I was absolutely flabbergasted when Beretta offered to send me their new A 400 autoloader to try. This was totally out of the blue. The nice fellow on the other end of the E mail asked me to try it out for the season, give "a fair and impartial evaluation" and let them know what I thought.
I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to be a Beta tester or a shill on this. Other Mods here and on the other fora I herd cats on are also testing out some Beretta products.
I picked it up today. Enclosed with the camo shotgun were a manual, wrench, two more choke tubes(SK and F), a shim kit, and a spacer to add an inch to the LOP. Bought another case of pink shells from Federal, took a fast look at the Fine Manual and went to shooting.
This is a waterfowler, though the flack sheet states it will handle shells from 7/8 oz 2 3/4" to 2 oz 3 1/2". It also says to break things in with "Mid level" shells, 1 1/8, 2 3/4" stuff.
There were glitches. Sometimes the action did not cycle fully. Talking to an employee at PGC, I found out there's some preservative that needs to be removed. I'll do that tomorrow and pattern it.
Today, though, I shot it as is and not that well. Balance is way different from the guns I usually shoot, and it's gonna take a while to change. I could add the included spacer, but this will be used with about six layers of Goretex, Polypro,old fashioned wool,etc. Best to keep it a little short for now, though I'm seeing all the rib when I mount.
One thing's certain. This is a light kicker. All that technology pays off big time. The pad's a new material and design, there's a couple recoil reducers in the stock, and it's a gas action auto.
High tech shotgun meets old school shooter.
More later.....
I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to be a Beta tester or a shill on this. Other Mods here and on the other fora I herd cats on are also testing out some Beretta products.
I picked it up today. Enclosed with the camo shotgun were a manual, wrench, two more choke tubes(SK and F), a shim kit, and a spacer to add an inch to the LOP. Bought another case of pink shells from Federal, took a fast look at the Fine Manual and went to shooting.
This is a waterfowler, though the flack sheet states it will handle shells from 7/8 oz 2 3/4" to 2 oz 3 1/2". It also says to break things in with "Mid level" shells, 1 1/8, 2 3/4" stuff.
There were glitches. Sometimes the action did not cycle fully. Talking to an employee at PGC, I found out there's some preservative that needs to be removed. I'll do that tomorrow and pattern it.
Today, though, I shot it as is and not that well. Balance is way different from the guns I usually shoot, and it's gonna take a while to change. I could add the included spacer, but this will be used with about six layers of Goretex, Polypro,old fashioned wool,etc. Best to keep it a little short for now, though I'm seeing all the rib when I mount.
One thing's certain. This is a light kicker. All that technology pays off big time. The pad's a new material and design, there's a couple recoil reducers in the stock, and it's a gas action auto.
High tech shotgun meets old school shooter.
More later.....
