Beretta AL 2, Manufactured 1970's

blown69stang

Does anybody have any experience with this type of shotgun? Know the success of failure of it? My gunsmith has one and I need to know if it is worth it. His is a 12 ga and all except the magnum version were chambered for 2 3/4" only. That doesn't bother me as much as the reliability of this gun. I owned a Remington of this era and it was the most unreliable semi-auto shotgun I have ever encountered. Was this the trend for this era or do guns of this era need absolute scrutiny when it comes to cleaning. I don't remember the numerous times I cleaned that Rem. and it still failed to function. Most were gas problems and failures to eject. Need to know. Thanks
Chris
\blown69stang@yahoo.com

CountryGunsmith

Any gas operated semiauto requires cleaning and occasional attention to the gas ports. The Remington 1100 is no more prone to those types of problems than any other. You do need to be careful how the piston and seal are positioned on that shotgun however.

On to the Beretta. The AL-2 is the forerunner to the 301, and is a good, solid shotgun. It is not as forgiving as the later 303's or 390 series. You do your part and it will do it's part.






Scrappy Doo sleeps with the fishes.

laxcoach

I've had an Al-2 mag since the first year they were introduced. This weapon was and still is my shotgun of choice for ducks, geese, and turkeys. It has been fired so much that the bolt literally rattles in the receiver, has burrs from wear on the ejectors, and has been subjected to the worst kind of abuse from weather that you can imagine. NOT ONCE has it failed me in all these years. The only maintenance I've done is disassemble and clean it once a year, and store it in the off-season upside down to keep oil from running down inside the stock. In short it is, hands down the BEST autoloader I've ever owned. By the way, the biggest POS I've ever owned was a Rem. 1100.