Beretta always seems to have one of the busiest booths at the NRA show and this year was no exception. One of the primary draws was the introduction of their new A400 Xtreme Plus semi-auto shotgun. It’s designed for hard-core duck and goose getters who hunt in some of the most, well, challenging locations in North America.
The shotgun’s based on Beretta’s proven A400 Unico platform. For the Xtreme Plus, they added a variety of new features designed to reduce felt recoil even when shooting those heavy goose loads.
First among them is a 14-inch forcing cone in the shotgun’s Steelium Plus barrel. Then, Beretta’s combined two of their Kick-Off areas — one on the pistol grip and one the front of the stock — with a soft comb to cushion your cheek and minimize felt recoil.
To make operating the A400 Xtreme Plus easier in cold weather with gloved hands, they’ve used an enlarged charging handle and a long bolt release that’s easy to engage. Beretta’s also enlarged the loading port and used a longer lifter to avoid dreaded thumb-bite.
To demonstrate the toughness of the new shotgun Beretta’s sending five of them on what they’re calling the Beretta Torture Tour. Twenty hunters sharing five A400 Xteme Plus shotguns will hunt birds in four of North America’s busiest flyways that feature some of the most inhospitable conditions starting next fall. They’re planning to document the hunts and report back on how the guns did at next year’s NRA meeting.
To ensure that the same five guns are used in all of the hunts, they branded them there for all to see (and smell) in the booth.
For our part, given our experience with Beretta shotguns, we don’t doubt the guns will bear up quite nicely. But we’re jealous as hell of the hunters who’ve been chosen to go on those hunts.
Hope it works for Beretta’s sake… their handgun sales have plummeted in my shop and the ARX100 seems to only appeal to a certain segment of the customers (the ones who listen to me), they need some fresh ideas as far as handguns go.
I still say a reintroduction of the 86 Cheetah or a new redesign of it (still with the tip-up barrel) could put a dent in the niche currently filled by the Walther PK380 and the Smith M&P 380ez.
The .25 ACP Baretta Bobcat is how all my kids learned to load and shoot a handgun. A 7yr old can operate with no problem. That tilt barrel is the best.
The best news — this shotty is actually made by Beretta in Italy and not some sub or contractor in Brazil or Turkey.
I use a A400 xtrema2 with a 32inch rifled barrel. It’s damn near as accurate s a rifle at 100 yards. Great deer gun
Their web page doesn’t specify whether the barrel is chrome-plated. That would be a plus in a duck gun. The long forcing cone is a nice feature these days.
All Beretta barrels are chrome plated.
Hope these are available soon. I ordered mine a month ago! Got any idea when dealers will be receiving these?
QUESTION:
Will this gun cycle 1 ounce loads ??
My A400 XP was broken in with heavy target loads – 1-1/8 oz. @ 1350. Ran two boxes through first time out.
Then ran some 1 oz. @ 1250 for the next 100 targets. Feels like I’m shooting a 28 ga.
Also shot 100 rounds of 7/8 oz. @ 1450 on a international trap layout. Those guys don’t like semi autos at all ;-).
The only load that hasn’t worked reliably for me through the XP are my 7/8 oz. reloads which are loaded at about 1170 FPS.
Love the raised rib for target work!
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