# beretta pintail review / feedback



## Normal

Any Beretta pintail owners out there?

Found a good deal / price on a used one (12 gauge 24" barrel wood , screw in chokes). My main gun is a benelli montefeltro and am considering this as a backup.

Looking for general feedback (or advice) re: reliability, takedown / cleaning , any 'quirks' for this model, etc.

THanks for your time.


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## Georgiaquacker

I have shot one for the past ten years with no problems. Easy to takedown and clean.


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## gman0046

If you don't mind my asking, what's a good deal? Saw one for sale locally for $595, shadow grass, 28" barrel.


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## BonMallari

12 gauge with a 24" barrel sounds like either a youth model or special purpose turkey gun. I dont think you would get very good patterns with waterfowl loads with such a short barrel..just my $.02


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## toddh

BonMallari said:


> 12 gauge with a 24" barrel sounds like either a youth model or special purpose turkey gun. I dont think you would get very good patterns with waterfowl loads with such a short barrel..just my $.02


Length of barrel has nothing to do with pattern. 

The Pintail is a great shotgun. Been shooting one with 24" barrel for many years. Very reliable, easy to clean.

Only "quirk" is that you have to manually depress the magazine latch to unload shells from the magazine. They don't feed into the chamber unless another shell is fired.

On second thought....you really don't want this gun.  Where did you say you found it?


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## Hew

One of the happiest days I've had in the past couple of years was when somebody stole my Pintail out of my truck. I giggle like a school girl thinking about the gang-bangin' SOB who stole it taking that gun to a drive-by shooting and having the POS thing jam on him after firing one shot and the surprise on his face when he realizes he took a single-shot shotgun to a gun fight. Surprise MOFO, and welcome to my world up until you did me a favor and stole it. 

Ah.....that was cathartic. Thanks. 

Here's what I know/have been told about the gun, and from my experience is true....

- It was made to be given out at charity auctions/banquets, etc. and wasn't sold retail
- Unless your's comes with one, you won't be finding an owners' manual for it (even on-line)
- It has a different recoil spring system than other Berettas
- Unless you're a gunsmith you won't be taking out the recoil spring to clean it. And even if you are a gunsmith, there's supposedly some special tool you'll need to get the spring out of the cylinder that houses it. That's a really bad feature for someone who hunts brackish water and for whom rust is an issue. I'd fill up the recoil spring housing with solvent, work the spring then drain the rust out, rinse, lather, repeat x 10 and you're good for maybe one hunt and then you're back to a pretty looking single shot.
- I don't have a ton of experience with auto-loaders, but the Pintail was a lot harder to take apart than the Franchi auto I own. 

This is just my experience. It's no reflection on anyone who owns one and is happy with it. I'm glad for anyone who likes their's. All I know is I wouldn't own another if you gave it to me.


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## gman0046

Hew, thanks for the heads up. Don't think I'll be getting a Pintail anutime soon.


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## Normal

Wow, talk about a range of opinions! Appreciate hearing both ends of the spectrum - thanks for the replies.

RE: barrel length. I would probably pick a 26" if I could choose - but I hunt pheasants about 95% of my hunting days and have found that I am quite happy with a shorter than traditional barrel length.


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## toddh

Hew said:


> - It was made to be given out at charity auctions/banquets, etc. and wasn't sold retail
> - Unless your's comes with one, you won't be finding an owners' manual for it (even on-line)
> - It has a different recoil spring system than other Berettas
> - Unless you're a gunsmith you won't be taking out the recoil spring to clean it. And even if you are a gunsmith, there's supposedly some special tool you'll need to get the spring out of the cylinder that houses it. That's a really bad feature for someone who hunts brackish water and for whom rust is an issue. I'd fill up the recoil spring housing with solvent, work the spring then drain the rust out, rinse, lather, repeat x 10 and you're good for maybe one hunt and then you're back to a pretty looking single shot.
> - I don't have a ton of experience with auto-loaders, but the Pintail was a lot harder to take apart than the Franchi auto I own.
> 
> .



The Pintail was sold retail for many years. Beretta quit importing it because of a non-compete agreement with Benelli.

I take the recoil spring out of mine after every fall. No, I'm not a gunsmith. You have to take the stock off and pop out the set pin holding the spring cap on, but it's not a big deal. I've done it in a motel room with a leatherman tool and a borrowed screwdriver.

It's very easy to take apart. Unscrew the cap holding the forearm on, the barrel and firing mechanism slides out, take out the pin holding the firing pin in, and it falls apart.


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## Normal

Hew said:


> Here's what I know/have been told about the gun, and from my experience is true....
> 
> - It was made to be given out at charity auctions/banquets, etc. and wasn't sold retail
> - Unless your's comes with one, you won't be finding an owners' manual for it (even on-line)
> - It has a different recoil spring system than other Berettas
> - Unless you're a gunsmith you won't be taking out the recoil spring to clean it. And even if you are a gunsmith, there's supposedly some special tool you'll need to get the spring out of the cylinder that houses it. That's a really bad feature for someone who hunts brackish water and for whom rust is an issue. I'd fill up the recoil spring housing with solvent, work the spring then drain the rust out, rinse, lather, repeat x 10 and you're good for maybe one hunt and then you're back to a pretty looking single shot.
> - I don't have a ton of experience with auto-loaders, but the Pintail was a lot harder to take apart than the Franchi auto I own.




I appreciate your reply and feedback. I am certainly no expert on these, but here is what I have read (which doesn't necessarily mean it is factual) at several places - as compared to your bullet points (just mentioning it for info purposes of others reading that may be interested.... again not saying i'm/my info is necessarily the gospel):



Hew said:


> - It was made to be given out at charity auctions/banquets, etc. and wasn't sold retail


 I believe that is was sold retail (and it may still be in other countries) - but it is not longer sold in the USA. (see below re: inertia vs. gas below)



Hew said:


> - Unless your's comes with one, you won't be finding an owners' manual for it (even on-line)


 I have read about many people looking for the manuals (and the one i'm buying doesn't have one). However, it appears that you can order one through beretta (main beretta site, not necessarily berettausa) - which I will likely do if i can't get some sort of a manual / breakdown detail from my gunsmith.



Hew said:


> - It has a different recoil spring system than other Berettas


 I believe this is fact. From what I have read, this is one of, or possibly the only, beretta that is not a gas gun. Supposedly it is a very very similar action to the montefeltro (except i guess it doesn't have a 'rotating' bolt). It was sold at a much lower price point (than the benellis) and is rumored to have been stopped (i.e. selling in USA and / or other markets) to stop price pressure on the benellis. Some have referred to this gun as a "BERELLI"



Hew said:


> - Unless you're a gunsmith you won't be taking out the recoil spring to clean it. And even if you are a gunsmith, there's supposedly some special tool you'll need to get the spring out of the cylinder that houses it. That's a really bad feature for someone who hunts brackish water and for whom rust is an issue. I'd fill up the recoil spring housing with solvent, work the spring then drain the rust out, rinse, lather, repeat x 10 and you're good for maybe one hunt and then you're back to a pretty looking single shot.


 This sounds a lot like my experience with my montefeltro (unfortunately). I had my gunsmith take the spring out of the tube and get it all cleaned lubed up. Unfortunately, it really hasn't 'fixed' it. My spring is worn out (it is an older H&K benelli - so i guess its time). Still is frustrating as heck - but sure is a sweet gun (the montefeltro).



Hew said:


> - I don't have a ton of experience with auto-loaders, but the Pintail was a lot harder to take apart than the Franchi auto I own.


 Just curious which franchi do you have? I have the 48AL 20 gauge - light as a feather and a joy to carry, all day long.


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## Hew

toddh said:


> The Pintail was sold retail for many years. Beretta quit importing it because of a non-compete agreement with Benelli.
> 
> I take the recoil spring out of mine after every fall. No, I'm not a gunsmith. You have to take the stock off and pop out the set pin holding the spring cap on, but it's not a big deal. I've done it in a motel room with a leatherman tool and a borrowed screwdriver.
> 
> It's very easy to take apart. Unscrew the cap holding the forearm on, the barrel and firing mechanism slides out, take out the pin holding the firing pin in, and it falls apart.


Don't know if mine was made before or after yours, but it wasn't nearly that easy. Took it to two different gunsmiths because I figured there had to be something I was missing (I'm no gearhead, but I'm not a dolt either when it comes to guns). Both of them told me that they couldn't get the spring out without the special tool (that they didn't have).


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## Hew

Normal said:


> Just curious which franchi do you have? I have the 48AL 20 gauge - light as a feather and a joy to carry, all day long.


Neat. I have the same. My grandfather got it when he was real sick w/ the Big C and wanted a light gun to tote in the field. He willed it to me after he passed. I'm a boring meat-and-potatoes 870 kinda guy, but I really enjoy that little 20 for quail and trap/skeet.


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## Normal

Hew,

Sorry to hear the circumstances of you franchi, but that is a cool way to remember him I'm sure. Cool that he passed it on to you. Its a sweet gun. I've shot A LOT of pheasants with mine. Might be a different story when I can't shoot lead (i.e. it is 2 3/4 only, which i think would be a tall order with steel).

RE: pintail - do you recall what the special tool was and did you ever get it out and replaced? In otherwords, if you got a new spring did it fix your issues (i'm guessing not based on your overall post  ).


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## Hew

Normal said:


> RE: pintail - do you recall what the special tool was and did you ever get it out and replaced? In otherwords, if you got a new spring did it fix your issues (i'm guessing not based on your overall post  ).


I never did get the tool. One of the gunsmiths said he'd could get it but it would take awhile. I figured I would just order it (and a replacement spring) myself and save the money. That's what lead me to discover that I couldn't find an owner's manual (which I needed to determine the name/part number of the tool and spring). After that I kinda gave up on the gun. I was only going to use it for turkeys and then it was stolen out of my truck mid-turkey season.


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## Chris Meyer

The problem my uncle had with his pintail was the realease for the unspent shells. We hunt in cold climates and it was inpossible to eject the shells with gloves on. I'm not sure if they're made the same now or not.


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## Normal

Yes I am familiar with that. I think it might be called an "automatic cutoff" (not sure, can't recall tech term).

When I first got my franchi (which has this too) I thought I got a defective gun (hadn't ever seen or heard of this - and it wasn't clearly explained in manual IIRC). 

After getting used to it it isn't really a big deal - and is actually a safety feature. But it definitely is an acquired taste and sucks at first. Can't change it either, so its a deal breaker if you don't want to deal with it.


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