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Beretta A302

13K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  Seamus O'Caiside 
#1 ·
New to the forum, just bought my second shotgun on Sat. it was a Beretta A302 "special trap". I went home to look up some info on it and found that their were two versions the regular and the Beretta A302 Super Lusso. Can anyone tell me if the reg. model has any engravings on the receiver at all and is that all that separates the regular from the Super Lusso.
Any body has a pic. of a reg. model and a Super Lusso
Thank
 
#2 ·
Here is a Super Lusso http://www.gunsinternational.com/detail ... _id%20DESC

The standard 302 does have some "engraving" but it is roll-pressed, not done by hand. The SL has hand engraving, high-grade wood and some gold-plated parts, according to the Blue Book. I don't see anything special about the wood in that picture, looks plain to me, but it is a SL because even in the picture you can tell the engraving was done by hand.

I couldn't find a good picture of a regular 302, but they do show up now and then on Gunbroker and other on-line auction sites.
 
#7 ·
Conman
mine looks just like yours i bought it for 350 on SAT it has a 30" barrel, adjustable comb and but plate lookes realy new

Seamus thanks for the pics I can't realy distinguish the difference between the two but I am new to shotgunning
 
#11 ·
claydoctor said:
I read many raves about the 303. How does it differ from the 302 and is the 303 considered an improvement?
Doc, I don't have a 302, but I do have an A300, an AL-1 (mechanically same as A300), and a 303. I have studied descriptions and pictures of the 302, and I can't find any difference between the 302 and the 303 except for small cosmetic things.

At one time I would have said there is a difference in the magazine cutoff - the 302 has a cutoff lever on the side of the receiver, while most 303's have either none or a cutoff button in the bottom of the forearm. However, I have an early 303 with the 302-style cutoff (and I have seen pictures of others), so that mechanical change is not directly related to the model number.

R.L. Wilson, quoting a company catalog, says the 303 "featured a trigger assembly whose simplicity allowed it to be easily removed by taking out a single pin." Notice that the catalog did not refer to a new trigger assembly. Well, guess what - all of the 300-series guns have that feature, all the way back to the A300 (aka AL- series). Tells you something about the quality of Wilson's research - he quotes sales puffery from corporate literature with no effort to double-check it. (BTW, the last time I heard any news of Wilson, he was in jail on multiple convictions for fraud, and still faced more charges. His books are still usefull, if you take them with a grain of salt.)
 
#13 ·
zamskib, you would be a lot better off asking your question in a new post on the "Shotgun ID and Value" forum. This question is tacked on to the end of a thread which is over 5 years old, and your other one is in a thread that was intended for FAQ's, not specific questions about individual guns.

The value of your gun is a few hundred dollars. How many hundreds - well, that would require more information and good pictures. I can tell you one thing about it from the information you provided, however. The barrel is not original. The 302 never had screw-in choke tubes. Some of them did come with drop-in tubes that were held in place with a collar which screwed onto external threads on the barrel. The screw-in type are worth more than the drop-in type.
 
#14 ·
claydoctor said:
I read many raves about the 303. How does it differ from the 302 and is the 303 considered an improvement?
I have a 12 gauge A303, it has a 3" chamber, Mobil Chokes, vent rib, no engraving, and the carrier lock/ shell release is a tiny button at the base of the carrier. I paid $350 for mine two years ago and I would grade it 90+ on the metal and 80+ on the wood. It is a field model with hard butt plate. It came with 4 chokes.
 
#15 ·
Also on the 303, the receiver is relieved above the trigger guard. This may allow a better reach for some shooters.
 
#16 ·
Jdmcx: This gun is likely to shoot a bit high if it was used for trap shooting. I would put it on a patterning plate to see two things, where it shoots when it is shot from a rest and aimed and where you shoot it when you mount and shoot with a smooth and continuous action. Do this several times at the same target to see an "average" of where YOU shoot the gun.

You have a very nice shotgun.
 
#17 ·
Hey, guys, look at the dates on the posts! Both the original poster "Jdmcx" and "claydoctor" asked their questions 5 1/2 years ago! I doubt either one of them is still watching this thread and hoping for an answer! :roll:
 
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