Happy Fathers Day! - nice gift.

[icecorps]

So for Fathers Day I cleaned all of my dad's guns. Dug deep into the safe, and even cleaned stuff he hadn't shot in years. So he gives me one!

A Beretta Golden Lark, 12ga semi-auto trap gun. Nice Fathers Day gift from dad.

But I can't find any information on it anywhere! I plan to go through Beretta customer service, and I guess they'll find a manual for me. But has anyone even heard of this model? I searched all the gun sites and found no mention of it. I know it is a little old, but really, it's probably no more than 30 years old.

Can anyone help?

 

[oletymer]

The Golden Lark semi's were made in the 1960s.

 

[icecorps]

Strange, I have been able to find a few online sources but they all call it the "Gold Lark." But it has "Golden Lark" Stamped on the Receiver.

 

[icebones]

your screen name sounds an awful lot like mine...
just messin with you...

a nice shotgun indeed, what condition is it in?
have fun with it

 

[bannockburn]

icecorps

The Gold Lark was the Model A304, a variation from the A390 shotgun series. Available in 12 gauge only, the A304 was introduced in 1992. There were four different models: the Silver Lark, the Silver Lark Slug, the Gold Lark-Black, and the Gold Lark-White. All were chambered for 2 3/4" shotshells, had an alloy receiver, weighed approximately 6 1/2 pounds, and had vent rib barrels from 24" to 30" (except for the Slug model which offered either a 22" or 24" cylinder choked barrel). There was also a choice of fixed chokes or the Mobilchoke system for the barrels.

 

[icecorps]

Thanks, Bannockburn, but it clearly says "Golden" on the reciever, not Gold. Do you know if it is the same model?

 

[bannockburn]

icecorps

My source was the The World of Beretta by R.L. Wilson. I went back and checked through the shotgun section again and could find no reference to a Golden Lark. The Gold Lark had a gold filled P. Beretta signature engraved on the receiver, along with an upland scene featuring a snipe and a setter, and some other additional scrollwork. The Gold Lark came in an overall black anodized finish; or with what they termed a white receiver, possibly a silver anodized finish. These are the only Lark models that I could find in the book.

 

[Grayrock]

icecorps- a picture is worth a thousand posts!!

 

[icecorps]

Good idea, Grayrock! Here are the pics.

Also, can anyone can advise me about the hole in the left side of the reciever? It has the same decoration around it that the screw and pin holes have, but I have been told that it is PROBABLY just a vent. I don't want to have a sudden dissasembly when I shoot it for the first time.

I sent the serial number to Beretta, and they say it is in the A303 series.

 

[Grayrock]

Well boys- looks pretty "GOLDEN" to me!!