“I’m looking for an elegant second-hand boxlock – please help”

Beretta 687 EELL

Option 2 Beretta 687 EELL

This is the really posh version of the familiar Beretta Silver Pigeon. The price of a new gun is £6,450, while a new Silver Pigeon 1 game gun costs £1,976. These are the importer’s recommended prices, which are undercut by most dealers, but the 687 EELL is still an expensive gun.

So what makes it better than a standard Silver Pigeon? Well, the woodwork for a start. It’s a dark, well-figured sample of beautifully-figured walnut, carved with well-proportioned, flowing lines. Then, there’s the fact that it’s a side-plated gun, which gives it plenty of space for the engraver to show off their art.

On the second-hand racks you may find game scene or scroll patterns, which are spread all over the action and side-plates, and onto the trigger guard and top lever. Also on the racks you may find fixed choke and multichoke versions. The fixed-choke is said to have slightly sharper handling than the multi. Internally, the “works” of the action are nicely presented, and work in exactly the way as any other “600” series Beretta.

New guns are supplied in an ABS case, which should contain choke tubes when appropriate, and a hexagon key for stock removal. But therein lies a warning – if you remove the stock yourself, do take great care because the side plates are a precision fit.