Beretta 687 EELL. - 01 October 2003

The Beretta 687EELL is what you might call a gun in demand. There are few guns of which that can be said. In used gun circles if there was a prize for least time spent on the shelf then the EELL would be a strong nomination.

The gun has been around since the 70's. Though in those earlier days they were mainly seen in trap and skeet formats.

It was in the early eighties when Gunmark or GMK as they are now better known were driving a renaissance of the Beretta name in this country, that the EELL became one of the sought after models.
Since that time its popularity has grown and it has become the flagship of the 680 series of guns.
The gun is made in both game and sporting configurations; in sporting it is made in both 12 and 20 gauge. Both these are multichoke guns. The 12 gauge has the newer Optichoke system on the very latest guns. Previously it was the standard mobilchoke system.

Game guns are made in fixed choke and multichoke. Usually the fixed choke guns are ¼ and ½. For some reason the 30" guns tend to be made with ¾ and full choke. I can't quite see the logic behind this; for most ¼ and ½ would be a preferred option or even ¼ and ¾ choke. The barrels are chrome lined on these guns which does make it more difficult to take chokes out, but for gunsmiths with the right equipment it is no great problem.

Game guns are also made in a wide range of gauges; 12, 20, 28 and 410.
The most striking feature of the EELL is its side plated action. It is this that makes the gun what it is. The side plates are purely decorative and have no mechanical bearing on the gun at all. It could be argued that their addition strengthens the forward part of the stock and there may be some truth in this. What the sideplates mainly do is give the engravers more room to work and be creative. Over the last 20 years or so the engraving has changed a little but not much. The guns have mainly had a full covering of scroll work with game scene. The engraving is, I think, rolled on by machine and may well be picked out by hand afterwards.

In the early nineties the pattern was changed completely, and while still a mixture of game and scroll work, was a little more sparse yet did have a greater appearance to have been hand cut. Since that time Beretta has gone back to the earlier pattern which again gives the gun a greater coverage. There is also a fully scroll covered model. These were made first some years ago to see popular they might be, since then they have been reintroduced as an option; I like them, but the game scene gun is far more popular with most shooters.

The guns are signed by Giovannelli. This is not the personal mark of the engraver, but of the Giovannelli School where the guns are engraved.

Perhaps the only minus point with the EELL is that utmost care must be taken of the action to stop it staining. It seems that the actions aren't plated in the same way as the cheaper guns; possibly because it may obscure the fine engraving. Whatever the reason, it is as well to keep the action a little oily to prevent this. I have lacquered the actions in the past and this will usually cure the problem.
Mechanically, the guns are the same as all the other 680 series guns, with the shallow action hinged on stub pins and locked up by a U bolt. The action is really a trigger plate action, with the whole firing mechanism being able to be unscrewed from the action frame for ease of working. As a trigger plate mechanism the hammers and sears have to pivot low in the plate. With the inertia block and trigger behind. Recoil is used to reset the selector for the second shot.

The hammers are powered forwards onto the strikers by coil springs which are captive so that they are rebounding to prevent striker drag as the gun is opened.

An interesting point with all the Beretta 680 series guns is that they can be quite easily be converted from single to double trigger. This can make a EELL just that bit more individual, and this work is sometimes done in conjunction with making the stock straight hand, which will often suit a double trigger gun.

On the single trigger, barrel selection is made using a button in the middle of the safe. On a game gun the safe will usually have an auto return mechanism fitted. With the sporting version the safe is manual as is preferred on a clay gun. In either case it is easy to convert the gun the other way around to suit the user.

The barrels are made on the monoblock principle and have chrome lined bores to protect them. This can be a plus point when buying a second hand Beretta it is unlikely that the barrels will be pitted to any extent.

The extractors are directly powered by coil springs under them and held within the monoblock.
Top rib on the game EELL is 6mm wide and is ventilated to give maximum cooling to reduce heat haze and also keep the weight down. There is a silver turned foresight.

Early EELL's will have 70mm chambers but since the early mid-nineties all Beretta guns have been made with 76mm chamber to accept the widest range of cartridges possible. In either case they have always had magnum proof.

Wood quality is usually very good on the EELL some can be better than others, as with all guns, but I have never seen one that I felt belied the grade of gun.

Mostly the guns are pistol grip stocked, but there are a few around with straight hands. The pistol grip is quite elegant and makes for a comfortable positive grip.

Forends are Schnabel on the latest guns and have been for a few years, but they have been made with a rounded forend as well.

The stocks are finished with a wooden butt plate. These would finish the gun off very nicely if only they were fitted properly. Though they can be easily shaped with the stock to give a smooth finish, but I can never understand why Beretta does not do it themselves.

The chequer pattern is very good on the EELL. A classic pattern finished with points and always in a very fine pitch to the diamonds.

Stock dimension will suit most from the peg. Drop at comb of around 37mm at comb and 55mm at heel. With a length of pull of around 375 mm.

Overall weight is usually around 7.5 lb on game gun.

The EELL is a very well made strong gun, which has been built as a pleasure to own, yet still capable of shooting may thousands of rounds. In other words don't be scared to use it. There are few shooters who wouldn't want to own one of these.

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