BAD BAD BAD day for my Beretta 390!!!

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PJ-Hunter

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So I was hunting ducks this morning and on the second shot the tip of my barrel exploded. I know that it didn't have mud or anything in it as I had just cleaned it the night before and put it back in the case.

I was shooting a pretty pricey load. Been using it for two weekends now with no issues. What I believe to have happened, since I had already had one successful shot was that the wad from the first shot jammed the barrel and when the second shot went off I had a $1500 pipe bomb! I'm really lucky that the wad was up by the choke. See pic.

We looked and looked for the choke and wad but couldn't find it. I'm guessing that the two of them are sitting at the bottom of the lake bay about 30 yards out. I'll never find them.

My question is how do I handle this? My buddy thinks that we should call Beretta and see if they will give me a new barrel and I should also go after the ammo manufacturer.

He's correct. It could have been lower in the barrel and blown up in my face. I'm pretty upset. You pay that much for a gun and $40 bucks for a box of game loads you expect to not have failures or misfires. Now I have a blown gun and 4 more boxes of shells I'm scared to use.

How do I politely ask for some sort of satisfaction with the customer service from both?
blown beretta barrel.jpg
 
I would definitely call Beretta. I find it hard to believe a wad stuck unless your choke tube was askew on a successful shot. Looks like the tear is right at the base of the choke tube machining.
 
What choke were you running? Too tight a choke will play hell when shooting non toxic shot. Also a loose choke tube can cause a wad to be stripped. I saw that happen myself one day when I noticed I didn't see the wad in the air after I took a shot. Glad I looked. Never knew I really noticed the wad before, but I guess it is just one of those subliminal things after 10's of thousands of shotshells.
 
I wonder if your choke tube had loosened up, then the shot charge impacted the bottom edge of it? If your previous shot had left a wad in the barrel, it is unlikely that the gun would have cycled. Too tight of a choke with hard shot will usually expand the tube into the barrel rather than blow it, and this is much less of an issue with the thick cupped wads in modern no-tox loads.
 
Yes, tear is right where the end of the choke should have been. Choke was in snug.

I was running a modified choke. Everything was Beretta. I wasn't using an aftermarket tube.
 
Tell Beretta exactly what happened. They'll probably want you to send in the bbl if not the whole gun so they can examine it. I'd call the ammo manufacturer as well, after you talk to Beretta. At the very least the ammo mfr. will probably want to check the lot of ammo you had the incident with, so hopefully you still have the box to give them that info.
 
What ammo were you using?

I am afraid Beretta will be of no help, especially since the 390 hasn't be made in quite awhile. You will probably have more luck with the ammo manufacturer.
 
That's a really ugly picture. I'm glad no one was hurt!

Best bet IMHO is to contact both Beretta and the ammo manufacturer (include the lot number in the info you supply them) - may not help you materially or financially, but it might contribute to answering the "What happened?" question.
 
Yeah, I know that. They make the 391 now. But hopefully they have barrels in stock.
 
expensive sawed off? I think it was machine/metallurgy related. The tear is clean, that doesn't happen much in obstruction kabooms. Glad to hear your ok though
 
Keep us posted, I'd like to see what they determined actually happened and how this is resolved. Worst case If they don't help you is that the barrel could be rethreaded and used about 2" shorter.
 
My buddy thinks that we should call Beretta and see if they will give me a new barrel and I should also go after the ammo manufacturer.
Click to expand...

You can go after whomever you want, but you won't be able to prove that the choke tube wasn't loose or even that it wasn't an aftermarket tube. There are only four things that will cause that and it's a loose tube, obstructed bore, defective barrel or tube.
The step where the barrel is threaded is critical and should allow the tube to be flush while not allowing the base of the tube to stick up at any point into the bore.
Because of the way it failed at that portion of the barrel it was likely a loose tube or defective barrel or bent base on the tube and if you're sure it was tight and in good shape then it was probably the barrel. There is also the possibility that the tube wasn't rated for use with the shot size and hardness you were using.
 
Uniquedot said:
You can go after whomever you want, but you won't be able to prove that the choke tube wasn't loose or even that it wasn't an aftermarket tube. There are only four things that will cause that and it's a loose tube, obstructed bore, defective barrel or tube.
The step where the barrel is threaded is critical and should allow the tube to be flush while not allowing the base of the tube to stick up at any point into the bore.
Because of the way it failed at that portion of the barrel it was likely a loose tube or defective barrel or bent base on the tube and if you're sure it was tight and in good shape then it was probably the barrel. There is also the possibility that the tube wasn't rated for use with the shot size and hardness you were using.
Click to expand...
I agree with uniquedot as a blockage would not rupture like your barrel did. It is an almost perfect cut almost like a pipe cut would make it. So the tube is the first suspect as it appear the rupture took place at the base of the tube. I would suspect a cross threaded tube but you are a seasoned shotgunner and would not make that error when screwing the tube in. Someone else mentioned that if the shell did not have enough power to push a wad out of the barrel then the weapon would mostlikely not cycled either.

Please post a follow up once you determine the casue as most people here have a threaded barrel of some kind.
 
$40 a box sounds like Heavy-Shot. But as far as I know, factory tubes are rated for any speed shell. My Benelli full choke says "No Steel". Idk about Berettas. At $40 a box I dont think it was steel. But you also claim you used a modified choke. That should have no shot size(including slugs)/speed restrictions at all. But it's definitely choke related. I'm not saying you did this, just asking, is it possible after cleaning you put the full choke in? How long have you owned this great firearm (not being a jerk the 390 is a great gun)? Has anyone else used this gun? It seems like something has weakened that part of the barrel over time or in a very short time from neglect and abuse. Not saying it was you. Thats why I asked how long you've owned it or of anyone else has used it.
 
I was at camp. I only had one choke tube to put in it so there was no error there. There was also no error in putting it in. I ran it in smoothly with my fingers until it was finger tight then I gave it a bump with the choke wrench, like I do with all of my shotguns.

I got this gun because it was too be used for hunting only. Yes, the loads were Heavy Metal. I shot those loads all last season with not one issue, misfire or jam. I used my A400 last season as I can't afford to buy more than two $2000 guns a year and I had already gotten the A400 and an AR15, so I got this 390 this summer. I shot 100 rounds of practice thru it before duck season opened and no issues. Then I shot approx 30-40 rounds last week and 32 on friday of this week, no issues. Then 2 shots on Saturday and I now have a piece of scrap metal until I can get this figured out. I did everything right. I carried the gun into the field in the case to avoid anything falling in and only when I got in the blind did I take it out and load it.

The break does look suspect to me. It is super clean, like a saw did it. But I have never had a gun fail like that so I don't have the experience to know. But in my motorsport world I have seen lots of failures and when you get one like that it's a machining error or metallurgical issue. The guns that I have seen in pics where the barrel failed were quite nasty and generally resulted in some ER visits. With this the three of us (the dog, myself and friend) got very lucky. He was on my side when it failed and could have easily caught the shot and choke in his face.
 
"Keep us posted, I'd like to see what they determined actually happened and how this is resolved. Worst case If they don't help you is that the barrel could be rethreaded and used about 2" shorter."

Can't do that. The rail has been popped off the entire length of the barrel, leading me to believe that there is now structural damage along the whole barrel. It's garbage as far as I am concerned. No way I'd ever put that barrel to use. That just wouldn't be smart. Next time it could be my hand near the break, then I'd never be able to do anything I love again.
 
You know something else to consider is that sometimes wad columns will start to spin and they will either loosen or tighten a tube. That's why the manufacturers tell us religiously to periodically check them in the field, but I don't think it would have been that loose on only the second shot.
 
^Yeah, HIGHLY doubtful. Can't say impossible, but as close to impossible as I could imagine.

PJ,
Yeah there's absolutely no way I would ever put that barrel on ever again. Even if it just popped the rail when the end came off. Not worth the risk. Damn, I hate this for you. Like mentioned before, please keep us posted. Idk how they are where you live, but my LGS is absolutely awesome in helping resolve issues with broken or damaged firearms. If you have a good one, it might be worth a shot. Typically, gun companies respond better to dealers than individuals....typically.
 
I say this with little doubt that this will be taken care of for you.
But there is one crucial part of this story being left out! Were you able to retrieve your $2000 dollar bird? It's not everyday a man gets to sit down to a $2000 dollar dinner.:eek:


Just remember when dealing with either, you get more bees with honey.
 
Well, I sent pics to the ammo mfr. They want to see the barrel so they are sending a UPS call tag.

And no, I missed the duck. So I went and grabbed my A400 and limited out.
 
Well, I sent pics to the ammo mfr. They want to see the barrel so they are sending a UPS call tag.
Click to expand...
That's good. They definitely have an interest in eliminating their ammo as the cause of the problem. If the ammo was the problem they're going to recall that lot before something worse happens and they get into nasty civil liability suits, so they have no reason to blame the Beretta bbl unless the bbl actually was defective. If it was a defective bbl you'll have their professional opinion to present to Beretta to get the issue remedied. I'm pretty sure one company or the other will take care of you once the cause of the problem is determined.
 
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