new Urika 2 Sporting damaged after 60 shells!

pvevans

I finally broke donw and purchased a new Urika 2 Sporting to (hopefully) replace my Browning 425, which is miserable to shoot due to recoil. I took the Urika 2 dove hunting last weekend - first time to shoot it - and as I was wiping it off to put it in the case I noticed it was damaged on the receiver.

http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/evansphilv/urika_2_damage__1.jpg

http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/evansphilv/urika_2_damage__2.jpg


You can see this in the attached photos. This is a deep groove (not sure if the depth is obvious) and appears to have been caused by the rim of a shell. Though I did not have any jams with the gun or see the damage happen, I was able to simulate a possible shell scenario using a snap cap (see picture).

It seems it would be possible for a partially inserted shell to damage the gun if two design flaws exist:
1) The receiver metal is softer than the shell metal.
2) Parts of the receiver port are smaller than a shell (note the curved rear portion) so that a shell placed in the opening may not necessarily fall completely into the receiver opening. Again I did not see this take place but it's the only scenario I can envision.

I wanted to run this by the forum to find out if anyone has ever seen this before.

This start does not leave a good taste in my mouth and I am considering returning the gun to Cabelas under their 30-day policy. Beretta wants me to send it in, but my guess is they will want to file it down and re-blue, but really we should not be at that place with a gun with less than 3 boxes of shells cycled through it. My 30 year old Belgium A-5 has fired cases upon cases of shells and has no such markings.

Is this common to the breed or a defect?

rufe-snow

I'd say from the photos that the damage happened on ejection. As the extractor on the face of the bolt pulls the fired shell, back the front portion of the ejector impacts the left side of the shell kicking it out the ejection port. If Beretta can't adjust/replace the ejector so this won't happen, get another brand of shotgun. As the receiver is made of aluminum and the case head of the shell either steel or brass, it sure aint going to get any better, if Beretta can't/won't fix it.

pvevans

I tend to agree with you. The notch is made in the opposite direction that a loaded shell travels. I did not think that an empty shell would have the kind of force behind it to make that type of mark. Maybe the ejector did not release it and the bolt kept dragging it further back until it hung on the receiver enough to release.

rufe-snow

It seems to me if the ejector was located higher in the receiver, it would hit the base of the shell at a higher angle during the extraction cycle. This would kick the shell out of the ejection at a flat angle, so the rim wouldn't be impacting the top of the ejection port.

Wehrmacht_45

Yeah this seems like it would only get worse. If Cabelas will let you swap it out for another one, or something else, it might be less of a headache than dealing with Beretta.

I would recommend a nice Browning Gold or Silver.

captkirk3@dslextreme.com

Am wondering what Shell are You shooting? Is it a 2& 3/4" or a 3 inch ?

pvevans

Shell is just a standard Winchester Super X "heavy dove load"
2 3/4"
3 1/4 dram
1 1/8 oz
7 1/2 shot

clays

I had one that did exactally the same thing. Was very disappointed. Sold it and bought a Benelli, end of problems.

pvevans

Interesting to find someone with the same issue. I was able to find someone on the forum with the same issue, different gun. Did you ever pursue anything with Beretta?