Beretta has announced a new 12-gauge competition shotgun for sporting clays and other shooting sports, the Model 694. The redesigned over/under is richly featured, built in cooperation with the Beretta Shooting Team.
Visibility was the team’s main priority. The 694 was designed to make it easier to spot and track targets, and knock them out of the sky.
Beretta developed a new stock profile with a wider comb and tweaked the forend to raise the sight picture when shooters shoulder the shotgun. The stock has an optional 35/50mm drop or 35/55mm drop with an adjustable B-Fast heel.
Both stocks have a 375mm or 14.75-inch length of pull with an 18mm or .7-inch recoil pad. The forend is available with a standard round or contoured Schnabel pattern.
The updated forends and stocks have enlarged checkered surfaces to accommodate different hand sizes and grip preferences as well as both left- and right-handed shooters.
On top the 694 features a redesigned opening lever with a lower profile and anti-glare finish. The safety selector is also checkered for ease of use and less glare, too.
Beretta redesigned the action of the shotgun with a modern sporting look. It has mirrored side panels with lightly blued engravings and matte grey Nistan finish on the action itself.
The redesign also reduces the amount of contact between heat-bearing surfaces to help keep the forend cool when shooting in large volumes. Beretta also modified the ejectors with more powerful springs.
See Also: Beretta Puts the X on the 92 Series
Like many Beretta shotguns the 694 has Steelium Plus Optima HP alloy barrels with lengthened forcing cones. The 694 has a “triple cone” forcing section that measures nearly a foot long to gently guide the shot to the bore.
The result is less pellet deformation which means tighter, more predictable shot patterns. Beretta also claims this helps reduce recoil, which, over enough shots, could well make a difference.
The Model 694 has a suggested price of $4,500 which is in-line with similar Beretta shotguns and a bit less than the 692 series which starts at $4,800. These shotguns often list close to MSRP but they also hold their value over a long time.