a400 xcel sporting opinions wanted
- Thread starter bangbang
- Start date
I have owned a benelli ss and a beretta 391. The Benelli was far easier to strip and clean, but the 391 had softer recoil. After shooting several hundred sporting targets back and forth between the two it was obvious for me that I scored better with the 391 so I let the ss go. I now have had several opportunities to shoot a friend's 400 sporting with out KO. The 400 seems to be significantly lighter but seems to recoil less. It is lively and I break targets well enough that I am thinking of buying one. At first I thought that the blue color was smurphy, but it is starting to grow on me. I think that there is a near new one for sale on the EE at a good price, but it has the KO. I have tried the field version with the KO but even though the recoil is less it feels wierd.
Ahsan Ahmed
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I had handled (inspected) but not shot the SS. What I failed to appreciate was the "Klingon" material stock/forend....opinions may vary. 
However, I had owned two M2s (wood and synthetic) as well as an SBE II. All of those were around the 7lbs mark. No doubt, the inertia driven firearms are far more simpler to clean as well as offer a slimmer profile in comparison with gas guns.
A recent acquisition is the Xcel with 30in bbl (and yes, with that receiver and the "Casio" watch that I used to wear in the 70s).
The firearm is well designed with the exception of the plastic trigger assembly + the thin plastic tube that houses the return spring - IMHO, both absolutely crappy in an otherwise nicely designed shotgun.
It does weigh around the 8lbs mark....I shall take another measurement. I have used AA Sporting Clay shells and the piston/bore remained almost clean after 500 rounds. Take down and maintenance is simple enough.
The extended choke will need to be (hand) tightened at every other station...something one would need to be diligent about.
What primarily drew me to that shotgun was the balance and handling not to mention the price at that point in time. The shotgun does what it has been designed to do and it does that very well. And CR is right, the blue receiver does tend to grow on one after a while!
Action type consideration aside, I'm very pleased with the Xcel 400 overall.
Having said that, nothing comes close to a breech loading double gun (be that a Field or Sporting model, O/U or SxS) - the rest i.e. pump, semi configurations are well, bulls**t, for lack of a more cruder term!
However, I had owned two M2s (wood and synthetic) as well as an SBE II. All of those were around the 7lbs mark. No doubt, the inertia driven firearms are far more simpler to clean as well as offer a slimmer profile in comparison with gas guns.
A recent acquisition is the Xcel with 30in bbl (and yes, with that receiver and the "Casio" watch that I used to wear in the 70s
). The firearm is well designed with the exception of the plastic trigger assembly + the thin plastic tube that houses the return spring - IMHO, both absolutely crappy in an otherwise nicely designed shotgun.
It does weigh around the 8lbs mark....I shall take another measurement. I have used AA Sporting Clay shells and the piston/bore remained almost clean after 500 rounds. Take down and maintenance is simple enough.
The extended choke will need to be (hand) tightened at every other station...something one would need to be diligent about.
What primarily drew me to that shotgun was the balance and handling not to mention the price at that point in time. The shotgun does what it has been designed to do and it does that very well. And CR is right, the blue receiver does tend to grow on one after a while!
Action type consideration aside, I'm very pleased with the Xcel 400 overall.
Having said that, nothing comes close to a breech loading double gun (be that a Field or Sporting model, O/U or SxS) - the rest i.e. pump, semi configurations are well, bulls**t, for lack of a more cruder term!
