Beretta ASE  - 12 July 05

Beretta ASE. 04 July 2005

The Beretta ASE first appeared in the UK around 1990. In fact the early ones were called the ASE90 which may have been indicative of the year that the guns were introduced.

The ASE was never really the gun that it was intended to be. To clarify that, the ASE was in effect designed to be a boxlock or trigger plate version of the SO sidelock. Yet built at a far lower price. In effect a gun with many of the features that the SO sidelock enjoys, but at a value for money price.
The problem was, the ASE could never really deliver this. What it actually delivered was far more and the gun that has fulfilled that original criteria is a gun that succeeded the ASE; namely the DT10.
Although similar in many ways it is unfair to both the ASE and the DT10 to compare them.

Early on in the first production runs it was found that the ASE just could not be built on the budget. The gun needed far more time and hand work in its construction. And that was perhaps to be its downfall, as in the end they just couldn’t be built for the money.
The advances in computer aided design and manufacture brought about the relegation of the ASE in favour of the DT10.

The main differences in the ASE and the DT10 was the time it took to build,-or more precisely, the fact that there is so much hand workmanship in the ASE.

So in effect, the ASE was really a boxlock version of the SO, and with relatively as much time spent on it as would be an SO sidelock. Much of this can be hard to appreciate with a casual glance at the gun, but what you must do is look closely.

The barrels are constructed in the same way as an SO. They are made on the monoblock principle, and use Bohler antinit steel as the SO.
Bohler Antinit steel is a very high quality steel with relatively high chromium content. This gives the steel a high resistance to corrosion so consequently the bores are not chromed in the same way as the Silver Pigeon range of guns.
However, just because the steel is very robust, it doesn’t mean you can be lax with the cleaning.

The barrels are struck up by hand, giving a better feel and balance to the gun. The barrel shape will also look at flow better when looked at from the breech end.
The ribs are ventilated on both the top and the side ribs for better cooling ability. This also has a positive effect on weight and balance.
The sporters have a tapered top rib, from 10mm at the breech to 8mm at the muzzle.
Some trap guns had a stepped and tapered rib. Others had a parallel 10mm rib.

As a competition gun, the ASE90 was built with fixed choke in either skeet or trap. That is not to say that the trap or skeet guns were exclusively fixed choke.
The sporters were multichoke and had the Beretta standard Mobilchoke system. It was only later with the DT10 and the 682 gold e that the Optima choke was introduced.
The sporting guns have 3” chambers but model for other disciplines have 2 3/4”.

The lumps on the barrels follow the same basic design as the SO series, being located on either side of the barrels and making bite with the bolt at the axis point of the top barrel.
The bolt opens across the action and provides a very strong lock up right at the point where the gun is trying to stress itself open as the gun is fired.
The barrels hinge around replaceable stub pins. And there are also bearing shoulders set into the barrel wings. These engage with the action frame when the gun is closed and add to the lock up. In fact all Beretta OU’s have shoulders that work on this principle, but on the ASE these bearers are removable and can be replaced if they become worn.
As with most other Berettas, the hinge pins are available in over sizes and so is the locking bolt. This gives the ASE a lifetime of shooting with straight forward tightening work should the gun ever need it.
The action frame itself is also carved or detonated in a far more intricate way than the later DT10. All this work is chiselled and filed by hand. The fences have a subtle bolster and are smoothed to flow into the walls of the action.

On the earliest guns the action frame was finished silver, and were very plain with little engraving. In the middle of the action frame, on either side, the Olympic rings were inlayed in gold. This as a reference to Beretta’s enviable reputation of success throughout the history of shooting at the Olympics.
Though plain, there is a great deal of hand polishing and consequently time that gives this look.

Around the mid 90’s, the Olympic symbol was dropped and the gun had a cosmetic makeover with the action frame being finished with Beretta’s Greystone finish this is somewhere between a blue and a black. But with the new trophy symbol and laurel wreath inlayed in gold, it has given the ASE a modern classic look.

Perhaps the main feature that set the ASE apart from all the other guns in the Beretta stable is the drop out trigger group.

The trigger mechanism itself is held in a box.
It has powerful Vee springs that act on the hammers from below. It is said that vee springs give crisper trigger pulls of a superior feel. Vee springs also give faster lock times; that is the speed from when the sear releases the hammer to when the hammer strikes the firing pin and fires the gun.

The gun is single selective trigger and works in principle in the same way as all the other Beretta OU guns. There is a button in the middle of the safety catch that can be worked to either the left or right to pick up the relevant barrel for the first shot.
Reset for the second shot made by the inertia effect of the recoil from the gun.


Perhaps the overriding point about the ASE was the finish. Every part of the gun was finished well. This is perhaps most noticeable with the housing of the drop out trigger block, which is engine turned to give a very crisp look.

Woodwork will usually complement a gun of the quality. Usually in figure, but that can be a matter of opinion. But always the finish is without question. Wood to metal fit is always good. It goes without saying for a gun stocked by the same guys that stock the SO’s.
The finish is a quality oil finish and the chequer will always be hand cut to the highest standard.

Beretta is a gunmaker with a very long history, longer than any other in the world. Though perhaps at the highest level of competition, Beretta have not always had it their own way. Perazzi have been a formidable force in the specialised disciplines since the sixties. And they were the pioneers of the drop out trigger guns, with inherently superb trigger pulls.
But with the ASE, Beretta have proved that they can do it too. I would not say one gun is better than the other, but I certainly wouldn’t want to live on the difference.

One of the main things about an ASE is that indefinable thing that comes with a hand built gun. You can’t just say what it is, but you know when you pick it up.
Although made in few numbers now the ASE gold is available new from Premium Beretta Dealers.

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