Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta – part of Beretta Holding S.A. – is happy to introduce 688 Performance, a new shotgun platform for clay pigeon shooting.
Designed to welcome newcomers to the sport of clay target shooting, the Beretta 688 Performance is the over-and-under platform created specifically to make the world of competition more accessible.
Carlo Ferlito, General Manager & CEO of Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta, declared: “We are pleased to add 688 Performance to our competition product range. Thanks to this new platform, we aim to reach young shooters and newcomers that have just approached the fascinating world of clay pigeon shooting. This shotgun is dedicated to the ones who wish to embrace this sport supported by the long experience of Beretta and the team of champions who achieved the extraordinary result of 14 medals out of 15 in the last Paris Olympics. The features we develop with professional athletes and the technology we put in their guns resonate through all our product range, and the 688 is an example of this contamination.”
The 688 Performance enhances shooters’ comfort with a heavier receiver to improve stability, handling and minimize recoil. The laminated wood stock with palm swell, developed for competition, contributes to optimize weight distribution and balance it features the B-Fast® adjustable technology straight out the box. The redesigned top lever ensures smoother feeling, requiring less effort to close and open the action.
The unbeatable ballistics of the Steelium® Optimabore® HP barrels with extended forcing cones provides the 688 with the long-established Beretta performance: uniform and dense patterns and minimized recoil and muzzle rise. All-in-one to enable shooters of all levels to think big right from the start.
Main features:
1. MicroCore® recoil pad
2. Thicker stock with competition palm swell, closed pistol grip and checkering
3. B-Fast® adjustable stock straight out of the box
4. Laminated wood for a contemporary and technical style
5. 680-based heavier and wider receiver
6. Optimized weight distribution and balance at hinge pins
7. Top lever with smoother opening and closing feeling
8. Fresh competition looks with improved anti-glare finish
9. Adjustable trigger, adjustable LOP
10. Beretta Steelium® Optimabore® HP barrels
11. Competition top rib
12. Competition ventilated side ribs
13. Optimachoke® HP chokes (color-banded on the Sporting version)
The thicker ergonomics of the stock is based on the successful Beretta 694 design (widened blade and comb, lengthened closed pistol grip with palm swell) to provide maximum comfort while ensuring the position of the hands is extremely natural and stable. The 1.5 pitch checkering and increased surface area guarantee the best possible grip.
The black laminated wood stock, with its sleek glossy finish, not only gives the 688 Performance a modern aesthetic, but also maintains consistent weight and offers superior weather resistance compared to traditional walnut.
The 688 Performance stock is packed with B-Fast® technology, the stock adjustment tool developed by Beretta. With a simple and intelligent design, it provides several adjustment options in height, drop, cast and rotation. It is possible to add 20 g and 40 g weights inside the stock to personalize the shotgun’s balance (these may be purchased separately). The Sporting version is available at launch with the B-Fast® 35/55 drop (RH/LH) and round forend. The Trap version is available at launch with the B-Fast® 35/45 drop (RH/LH) and beavertail forend. Both models will be introduced with a fixed stock version later. Both the Trap and the Sporting versions feature a length of pull of 376 mm with 18 mm MicroCore® recoil pad and centrally positioned trigger.
Microcore® is the recoil pad developed by Beretta thanks to decades of experience gained on hunting and shooting ranges around the world. Soft, light and adaptable, the Microcore® recoil pad is made of open cell polyurethane and combines lightness and performance like no other.
The 680-based receiver of the 688 Performance has been made wider and 55g heavier compared to other Beretta 680 shotguns for increased recoil reduction, stability, and handling. The overall weight distribution benefits from this design, while maintaining the shotguns balance at the hinge pins. The blued steel receiver with orange 688 logo and improved laser-engraved anti-glare finish completes the modern style of the gun.
The bottom of the action has the Icon Beretta’s three arrows and 688 logo in the distinctive orange. The gun features the classic Beretta 680 closing system with trapezoidal shoulders and two rugged pins that protrude from the breech face and are inserted into their respective housings on the sides of the breech, while the front part of the action is fitted with two hinged studs that are inserted into the respective housings on the monoblock.
The closing of the 688 Performance is smoother and requires less effort thanks to the redesigned top lever, with a repositioned release pin. Perfect for young, new and competition shooters who are practicing hard to elevate their game.
The trigger group features an adjustable single-selective trigger (from -4 mm to +4 mm) and a fixed lock served by two robust coil springs mounted on spring guides. The firing selector, present on the Sporting version only, is located inside the safety lever. The ejectors are fitted with powerful springs positioned behind the ejector slide.
The Steelium® Optimabore® HP barrels and their 80 mm double forcing cone ensure great reliability and excellent performances. Steelium® is the hallmark of all barrels produced at Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta, which was founded in 1526 as a barrel manufacturer, even before becoming a creator of complete firearms. 500 years of experience that is still relevant today, despite the use of the most advanced production technologies. Every single Steelium® barrel is made from Beretta’s exclusive tri-alloy steel (Ni, Cr, Mo) and goes through deep drilling, cold hammer forging and vacuum distension. This entire process guarantees smoother ballistics that help reduce recoil and muzzle rise effect, ensuring perfect, dense and uniform patterns with any type of ammunition: lead, steel and HighPerformance steel.
The barrels are 70 mm chambered on the Trap version (18.4 mm bore diameter with 10×10 mm top rib) and 76 mm on the Sporting version (18.6 mm bore diameter with 10×8 mm top rib) and are available in lengths of 71, 76 and 81 cm for both versions.
The barrels are assembled as a monoblock with internal chrome plating, they feature fixed **/* chokes in the case of the Trap version, while the Sporting version is equipped with a set of 5 color banded Optimachoke® HP chokes. Manufactured from high-strength steel, Beretta Optimachoke® HP chokes offer exceptional corrosion resistance against the power of steel shot. They are provided in an internal or extended version and can be found in different configurations according to the discipline.
Founded in 1526 in Gardone Val Trompia (Italy) by the Beretta Family, who has now been leading the company for 15 generations, Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A. is an international manufacturer of commercial firearms, military weapons and products designed for outdoor sports such as hunting, competition, and tactical shooting. Beretta operates in the world to support outdoors lovers, defense and law enforcement officers, providing them with a complete ecosystem (firearms, clothing, accessories and services) and featuring the most modern technologies, assembly lines, quality control and local highly qualified workers, who hand down the Italian tradition of gun-smithing since the Reinassance. All this represents an irreplaceable asset to achieve the degree of accuracy and quality that made Beretta a world-renowned brand.
With more than 50 global subsidiaries, Beretta Holding Group stands as a world-renowned leader with a distinguished reputation in the fields of hunting, sports shooting, and defense & law enforcement sectors thanks to its wide selection of premium products.
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