What is a Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon I worth?

What moves the price

The Silver Pigeon I is the most traded over-and-under in Britain, which makes its price the closest thing the market has to a benchmark — and makes it the easiest gun to move on when you come to sell.

Barrel length matters more than year. A 30in multichoke sporter is the most wanted configuration and carries roughly £100 over a 28in field gun of the same age; fixed-choke guns sit below both.

Most of the spread is the condition of the bores and how tight the action sits on the face. A shooting-school trade-in with a high round count sits at the bottom of the range however tidy the outside looks — the top lever should still sit right of centre. Cased with its original chokes and papers adds around £120.

Note the gap between the auction figure above and what a dealer asks. At auction, with no warranty and no provenance, a Silver Pigeon I makes roughly half the retail price. That difference buys you a checked gun and somewhere to go if it is wrong.

Retail expectation: £1,200 for a well-used 28in to £1,900 for a low-use cased 30in, from a dealer.