over under Archives

Preface

Admittedly I am more of a rifle junkie than a shotgun enthusiast, but I can appreciate a good shotgun when I need it. I grew up hunting waterfowl and upland game in the western US, and for the most part I could do everything I needed with any of the classic pump-shotguns. But with time, and more mature tastes, I’ve broadened my inventory of shotguns. Over under shotguns carry a little more attitude, they bring a little more class to the game. Almost like K-cans, sports cars, and expensive glasses, they tend to be more of a luxury item. You can do anything with an autoloader or pump-gun, but it takes a touch of shooter’s vanity to give up capacity and reloadability with an over under. In today’s review, we are taking a look at a new over under option from European American Arms, the EAA Balikli Blue Label over under shotgun.

European American Arms

EAA Corp is a firearm supplier that specializes in getting quality firearms at affordable prices. The company prides itself on importing firearms that are more about quality function than looks. This obviously has an appeal to many Americans who only care about putting holes through the X and meat on their table.

we tested the shotgun with a variety of ammo from **Remington** and **Winchester**

Browsing the lineup of EAA firearms you will find some very familiar looking firearms. This appears to be in part because EAA sources firearms very similar if not cloned from popular guns made by the best manufacturers. You’ll find models with great similarities to popular firearms made by companies like Beretta, Browning, and others.

By importing products like these from EAA’s european and other partners, American gun owners can get a great price on a firearm comparable to much more expensive names.

The Balikli Blue Label Shotgun

Turkey is famous for making shotguns, so it came as no surprise that EAA’s Balikli shotguns come from Turkish factories. The Balikli Blue Label over under is built in the very typical design, with a break-action and single trigger. The set of barrels are cut 28-inches long in the 12 gauge model, and bored for chokes at the muzzle. Its vented rib also features a fiber optic orange bead at the front to aid in aiming.

The stock is fashioned from walnut, another famous Turkish export. The Balikli Blue Label shotgun is more of an affordable option than typical over under guns, so the walnut is a little more mainstream. The checkered walnut is matched to a handsomely engraved aluminum receiver. The mechanical single trigger fires both barrels, and the safety functions like most over under guns, allowing you to preselect which barrel fires first.

Specifications

EAA Balikli Blue Level Over Under Shotgun
Finish	Walnut / Black
Caliber	12-Gauge
Capacity	2 Rounds
Barrel Length	28-inch (12g) 26-inch (28g, 20g, .410)
Length of pull	14.5-inches
Overall Length	45-inches
Weight	6.35-pounds
Included Chokes	Skeet, Imp Cyl, Mod, Imp Mod, Full

the assortment of **Mobile chokes** were easy to change with the included tool

Shooting the Blue Label

Our first outing with the Blue Label was into the ice cold Rocky Mountains. The kids and I ventured into the snow with a box of clays and some Fiocchi 1oz target loads. Perhaps a little different than a typical trap trip, but we enjoy the hand-thrown clays. Shooting the light loads in these open mountains barely even justified ear protection. We all had fun figuring out the lead to break the clays, and the seemingly antiquated process of opening the action to reload.

Quality

Break-action shotguns are almost as simple as you can get, which should make it pretty easy to manufacture. I guess what I mean is this simple design lends itself to be made right. During all of our testing, I never found any kind of malfunction or problem.

While this shotgun isn’t meant to be some high-grade beauty like many other over under shotguns, it is well made. The wood is finished handsomely and everything fits nicely without gaps or edges. The checkering while simple, is clean and grippy. And the rubber recoil pad softens the felt recoil while shooting.

The receiver finish looks like a bead-blasted finish, with a pheasant motif engraved as is typical. Smooth controls with robust lock-up came as no surprise due to the simple design. I guess if you are the guy who shoots Perazzi or Guerini you’d probably notice more difference than I. But for the average American shotgunner, this gun’s fit and function were as good as you could expect for this price. You can tell its a sub $500 gun from Turkey, and that’s fine by me.

Shootability

I do like the shorter feel of under over style shotguns. Since they don’t have an action designed to cycle shells from a magazine, and are basically a chamber and breach, you get a shorter length than a similar barreled pump or auto. Swinging the 28-inch barrels was very natural, and the textured rib and fiber optic bead looked excellent when chasing clays through the sky.

The light weight of the Balikli Blue Label make it easy to carry around. I’d love to take it on a pheasant or chukar hunt, but at this point in the year It’ll have to be ducks or geese. Even our youngest boy had no problem handling the feel and recoil from this gun.

EAA, european american arms, balikli, blue label, shotgun, 12 gauge, over under, youth, kids, trap, — the kids had a great time throwing clays for each other

Reliability

It’s hard to come up with something much more reliable than a break action. There are so few parts to malfunction, and the simple operation is nearly impossible to screw up. I know other over under shotguns have spring ejectors to pop spent shells from the chamber. The Balikli Blue Label pushes the spent shells out of the chamber, making them easy to grab, but it doesn’t eject them clear.

EAA, european american arms, balikli, blue label, shotgun, 12 gauge, over under, o/u, ejector, — smoke rises from the chamber

EAA, european american arms, balikli, blue label, shotgun, 12 gauge, over under, o/u, — the compact package in its box

Continue Reading Here

If you’re lucky enough and work hard you can become one of those financially secure adults that we all imagined becoming as children. And it’s about that time in a firearm enthusiasts life that he or she decides to start buying up guns that they want more than they need. While that statement could describe nearly any firearm, today we are discussing one in particular. Beretta is well known for making excellent shotguns, many of which I’ve been lucky enough to play with on the range. The Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon is yet another fine example of Beretta’s prime production, but this one brought up some interesting reflection..

Introduction

Beretta is well known for making excellent shotguns, many of which I’ve been lucky enough to play with on the range. The Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon is yet another fine example of Beretta’s prime production, but this one brought up some interesting reflection.

Almost anyone who owns a shotgun has a 12 gauge. It is the workhorse of American shotgunning. My first shotgun, like most people, was a 12 gauge as well. It just makes sense in so many ways. Ammo is typically inexpensive and readily available. There’s also a huge assortment of various cartridge types that are usually lining the shelves of any reputable sporting goods store. So why bother going with anything but a 12 gauge?

Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon in .410 — Even in .410 bore, the craftsmanship of the Silver Pigeon lends itself to accurate, effective shooting.

I gained most of my hunting and firearms knowledge as a child listening to the stories told by my father and other men in the family. A very often mentioned anecdote was that of my grandfather’s single-shot .410 shotgun. My dad and his brothers all learned to wing shoot with that old gun. I’d hardly had any interaction with .410s, mainly because I didn’t need to use one.

But I do remember hearing those old stories about the need for perfect leads and center hits. The .410 does not carry as much shot as its larger siblings. While this may seem like a disadvantage, I actually felt like it was a great reason to add another shotgun to my collection.

THE .410 SILVER PIGEON

Over/under shotguns enjoy a class all their own, and this Beretta is certainly no exception. I opened the box and quickly mounted the barrels and handguard. I immediately fell in love with the gun the second I shouldered it.

The 686 came with 28-inch barrels chambered in .410, a standard selection of chokes, and all the tools to change the chokes and maintain the firearm. As is typical with these guns, the Silver Pigeon has a perfect fit and finish, with detailed and handsome engraving throughout the receiver area.

After prepping the gun and familiarizing myself with its controls, we headed out to shoot it. While the current ammunition situation is a mess, I was lucky enough to find a few boxes of Federal .410 shotshells – 2 3/4 inches loaded with #7.5 shot. Just right for smashing a few clays in the sky. With the stories told by my father still in the back of my mind, I refined my focus knowing these loads were not the 1 1/4 ounces I was used to shooting from my other guns.

SHOOTING THE PIGEON

With several boxes of clays and shells, we were ready to make some noise. We loaded both chambers and started throwing doubles. I dusted both of the first clays. My immediate impression of the Beretta was that it was soft shooting. Follow-up shots were very quick because the gun hardly recoiled with such small and light loads. This was obviously a double-edged sword. If the clays managed to get very far, your shot had to be perfect or it would escape unscathed.

The lightweight of the Pigeon also made it very easy to move and quickly get on target. My young daughter took a few swings with it, and she found it to be a much better fit for her than the 12 gauges she had tried in the past. The quick handling of the shotgun made it an obvious candidate for the fast and small game birds that we frequently see in these mountains. I cannot wait to take it out on a grouse or Chukar hunt when the season arrives.

Not only was the recoil light, but the gun was surprisingly quiet. The wide-open country we were shooting in went on forever, and the sound waves seemed to dissipate very easily. The petite and lightweight Silver Pigeon was simply a pure joy to shoot.

The only problem or dislike I could find with this gun was a designed one. Every time the gun is unloaded and reset, the safety is automatically engaged, this may be a common design on some guns, but it’s one I personally don’t care for. While I’m sure it is easily remedied through training and practice, it did end up costing me a few misses when I failed to remove the safety prior to my swing.

CONCLUSION

There comes a time in life where you start buying guns based on desire instead of necessity. If I were only going to have one shotgun, it would certainly be a 12 gauge, probably in a pump or semi-auto configuration. But as tastes mature and shooters have more money to spend, adding something like a beautiful little .410 to your collection really is a gift to yourself.

The Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon is an outstanding firearm. Regardless of caliber, it would make a fine addition to your collection. Starting out with a .410 might be a bit of a challenge, but it will teach you lessons that will only make you more effective regardless of the shotgun you shoot.

-CBM