Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus 12ga Shotgun Review

Beretta has been making guns for a VERY long time. Today, I'm putting their 500 years of experience to the test with this A400 Xtreme Plus. This is a very robust, and diverse gun with specs that should make shooting clays, waterfowl hunting, and everything in between a walk in the park.

The A400 Xtreme Plus has a MSRP of  $1849. I got my Extreme Plus from Reeds and they have them listed online for $1749.99. (Show the A400 Extreme Plus at Reeds) This is a higher-end semi-auto shotgun, so let's find out if it lives up to the price point.

The Video includes the full review of the Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus but if you prefer to read about it, below is a quick summary.

Quick Specs

• 12 gauge
• 3.5" chamber
• 26", 28", or this 30" Steelium Barrell (Come with Optima-Choke HP System and comes with 5 extended chokes)  
• 8lbs 
• Length of Pull 14 1/2" Out of the Box, with removable 1/2 inch spacer, and additional 1" spacer to get up to 15" length of pull
• Drop at Comb 1 1/2" (Adjustable with provided shims)
• Drop at Heel 2 1/2"

Ergonomics/Look & Feel

• Very nicely balanced in the hands
• Rubber inlays are great (Pistol grip is a bit wider than I prefer)
• Oversized charging handle and bolt release are smooth - the bolt release is very soft and easy to utilize
• Forearm cap is great - comes off with a single twist
• Reversible cross-bolt safety in front of the trigger - I prefer rear-mounted safety's
• Loading port is milled and very nice - magazine tube has a green cap to ensure that the gun is empty

Trigger 

• 5lbs 1.8oz (Average)
• Crisp trigger with little travel - Feels good
• Trigger guard is a bit smaller than I prefer - still very solid

Quality of Build

• I always look at the quality of the build relative to the price. The Xtreme Plus overall lives up to the price point
• Steelium barrel is drilled, reamed, and cold hammer forged. The forcing cone is also longer (14") and is more typical in competition guns.
• 7x7 Stepped rib
• Nice steel mid bead
• Drilled and tapped to receive picatinny rail
• Very nice tolerances - only comment would be on a little bit of squeeze in the forearm, but nothing to serious 

Ease of Breakdown

• Very simple to break down for a gas gun. 
• This forearm cap makes breakdown even faster 

Recoil

• This gun sports the Kick-Off recoil reduction system and claims 70% reduction
• The stock has a rubber inlay that actually flexes when you shoot, reducing recoil even further
• No problems whatsoever when shooting 3" Target loads. 
• 3 1/2" rounds where (obviously) more noticeable, but I think it handled them well, and cycled just fine.
• Overall, I'm really liking this recoil technology 

Reliability

• From the shoulder, this gun handled pretty much everything I threw at it. It even took 3 1/2" rounds from the hip just fine 

Speed Shooting

• I was able to accomplish shooting 3 hand thrown clays at 1.20 seconds. This gun is fast. Very soon I'll show you how quickly I can shoot it up against the Browning Maxus 2 and see if I can get any faster. 

In summary, I definitely enjoyed shooting the Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus. It performed very consistently in areas that I look for in a shotgun and I think it will continue to do well both on the range, and in the blind. I am curious to see how it will perform against my Maxus 2...(COMING SOON!!!)

Whether our targets in the field or our targets in life, we will only hit what we are focused on so live the #targetfocusedlife

Stay Target Focused,

Steve