Breaking in and use of Beretta A400

I took my A400 home, put 300 rounds of cheap target load through it getting ready for waterfowl season. I use 3" and 3 1/2" for waterfowl. Had it 2 years now, over 1000 rounds and never a hiccup.
 
I ran a bore snake down it every now and then. And at around 900 I stripped it down and gave it a thorough cleaning. It was still functioning great...but I was feeling pretty guilty. haha
 
I bought an a400 with 3.5 chamber, tried 1 oz 2 3/4 shells and i did have a few issues. took it to the range and shot about 5-8 3.5 goose loads and never had an issue after that. Love that gun.
 
Stick with 3 dram loads and you'll be fine. With lighter loads however I've seen the 3.5" A400 sometimes not lock open on the last round. The guns functioned fine but there wasn't enough oomph in the 1 ounce loads to lock the action open.
 
New semi autos should be brought home and stripped right down and given a good cleaning inside and out. I even polished the chamber. Just got my daughter a semi auto 20g dud a fill cleaning and chamber polish. Shot a few three inch steel loads threw it and then switched over to 7,8ths trap loads with no problems she ran them just as smooth as butter .the box says one oz or larger but she will run the lightest trap loads o can fund after the cleaning Dutch
 
I got to take out my new A400 Xplor Action (with 3" chamber) on the weekend. Put about 5 boxes of Federal target loads through it without a single issue.
 
Still about the A400 just not the break in period. Who has an opinion on wether the 400 with kick off is a worth while option or not? Thinking about getting one. Should I hold out for a ko eguipped gun or is the regular stock okay?
 
sspike said:
Still about the A400 just not the break in period. Who has an opinion on wether the 400 with kick off is a worth while option or not? Thinking about getting one. Should I hold out for a ko eguipped gun or is the regular stock okay?
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How recoil sensitive are you and what do you intend to do with the gun? If you're recoil sensitive and plan to shoot a high volume of heavy 3.5" shells then it may make some sense for you. It might be a waste of money if recoil doesn't bother you and intend to use the gun with light loads.

Is it possible you can try one before buying? People tend to either like the KO or hate it. I'm in the second group and would never have one on a gun. Others however like what it does and really appreciate it. Sorry if that's not much of an answer but I don't want to tell you not to buy based strictly on my own bias against them.
 
Claybuster said:
How recoil sensitive are you and what do you intend to do with the gun? If you're recoil sensitive and plan to shoot a high volume of heavy 3.5" shells then it may make some sense for you. It might be a waste of money if recoil doesn't bother you and intend to use the gun with light loads.

Is it possible you can try one before buying? People tend to either like the KO or hate it. I'm in the second group and would never have one on a gun. Others however like what it does and really appreciate it. Sorry if that's not much of an answer but I don't want to tell you not to buy based strictly on my own bias against them.
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I don't think I'm really sensitive to recoil. And I won't be doing any high volume of 3" or 3.5" loads. Mostly target loads or some slightly heavier field loads , for the most part.
i don't mind the idea of the couple extra dollars for the ko but also see no need to shell out for an option that doesn't improve the gun. I think there's a guy that has 400 that shoots clays at our club. I'll have to ask him for a test drive on it.
 
Mine has the KO, and I love it. Makes it quite the soft shooter. I mostly shoot my 725 Trap when shooting trap, but when I flip over to the A400 I really appreciate the KO on a lighter weight shotgun.

Thanks,
Cal.
 
sspike said:
Still about the A400 just not the break in period. Who has an opinion on wether the 400 with kick off is a worth while option or not? Thinking about getting one. Should I hold out for a ko eguipped gun or is the regular stock okay?
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There's a couple YouTube videos that give a good demonstration on the KO equipped guns. I footed the extra couple hundred for the one with it. Still out of town for work so I haven't even got it to the range yet... Will let you know
 
If you will shoot BB 3.5" shells at Canada Geese, buy the KO. Definitely. If you aren't planing to shoot a bunch of 3.5" game loads at live birds, then save your money.

I bought the KO, but I shoot at least a full flat of 3.5" shells a season at geese. Not everyone does.

The KO extends the recoil impulse so it does not hit you all at once. It cannot "reduce" recoil - that's physically impossible. But it makes a MASSIVE difference in "felt" recoil. Night and day. Arguably the most effective system like it on the market and worth the price of admission if you shoot the 3.5's.
 
Code:
My loving girl picked me up a new A400 Extrema for last Christmas. A wonderful gun that shoots everything except light trap loads. Funny thing is that her Benelli Vinci seems to have the same issues. We cycled 20 or more trap boxes thru them and then went out and ran 10 boxes of 3" and a box of 3.5 thru mine. They both are cycling better with the light loads but some brands still refuse to cycle. Finally we went out and picked up 10 different brands and loads of trap shells. Managed to find a couple that cycle in both so now we will stick with that.
 
Bought a new A400 last season, after multiple attempts at wholesale sports, I finally got one (with 30" barrel) from another retailer. Timing was tight, left for a weekend out of province bird hunt the next day. Cleaned it, oiled it and shot 3.5 steel out of it for three days. It functions perfectly with lighter loads, even target. I swab the bore before an outing and strip it every 2nd or 3rd time out.

estimated 5-600 rnds, no failures of any kind.
 
Finally got her out tonight. Oiled it up quickly before I went out.

First 25 rounds were 3.5" loads to get it worked in then fed it crappy tire 2 3/4. Didn't have any issues until the last couple rounds but I suspect if I had cleaned it better there would not have been any problems.

Needs a good cleaning now.
 
I have an A350 Extrema which I think is like a poor man's A400. It has the rotary bolt and shoots 2.75-3.5" shells, but I don't know if the valving and spring rates are the same. I gave it a good cleaning and lightly oiled everywhere that made sense. First outing was four rounds of trap with Rem Gun Club 1-1/8oz @ 1145 fps (per box specs). I don't know how these compare energy-wise to really light target loads but the bolt locked back every time, and I had one hull fail to clear the ejection port out of 100 rounds fired. The gun has the simpler version of KO between the recoil pad and stock, and with the light loads it doesn't seem to do much, but the gun is a soft shooter with those loads regardless. I suspect it would come into play with 3" mags and up. Bottom line, I don't think these guns need much in the way of break in, other that for the shooter to get some trigger time and build confidence in the new acquisition...
 
Never had a issue with a A400 with KO. I have 2 of them and have put thousands of rounds through them. Do not oil them as you would a normal shotgun. Oil will slow the action down and mess stuff up. This is very important on large feild loads, to much oil and the rounds wont always eject. There is stuff to oil, like the rails and bolt and choke, but it does not need much. Absolutely do not oil the piston. It will carbon up. Berretta has videos on youtube for the maintenance. These guns should never rust or corrode. One thing to keep in mind is if you use a sling make sure that the sling attachments don't start to rust.
It should eat any type of target or waterfowl load. There is no break-in period. Clean it for the first time and use it. Inspect the choke for tightness and look for anything out of the ordinary on the gun. You really only have to clean them if you see a build up of un-burnt powder in the action. And when this happens just remove the trigger group and rise it under warm water and allow it to dry. These shotguns are true waterfowl work horses and will perform for along time.
And as far as the kick off system. You will have a sore cheek but your shoulder will be fine. You really notice a damping effect with large loads like 3.5" BB. In order for the system to work you need to have good shoulder contact and some mass. Make good shoulder contact and brace yourself.
Awesome guns. Patterning loads is important for these also. They don't always pattern nicely and that is the only flaw with these. Find what works and stick with it. Its usually the cheap ammo that works the best. And they like slower 1550 steel loads. I found that Score steel loads were the best for the money, followed by Kent steel and Hevi steel
 
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