Beretta 687 EELL Classic Field £8,025

OUR VERDICT

At 40 years old, midlife becomes apparent and the realisation that we are not the bright young things of 20 years ago comes home to roost. The Beretta sideplate EELL range is now in its 40th year, but with no sign of a midlife crisis and still recognised as the benchmark that all other sideplates are judged by. In fact the EL and EELL sideplated guns were the first of their kind, with perhaps the exception of the E Rizzini.

The unsung heroes of this design were the team at Gunmark: Bjorn Waktare, Patrick Keen and Judith Harker,