Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Beretta AL391, is this normal?

Purchased an Al391 Urika on the interwebs never having owned one (or anything remotely similar). I was surprised to see this weld (op rod to sleeve) upon initial inspection. Looks a bit.....crude?

Simple question, is this normal?

There is nothing like that on either of my 390s. Battue will know. Maybe he will chime in.

Have you shot it yet?

Someone else will have to answer...Shooting an A400 now, and it's been awhile since I got rid of the 391. Looks odd....more like it has been chipped. Is that rust?

I don't think it is rust or chipped, sorry just a bad picture. The concern is an ugly, sloppy looking weld when the rest of the gun appears fairly polished. I just want to be sure it is not some kind of hack-job repair.

I wouldn't worry about it unless there was some binding or signs of rubbing or wear.

Your post caused me to take a look at my 390s and 391s and they all have rather crude looking welds. They aren't as bad looking as yours but a buddy who builds utility trailers would probably cringe at their appearance.

Makes my eyes hurt. Helping out with pops ,will check mine when I return home.

I stopped by the shop and got some better photos. One side looks better than the other.
I have not fired the gun but it seems to function properly. Supposedly it has seen almost no use.

Now that the clouds lifted, it all looks normal...

In this context it looks just fine to me. However I wouldn't show it to a few friends of mine.

First picture looks horrible, the follow up ones look normal.

They have to attach the action bar to the recoil sleeve somehow so this is how it's done. Berettas are good guns but always be aware that their internals are machined and the edges are not softened.

I think it looks like a few I've seen

Thank you gentlemen. This will be my first modern (>1970) shotgun. Can't say I'm impressed.

Don't know what you are comparing it to but the ones I have had were tanks, they just shoot and you can't mess them up.
Yours may be the exception to what I have seen.

l have shot trap with several 391's for years.Looks fine.More than likely welded by a robot.

When referring to SA’s, many in the know will say nothing from the past is it equal for reliability. And it has only been surpassed by the next generation of the Beretta SA.

True. When my wife decided to get serious about clay shooting, I bought her Beretta semiautos at shelf price rather than Browning at manufacturer's cost or even free due in large part to their reliability. The perfect gun would be the 390 gas system with the 391 stocks but that isn't in the cards. The 400(?) with Kickoff was on my radar if I could find one at the right price but the Chinese flu fiasco has made that search fruitless.

Have an A400 with the Kickoff and one without, both 12's....Unless one is extremely recoil sensitive, the Kickoff doesn't do all that much.

Have shot a 20 with the Kickoff and it seemed to do less...And the mechanism is not that well made, however they give you a stock extension that allows it to be removed.

Was looking for one for my wife. She shot a few boxes of 1 1/8 oz Winchester Super Sporting Clays loads through one without a problem. I was hoping it would make the old 1 1/4 oz pigeon loads comfortable enough for her to shoot in the field. 1 1/8 oz of number 5 shot at 1200 fps are pushing her max with her current set up. It works well enough for most days but for late season and cold weather I like a little larger shot and a little more of it.

I'm further hoping she would find shooting many steel loads comfortable. Velocities have crept up to unreasonable points and I don't like shooting many of the current options. Give me the old 1 1/8-1 1/4 oz loads around 1400 fps and I'll be very happy. The other choices, bismuth and the various tungsten types, are rather expensive and difficult to find as components. Factory loads are mostly no-goes as the velocity is as fast as steel making for terrible recoil.

She'll have to do with what she has, I don't see that gun reaching my price point anytime soon. Too many years of too little and too expensive of ammo, guns, and course fees have reduced the number of these guns hitting the used racks. Might have to get serious competing again, maybe I can get a Beretta sponsorship (sort of) this time...

I have had my 391 for over 20 years. The op-rod looks like that, never had a problem.
Bought it originally for sporting clays, shot some trap with it. It is a little heavy but that helps with heavier loads. Have hunted doves, pheasants, ducks and lately have used it for turkeys. It works with light dove, trap loads and heavy duck and turkey loads. It has had a lot of use and has never needed anything but a good cleaning.
One of my favorite shotguns.