I'm thinking of getting a new sporting shotgun that will not be for hunting. I have a 682 gold Super sporting and was wondering about the Beretta UGB25 excel. Is there enough difference in the 682 gold E to warrant a change for the money? The UGB25 does interst me but i have not shot one to date. Looking for 12 gauge with tubes.

I too was curious to see and shoot the UGB25. But wholly cow, I saw one a month or so ago and it looked so pathetic I had no interest in shooting it. The owner was proud at the huge discount he got on it... I was polite but I could see why the aren't selling. It really looks like they took the worst features of the O/U and mixed them with the worst features of the semi. The lock system looks cheap with a very small bearing surface. The clip for holding the extra shell could be the definition of an "after-thought". I like Beretta's but this thing looks like a joke to me.

On the 682's I shot a Gold Sporting for years and then switched to a Gold E. The E wasn't meant to be an upgrade but I'd shot the Sporting so much they basically told me it was a paper-weight. It had been off-face three times and they said that was all the rebuilding they could do to it. But that took over 100K rounds. The Gold E lasted better but I still broke a few parts. It didn't have the number of rounds through it as the Sporting though.

Mine were set up about the same with 30" barrels and the same Kick-Eez pads. They shot differently but I really can't say one was better than the other. To me the Gold E moved a bit quicker but could maybe be described as a bit "whippy" compared to the Sporting. I guess I won more with the Gold E but if your Sporting is shooting well and not breaking parts I doubt you could justify the expense. Just in the last few weeks I dug out both of them again and if they were both in good condition I guess I'd pick the Sporting version as it just feels a bit better to me.

Sorry neither of mine were officially tubed so I can't comment there. I used a generic Briley Companion 28ga tube set a bit in both but it changed the balance so much in either gun that I wasn't having fun.