Beretta 56E. - 26 June, 2000

Beretta's model 56e, was in its day their most popular model, But this was at a time when Beretta were nothing like the force to be reckoned with that they are today.

The 56E was built in the early to mid 70's and was really a game gun rather than a serious clay gun; it was not until the late 70,s and early 80's that a clay version was produced which was the model 58. A few of these are still around but not many as it was shortly afterwards that the 680 series was launched which was propelled onto the clay scene by some very strong marketing by Gunmark and some equally strong shooting by amongst others Barry Simpson.

The 56 is a very strong gun; testament to this is the fact that those that are shot are still in fine working order; even if some could do with a little love and care.

Today we are all familiar with the look of a Beretta OU; the low profile action with a u- bolt to lock the action and barrels together. The u-bolt becomes self evident when removed from the gun as it shape is that of a U. But when the gun is together all that is visible is the two prongs that project from the action face and lock into the two corresponding holes on then breech face of the barrels. Yet what is so familiar today, at the point it was introduced must have looked quite radical in its design, though this principle has proved itself very well over the years.

Earlier versions of the 56 had the u-bolt system, although, they had vee spring to power them rather than coil springs.

This test gun has seen a fair amount of action in its time but for all that is in reasonably good order and retains all its original finish. It needs a little attention to the forend where the retaining screws have stripped their threads, so the forend iron has become loose on the woodwork. This type of problem needs to be sorted out to avoid the wood becoming split.

Apart from that the gun simply needs a thorough strip and clean. Over the course of some years the muck and grime has been allowed too build up and will eventually cause the gun to function erratically; particularly on second barrel selection. Although the trigger mechanism looks quite complex and there are many parts to it , it is a reliable system, and with a few modifications today's Beretta mechanism can be seen to have directly evolved from it. However years of muck can hinder the movement of some of these small parts and will cause problems.

Usually I strip the gun completely and boil the parts up in a solution of degreaser; this will take all the muck and any old grease and oil away with it. Then soak the parts in water displacing oil as this will drive away any water left on the arts. Then blow the parts dry and reassemble.

The 56 can be a bit of a Chinese puzzle if you are not to familiar with it so care must be taken when reassembling. One of the most tricky jobs is to relocate the trigger plate back into the action frame. The plate is held at the front end by a pin that goes through the action and trigger plate when correctly lined up. And is connected to the top strap by a brace that is screwed to between the trigger plate and the strap. Strangely the top screw was missing in this gun but was easily replaced. It is the front pin that can be tricky simply because on the pin also pivot the two cocking cams along with their small springs that keep forward tension on the cocking levers, and all these piece need to be lined up perfectly as the pin is driven through them. This is done with the aid of a slave pin to position the parts correctly before the main pin is positioned.

The cocking lever springs are very small torsion springs and do provide a vital function; without them the gun may not select the second barrel properly as movement of the selector mechanism is hindered by the cocking cams not being forward out of harms way. The other thing that will aggravate is the ejector mechanism, by causing the gun to eject when it shouldn't.
Some spares such as these are becoming more difficult to get hold of, though Gunmark's service department still has a pretty good inventory of spares. Having said that these springs are pretty easy to make, so no real problem.

The gun has big strong main springs so there is little chance of misfire and Beretta strikers are very hard wearing. Though not rebounding as today's 686 etc. , the 56 has little firing pin protrusion, but should new or longer strikers be needed, they can easily be made.

The barrels are 28" with a narrow 6mm ventilated top rib. The side ribs are solid as we would expect on a game gun. The chokes appear to be original at ¼ and ½ .
One of the beauties of Beretta guns is that because they are chromed in the bores, no matter how much rough treatment they have had, it is rare to see one with any form of pitting, quite a plus point when buying a gun.

The ejector mechanism works in exactly the same as the current models. One point to look out for is if the ejectors are out of regulation; if this is the case then usually the under barrel one will be early. To check this put a snap cap in the gun close and fire it and then open the gun very slowly; if early then the gun will eject and the snap will hit the top of the action face . Often this can easily be corrected with some work to the extractor itself. Worst case scenario is that the extractor may need replacing ,but this is unlikely.

Wood work on this gun is about normal for condition, but still has its original finish so can easily be seen to be quite honest, and would certainly benefit from being stripped, rubbed down and oil finished. To really smarten it up it would look very nice with the chequer re-cut.

All in all although this gun has had a fairly tough life, and has not been cleaned as often as would have been good for it, it has stood up to all that remarkably well and has quite a long life still in front of it.
Prices; poor condition £250 -
Average £325
top Condition £400 +

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