We've seen a lot of wild custom guns over the years here at Wide Open Spaces, but we don't think we've ever seen a shotgun quite like the custom one that Beretta has built for actor Sylvester Stallone. Beretta USA shared some photos of the one-of-a-kind SO Sparviere shotgun that has been created as a tribute to his iconic role as "The Italian Stallion," Rocky Balboa, the career breakthrough that has spawned eight sequels including the still-upcoming "Creed III" that's set to release this March.
It appears Beretta decided this shotgun would be a tribute to the first five films, with clear engravings for each Roman numeral. Beretta says the gun was a "one-off creation by the craftsmen of the Pietro Beretta Custom Atelier." What's even more stunning is that Beretta says the engraving work took a staggering 800 to 900 hours to perfect!
"Our engravers, carrying a centuries-old tradition, employed a number of different techniques to bring to life this masterpiece," Beretta's Instagram post reads. "These include deep hammer and chisel, to reproduce two of the most memorable scenes from the Rocky movie saga; gold-inlays are also there, to recreate Sylvester Stallone's signature on the stock; colored enamels were employed to recreate the USA flag and add other details, such as Rocky's signature boxing gloves."
If you look closely at the photos, you might notice an absence of visible screws on the receiver. According to Beretta, this was done by design so they'd have more space to work on the engraving. Beretta also notes it engraved the internal parts. The insides of the side plates feature Rocky's pet turtles from the film, and the underside of the receiver features a full engraving of Rocky. The trigger guard has also been customized with "Sly" in gold lettering.
Comments on the Instagram post ranged from calling the custom shotgun beautiful to claiming it is garish. We suppose that's up to each person's individual opinion, but one cannot deny that a ton of work went into such a detailed engraving.
Obviously, as a one-of-a-kind item, this isn't something you're going to see on store shelves anytime soon. Not that most of us could afford one if they were. According to Beretta's website, the SO Sparviere (Sparviere is Italian for hawk), one that lacks the custom engraving starts with an MSRP of $89,500. With 800 to 900 hours of additional work put into the engraving, I'm not sure I even want to know the final price Stallone paid to have this shotgun made. Don't forget there's also an intricately engraved custom wooden case in the photos, too. We're glad Beretta shared this unique firearm with the world. It's a sight to see, even if you aren't a fan of the "Rocky" movies.
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