Beretta Serial Number Info

Wondering if anyone knows how to age a Beretta action ie. from the serial number format E19xxxB. I have a 682 that the previous owner told me was sporterised trap gun i.e. that the m/c barrels were different to the originals. This is backed up by that fact that the action only has a safety button and no barrel selection.

Ive done the usual matching the letter code on the barrels to year of proof which was AZ = 1990. But as its likely I dont have the original barrels is there anyway at all to tell from the action serial number the year of manufacture?

I already emailed GMK who replied very quickly but said they had no record of that serial number so was too old for their records or not brought into the UK via them.

Regards

Simon

Only way to date beretta is by the proof mark, serial no as you have been told is a difficult one for GMK even if they could be bothered. Are you sure the barrels are not the original ones that have been multichoked ? seems unlikely to me that it would have had different barrels fitted.

The guy I bought it off around 8yrs ago had it checked over by Country Pursuits in Rickmansworth. They said they weren’t the original barrels and that it seemed to have started out life as a trap gun. Which as I say is backed up by the lack of a barrel selector on the safety. Seems really bizarre that Beretta’s don’t have matching serial numbers between barrels and action. No real reason I want to know other than curiosity as to the overall age of my gun.

My beretta has matching serial numbers on the barrels and the action,with date letters BU which makes it  2004 year of manufacture.

tiptopgun said:

My beretta has matching serial numbers on the barrels and the action,with date letters BU which makes it  2004 year of manufacture.

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On the action is under the top lever right?

GMK have always been helpful with this kind of enquiry in my experience. If a gun is over about 7/8 years old then you are going to struggle as information is very sparse.

P1Fanatic said:

On the action is under the top lever right?

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Right

Ok luckily I have a pic of both barrels and action on my phone so just checked. My action (under toplever) says E19xx1B (last digit looks like a B but could be an 8 and xx replaces two numbers). There is number on the barrels in the same format which is R18xx90B (last digit looks like a B but could be an 8) . If your numbers match which I believe they will then that confirms that my barrels are from a different gun and that is probably how the chap at Country Pursuits could tell. You would think that serial numbers would run in sequence so E is will before R. But I already know the barrels are 1990 and the S682 was only made 1984 onwards I believe.

Very strange then that we have to rely on just the additional proofing letters / numerals to determine age when that is only stamped on the barrels and the serial number is on both.

Is it really an issue that your barrels are more modern than the action?

Barrels are forever being changed on target rifles and only the receiver/action tends to carry a serial number.

RobertBeard said:

Is it really an issue that your barrels are more modern than the action? Barrels are forever being changed on target rifles and only the receiver/action tends to carry a serial number.

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Nope. Like I said earlier it was just my own curiosity. And so far there seems to be no way to tell which part is the older

Try email beretta in Italy

These are the marks found on the Italian proof marks on all Beretta's.

I - 1945; II - 1946; III - 1947; IV - 1948; V - 1949; VI - 1950; VII - 1951; VIII - 1952; IX - 1953; X - 1954; XI - 1955; XII - 1956; XIII - 1957; XIV - 1958; XV - 1959; XVI - 1960; XVII - 1961; XVIII - 1962; XIX - 1963; XX - 1964; XXI - 1965; XXII - 1966; XXIII - 1967; XXIV - 1968; XXV - 1969; XXVI - 1970; XXVII - 1971; XXIII - 1972; XXIX - 1973; XXX - 1974; AA - 1975; AB - 1976; AC - 1977; AD - 1978;

AE - 1979; AF - 1980; AH - 1981; AI - 1982; AL - 1983; AM - 1984; AN - 1985; AO - 1986; AS - 1987; AT - 1988; AU - 1989; AZ - 1990; BA - 1991; BB - 1992; BC - 1993; BD - 1994; BF - 1995; BH - 1996; BI - 1997; BL- 1998; BM - 1999; BN - 2000; BP - 2001; BS - 2002; BT - 2003; BU - 2004; BZ - 2005; CA - 2006; CB - 2007; etc,etc

Hope it helps

Gundog said:

These are the marks found on the Italian proof marks on all Beretta's.

I - 1945; II - 1946; III - 1947; IV - 1948; V - 1949; VI - 1950; VII - 1951; VIII - 1952; IX - 1953; X - 1954; XI - 1955; XII - 1956; XIII - 1957; XIV - 1958; XV - 1959; XVI - 1960; XVII - 1961; XVIII - 1962; XIX - 1963; XX - 1964; XXI - 1965; XXII - 1966; XXIII - 1967; XXIV - 1968; XXV - 1969; XXVI - 1970; XXVII - 1971; XXIII - 1972; XXIX - 1973; XXX - 1974; AA - 1975; AB - 1976; AC - 1977; AD - 1978;

AE - 1979; AF - 1980; AH - 1981; AI - 1982; AL - 1983; AM - 1984; AN - 1985; AO - 1986; AS - 1987; AT - 1988; AU - 1989; AZ - 1990; BA - 1991; BB - 1992; BC - 1993; BD - 1994; BF - 1995; BH - 1996; BI - 1997; BL- 1998; BM - 1999; BN - 2000; BP - 2001; BS - 2002; BT - 2003; BU - 2004; BZ - 2005; CA - 2006; CB - 2007; etc,etc

Hope it helps

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Cheers but already got that far - that is for barrel proofing marks. My action is apparently different so harder to age. I will email beretta italy as above if I can find a decent email addy.

A little update on this. I never managed to contact Beretta Italy but have just part ex’d the 682 in against a 692 (awaiting delivery). I told the dealer about the different barrels and he said straight away that the R prefix means replacement and he had no problem with that. Action also needs tightening but even with those two points I got offered £800 which I was more than happy with as I only paid £600 for it 8 years ago! About the only thing I have ever owned that has appreciated (other than a house).

Cheers

Simon