my never fired Beretta Silver Pigeon V: keep it, sell it, shoot it?

What would you do with a 10 yr old unfired Silver Pigeon V 12 gauge?

  • Keep it and never fire it

    Votes: 2 5.9%

  • Get that safe queen out & shoot it, shoot it, shoot it

    Votes: 21 61.8%

  • Sell it & buy a very nice 1911 (or other gun & what would it be?)

    Votes: 5 14.7%

  • Sell it & pocket the cash

    Votes: 6 17.6%
  • Total voters
    34
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jertex

jertex

Member
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Jun 17, 2017
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Location
Fort Worth, Texas
About 10 years ago, I was browsing through Cabela's the first week of January and noticed that they had some pretty incredible prices on shotguns. I saw a Silver Pigeon V that was marked at $2295 which was a very good price at the time. I really didn't need a 12 gauge O/U because I already owned a Franchi Alcione field grade that had exceptional wood and I shot that gun extremely well, but I thought the price was pretty nice and I loved the case coloring & nice wood of the Beretta. The shotgun fit me perfectly as well. Fast forward 10 years and I still have the Beretta in unfired condition. I take it out of the safe once a quarter, wipe it down and put a thin coat of oil on it, but that Franchi feels so good to me & since I hunt with it, shoot skeet & sporting clays, I haven't ever bothered to shoot the Beretta. I've thought that one of my sons might like to have it some day but they don't seem to show a lot of interest. I suspect it's because they're good men and aren't greedy. I consider it an upper mid to lower high end shotgun, but certainly not the find of a lifetime or anything like that. It is the nicest shotgun that I own. I'm wondering what the folks on the forum would do with this gun. I suspect I know but I thought it would be interesting to put up a poll, so here it is:
SPV-1.jpg SPV-2.jpg SPV-3.jpg SPV-4.jpg
 
I would have cast my vote as "Undecided" but didn't have that option. I'd have to ponder that one for a few days minimum. Then again; it's such a beautiful gun that if it were mine and I was planning to either sell it or leave it to a family member then I figure a few hundred rounds on the trap and sporting clays course isn't going to devalue it tremendously compared to it being unfired; or would it? Now that I give it a second thought I'd probably vote "shoot it" because it would give me lots of pleasure shooting it and that's why it was purchased. A beautiful, high quality piece like that will give you many years of shooting satisfaction which would be a bargain in relation to what you paid for it.
 
I really do like the response that HexHead gave. Lol (he's right too). I am a gun guy so I personally think that yhey should be shot. I put my money where my mouth is there too.

I have a theory that I always use in this situation.....
The way I deal with the question of sell or keep:

If you had $2300 cash in your billfold, would you buy a Beretta Silver Pigeon?
?
If not, sell it.
 
I've got a Silver Pigeon II which I bought used, no regrets, it's a great shotgun, I love to shoot it.

On the other hand, I have an unfired S&W 27-2 5" revolver with box, papers, everything. It remains unfired, sitting in the safe, cleaned once a year, fondled etc.

OK, I'm going to recommend you keep in the safe, don't shoot it. It's not like a Silver Pigeon shooter is unobtanium; neither is a S&W revolver.

Owning something without using it for it's design purpose is a way to go; I don't do it with everything, or every gun, but I enjoy that unfired S&W as much as every other one I own.
 
Safe Queen..... saving your girlfriend for her next boyfriend. Take it out and enjoy it.
Click to expand...

Well put, I have a number of firearms that are special to me that someone likely won't value the same as I do. That said I have others that someone will say "Why did he treat something so expensive like a hammer."

If you want to use it, use it. If you don't, don't worry, you'll be dead when someone treats it as a tool.

My SP gets used early in dove season, it's my favorite O/U.
 
I voted to put the big girl up for sale. This is a duplicate item and you should cash out and purchase another firearm like a 1911 that you can put to good use.

My choice for another gun? With the amount that shotgun would bring, I would purchase several firearms.

1 - I would like to purchase a Ruger Blackhawk Convertable or other single action revolver. .357/9mm
2 - a quality varmint rifle, bolt action, in .223 and a quality scope
3 - a big bore revolver in .44 mag
4 - Dillon 650 press is also on my list



I own a Silver Pigeon I, my oldest son uses it every week at the range. If someone in your family might start putting it to use, by all means get it in action. However, that is a mighty nice looking shotgun for anyone who is not serious.



Swanee
 
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Shoot it, but it comes down to what you want to do, not what everyone else thinks you should do. It is a beautiful shotgun that should handle well, but I have been disappointed by looks before, it may be a dog for you underneath the beauty, kinda like girlfriends. Only one way to find out, give it a test drive. ;)
 
I have never owned a gun I didn't shoot, including a nickel plated second generation NIB Colt SAA. I didn't abuse any of them. Yes I got less money for some of them when I sold them, but I did enjoy shooting them. If I didn't really want to shoot it I would sell it unfired for maximum value.
 
Hard to say. I keep guns I don't shoot any more, but I don't have anything that I did not shoot at one time. If I chance across something I really want, that Python will be GONE.
 
A shotgun that gets used is a happy shotgun. It'd be a shame to keep her locked up in the dark.
 
A friend has a Silver Pigeon and he has had it to shoot doves in South America a bunch of times. Anyone who has been or seen the number of shells they shoot every day down there will know. He also competes in all sorts of trap leagues with it and it never wears out.

You have one heck of a shotgun there, friend. :thumbup:
 
I love Beretta shotguns, especially their O/Us. They fit me perfectly and have just the right balance to them. I vote for "Get that safe queen out and shoot it, shoot it, shoot it!"
 
I have started to trim down my collection and to trade things I don't want for things I would like to try. It is not uncommon for me to get something I pined for for years, try it out and find charastics that make me pass it on. For years I was broke and I came to feel that collectors keep lots of guns out of ciŕculation and drive up prices with "collector value." There is someone who would dearly love to use that gun. Let them try it. Theŕe are things that have become less desireable to me but my kids will say "keep that" which I do and often give to them. I personally consider O/U 12 gauges too ugly to own. Now if it was a 20......... Accumulating stuff just to have it gave us the ammo crisis. This is from a guy who traded a full stock Anschutz 22 mag with double set triggers for a Savage 20 guage single shot and a cast net. That rifle taught me that 22 WRM is too much for squirrels and set triggers are answers to questions I never asked. The little 20 gauge helped my kids to learn to hunt and is treasured to this day.
 
Probably ought to sell it. Unused guns develop a rebellious streak if ignored too long and refuse to break or kill birds. They tend to relish a new owner who will give them love, affection, and proper use. I would volunteer to show it that affection and love at no cost to you. I would even send as much as ten or fifteen dollars a month from my shooting profits.
Actually, we all have guns we don't use and just enjoy. Your call.
Please consider an earlier post about the gun you most regret selling.
 
There's no point in shooting it just for the sake of shooting it. You're happy with your current shotgun, why lower the resale on the Beretta? Sell it and buy something you will shoot.
 
I think you answered yourself already, by passing up using the Beretta in favor of the familiar Franchi. You literally have no use for the Beretta.
 
10 years, never shot?.....what's it worth now? Is there another gun you've wanted? Do you need the money to finance another gun? I've sold some guns just to fund other guns I want, so I lean that way. Which way are you leaning? My searches for guns are driven by the desire to participate in some shooting event......deer hunting, prairie dog shooting, sporting clays, coyote, etc, not simply to own a particular gun. I'm a shooter not a collector? What are you? Just asking these questions to tweak your thinking. Hope it helps. Tough decision.
 
I've had several Beretta shotguns. I recently sold the last two I owned. As nearly as remember I've had a 426E, 682, BL-3, Blackwing and a Silver Pigeon something. I really don't see keeping them around if you don't shoot them although they do seem to be getting more expensive every year.

I probably bought a few 1911's with the cash as I always take the proceeds and purchase something else. The safe always stays full no matter how hard I try to make more room. :uhoh:
 
natman said:
There's no point in shooting it just for the sake of shooting it. You're happy with your current shotgun, why lower the resale on the Beretta? Sell it and buy something you will shoot.
Click to expand...
I've been researching the resale value and I think if I shoot it a couple of times it won't change the resale value much if at all as long as there aren't any scratches or dings. I'm thinking it will go for somewhere in the $2,700 - $2,900 range whether it's unfired or has a hundred or so rounds down the pipe. If I needed to sell it quickly, I think I could probably move it in a couple of days @ $2,500. I might shoot a couple of rounds of skeet & see how I like shooting it. If I fall in love with it, there's my answer. If I don't, there's my answer.
 
For something without sentimental value - if you've never used it and you're asking if you should sell it, the answer is you should sell it.

If the opportunity to get out of it for what you're in to it arises, take it.
 
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