Beretta Silver Mallard opinion

[DallasCMT]

The Beretta al390 is still considered to be one of the finest most reliable semi auto's ever made.

I saw this comment in another thread and tried to reply, but the thread is too old - so I'm starting my own. After reading Bull Elk's post, I had to sign up to this forum and reply. Hello everyone from Dallas, TX!

I'm a clay shooting enthusiast and got back into it a couple years ago after taking 25 years off to raise a family. Now I"m hooked - I prefer skeet, but love 5-stand, sporting clays, even trap - just shooting in general. I really enjoy a dove hunt as well. My newer shotguns are an A400 Xplor 20ga, 686 Sporting 12ga, and Browning Maxus Sporting 12ga.

So... a friend recently told me about a business associate of his that had a shotgun he wanted to sell. He had no interest in guns.

The gun is a 1998 Beretta AL390 Silver Mallard 20 gauge, 26". When I did some Google searching I found your post, and I've heard a lot of good about the whole 390 & 391 series of guns. Kind of a legacy in semi-autos, and still valued and praised.

I got kinda excited about seeing the gun and got my hands on it last weekend, got to shoot two rounds of skeet with it. The gun is in absolutely perfect condition, not a scratch on it. However, there is one kinda big issue.

The issue is that the stock was cut and an adjustable plate installed with a Kick Eez pad, making it a short 13.5" LOP. It was cut for his wife. I prefer a 14.75 to 15.0" LOP. Also, the gun came with only one extended Briley CYL choke, no shims, and not sure if it originally came with a plastic case, I didn't get one.

So the gun is in perfect condition except for the stock. I spent a couple hours breaking it all the way down and completely cleaned it. From the thin but caked on residue and lack of wear anywhere, my estimation is the gun was fired maybe a few hundred times in the early years of it's life, and never cleaned. It's completely spotless now.

I will need to get the butt stock extended, I'll likely put an adjustable LOP system on there so I can shoot it at 14.75" and my wife can shoot it at 13.75". I'd love to find an uncut gloss butt stock matched for this gun but I imagine it would be pricey. I can always buy a few chokes for it.

I have the gun here but haven't traded funds yet. The seller wants $400, and is throwing in 10 boxes of shells, so that's about $340 to me. I'm thinking of getting an adjustable LOP plate system from stockpositioning.com, it costs about $55-75 depending on which one I get.

I think this is a good deal but I would appreciate some feedback. I really don't need another shotgun... but who ever does! It's just such a nice looking and smooth shooting gun, even at 13.5" LOP.

This is the butt plate - not bad looking, not a bad install - but too short!

[Revoman]

You are correct, the AL390 is a very desirable semi.

I would think that with so many 'add a stock' companies out there that an extension would be easy enough to do/get. There are some decent DYI's out there too like Graco. There's always JS Stocks in Azusa, Ca, a well known recoil reduction stock maker if you wanna spend some real cash on a stock. I'm sure that there are like in TX as well. Briley being in Texas might also be a venue?

At $400, I would have bought as well. Ya done good in my book.

[ysr_racer]

I had a really poor experience with JS Stocks in Azusa, Ca, and don't recommend them.

[Bull Elk]

Hi DallasCMT!

Welcome to CalGuns. Even with the short stock and the condition you described the shotgun I'd give you $500 for it. But you've already figured out that I really like the 390 and 391. If you search around various websites you might be able to find a replacement stock. If not, check with Boyd's. Congrats on possibly buying your first 390. I recently sold a new, never fired 390 20 gauge with box, etc. I wish I had kept it but a guy from Texas gave me a rediculous amount of money for it........I'm looking for another! If you decide to pass on this one let me know. You can even keep the shells!

[RayPDA]

Welcome!

At that price, BUY IT!

You could just buy a thicker Kick-Eez pad plus some spacers and grind it to fit - switch out the spacers and pad for the shorter one if your wife or anyone of smaller stature wants to shoot it.


Alternatively...for stock work, see:

https://www.tronspace.com

If you search on Trapshooters.com - you'll see that he's regarded as someone who does good work at decent prices. He's in the midwest and his turnaround times are pretty good. I've seen his work on some fellow shooters' guns and I'll eventually send off a gun or two over to him.

http://www.tronspace.com/Pages/PriceList.aspx

If you want another, full length stock:

1. Find Wally (acss) on Trapshooters; he specializes in buying/selling older Beretta auto parts and will probably have some used stocks on hand - wriebesell@rpt.coop

2. Coles...if you want to treat yourself...

http://www.colegun.com/collections/beretta-390-391-wood-sets/gauge-20

[JagerDog]

I had one in 20g lightly used. I didn't shoot it well so I sold it to a buddy for the $500 I had in it. I really wanted to like it. I get first dibs if he ever sells it, but doubt that is happening. The Silver mallard is THE 390 to have, short of maybe some dinner guns.

I believe the shims are available from Beretta.

[DallasCMT]

Thanks all for the welcome, and thanks for the ideas!

I'm toying with the idea of a new butt stock. Seems like a fair deal to me, I found a Beretta brand AL390 20ga field gloss stock, brand new, for $210. I think that's a good price but I haven't searched enough to know. My stock is gloss so I need to match the forearm. If I go that route and use the KickEez I have now, I'll have a very original looking gun in like new condition for about $570, assuming $20 to ship the wood.

The adjustable LOP hardware and installation would cost that, and I'm not a huge fan of the look. I can probably install it myself, and save the $125-150, but just not sure it's worth it.

Aggh... decisions... but I think I will keep the gun, for now. :-) Ray, I'll try to find Wally.

Thanks again guys!

[Jules]

Yeah, that's a steal, I think. I do 12 gauges, not 20, so I'm not really in tune with the value of those. A grand would be a decent price on a 12 gauge with minimal work done to it. Tronspace is a good one to talk to; I just got my barrel back from him. Keep an eye one trapshooters.com for a replacement stock, but hold onto the shorter one.

[keith1911]

I agree buy it. My main hunting & clays shotgun is a 12ga AL-390 Silver Mallard. It has been utterly reliable. Bought it NIB a couple years ago.

Looks like you can pick up replacement factory stocks at Midwest Gun Works.

[DallasCMT]

I bought a stock from Brownell's. An original Beretta AL 390 stock in gloss, just like the original. It was on sale - still not cheap, but I like the idea of having an "original" gun.

RayPDA - Wally did reply, he didn't have a 20ga in stock but did have a 12ga. He said it would sit a little "proud" on the gun, but not bad. I thanked him anyway, wanting to stick to specs.

I'm excited about getting this gun in shooting form. I'll likely use the Kick-Eez pad it came with, but may buy a new Beretta MicroCore pad if an LOP adjustment needs to be made.

Does anyone know if the Beretta MicroCore Field pads (5.0") fit the AL 390 original stock? They are both field grade, so should both be 5.0". I like that they come in 3-4 thicknesses, and work very well on my 686 and A400.

[DallasCMT]

I hope the stock I bought will be a good match. I see now that Beretta makes not only oil rubbed and gloss finishes, but also a field stock and a deluxe stock - four to choose from. I bought gloss/field as a replacement, and afraid I may have gloss/deluxe now, and it won't look as good, or will be a totally different color from the forearm. ...kinda like this one - two tone:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=509766443#PIC

Guess I'll find out this coming week when the stock arrives.

[DallasCMT]

Welcome to CalGuns ... If you decide to pass on this one let me know. You can even keep the shells!

Thanks again, and I think I'm going to hang on to this AL390 SM! I sure hope the stock I bought for it is a close enough match, though. As it turns out, these guns came in both Field and Deluxe wood, and those came in oil rubbed, and gloss, so four possible combinations. I'll know more Tuesday when the wood arrives. I bought Field Gloss, but I'm afraid I might really have Deluxe Gloss on the gun now.

BTW, I did finally get the ammo that was included in the deal. The good thing is that it was 25 boxes, not "about 10" as I was first told. Plus, half are 1oz loads. The questionable part is that the ammo appears to be made in 1998, the year the gun was made. The SKU's don't even exist anymore, and the box labels look dated. I see a "copyright 1998" on the Federals.

At least the ammo boxes looks clean, the white paper on the boxes is white, and it was apparently stored indoors in a banker box for the last 17 years. I shot 1/2 a box of the 1oz loads today to see how they shot, and no issues at all - they all went BANG and I was hitting the targets.

My guess is the guy bought these two cases of ammo when he bought the gun (which is a 1998 model), and gun and ammo have sat for 17 years.

We settled on $400 for the gun and ammo. So if I value these shells at $6 per box, that comes to $150, making the gun cost $250. I think I did good!

[JagerDog]

I think you know you basically stole the gun. To ease your conscience, I'll take it off your hands for $300.

Sometimes ya find something the guy hasn't kept up with the values.

That ammo is fine. I've shot shotshells much older than that.

[DallasCMT]

I think you know you basically stole the gun. To ease your conscience, I'll take it off your hands for $300.

Sometimes ya find something the guy hasn't kept up with the values.

I appreciate the offer!

The ammo was a surprise to me. I thought he had a few boxes, then I heard 10, then 25 show up. To me, $400 for the gun was fair because I can't shoot it the way it sits. I'm putting $209 into a new stock, so without the ammo I've got $609 into it.

If the new wood doesn't match the forearm, I'll have to put another $50-75 into the "Deluxe Gloss" wood, and pay for shipping to return the old (new) wood.

But I still look at it as $400 for a nice gun that came with $150 in ammo.

On the other hand, a person looking for a practically new AL390 20ga with a 13.5" stock would have probably paid $500 to $600, without the ammo.

[duckman1]

I hope you can sleep at night...........without smiling.