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I just purchased a used Beretta 682 with a tube set for skeet competition. I purchased the shotgun from another competitor. It's 11 years old and has been used with some regularity in skeet competition. I don't know how many rounds have been fired through the gun. Being new to shotguns I am just wondering what I should be looking for in terms of need to service this shotgun to maintain reliability. I know these Beretta's have replaceable parts that facilitate keeping them fresh but I don't really know how to identify what needs replacing or what I should do first in terms of identifying things that need maintenance or repair. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I am considering sending it off to Cole after this season for an evaluation but I don't want to do that unnecessairly. Thanks for your help!

Take a look at the two conical holes in the breech end of the barrels, where the locking lugs fit. You will see (I'm sure) that they have worn to an oval shape. Some wear is normal. If the top lever is still to the right of center with the gun closed, the wear is not excessive. If it gets to the left of center (or maybe even in the middle) the gun may start popping open when fired. That is not a safety hazard, but it sure does interfere with your shooting! At that point, you need to get oversize lugs fitted to it. The lugs come in at least 3 sizes, and when the biggest ones are not big enough, the holes are drilled out and bushings are fitted to them, so you can start over with the smallest lugs.

That is the most common repair needed on a 68x gun. If that is not yet a problem, just keep it clean and don't worry about it.

Cole offers a package deal to disassemble and clean a gun and replace any worn parts. There is a standard price plus cost of parts. I don't remember the price, but I do know they run a discount on it during the winter. I don't know when the discount expires, you maybe you should call them soon.

Great! Thank you for the advice.

This may not be an easy one to answer, but how many rounds does it take for a 680 series to start showing wear that requires a service?

It varies a lot from one gun to another, and I don't know why. As an average, I would guess 50,000, but it could be more or less in a specific case. The Ultralight wears faster - when I was shooting an UL I had to get it serviced every 20,000 shots.

Rather than count shots, just watch the top lever, and get it serviced when the lever reaches the center of the tang.

Those conical lugs that Beretta uses are small, and I suspect they need service more often than a gun that has a wide underlug, like a Browning or the Rizzini that I shoot now. (That said, I still like Berettas better than Brownings.) The service is not real expensive, and there is no limit to how many times it can be done. It is not possible to ever wear out a Beretta, if you get it serviced when it needs it.