Opinion on Beretta A400 Xplor 20 gauge

KND

KND

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
193   0   2
Location
Brossard, QC
Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade from my Browning Citor Over/Under 12 gauge to auto loader in 20 gauge. It's going to be my first auto loader shotgun for skeet shooting. My browning did the job quite good consider it age and how many rounds went through but since my wife might consider start the sport also so I have an excuse to buy 20 gauge for her and me.

We both handle the shotgun at the store, the handling of this shotgun is wonderful, very light and fit both of us, short Asian.

Now come to reliability of this shotgun, I did quite a search on Internet but can't seem find a reliable review yet so decide to give a shot on CGN.

Now come to questions, I wonder if anybody owe this shotgun mention above ? What do you think about it ? How reliable is it ? Should I stick to another Over/Under ? Thanks.

Have a nice day.

Best Regard !
 
I don't know that any gas gun is an "upgrade" from either of the B-gun O/U's, but the A400 Xplor's in 12 ga. at least are certainly among the best, if not the best auto-loaders out there, and are extremely reliable.

I can't imagine the same guns in 20 ga. to be any less so.

The 391's in 20 were every bit as reliable as the comparable 12's and I would anticipate the 400-X's to be the same.

Attend any major Sporting shoot these days and you'll find Beretta auto-loaders in the various forms to outnumber all of the other non-O/U's on the rack put together. Good choice. Enjoy ! :)
 
I hate to say this but I bought one and returned it because it would not cycle properly after 3 boxes of ammo -- started by not keeping the bolt open after the 2nd shot and progressed down hill from there. I used both magnum and regular loads in it. I took it back and exchanged for the kick off version but the same problem developed on the 2nd box of ammo. The guns were cleaned properly before being shot. The latter was returned to the dealer for repair -- he had it cleaned by hid gunsmith and fired a box of quality 3" magnums thru it -- on the 20th round it again screwed up so it gas been sent back to the distributor. If it'ds not back in 30 days, I have the option of a refund or something of equal value -- thinking Benelli.
BTW, I love my Beretta 400 in 12 gauge.
 
I was at a private club recently that has a couple of these guns in 20 gauge available to its members. They did not in my limited exposure to them show the same degree of reliability and dependability as my 20 gauge 391. This could, in the gun's defense, be because they weren't cleaned regularly. Nevertheless, the A400 hung up more often than my 391 and I will confess mine sometimes goes a very long time between cleanings.

The malfunctions that I saw were very similar to those described by Grouser.
 
Claybuster said:
I was at a private club recently that has a couple of these guns in 20 gauge available to its members. They did not in my limited exposure to them show the same degree of reliability and dependability as my 20 gauge 391. This could, in the gun's defense, be because they weren't cleaned regularly. Nevertheless, the A400 hung up more often than my 391 and I will confess mine sometimes goes a very long time between cleanings.

The malfunctions that I saw were very similar to those described by Grouser.
Click to expand...

Claybuster; My A400 in 12 gauge is perhaps the best working 12 semi gas gun I have ever shot. There are at least 10 at my club and all have functioned with no issues. IMHO far better than my 390 or 391.
That's why I was so looking forward to the 20 ga.
Cheers, John
 
Grouser said:
Claybuster; My A400 in 12 gauge is perhaps the best working 12 semi gas gun I have ever shot. There are at least 10 at my club and all have functioned with no issues. IMHO far better than my 390 or 391.
That's why I was so looking forward to the 20 ga.
Cheers, John
Click to expand...
The private club I was at also had some A400's in 12 gauge and they worked better. I still prefer the 391 but that is more due to some changes to the stock design on the A400 that don't suit me and unfortunately the 391 stocks won't easily swap on to the newer guns.
 
I have an a400 12ga xtreme unico with ko, I have put over 400 rounds threw it starting with light loads, and have never had a jam or missfire, I cant say there is a better gun out there and ive had a few gas and inertia driven shotguns.(but then agian thats my opinion)
 
No experience with the 20... However I had an a400 xplor unico ko 12 ga and 2 a400 xtremes one in optifade and now in black and I can validly say that not one hiccup ever with any loads and I have owned a lot of the top semis as of late but stuck with the a400 xtreme in black... Super soft shooters as well
 
Hoss83 said:
No experience with the 20... However I had an a400 xplor unico ko 12 ga and 2 a400 xtremes one in optifade and now in black and I can validly say that not one hiccup ever with any loads and I have owned a lot of the top semis as of late but stuck with the a400 xtreme in black... Super soft shooters as well
Click to expand...
My a 400 in 12 guage is flawless after 10000 rounds. Both 2.75 and 3 work perfect. Its the exel model with a 32" barrel. Awesome gun.
 
beretta boy said:
Very surprised to hear of problems with the 20. Disappointing. The 12's are super reliable.
Click to expand...

I agree -- mine has been sent back to Beretta in Canada/ Stoeger for repair -- I gave notice to the dealer that I wanted it back within 30 days or a credit for a replacement.
Might sound a bit pushy but when you spend $1700.00+tax on a gun it should work and this was the 2nd one!
 
Hi
The July Edition of 'Clay Shooting' magazine - a UK publication has a very good feature on this gun. If you can find a copy I am sure it will answer your questions.

Regards,

Ron (ex. Brit)
Woodstock, ON.
 
Claybuster said:
I was at a private club recently that has a couple of these guns in 20 gauge available to its members. They did not in my limited exposure to them show the same degree of reliability and dependability as my 20 gauge 391. This could, in the gun's defense, be because they weren't cleaned regularly. Nevertheless, the A400 hung up more often than my 391 and I will confess mine sometimes goes a very long time between cleanings.

The malfunctions that I saw were very similar to those described by Grouser.
Click to expand...

If this is the club I am thinking of (surrounded by water) I am not surprised to hear this. None of the staff there cleans any of the guns (or knows how to) and i guarantee that they were not ever broken in properly. On top of that 3/4 of those guns are demos from Beretta so they have had a lot of rounds dumped thru them. So tons of rounds and incompetent staff leads to malfunctioning auto loaders. Rant over. Hope we are talking about the same place lol
 
Grouser said:
Claybuster; My A400 in 12 gauge is perhaps the best working 12 semi gas gun I have ever shot. There are at least 10 at my club and all have functioned with no issues. IMHO far better than my 390 or 391.
That's why I was so looking forward to the 20 ga.
Cheers, John
Click to expand...

Far better ? You must have had bad luck with your 390.
 
Bruce County said:
If this is the club I am thinking of (surrounded by water) I am not surprised to hear this. None of the staff there cleans any of the guns (or knows how to) and i guarantee that they were not ever broken in properly. On top of that 3/4 of those guns are demos from Beretta so they have had a lot of rounds dumped thru them. So tons of rounds and incompetent staff leads to malfunctioning auto loaders. Rant over. Hope we are talking about the same place lol
Click to expand...
We are talking about the same place. The 12 gauge A400s were shot far more and were much dirtier than the 20 gauges. The 12 gauges still worked fine despite the neglect but the 20s had more problems despite being shot less often. I stripped and cleaned one of the 20 gauges in the gun room after the first afternoon and it helped a little but there were still problems.
 
Claybuster said:
We are talking about the same place. The 12 gauge A400s were shot far more and were much dirtier than the 20 gauges. The 12 gauges still worked fine despite the neglect but the 20s had more problems despite being shot less often. I stripped and cleaned one of the 20 gauges in the gun room after the first afternoon and it helped a little but there were still problems.
Click to expand...

Good to know. I was going to pick one of these up but I will stick with the Unico instead
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom