Renowned designer Marc Newson is best known for his work involving furniture, cars, cameras, watches and—most recently—Apple products. But who cares about that stuff? The man just made a shotgun for Beretta: the 486 by Marc Newson, a round-body side-by-side with strikingly unique and beautiful design features.
"The main focus for my design of the 486 was to simplify and rationalize all the surfaces," Newson said. "Specifically streamlining the area of the action."
Streamlining indeed. Check out these photos from Beretta:
The lines of round-body shotguns tend to flow nicely, and the 486 takes fine advantage of the concept. A highly distinctive look is afforded by sinking the tang into the stock, giving the receiver a shortened appearance. Thus the safety essentially floats amidst the wood, separated from the receiver by what Beretta calls a "woodbridge."
Additionally the two big humps generally present on side-by-sides are all but non-existent. The 486 flows wonderfully from barrels to breech to receiver.
Note the laser-etched dragons: They were designed by Newson as an homage to the ring-necked pheasant's origins in Asia. The etching is well done, but—call me old fashioned—my favorite homage to the pheasant is a pheasant. And sometimes a bird dog.
The trigger guard rests in a milled guide, further eliminating harsh edges.
Personally I like what Newson has done here. The aesthetic refinements are lovely additions to the round-body shotgun. They're modern, yet not so much so as to offend traditionalists.
What do you guys think? From an aesthetic standpoint, does Newson's 486 streamline conventional round-action design? Specifically, does it improve upon its predecessor, the Beretta 486 Parallelo?
