Beretta occasionally puts some effort into reminding the world that the oldest gunmaker still has in-house a top-notch custom shop capable of impressive masterpieces of artisan work. Again the chosen canvas is the premium O/U shotgun, the SL3, now declined in an unconventional tribute to the pharaoh Tutankhamon.
Beretta @ TFB:
Beretta SL3 Tutankhamon
This highly embellished shotgun was introduced by Beretta with the following words:
In 1914, a team of archaeologists and explorers guided by Howard Carter and financed by Lord Carnarvon started to dig in the Valley of Kings in Egypt. In 1922, this group of men, pushed by their hunger for knowledge, discovered a significant vestige of one of the greatest and most mysterious civilizations in history. Now, more than 3300 years after the birth of Tutankhamon and 100 years after the discovery of its tomb, BERETTA presented to the public a custom one-of-one shotgun at this year’s Safari Club International Convention – the SL3 Tutankhamon. The SL3 Tutankhamon celebrates 100 years after the discovery of King Tutankhamon’s tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon with its enriched engravings depicting common imagery from Egypt, symbols of the Egyptian civilization, and hieroglyphs found in Tutankhamon’s tomb.
Beretta SL3 Tutankhamon
Likely the potential buyers of this piece of art would not care much about the technical details, but the markings on the top barrel tell us that this SL3 is in 12 gauge, with 3″ chambers in 30″ long barrels. The dedicated page (in Italian) on the Beretta website however offers more details about the choice of engraving and decorations. The references to the famous Egyptian pharaoh are not random: each gold-rich design on the shotgun and its “sarcophagus case” recalls actual elements of the tomb. Unsurprisingly, gorgeous walnut wood is chosen for the furniture.
Beretta SL3 Tutankhamon
Beretta SL3 Tutankhamon
As we’ve seen with the SL3 Vittoria Alata, Beretta showed off the masterpiece with a video, which could initially be mistaken for a trailer of a new chapter of “The Mummy”.
More info on the starting shotgun can be found here.
All images by Beretta, www.beretta.com