A350 and other top end Semis

[Richie10]

Hi,

Of all the new Semis, are the A350 worth the money?

 

Anyone have any experience of them as wildfowling pieces? Any new semis in the pipeline?

 

Cheers

 

[bullet1747]

I had a beretta 303 sporter couldn't get on with it , bought a hatsan camo magnum love it to bits , my point why pay a fortune when you don't have to

[mudpatten]

You have to remember that every time a manufacturer brings out a new model there are re tooling costs to be absorbed, gremlins to be worked out of the manufacturing process and a whole host of minor faults to be discovered and rectified in the early models.

 

One of the reasons I opted for a Benelli Super Black Eagle 2 is that it has remained unchanged for over 20 years. All the bugs have been ironed out and they are extremely reliable with no known major faults.

 

Beretta seems to bring out a radically re engineered semi auto every five minutes. It rather begs the question, what was wrong with the "last" model that they saw fit to completly re engineer it?

[samboy]

You have to remember that every time a manufacturer brings out a new model there are re tooling costs to be absorbed, gremlins to be worked out of the manufacturing process and a whole host of minor faults to be discovered and rectified in the early models.

 

One of the reasons I opted for a Benelli Super Black Eagle 2 is that it has remained unchanged for over 20 years. All the bugs have been ironed out and they are extremely reliable with no known major faults.

 

Beretta seems to bring out a radically re engineered semi auto every five minutes. It rather begs the question, what was wrong with the "last" model that they saw fit to completly re engineer it?

Good logic.

[billytheghillie]

I had a beretta 303 sporter couldn't get on with it , bought a hatsan camo magnum love it to bits , my point why pay a fortune when you don't have to

 

Im with him

[johnnytheboy]

The berettas haven't really change that much, plus they are using part standardisation, you can bet that a400 and a350 barrel is the same as most over their new over and unders!

 

The super black eagle may be a robust design but it's also an old design, looking at the new franchi semi auto it's technically superior to the sbe2 blending design from beretta xtrema models and the benellis, it's high time it was redesigned!

 

 

You have to remember that every time a manufacturer brings out a new model there are re tooling costs to be absorbed, gremlins to be worked out of the manufacturing process and a whole host of minor faults to be discovered and rectified in the early models.

 

One of the reasons I opted for a Benelli Super Black Eagle 2 is that it has remained unchanged for over 20 years. All the bugs have been ironed out and they are extremely reliable with no known major faults.

 

Beretta seems to bring out a radically re engineered semi auto every five minutes. It rather begs the question, what was wrong with the "last" model that they saw fit to completly re engineer it?

[IEH]

I had a beretta 303 sporter couldn't get on with it , bought a hatsan camo magnum love it to bits , my point why pay a fortune when you don't have to

It may not have worked for you but no Hatsan I've seen or handled remotely compares with the A303, a semi-auto which many consider to be a 'classic'.

[TONY R]

It may not have worked for you but no Hatsan I've seen or handled remotely compares with the A303, a semi-auto which many consider to be a 'classic'.

301s 302s and 303s were fantastic shotguns very well made and finished properly no sharp edges burs or poor machining to be found, The extrema 1 was not too bad the mk 2 again was ok but i thought the mk1 was better made, the A400 just never got sorted out not feeding out the mag various glitches on some guns, yet some work ok, but overall i dont think the A400 was a roaring sucsess and i dont think its done Berettas failing reputation much good, its just a case of yet more evidence if you still needed it of Berettas decline.

I personaly dont think Berettas are what they once were ous or semi autos.

[Cant hit them all]

Yh I wasn't over the moon and that please of my al391 so sold it shortly after getting it my mates 30 year old 301 was a much nicer and more reliable than the al391

[johnnytheboy]

The mk1 xtremas were all famed for shooting left and had far more issues with that than the a400 has had with burs in the mag tube!

 

That said, the mk2 is by far the best handling gun out the three, the a400 xtrema feels dead, it's like a fence post! The a350 feels cheap!

 

its just a terrible shame none of the 301-304 models were 3"

 

301s 302s and 303s were fantastic shotguns very well made and finished properly no sharp edges burs or poor machining to be found, The extrema 1 was not too bad the mk 2 again was ok but i thought the mk1 was better made, the A400 just never got sorted out not feeding out the mag various glitches on some guns, yet some work ok, but overall i dont think the A400 was a roaring sucsess and i dont think its done Berettas failing reputation much good, its just a case of yet more evidence if you still needed it of Berettas decline.

I personaly dont think Berettas are what they once were ous or semi autos.

[TONY R]

Only some early mk1s had point of aim point of impact problems, by mid term they were pretty much sorted with that problem.

MK2s were good but the finnish on internals etc was not as slick as the MK1, but i agree they handle well.

the A400 had magazine cap issues it basicaly fell to pieces, they failed to feed on quite a few.

[johnnytheboy]

My friends didit feed with 3.5" carts he had one of the first, it took them ages to sort it at gmk!

[figgy]

The A350 is just the A300 Xtrema re badged to distinguish it from the rest of the A300 line.

 

It uses the the Extrema 2 action with the A400 Optima Plus barel and the Kick Off system in the stock,they used the older extrema action because its slightly different and does not have problems with ejecting 3 1/2" carts.

 

I along with other members on here had them and the worked well shot well,mine was just a pain to clean for the small amount of use it sees. I decided to go to a Benelli for my Fowling as i was no longer really using 3 1/2" carts and preferred not having to clean inside when it didn't get wet or only fired a few shots. I like the M2 a lot, not as soft to shoot

 

Some people have suffered wear issues with this model and the A400.

 

Stevo bomber county field sports has had both and used them rather a lot.

[TONY R]

The A350 is just the A300 Xtrema re badged to distinguish it from the rest of the A300 line.

 

It uses the the Extrema 2 action with the A400 Optima Plus barel and the Kick Off system in the stock,they used the older extrema action because its slightly different and does not have problems with ejecting 3 1/2" carts.

 

I along with other members on here had them and the worked well shot well,mine was just a pain to clean for the small amount of use it sees. I decided to go to a Benelli for my Fowling as i was no longer really using 3 1/2" carts and preferred not having to clean inside when it didn't get wet or only fired a few shots. I like the M2 a lot, not as soft to shoot

 

Some people have suffered wear issues with this model and the A400.

 

Stevo bomber county field sports has had both and used them rather a lot.

If the 350 is using the MK2 mech and the OPT pluss barrel its perhaps not a bad start might be a shrewd move for beretta .

I get vwhat you say about Benellis i have a grizly Breda which is a MK1 SBE with a Breda Badge.

One thing i am allways a bit mystified about with benellis is the Vinchis why people keep buying M2s SBEs etc when the vinchis are around at less money is a thing i strugle to understand, i dont know about you but i cant think of many semi autos apart from Remington 1100s 1187s that handle anything like the vinchis both super and the std vinchi, i think they are an incredible shotgun one day i will own one.

[johnnytheboy]

I had a Vinci Tony and they are superb, the best duck gun I ever owned, swappe it for a sbe2 and regretted it for, well the rest of my life

 

It's not a 3.5" gun but it is a great duck gun

[TONY R]

I had a Vinci Tony and they are superb, the best duck gun I ever owned, swappe it for a sbe2 and regretted it for, well the rest of my life

 

It's not a 3.5" gun but it is a great duck gun

I love the vinchi johny boy what a gun to shoot it handles fantastic, the supervinchi is 3.5 inch and one i handled felt very good. anybody own or used a supervinchi any decent length of time?

Benelli got it so right with the vonchis.

[BerettaSV10]

301s 302s and 303s were fantastic shotguns very well made and finished properly no sharp edges burs or poor machining to be found, The extrema 1 was not too bad the mk 2 again was ok but i thought the mk1 was better made, the A400 just never got sorted out not feeding out the mag various glitches on some guns, yet some work ok, but overall i dont think the A400 was a roaring sucsess and i dont think its done Berettas failing reputation much good, its just a case of yet more evidence if you still needed it of Berettas decline.

I personaly dont think Berettas are what they once were ous or semi autos.

 

It would be nice to be to disagree with you, unfortunately I think you are right in your opinion about Beretta's, the older ones are great but the newer ones are very poor when you look at what they used to make and how well they were finished.

[TONY R]

 

It would be nice to be to disagree with you, unfortunately I think you are right in your opinion about Beretta's, the older ones are great but the newer ones are very poor when you look at what they used to make and how well they were finished.

I agree im no Beretta hater i had a few over the years no autos only OUs and 680 trap and 686 game were i felt the best made of all. i had two 682 traps these were good but not quite the quality of the 680 they have stadily got worse i think.

Autos as i say never had a Beretta auto proper but have a Browning B80 3 inch magnum same gun but with a steel action frame from 1981 briliant gun301 302 etc parts fit it . These early Berettas are very well made.

[oowee]

I am not a gun fan, but i shoot more than most. I use an a300 trading my broken hatsan after 11 months and 7000 shells only because a deal was on offer. I don't see anything wrong with the a300 (12000 shells). Am I missing something here? The balance is right I don't have to weight it. So far its not broken, its easy to clean (which rarely happens) and cycles flawlessly.

Maybe i dont know what i am missing (highly likely)?

[figgy]

Lads i know who bought the Vincis not one has kept it but they did keep their M2's. One lad had a few problems with rust on hia Vinci and after a few years the gun started having other mechanical problems.

 

Agree the Vinci is a good design only three parts too it but i dont think its better than the other guns they make and sell a lot more of with the same basic action and profile.

[TONY R]

I am not a gun fan, but i shoot more than most. I use an a300 trading my broken hatsan after 11 months and 7000 shells only because a deal was on offer. I don't see anything wrong with the a300 (12000 shells). Am I missing something here? The balance is right I don't have to weight it. So far its not broken, its easy to clean (which rarely happens) and cycles flawlessly.

Maybe i dont know what i am missing (highly likely)?

To be honest 12k is no testiment to how well its made and has for your Hatsan what was broken on it? I have a 20 bore Hatsan done 20k in about 8 years never missed a beat even the once.

And sticking with the hatsans i got the oldest and middle sons new hatsan extreme 3 inch synthetics 295 each brand new now the internal component finnish and attention to detail is way above the mk2 escort 20 bore i mentioned above so hatsan are uping their game while berettas are lowering theirs.

If your charging money like Beretta for stuff mearly having it work is just not enough, the escorts do thois at a 6th the vmoney of top end Berettas.

Benelli have kept their build quality why not beretta.

Edited September 29, 2016 by TONY R

[TDS]

Here is a view of semi-autos from , i believe , an unbiased gun writer and tester

http://www.chuckhawks.com/autoloading_shotguns_compared.html

Beretta quality seems to be dropping ... Is it because a lot of their components are made in Turkey and assembled in Italy

to keep within the " made in Italy " regs. ??

I will stick with my Remingtons , and have been waiting for the new Rem V3 to arrive in the UK

If it lives up to test reports , it will be the last gun i will buy.

[widgeon man]

Vinchi will rust in front your eyes.....

Sbe2 great to strip and clean with full access to trigger mech bolt house without stripping trigger groups etc.... Only downfall I found was spring wear. The inertia system relies on springs working in time and of the correct power/compression. If this is out cycle issues will occur. Mine was amazing for 7 years fowling then gave me trouble. But figured it was time for a new one 😊

 

I heard horror stories about A400's with 3.5" etc....

Well I bit the bullet and bought a lh a400 xtreme after waiting forever for a lh versa max which never came! Wasn't particularly keen on handling after sbe2, but A400 copes well with the marsh condition, easy to clean for a gas gun. Very soft to shoot and touch wood no issue with ANY cartridge length, only 21gram which I just had to try 😆 the only issue I have had is the thin chokes! They are not as robust as the inv+ rem choke or old optima. Mine now has aftermarket tubes..... However they do pattern very sweet

[TONY R]

The benelli springs vary in quality, some just give up the ghost others keep going years, i had a spring issue in my grizly same gun as SBE 1 exactly, i fitted a second hand MK 1 SBE spring in it from a mates SBE he changed it for a stronger spring from brownells i had that spring in 6 years swapped it for a wolf spring because i saw on on an American forum for sale, and it works fine but really i cant see a difference from the stock spring that still worked, i think they just vary in strength or quality thats all, but some benellis do get problems. But few are insumountable.

Glad your doing ok with the A 400 nice to hear a good report on one for a change. Vinchi ? you say they rust. why esspecialy them, is there some inbuilt reason why they rust. I never heard this anywhere before was it something you whitnessed in a gun you knew of ? I do plan on getting one someday so would like to know all i can about them.

[Rimfireboy]

I tried a 26" Vinci and I thought the handling was superb. The gun just felt right to me, probably won't suit some though. As for A400 xtreme, I've never had a problem with mine, cycles anything I've tried from 24 gram two inch to 64 gram 3.5's. Never had a single jam. Also, my AL391 20 gauge has been reliable, although I had a few jams with 23 gram three crowns. They were very soft carts though, so can't really blame the gun.