I'll have to be the dissenter in the bunch. I bought one NIB, over-rotated to the point it wasn't useable, the dealer told me to contact Beretta USA, they (Beretta) were worthless. Internal parts, springs, and the like were made too soft, and Beretta wouldn't let me buy them (replacement parts) until I could provide the exact part number, and to get that (schematic) cost some $40 to have a nearly unreadable copy sent to my gunsmith, and then it took them another 45 days to finally send the parts. I was given the run around, promised that I'd be called back, this or that is being faxed over, it's in the mail or that there are so many failures of the hand spring/pawl etc.? that there isn't any parts and I should just take it back to where I bought it.
Anyway, mine was a lemon, but it seems that there aren't nearly as many now as there were 3 years or so back when they first came out
Trinity, I wish you luck in our sport and truly hope your new Stampedes function as great as they look. Josie, I didn't mean to stir things up around here, although I did post my experience on the SASS Wire way back when it happened, and like I said, my experience with the Stampedes and Beretta service was over three years ago and when this model was new. I think the place I bought it from was the first shop in my area to have them, and maybe if I had gone for the blued model over the nickel things would have been different and I'd have a brace of them now, but that wasn't the case and quite frankly the whole experience soured me on Beretta products overall. Right now I've got two Remington 1858's and two 1875 models, with only one of the '58's being a Pietta and not Uberti. All three Uberti's are used, the Pietta I just purchased through Cabelas, and I haven't had a chance to put a round through any of them. Both '75's came with 3 sets of grips, the original wood, one hard rubber and one set made from simulated ivory that have been carved and would have looked great one the guns.
Unfortunately, the screw thread has pulled out of both pair of the simulated ivory with evidence that the previous owner had tried to use epoxy or JB weld in an attempt to get it ( the screw guide/anchor ) to stay in place. My point is that since the extra grips were a bonus for buying them from a fellow cowboy, who up until last week I wouldn't know from Adam himself, I took a chance a chance that these used guns might be someone else's problems, and I put my faith and trust that these used shootin' irons will work and work well, at least for a reasonable amount of time. While the grips are a dissappointment, I can't complain, and maybe the previous owner bought them new and had bad luck with the maker, the person who did the final fitting, or just got a set of lemons. Now, if the new 1858 Remington made by Pietta has major problems, I might concievably conclude that this one gunmaker has too many problems with this model or overall and I won't buy from them again; I don't think that will be the case, but anything is possible. My experience with the Stampede and Beretta service is based on what happened to me personally, and it did lead me to conclude that there was indeed a problem with the first production models, but this now seems to be fixed and the majority of folks are getting great results, as seen here. I just haven't gotten over what happened to me, and I truly wish Trinity the best of luck. I hope everyone understands why I felt I had to explain a little more about my opinion, and that I'm not trying to flame anyone for their advice or sharing results.
Ya'll take care;
William