Beretta A300 12 gauge shotgun

Introduction

It’s hard to imagine a good lineup of autoloading shotguns that doesn’t include something from Beretta, the European manufacturer is one of the oldest pillars in the firearms business. The firm is well known for many notable firearms, but they are known in these parts for their shotguns, and the Beretta A300 Outlander is the one we are playing with today.

Autoloading Beretta’s

My Father is a bit of a shotgun junkie. Being things as they were when I was younger, I was exposed to some very nice shotguns. I also got to shoot many of them, Dad wouldn’t let me bring my two-hundred dollar Remington 870 when he had a couple fancy Italian’s on standby. And whether it was a fancy double barreled gun or a handsome auto-loader, I was happy to give it a go.
Beretta makes a broad assortment of semi-automatic shotguns, whether it is an M9 for tactical scenarios, or today’s A300 field gun, there is a Beretta to fit your needs.

The Beretta A300 Outlander

The A300 Outlander like many of Beretta’s semi-auto guns is a gas operated system. The action is operated by gas pressure vented from the barrel to a piston, which pushes an operating rod disengaging the bolt and cycling the action. It sounds pretty simple, because it is. Perhaps the reason why it is such an effective system used by so many. The gun is fed from a tubular magazine that can hold up to three two and three-quarter inch shells with the plug removed.
This model came with dark wooden furniture, but the gun is also available with synthetic options and camouflaged coatings. The twenty-eight inch barrel features a three-inch chamber which allows you to shoot any two and three-quarters or three-inch loads. And the muzzle utilizes an assortment of replaceable chokes to adjust your shot pattern to the ammunition and expected shots.

The controls of the Outlander mirror most semi-auto shotgun patterns, so whether you are learning on the A300 or coming from a different model you will find the controls familiar and easy to operate.
I grabbed a few boxes of Winchester and Fiocchi ammunition, both of them with one-ounce loads of 7.5 and 8 shot. And with a couple cases of clay targets my Dad and I headed out for an afternoon of bustin’ clays.

In the field

Of course Dad was going to bring a couple of his own guns, something we could compare the A300 to. A Benelli SBE and A Winchester SX3 would make great company to the Outlander, as well as something we were both familiar with to compare it to.
We started throwing targets to get a little warm up going, and before long we switched over to throwing doubles and report pairs.

The Beretta felt great in my hands, I felt a little bit of a squish on the cheek to get a good view down the rib. As I continually swung the gun after targets I found that old familiar feel of pacing the flying target with the bead. To my surprise I did quite well shooting the A300, better than I had done with the other guns present anyhow. A good bit of time passed before I managed to miss a target, and as it invariably happens the gun wasn’t at fault.
Following the faster targets that came from the side I was able to maintain a good sight picture down the rib, and it felt great to watch those clays turn to dust. The modest recoil from the one-ounce loads was easily manageable, and follow-up shots were quick to get on target.

Proper shooting with any shotgun requires a proper setup, we did change out the full-choke for something a little more open. Hand thrown clays can often be more challenging to hit than mechanically thrown targets, and many of the shots we made were fairly close. So before we started, I swapped the choke out for a modified for a little broader pattern.
I managed to talk my Dad into putting his gun down for a minute, to see how what he thought of the Beretta. He too was able to make good hits with the Outlander, and his old guy hmm haw of approval was well deserved. Continue Reading Here…

Aftermath

After cleaning up a pile of shells and heading back to the house, it was time to clean up this beauty. Disassembly of the A300 was quite easy, resulting in an easy cleanup. Removing the barrel is done by removing the magazine cap and sliding it out. The piston assembly and spring are easily serviced if needed, and the bolt and operating rod can also be removed to get all the gunk out. I’m a bit of a clean freak with shotguns, but I do come by it honestly.

Growing up, I spent countless hours in the marshy wetlands around the Great Salt Lake. Bad weather always made for the best hunting days back then. So, it was common to bring home my old shotgun with both water and other marsh crud attached. It usually required a near full disassembly to get everything clean. If I were to do it all again with the A300 Outlander, I think it would have been easy for a 16-year-old me to get it torn down, lubed, and put back into shooting order.

Beretta A300 Pros & Cons

The Beretta A300 seems to be an entry-level autoloading shotgun. There are surely less expensive semi-auto 12 gauges. But while it’s not a cheap gun, the reputation that comes with a Beretta makes it fairly priced. The controls of the Outlander also made it very easy to shoot. The safety is a bit larger than many, which I found to be a pleasant departure from the norm.

The gun is also a bit no-frills, which is okay if you’re just trying to bust clays. I would have liked a brighter bead on the rib, perhaps a fiber-optic type. But I also would have probably gotten one of the various camouflage-coated models as well to better fit the kind of hunting I would likely do. Of course, these aren’t marks against the Outlander, but it is nice to know you have the option.

Conclusion

There are so many great options for shotgunners in today’s market. You can spend as little or as much as you’d like. That said, I think the Beretta A300 Outlander is an easy bet to win. No doubt it will serve your needs in the marsh or the wooded hills in search of feathered game.

-CBM