[Guest Post] The Beretta Folding Shotgun
[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by Bill Rushmore. Bill blogs over at The Quarterdeck Log]
When you think of a single shot inexpensive shotgun geared towards the beginner chances are that Beretta is not a manufacture that comes to mind. But at one time that was indeed the case when Beretta made such a gun. I like to brag that when I was a teenager in the late 80's I bought a Beretta Shotgun with money I made during a summer job. But the truth is that my Dad sold me his first shotgun he bought as a teenager during the early 60's. My Dad sold it to me for the token price of $35 US which is the price he paid for it.
This nifty little single shot from Beretta has been called the Model FS-1, Model 412, Companion, and in Italian it is known as “Monocanna Ripieghevole” or “single barrel folding shotgun.” The unique part of these single shots is that they break up to the point where it folds in half. In finding parts for this gun I had trouble because is not appear to be all that common, at least in the US, even though Beretta manufactured these single shots from the 1920's until 1992. They made it in 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, and .410. Even though it was marketed towards the beginner hunter it was manufactured in plain basic models up to fancier ones with hand engraving, walnut stocks, and even gold plating.
![[Guest Post] The Beretta Folding Shotgun photo](http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/beretta_1-tfb.JPG "[Guest Post] The Beretta Folding Shotgun photo")
The model I own is a nice little 12 gauge. It is a fixed full choke that gives very tight patterns. It is the base model yet still has checkering on the stock and fore grip and some fancy engraving of the Roman goddess of victory. How many many beginner single shots have anything like this?
![[Guest Post] The Beretta Folding Shotgun photo](http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/beretta_2-tfb.JPG "[Guest Post] The Beretta Folding Shotgun photo")
The shotgun is very light and according to specs it weighs 5 ½ pounds. That's very light for a 12 gauge. That is great for a hunting gun when you have to carry the thing around all day but not so good for reducing recoil. The prime factor in how much recoil you feel is weight. The lighter the gun the more recoil you get. That's the one big draw back of this otherwise fine gun, especially if you consider beginners. To give you some perspective this gun feels lighter than my New England Arms Pardner 410!
I must admit I have a fondness to the break single shot shot guns (and rifles for that matter). Too often they are seen as just a beginners gun but I really appreciate the simpleness and the sporting nature of making your one shot count on the hunt. I think Leonardo da Vinci said, it best “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
![beretta 3 tfb tm [Guest Post] The Beretta Folding Shotgun photo](http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/beretta_3-tfb.jpg "beretta 3 tfb tm [Guest Post] The Beretta Folding Shotgun photo")
An American company whose name escapes me made a knockoff of this shotgun, one of which has been sitting in my father’s gun cabinet unfired for about 10 years. That’s roughly the time required for one of us to forget how painful it is to shoot and to take it out again. The stock has been drilled and filled with shot, after which the gun promptly cracked its stock almost in two just behind the grip. It is a magical weapon, to be sure.
Like the woman’s little black basic dress. Elegance in its simplicity, and never goes out of style.
I also started out with a South American clone of that one!
B Woodman, I agree!
I agree about the soundness and simplicity of having a single barrel. Having more than one barrel just seems really inefficient to me (unless you need it for cooling, like on a gatling gun…).
If you need to shoot more than once rapidly, use an autoloader.
Something similar to this was being marketed by Century a few years back by a Turkish company named Khan. It was a pretty nifty folding 12 Gauge, but I never saw one in person, and I was looking! I wasn’t aware that anyone had done this before. I love single barrel shotguns because they’re cheap, plentiful, and often work as take-down models, but folding models sound even better!
I totally agree, the Beretta single barrel folding shotgun is not only an elegant gun but the use of it teaches discipline and technique. Definitely the Beretta was a treat, it was my first gun, and I highly recommend it.