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brybenn

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Was wondering if anyone could post a link or provide an explanation of the differences between beretta semi autos from the old 300/302/303 to 391 series to the new a300. My google fu is weak. Im interested in the older beretta gas guns
 
From my understanding the older 300’s had an open gas system whereby the piston could be turned around in either direction for light or heavy loads. The 391 uses a self adjusting piston and does not require adjustment for heavy/light loads.

I am not familiar with the A300

Patrick
 
I've owned an A301, an A302 and currently have an A303 and I couldn't turn the gas piston around in any of them. They regulate from light to heavy loads by changing the barrels. If you have a 3 inch chamber then it's good for heavy loads and probably won't cycle with light loads as it has small gas ports. If you have a 2 3/4 inch chamber then the gun has larger diameter gas ports so that light loads will cycle the action, and heavy loads will batter the action. The A303 is one of the best semi's ever made and I've turned down offers to trade brand new 391's for mine back when they were new.
I know very little about the new A300's and can't name the differences, semi's just don't interest me that much.
 
Had an A300, they are a minmalised version of the A391, parts sourced worldwide and assembled in USA to beat trade tarrifs. Mine functioned fine but it was poorly finished and did not uphold the Beretta reputation for quality, of course the new price is much lower than their other models, earlier or current. I guess they needed to compete with cheap imports in the American market but in my opinion they are risking the Beretta reputation to do that.
 
The new a300 guns ive handled all seemed pretty good in fit and finish. They fit me perfectly as well. However when i ask around about them i keep hearing that the older 300 series guns are better but i cant really find an accurate account of the defferences between various models. Itll be a hunting gun. Semis are easier than pumps while im hunting from my kayak
Ive shot plenty 391 in various configurations and always enjoyed them but the new outlander fits even better
The wood seems pretty plain on most versions however there are stand outs. My local shop has one with nice grain but hes asking a 180 dollar premium on it
 
In the late 80's a local gunsmith made some screw in orfices for the barrel of my a303 in 3 sizes , it will shoot very light loads with one, medium heavy (11/4-13/8 oz) with the other and the the third for 3" magnum loads. Its a bit of a PITA but I use the middle one 90% of the time and the very light one if I get some cheap 1oz loads on sale. It is built very well and has given me no problems other than replacing the recoil spring which took 15 minutes.
 
From what I can gather, the A300 has a different gas system than the A391, it's shorter in length but I can't tell you any technical details of it. The A300 also uses the older Mobil barrel and chokes instead of the newer overbore Optima barrel and chokes which I find odd, it seems to me that Beretta could cut costs by using only one barrel system instead of two. The A300 also has a slightly different safety, bigger and a different shape, easier to use maybe?
Apart from that the A300 seems to be built to a price point and much more cheaply finished than the nicely done 391. Deep blue finishes cost money in time and labor so manufacturers are finding that they can use matt finishes that don't require as much polishing and that help hide tooling marks to lower production costs. This has been common in the gun industry right across the board the last few years, one example would be Weatherby's cheapened MkV models. People seem to like matt finishes though so you can't really argue with that.
 
hunter5425 said:
In the late 80's a local gunsmith made some screw in orfices for the barrel of my a303 in 3 sizes , it will shoot very light loads with one, medium heavy (11/4-13/8 oz) with the other and the the third for 3" magnum loads. Its a bit of a PITA but I use the middle one 90% of the time and the very light one if I get some cheap 1oz loads on sale. It is built very well and has given me no problems other than replacing the recoil spring which took 15 minutes.
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That's a novel idea although it does sound like a bit of a pain to use.
I've seen a few 3 inch chambered guns with the ports drilled out so the action will cycle with light loads. It works fine until someone starts putting heavy loads through it and it eventually batters the bolt to death!
 
Thats why I had it done , I used to hunt geese with heavy 3" magnums and upland with light 7.5s , not a perfect situation but it kept the gun from being shot apart.
 
I had a buddy who bought an A300 when they first came out. It was on sale for $600, so a great price. It seemed ok for the first few outings, then the action became brutally hard to operate. If I recall correctly, the problem was in the recoil spring where it had rusted so badly that it was starting to seize in the stock. Not sure how this even happend, but the gun was rendered useless very quickly. Once the spring was taken out, cleaned and oiled, it worked well again. I dont know if the problem resurfaced as he quickly sold the gun when it was functioning again.
 
Turn the gas piston around where do you guys get this info . Oh must be from the internet . AL series 300,301,302,303, all the same gas system . Miner changes to the release Button and some cosmetics . The 303 was the first version of a removable choke system it did not thereafter into the bbl it was held in with a external retaining ring . No dis to the fellow that mentioned the reversible gas system but really guys do the research before you post or wait till the correct info is posted
 
Actually the A302 had the first changeable choke tubes and they were what is referred to today as "drop in" chokes but at the time they were called Mobil Chokes. They didn't screw in but were held in by a threaded retaining collar and I've only ever seen one example of this choke system on an A302. Also on the A302, a new screw in choke tube was introduced and the Mobil name was carried over. This is the Mobil choke that was used on the A303 and is still used on some models today. There may have been A303's with the drop in tubes but I've never seen or heard of one, that isn't definitive though.
 
The Sa-08 is a close copy of the A303 but not exact. I'm not home right now to compare the two I have but off hand I can tell you that the bolt release is different and the choke tubes are not mobil chokes but something else altogether. There's a couple of other minor details but apart from that then yes, a copy for sure!
 
Falconflyer said:
The Sa-08 is a close copy of the A303 but not exact. I'm not home right now to compare the two I have but off hand I can tell you that the bolt release is different and the choke tubes are not mobil chokes but something else altogether. There's a couple of other minor details but apart from that then yes, a copy for sure!
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Pretty good option, if looking for a cheaper "beretta"...
 
Browing B80 was pretty much the same as a A303, I believe the only difference was the browning reciever was steel with a different shape, barrels are interchangeable.
I owned the a303 very nice shotguns, it had nice walnut with hand checkering and nice blueing. I didn't want to bring it the marsh and ruin it so I sold it and bought a camo al391. The Al391 can shoot light and heavy loads without needing to change barrels but does seem heavier and doesn't point as good as the a303.
 
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