A400, A300 or 1301?

[UpSideDown]

I'm trying to pick out a hunting shotgun and I'm split over which direction to go, and I'd love some experienced opinions.

I have an 870 tactical 12ga but it isn't something I hunt with. I don't really like the 18.5" barrel and don't feel like running a tactical timmy pump. I have shot O/U's, an Affinity 3, and a Rem 1100 in addition to a slew of 870's. I'd like to try a gas gun.

My use case is for a one-gun solution for upland and waterfowl hunting. I big game hunt and have really enjoyed going out with my breakdown rimfire to hunt around deer season. I'd love to do some shotgun upland hunting, turkey hunting, and I'd also like to learn how to waterfowl hunt. I live in NW Oregon so we have an abundance of all of it.

I'm looking at the Beretta A300's and A400's. They've got a nice rebate going on til the end of January that helps things and I am checking in on first responder pricing from EuroOptic so the prices should be pretty workable. A friend has also pointed me towards the 1301 Comp model. I'm really liking the idea of a 20ga over a 12ga, but I want experienced opinions on this. A small swaying factor is that a lightweight 20ga would be beneficial for my small-framed wife since she's expressed interest in waterfowl hunting - that might need to be a different gun but I want to mention it in case she can run this gun too.

I think I can grab an A300 for $675, A400 for $1,350, and 1301 Comp for $1,150.

- Is the A300 a good gun to grow into? Is the A400 worth paying the extra money for? Is a 1301 a good quasi-A400?

- Is 12ga or 20ga a better pick for a one-gun solution?

- Is it best to get a 12ga A400 (waterfowl) and a 20ga A300 (upland for me, waterfowl for wife)?

 

[TNHunter18]

I have an A400 in 12 and my dad has an A300 in 20. My 400 is several years old and my dad has the new 300 ultima. I really like my 400 but honestly if you’re not going to be shooting 3.5 inch shells you would probably be fine with the 300. I would hold them and see what you think as the materials are nicer on the 400 but the 300 is nice also. The kick off system is great for shooting and can’t hardly feel the 20 gauge kick at all which is great if you have shoulder problems or don’t like recoil. Some people say they have had issues shooting light loads but I have ran thousands through mine with no issues at all. Brand new the 300 was having some issues with ejecting but added a bit of rem oil and have put several hundred problem free rounds through it now.

 

[Fowl Play]

12 gauge is a better one gun solution. If your wife wants to shoot it as well, just get lighter loads. If she truly enjoys it you can get her, her own gun later. I run an A300. To me an A400 feels like swinging a 2x4, it is very large and chunky. But that’s my personal preference. A 3” gun is more optimized for the majority of wing shooting. The only bird I used to shoot 3.5” at was turkey. But… with the advent of tungsten turkey rounds. I now use a 3” gun for everything. If you want all the niceties of the A400 line, but the nimbleness of the A300, get the A300 ultima, in my opinion that is the best 3” gun option made right now for an all around gun. In a 3.5” gun, I would not get the A400. I would look hard at Benelli (their 3.5” guns are much leaner).

 

[wyogoat]

I just picked up the A300 in 20 for around the price you mentioned. If you haven’t handled one you should. It is nice and trim and lightweight. I’m a 20ga fan and with non-tox shell options I don’t think you give up much anymore in realistic hunting ranges.
That gun points perfectly off the peg but comes with a lot of shims to customize the fit.
I’ve handled the other guns you mentioned and shot them some, they’re all great so you’re on the right track. Find a place that has them all like a Scheels and see what fits.

 

[Thinkingman]

Whichever fits best.

 

[UpSideDown]

I’m thinking I might grab an A400 or A300 in 12ga for waterfowl, and the 20ga A300 Turkey model with the 24” barrel and pic rail as an upland/turkey gun and for my wife to use if we both go waterfowl hunting or clay shooting. I wanted to avoid having two different gauges for ammo purposes and looking at two guns off the bat. What do you guys think?

 

[Fowl Play]

This might be a ton of information, but here’s my 2 cents.

The A400 will have a harder time cycling lighter 2 3/4” upland/skeet rounds reliably. That is just my personal experience with 3.5” chamber guns from all manufacturers — including direct experience with the A400. That was prob 5 years ago at this point, so maybe search the web’s to see if it’s been addressed with the A400. After proper break in, etc it should be fine, but I’ve still had failures. The only thing you could want 3.5” for would be turkey and geese.

I personally shoot a 3” 12 gauge for everything BUT… I shoot tungsten for turkeys and I do not take long passing shots at geese. A 3” TSS #9 round knocks the pants off a 3.5” Lead #5. They are much more expensive, but… you don’t shoot that many turkey rounds every year. For geese, shooting a bunch of 3.5” high velocity goose rounds is brutal… I prefer to shoot 3” and just let them get closer.

For the 20 gauge, that turkey specific model with shorter barrel and rail for an optic will take away from its usability for wing shooting.

If it were me, and I was looking for the best do it all gun for wife and I. I would get two 28” barrel A300’s. One in 12 gauge and one in 20. I’d shoulder the ultima models to see if the extra cost was worth it to me. And go from there. If you find that you really enjoy one thing to hunt more than others — then you can determine if you want to purchase a more specific and optimized shotgun later.

I shoot a Mossberg 940 pro turkey with a shorter barrel and a machined riser for an optic as my dedicated turkey gun. BUT… I killed allot of turkeys with a standard 28” shotgun with a single bead before I wanted to specialize.

 

[UpSideDown]

This might be a ton of information, but here’s my 2 cents.

The A400 will have a harder time cycling lighter 2 3/4” upland/skeet rounds reliably. That is just my personal experience with 3.5” chamber guns from all manufacturers — including direct experience with the A400. That was prob 5 years ago at this point, so maybe search the web’s to see if it’s been addressed with the A400. After proper break in, etc it should be fine, but I’ve still had failures. The only thing you could want 3.5” for would be turkey and geese.

I personally shoot a 3” 12 gauge for everything BUT… I shoot tungsten for turkeys and I do not take long passing shots at geese. A 3” TSS #9 round knocks the pants off a 3.5” Lead #5. They are much more expensive, but… you don’t shoot that many turkey rounds every year. For geese, shooting a bunch of 3.5” high velocity goose rounds is brutal… I prefer to shoot 3” and just let them get closer.

For the 20 gauge, that turkey specific model with shorter barrel and rail for an optic will take away from its usability for wing shooting.

If it were me, and I was looking for the best do it all gun for wife and I. I would get two 28” barrel A300’s. One in 12 gauge and one in 20. I’d shoulder the ultima models to see if the extra cost was worth it to me. And go from there. If you find that you really enjoy one thing to hunt more than others — then you can determine if you want to purchase a more specific and optimized shotgun later.

I shoot a Mossberg 940 pro turkey with a shorter barrel and a machined riser for an optic as my dedicated turkey gun. BUT… I killed allot of turkeys with a standard 28” shotgun with a single bead before I wanted to specialize.

This is great info, thanks! I haven't been too worried about cycling the light load shells in an A400 based on the general consensus of them working well. If it needs some break-in that's fine. My main worry between the A400/A300 is not wanting to buy a mediocre gun, if that's what the A300 is, and regret not spending a little more on a gun I'd keep forever. But if the A300 is a gun I'd keep forever then spending less is great, it'll buy me ammo.

My thinking on the 24" Turkey model A300 is this: If I'm upland or turkey hunting, a short barreled, handy shotgun with a red dot with light loads would be great. My wife is small-framed and the long/heavy front end on a lot of shotguns steers me towards a shorter barrel. If we both go waterfowling she'd take this gun and I would remove the pic rail for that trip.

I could do everything with a 12ga like you're suggesting. She wasn't bothered by light 12ga loads when we went trap shooting even with light 12ga pumps and a Ruger Red Label 12ga that felt like it just kicked horribly and punched you in the cheek. My primary reason to lean on the 20ga is just to cause less damage to small game. I'm not plan on using slugs, I'm not worried about being undergunned on the occasional turkey hunt, so 20ga seems like a reasonable pick. On the flip side of that, 12ga is cheaper and more available, and I want a 12ga for waterfowl.

 

[UpSideDown]

I went to a Cabelas and tried out a bunch of semi-autos and got a good feel for them. Some things surprised me a little. My thoughts are below; I did not judge any gun based on how I fit it because most are adjustable for drop/cast/LOP.

- *Beretta A300: The front bead is quite large, and I didn't like having a mid bead, but these are things that can be easily changed. The gun felt like it had a neutral balance and like it would carry well in the hand, holding it just in front of the bolt, when it's loaded. Overall construction felt pretty good. The bolt release seems like it could snag on things because it sticks out like a lever. I found the extended bolt handle to feel cheap, but was totally functional.

- *Beretta A400: The pistol grip and forend had a nice girth to them. Coming from precision rifles I really liked the thicker pistol grip. I found that I didn't mind having a thicker forend vs. some other guns with sleek forends like the M2. This gun also felt like it had a neutral balance and like it would carry well in the hand, holding it just in front of the bolt, when it's loaded. Overall construction felt better than the A300. This is a nicer gun, but not by much. The bolt release is identical to the A300 and also seems like it could snag on things because it sticks out like a lever. I again found the extended bolt handle to feel cheap, but was totally functional.

- Benelli SBE3: I completely disliked this gun in my hands. This was the easiest 'no' of the bunch. The sleek forend was nice, but the pistol grip felt so tiny and angled that I couldn't get a good position for my thumb. It was easier to rest my thumb over the grip like a precision rifle than to wrap my hand around it. The overall feel and build of the gun was mediocre for the price/status of that gun. I'm sure there are nicer models. The stock/forend felt cheap.

- *Benelli M2: I really liked this gun. It felt better than the SBE3, had a really nice balance/swing to it that was a bit farther forward than the Berettas, and I liked the bolt and bolt release. The magazine feed lever (?) on the side of the trigger group seems a little tough to get at with gloves, but not a big deal. If it's like my buddies Franchi Affinity, I don't like that his shotgun requires you to press that lever to feed shells. You can 'load' a gun and have no ammo on tap from the magazine if you forget to hit that lever.

- Franchi Affinity 3: My buddy has one and I've shot it, it feels wonderfully light with more weight in the front. It strikes me as an awesome upland gun, but light for a waterfowl gun. Overall build is nice. Recoil is stout. It's a lot of gun for the money. I dislike the magazine feed lever (?) that's easy to forget; it's not uncommon to get one shot out of it and then the gun is dry because one of us forgot to hit the feed lever.

- *Browning Maxus: This is the first gun I picked up and said 'oh yeah!'. The balance, the grip, and the controls just seem right on this gun. I didn't have this on the radar at all before I started. The bolt has a funky look to it and it isn't a pretty gun, but it felt good.

- Browning Maxus II Sporting Carbon Fiber: This gun felt cheap next to the original Maxus. It was rattly in the forend, and the gun was covered in a fake carbon fiber finish. Gross.

- Browning A5 Hunter 16ga: This is the only gun I picked up and said 'WOW that's light'. This is also the only gun I cycled and then said 'WOW this is smooth'. This was a really nice gun. I could see this doing really in an upland setting, but it feels way too light for waterfowl.


So now I'm left still trying to pick out the best gun. I'm going with 12ga. I'm between the Maxus ($1,300), the M2 ($1,100), the A300 ($625 w/ rebate) and the A400 ($1,350 w/ rebate). The A300/400 are at the top for me based on price and perceived quality. The A300 would get me a lot of gun, and save a lot of money for ammo, but I'd always know the A400 is a better gun.

 

[Thinkingman]

Much better analysis than hearing someone spout their favorite.
Browning has always feel better in my hands and on my shoulder.

 

[bayoublaster7527]

I have had most of the beretta auto loaders through the years- A390, A391, Xtrema2, and A400. I think the A400 would be a solid choice for a do it all shotgun in 12 ga. No issues with my A400 after 8 seasons of use. I personally think it’s the best flagship autoloader out there. I don’t shoot 3.5 much any more but it seems to cycle everything fine. I think when you drop down a notch from the flagship beretta shotguns normally you get less durable coatings, so they may be more prone to rust, and the less advanced recoil reduction systems, so more recoil in theory. Maybe a few other features like enhanced bolt handle, bolt release, feeding port, etc. That’s essentially what you’re paying for.