Beretta Urika camo.   23 August 2001

The Beretta Urika 391 is the latest in a long line of semi autos that Beretta have had on the market over the last 25 years or so. The range was started roughly in the mid 70’s with the 300 and has evolved over that time with 4 or 5 incarnations.

All have been very reliable, and have always been very well received onto the market; in fact most dealers would probably agree with me that few other second-hand guns are as much in demand as a Beretta auto.

During the model changes very little inwardly has changed with these guns. Mostly the changes have been cosmetic. Changes to the shape of the action, the woodwork and also perhaps most notable, when the 302 changed its multichoke system to a very obtrusive external system to the now more familiar flush fit type.

With the 390 came changes to the gas system, to try and make the gun a little friendlier towards lighter loads. This has been further improved with the latest model 391. The other notable change has been a constant quest by Beretta to get the weight down as much as possible. The basic mechanism, however, has remained virtually the same throughout the models. And in fairness many of the earliest models are still going strong.

This latest version has also been made in the now familiar camouflaged coating, that seems to be covering everything these days. As you can dress from top to toe in any type of clothing that can be imagined it seemed only logical that the gun should really be the same pattern, so as not to spoil the effect.

Beretta has two offerings on this. One is in the Realtree hardwoods pattern as can be seen on our test gun, and is designed around a woodland tree effect. The other is in the Wetlands pattern, that is a much lighter reed and straw colour, and is obviously designed very much with the wildfowler in mind.

The gun is mechanically the same as its wooden stocked sibling, but is designed very much to be a working gun and stand up to harsh environments. With this in mind all metal parts that would normally be silver such as the bolt and floorplate are a durable black that has also been made matt to make it non reflective.

The gas system on the 391 was one of the areas that has been redesigned to be more efficient and more tolerant of a wider variety of loads, so that from 24 gr up to the heavy 3” magnum loads of 2 oz, there should be no foul ups on feeding. At the front of the forend is a large grill that is effectively the exhaust port for any excess gas that is not needed to work the mechanism.

The forend cap has also been redesigned to be a bit more user friendly, and is certainly easier to undo and tighten due to its larger size.

The trigger group in the action, from a working point of view remains largely unchanged, and frankly I think there is little to improve here. But what has changed is the trigger block itself, which is now made from a polymer plastic material; there are various reasons for this, but the main advantage is that of weight saving.

  The bolt assembly also has remained visibly the same as before, but there is the addition of a recoil absorber in the rear of the action body. This works by simply acting as a buffer for the bolt to cushion it travel into; this should help to take stress off the bolt parts and so increase their life.

Perhaps the most notable difference with this gun though, apart from the colour that is, is the design of the stock and forend. Both parts are made from a fibreglass strengthened polymer, which give the gun a great deal of strength and will make it very resilient to knocks and bumps that is inevitable when rough shooting, and very importantly, extremely water resistant- a real bonus to the wildfowler. Don’t be tempted to see if it will float though.

The stock is really eye catching in its design; with a pistol grip that flows back at its sole in to the body of the stock. It gives the gun a slid heavy look. But weighing in at a little less than 7 ½ lbs, this is certainly a misconception on my part.

Moulded into the stock and forend are panels that incorporate the chequer patterns. This has been done to make the gun as comfortable as possible for maximum grip, particularly should the weather get particularly wet then grip becomes a premium.

The stock is also adjustable for cast and bend to suit most people, be they left or right-handers.

The forend is conventional in its shape but has a nice slim feel to it.

Barrel length is a standard 28” on the camo guns. And obviously has a 3” chamber to accommodate those large cartridges. The standard Beretta multichoke system is fitted, and the gun comes with a set of chokes. It has a 6mm ventilated rib; to keep weight down and cooling up. A small brass front sight is fitted- obviously not painted realtree!

The gun comes in a fitted travelling case and with a choice of 2 recoil pads to help you fine tune the length of pull.

Other shooters might start to avoid you at clay shoots with this one but in its own environment, this gun will be a king, but for goodness sake do not put this gun down in the field and walk away from it. It may take some time to find it again!

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