Beretta is one of the world’s oldest gunmakers, and for hundred years they’ve used the innovative techniques to build their firearms. In this video, you can see the techniques the company is using to build their SO-series O/U shotguns.
Beretta’s SO-series over-and-unders are one of the world’s great doubles. Introduced around 1933 as the model S1, Beretta’s sidelock over-unders were the Italian maker’s response to Browning’s then new Superposeds.
Beretta’s in-house firearms designer Tullio Marengoni considered Browning’s O/U “..very high, heavy and ugly.” He set about to create a low-profile over-and-under similar to a Boss or Woodward that could also be mass produced in a factory like Beretta’s.
One thing that struck me: How much handwork Beretta has cut out of the gunmaking process.
Other than on the stock most of the gun’s part are machine made, and it looks like most of the work is done by programmers and machine operators rather than gunmakers. If the end result is best-quality work, I don’t know if this is good or bad.
