Beretta DT11 Custom via Premier Guns

I know Beretta are out of favour on these forums but my 692 served me well for 3.5 years and decided to treat myself to a DT11 for my 40th birthday. Had seen that Premier Guns at Doveridge were offering customers the chance to take a trip over to Beretta in Gardone val Trompia in Northern Italy to get fitted with a custom stock. After reading some rave reviews I booked on a trip in October and had a brilliant time. Beretta could not be more helpful and their stock makers have a great attention to detail. My wife (who does no shooting at all) came and loved it. We got tours of the Beretta family private firearms collection, factories and engraving studios.

Anyway my gun finally arrived last week and picked it up yesterday. It fits like a glove and I am really chuffed with it.

If anyone fancies a premium beretta I can thoroughly recommend Premier Guns and David Beardsmore who does your stock fitting.

You'll find it's more friendly fluffy rabbits than an outright dislike for Beretta

That does look a nice Gun and i bet it was a great experience.

Looks a treat,one day I will treat myself to custom made gun,but browning will be the name.

Cannot shoot Beretta's as to thick in the stock and shallow in the receiver,tried the browning and beretta side by side at doveridge and bought the browning.

nice mate ?

Yep very nice gun, if they stopped doing all the factory visits they could bring the price down a little ( they are over priced )

Very nice too !

Seems like Beretta are finally gering their act together with customer service and following the Perazzi example rather than just offering an off the shelf generic gun, even in the premium grades as in the past    Good on them,  I have heard that the museum and engraving studios are pretty impressive. 

I bought one of the first DT11s, with adjustable comb. So, made it fit well, but what a horrible tool it turned out. (I thought I needed a heavier gun to add control but actually needed lighter). I handled a latest version black gun recently and it was a million miles away from mine. I'm sure Simon has a great tool here. 

Interestingly, whenever I see a custom stock, it looks like this, with a higher comb than standard..

I bought one of the first 32" DT11's in the Country when they came out. Biggest problem was the stock dimensions, too low in the comb, too much drop at the heel, grip radius massive and poor finish to the wood!!! Fitted an adjustable comb, changed the pitch with a wedge spacer between the pad, took a knife to the grip and reduced that, then spent hours re finishing the wood.

After all that, it was better, but still not right!!!

Barrels were ridiculously heavy, made the gun handle not just dead, but dead in a coffin!!!

Trigger was superb. Action bomb proof. Never had a misfire, ejectors pinged empties out for miles. Chokes patterns were good. No recoil even with 50g goose cartridges. 

You won't have all the stock issues I had and the barrels of the current models are lighter than the first ones. Good luck and enjoy for many years to come!!!

Remember to keep the locking bolt greased, if it gets dry it can lock up on you!!!

Dbac300566 said:

Looks a treat,one day I will treat myself to custom made gun,but browning will be the name.

Cannot shoot Beretta's as to thick in the stock and shallow in the receiver,tried the browning and beretta side by side at doveridge and bought the browning.

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We are all built differently and look for different things in a gun. Brownings feel like a piece of 4x2 in my hands. I demo'd an F3 side by side with the DT11 and just felt narrow and whippy in comparison. Don't leave it too long to treat yourself ?

balltrap said:

Yep very nice gun, if they stopped doing all the factory visits they could bring the price down a little ( they are over priced )

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Are you referring to Beretta or Premier Guns? I was lucky to get mine booked before the recent Beretta price increases and looks like more are on the way. I was very tempted to get the DT11 L Scroll but those price increases pushed it out of range.

Paul120 said:

Seems like Beretta are finally gering their act together with customer service and following the Perazzi example rather than just offering an off the shelf generic gun, even in the premium grades as in the past    Good on them,  I have heard that the museum and engraving studios are pretty impressive. 

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They have been doing it for a while but going out there on your own speaking no italian is daunting. Premier Guns do an all inc package so you get yourself to the airport and they take care of the rest. It really was amazing - I could have looked around that museum all day. Everything they have ever built over the last 500 years dating back to flintlock muzzle loaders and all in the former family home. The engraving for the premium guns all done by hand. Mostly ladies doing it too.

Will Hewland said:

I bought one of the first DT11s, with adjustable comb. So, made it fit well, but what a horrible tool it turned out. (I thought I needed a heavier gun to add control but actually needed lighter). I handled a latest version black gun recently and it was a million miles away from mine. I'm sure Simon has a great tool here. 

Interestingly, whenever I see a custom stock, it looks like this, with a higher comb than standard..

Click to expand...

Not sure how much weight is saved on the black. My 32" DT11 is about 160g heavier than my old 682. I believe the first DT11's were waying in at 9lb +

Darkside said:

I bought one of the first 32" DT11's in the Country when they came out. Biggest problem was the stock dimensions, too low in the comb, too much drop at the heel, grip radius massive and poor finish to the wood!!! Fitted an adjustable comb, changed the pitch with a wedge spacer between the pad, took a knife to the grip and reduced that, then spent hours re finishing the wood.

After all that, it was better, but still not right!!!

Barrels were ridiculously heavy, made the gun handle not just dead, but dead in a coffin!!!

Trigger was superb. Action bomb proof. Never had a misfire, ejectors pinged empties out for miles. Chokes patterns were good. No recoil even with 50g goose cartridges. 

You won't have all the stock issues I had and the barrels of the current models are lighter than the first ones. Good luck and enjoy for many years to come!!!

Remember to keep the locking bolt greased, if it gets dry it can lock up on you!!!

Click to expand...

Mine ways 8lb10oz which from what I can tell is the same as a 32" DT10.

Thanks for the tip on bolt. I am amazed at how strong the action feels with the cross bolt. It feels bomb proof and built like a tank compared to my 692.

Will Hewland said:

I bought one of the first DT11s, with adjustable comb. So, made it fit well, but what a horrible tool it turned out. (I thought I needed a heavier gun to add control but actually needed lighter). I handled a latest version black gun recently and it was a million miles away from mine. I'm sure Simon has a great tool here. 

Interestingly, whenever I see a custom stock, it looks like this, with a higher comb than standard..

Click to expand...

Funny that isn't it ! I've yet to see a custom stock that had a lower comb, everyone seems to go much higher than the factory spec and yet the nutjobs from pretty much every make keep churning out these standard low comb guns that don't suit man or beast.

@ P1Fanatic, i was referring to Beretta the DT11 is overpriced when it comes out the factory.

Looks a very nice gun , enjoy it and shoot well 

Hamster said:

Funny that isn't it ! I've yet to see a custom stock that had a lower comb, everyone seems to go much higher than the factory spec and yet the nutjobs from pretty much every make keep churning out these standard low comb guns that don't suit man or beast.

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I spoke to someone at Beretta about this, he told me there are 4 comb height options, GMK went for the lowest one.

Spoke to some stoat at GMK who's answer was (all smug) "Yes, it's a sporting gun, they are meant to shoot dead flat, the higher comb options are for the Italian market where they shoot a lot of trap targets when they shoot sporting"

WOW!!!

P1Fanatic said:

Not sure how much weight is saved on the black. My 32" DT11 is about 160g heavier than my old 682. I believe the first DT11's were waying in at 9lb +

Mine ways 8lb10oz which from what I can tell is the same as a 32" DT10.

Thanks for the tip on bolt. I am amazed at how strong the action feels with the cross bolt. It feels bomb proof and built like a tank compared to my 692.

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My DT11 was 9llb 8oz before I stuffed 6oz of lead into the bolt hole to try and balance it...

So these dt11 with the lighter barrels etc,  what serial number do they start at. ??

How much does it cost in addition to the basic gun price for the factory visit and custom fit?

Was about £1500 but I believe prices have gone up since I went. That was everything included ie flights, hotel (nice one right on a lake), transport Italy, all food and drink (including a lot of wine), custom woodwork by Beretta (get to pick your stock blank) and fitting by David Beardsmore. Normally its only customers wanting DT11 upwards but sometimes they can squeeze a 692 in.

Ok thanks