20 gauges and 686 SP1s in 28 and 410. All 28 inch. If they made an O/U in 16 I would have bought one but my Browning lightning in 16 serves me well.

I shot Browning trap guns for many years. Never had a complaint. I started shooting skeet and sporting clays and found I liked the Beretta 686 series better for both. Now I shoot all three disciplines just casually. The O/Us I mentioned fit the bill for my needs.

For hunting, the Beretta Blackwing 20 gauge is pretty sweet. It weighs less than the SP1 28 gauge and is choke tubed. Makes a great upland gun. The Blackwing 20 weighs 5 pounds 15.9 ounces. My SP1 28 weighs 6 pounds 5.4 ounces. The Browning Lightning 16 weighs 6 pounds 11 ounces. Comparatively my 26 inch Ithaca 37S 16 Featherweight weighs 6 pounds 12.1 ounces. None of those rank as too heavy for an upland gun. At least to me.

In the end, the best advice I can give you is shoot both of them if you can before you buy.

Sometimes it's a hard choice, this feature or that. In the final analysis pick the one that fits you the best, you'll get more hits that way. Mb

The Berettas feel better to me and I shoot them better. I would go with what feels/fits better.

Have you looked at the Connecticut Shotgun Revelation? They come in 20. They range in cost between a bit less than 2500 to a bit more depending on the configuration, They are nice looking guns and better than that are made in the USA.

The Citori is a great shotgun, but at my size it fits me so well it makes a better spear than shotgun for me. I shoot Berettas far better. The distinction is more about how poorly I shoot the Citori than how well I may or may not shoot the Berettas..

I have owned both and liked them both very well. I have an old Browning trap gun that has a lot of shells through it, just replaced firing pins and hammer springs- it’s probably due for a new top lever, but I don’t shoot it much these days (quit shooting registered trap for the most part). I had a Beretta 687 SPII sporting and a DT-11 trap combo- neither one gave me any problems but I didn’t shoot them nearly as much as the Browning trap gun- I now shoot a Browning CX for sporting clays, and I really like it.

All in all- both manufacturers’ guns will last you a lifetime more than likely. The Beretta has the advantage of the availability of extra barrels as mentioned above- but I don’t know a ton of people that take advantage of that fact (obviously there are exceptions to that rule)- plus, it’s a lot more fun buying another gun than just a barrel. Pick both up, and buy the one that feels better to you- because that’s the only thing that matters- they both make great guns.

One caveat to both B guns- their customer service can be disappointing. Luckily, they don’t break very often and there are plenty of gunsmiths that know how to work on both of them, the only downside to that is- it comes out of your pocket.

100% agree with MB here, you have to get the one that fits you and that you can shoot the best. All other considerations fall by the wayside. I have discovered that I can't hit as well with an Italian shotgun or with Winchester M12s. An M12 in my hands might as well be a baseball bat. Sad but true. I can hit alot of flying stuff with Brownings. I buy and use Brownings because I can hit with them.

Over the years I've had to learn that the hard way. I don't fight it anymore. Most Browning A-5's fit me nice so I can hit pretty well with them , my 1959 sweet sixteen is almost an extension of my body as is my Benelli M-1 Super 90 26" with wood stocks. I like to try different things and guns are no exceptions. Sometimes your curiosity leads you to many places and things but I'll say this for sure if you have a shotgun that you shoot well never ever sell or trade it. It's a piece of you that works even when you get stupid or curious enough to try out another, keep old faithful around to bail your sorry ass out of whatever slump you put it in. Mb

Gun fit is at the top of my list as well. For me I love the A-5's but can't shoot them worth a crap. If I get my head down like I do on an O/U I am looking right into the back of the hump. If I get where I can see down the barrel, I feel like my head is a foot off the stock.
Gun fit is what I meant in my earlier post when I said "all things being equal". Browning's O/U's fit me good for the most part and some Beretta's do as well. I don't know if Beretta still does this or not but back in the 90's they use to make a #1,#2, and #3 stock for their 682's. I could not figure out why at the gun club I could pick up someone's Beretta and it felt great and the next one I picked up not so much until someone told me this. They use to stamp the number on the stock (I believe it was under the recoil pad or where it met the receiver, I can't remember) but you use to see stock set for sale that would list the number in the ad.

As it should be.. I can't shoot a Browning - at all.. I'd have to float the bird by 3+ feet... But I can shoot SKBs quite well... Well, at least I used to.. I haven't shot trap now for a few years and am danged rusty..

while Pullit makesa good point he didn't mention that very likely those extra barrels area going to cost close to another gun. honestly I like them both I, I simply have Browning because they fit me better. I also have a Franchi insticnt that is a damned well balanced gun

[quote=toltecgriz]The Berettas feel better to me and I shoot them better. I would go with what feels/fits better.[/quote

Fit and Feel. I want to like Berettas and love the way they look, but they just don't feel right to me. Where as every Browning I pick up just seems to fit. I don't think you could go wrong with either one quality wise.

FYI, most Beretta barrels are around $1200/ set

and IIRC they ahve to be fitted to the frame. that aint free.

I know they say that but have 2 buddies that have 12 ga and bought 20 ga barrels. Both went right on with no issues and shot fine. Maybe they got lucky I don't know, but worth a shot (no pun intended)

I have had several sets added to a couple of guns, find that it took quite a bit of fitting, including ejector timing. Not work for an amateur.