A400 Unico Light Chipping around chamber

fivehundredlimited

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Muskoka, Ontario
My friend finally bought his first shotgun after spending close to a year researching and bought an A400 Unico Light for around $2300. This was four years ago, but in that time has fired less than 1500 rounds. He was cleaning his shotgun last week and noticed that the receiver was chipped where the shells eject from. I also noticed an Xtrema for sale on the EE that also showed this same chipping around the extraction point of the receiver. Is this considered normal wear and tear? Beretta claims they fired over 100000 rounds from this shotgun during their testing so a problem like this should have shown up. If the receiver continues to chip away at this rate there won't be much left of it after 100000 rounds. Have other experienced the same chipping? Should this shotgun be replaced by the manufacturer?
 
I owned one briefly (A400 light) and noticed the same. Low round count too. Not sure why, but didn't affect function.

Strange though for sure. I had a Rem 1100 with probably 10000 rounds through it, and all around the ejection port looked brand new. Mint.
 
Thanks for confirming this, I never thought of it prior to him buying it, but wondering if the anodized receiver is contributing to the problem. I have a Wingmaster from the 80's that has had thousands of rounds through it as well and isn't showing any signs of chipping like that either. He is not a happy camper as he thought he was buying something that would last a long time and pass down to his kids one day especially for the price.
 
I've actually heard this before. I researched that gun as well and this seems to be a somewhat common issue with them. Not sure if the current model has this issue, you would think that Beretta would enlarge the port or change the ejector so it didn't happen.
 
My Beretta 391 did the same thing. The damage is only cosmetic & does not affect the function of the gun. That said, it should not happen on a gun of this quality. I am sure Beretta is aware of the problem.

I masked the damage on my 391 by using Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black.
 
Looks like mine did - but mine was worse. Personally (and again, not sure if this is the RIGHT way) - I'd hit that ejection port inside lip with a file and smooth it down. Mine didn't chip like that (just wore down), and I would guess making a smoother transition would prevent further chipping.
 
I wonder if ammo type has something to do with it.
Steel base vs aluminum reciver, steel base wins every time. Being a semi the hulls are probably ejected with gusto too which no doubt adds to the damage.
Not that this is an excuse for poor engineering or manufactureing practices.
What's the black 'P' shaped thing on the side of the bolt?
Any change that the culprit of the chips is from that and not ejected hulls?
 
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