Beretta marks its 500th year with not one, but two waterfowl gun introductions. Of the two, the new 12-gauge, 3-inch A400 Solo is the gun I want, even as the innovative, top-of-the-line, polymer-framed AX800 grabs most of the attention.
The A400 Solo fills a niche in a Beretta semi-auto lineup that now spans four price points, from the A300 to the AX800. Pricewise, it fits between the $1,000 A300 and the 3½-inch A400 Xtreme.
For this review, I tested the 28-inch, Realtree Max-7 A400 Solo on skeet, checked its point of impact from sandbags at 25 yards, patterned it with a Modified choke and ran hunting and target loads ranging from ⅞ to 1¼ ounces through its B-Link Pro gas system.
Beretta A400 Solo Quick Takeaways
- The Beretta A400 Solo strips away the 3½-inch chamber many hunters never use while retaining the proven A400 platform.
- The B-Link gas system cycled virtually every hunting and target load tested, failing only with the lightest ⅞-ounce, 1,150 fps load.
- Kick-Off recoil reduction and the gas-operated action combine to make it one of the softest-shooting semi-automatic shotguns in its class.
- Dense 80% patterns with the supplied Modified choke impressed during range testing.
- Oversized controls, an adjustable stock and practical field features make it especially well suited to waterfowl hunting.
- At around $1,550, the A400 Solo occupies the sweet spot between the A300 and A400 Xtreme for hunters who do not need a 3½-inch chamber.
Beretta A400 Solo 3-Inch Chamber and A400 Xtreme Comparison
The beauty of the Beretta A400 Solo is that it is a 3-inch gun.
The A400 Solo is primarily a 3-inch version of the 3 ½-inch A400 Xtreme. This is no small thing. Introduced in 2010, the A400 has proven a worthy successor to the Beretta 300 series of gas guns, which established an enviable record of reliability from their introduction more than 50 years ago.
Berettas are among the few semi-autos you will see in the hands of serious sporting clay shooters, and they are also the gas gun of choice at South American dove lodges.
Like many who enjoy waterfowl hunting, I never shoot 3½-inch shells. I do not need to pay for that extra half-inch of chamber I will not use. While the 3½-inch A400 Xtreme cycles a wide range of loads, a 3-inch gun like the A400 Solo should cycle light loads even more reliably.
That matters if I want to take some off-season target practice with my duck gun or shoot doves with creampuff loads.
Priced about $450 below an A400 Xtreme, the A400 Solo is a case of less being more.
Beretta A400 Solo B-Link Pro Gas System
Beretta’s B-Link gas system drives the A400 Solo action. It is the latest version of the action used in previous Beretta gas guns for more than 50 years.
It consists of a piston fitting inside the barrel ring, with a stout gas valve at the front to help regulate expanding gases. Upon firing, expanding gases flow through twin ports in the barrel ring, driving the piston. The piston then acts on a sleeve connected to action bars that open the rotary bolt.
The action spring coils around the magazine tube and returns the gun to battery.
Beretta calls this system B-Link and claims it cycles 36% faster and runs up to 46% cleaner than competing semi-automatic shotgun mechanisms. Beretta has pictures of shooters blazing away with B-Link guns, showing all five empty shells still in the air.
Great, except I do not care how fast a gun shoots.
I care how reliably it shoots, what range of shells it shoots and how long it can shoot between cleanings. B-Link earns high marks in all three categories.
On the outside, the gun looks very much like an A400 Xtreme, with its in-stock Kick-Off recoil reducer and stepped, ventilated rib.
The gun also features a restyled forearm, a plastic modular grip and, most noticeably, a flat trigger housed inside an angular polymer trigger guard. The receiver is grooved, drilled and tapped in case you want to mount an optic and hunt turkeys.
Beretta A400 Solo Recoil Reduction, Trigger and Field Controls
The A400 Solo retains a couple of my favorite features from the A400 Xtreme.
Kick-Off Recoil Reduction
- The Kick-Off recoil reducer in the stock combines with the gas-operated action to make this one of the softest-shooting semi-autos on the market.
- Encased in the two-piece stock, Kick-Off consists of a pair of springs that form a shock absorber. The stock compresses under recoil, while a rubber sleeve between the two pieces allows it to move and then spring back.
- It is effective and unobtrusive.
Flat Trigger and Oversized Controls
- The flat trigger, popular on pistols but rarely seen on shotguns, breaks at around 4¾ pounds. It feels lighter because your finger gains leverage from not sliding toward the middle of the blade, as it does with a curved trigger.
- A flat trigger seems like a good idea in a waterfowl gun, where a trigger set too light can fire before you want it to when your fingers become cold and numb.
- The trigger provides a nice feel without being overly light, and it is easy to shoot while wearing gloves.
- Large controls—including the safety, bolt handle and bolt-release button—make the gun easy to operate.
- Of special note is the bolt-lock button and lifter. The lifter stays in the raised position during loading, eliminating the chance that it will snag your gloved thumb as you slide shells into the tube.
- The magazine spring is fairly relaxed, too, so little effort is required to load the gun. That matters when your fingers become cold, numb and weak.
B-Lok Magazine Cap
- The magazine cap, of all things, merits a mention.
- Ordinarily, it is not the most exciting part of any shotgun. The A400 magazine cap, however, does not unscrew like most caps. It unlocks like a child-resistant cap, requiring a push down and just half a turn.
- Better yet, the inside of the cap is lined in high-visibility green.
- If you have ever dropped a magazine cap in the water—I have—while taking a gun apart for emergency in-field service, you know how difficult they can be to find.
Adjustable-Stock Fit
- Like all Berettas, as well as many other semi-autos, the A400 Solo comes with a shim kit that allows you to alter the drop and cast of the gun.
- Plastic shims fit between the head of the stock and the receiver, while corresponding metal plates fit over the stock bolt.
- Without instructions, I fumbled with the shims for a while. Installing them on the two-piece Kick-Off stock was more of a chore than the usual shim installation, but it was well worth the effort.
- With the shim providing the greatest amount of drop and a little left-hand cast added to the stock, the A400 Solo fit me very well and shot exactly where I looked.
- Stock spacers, sold separately, also allow you to alter the length of pull.
Beretta A400 Solo Range Test: Patterns, Cycling and Skeet
Point of Impact and Pattern Performance
I put the gun on sandbags, lined up the double beads and fired several aimed shots at 25 yards to check its point of impact.
At 25 yards, it shot 1¼ inches high, which would put it roughly 2½ inches high at 50 yards. That is very close to flat, or perhaps a 55/45 pattern above and below the point of aim.
With the Modified choke in place, the gun delivered excellent 80% patterns with Migra’s 1¼-ounce, 1,450-fps 24/7 HuntCo “Funeral Pack” stacked loads of No. 2 and No. 4 shot.
That is well above typical Modified-choke performance and very efficient. I would probably open the choke to Improved Cylinder with this gun and ammunition when hunting over decoys.
Ammunition Reliability
The A400 Solo cycled waterfowl hunting loads and almost every target load I tried.
It had no problem with 1⅛-ounce loads. It cycled 1-ounce, 1,160-fps B&P ammunition and even ⅞-ounce, 1,200-fps Federal Top Gun.
Only when I tried Clever ⅞-ounce, 1,150-fps ammunition did the A400 Solo fail to cycle.
Who knows? After a few hundred rounds to wear in the action, it might cycle those loads, too.
Even with that one failure, this is an impressive range of ammunition for a 3-inch semi-auto.
Handling and Recoil
I shot skeet with the gun and found it very much to my personal liking.
The A400 platform is heavier than most other waterfowling semi-autos. This gun weighs 7¾ pounds, which is ideal for a shotgun you are going to shoot more than carry.
Extra weight makes a gun smooth-swinging and helps absorb recoil.
The gun also has the bulky feel I have always liked in the A400s. It keeps me from strangling the gun and over-controlling it, although I can see how it may not feel right to everyone.
Should You Buy the Beretta A400 Solo?
Beretta’s new marketing plan of offering four semi-autos at four price points seems like a fine idea to me.
That is especially true when the result is a shotgun like the A400 Solo: a 3-inch gun that stacks up well against top-of-the-line semi-autos from Browning, Benelli and even Beretta, assuming you have no use for 3½-inch shells.
I would call it overweight for an upland gun, but this gun’s natural habitat is the marsh.
I am eager to take it waterfowl hunting this fall.
Beretta A400 Solo Review: Final Verdict and Score
- 80% patterns with the supplied Modified choke
- Cycled 7/8oz target loads at 1,200 fps
- Kick-Off makes it one of the softest shooters
- Lifter stays raised so gloves don't snag
- Magazine cap unlocks in half a turn
- $450 less than the 3½-inch A400 Xtreme
- Shim installation is finicky without instructions
- Stock spacers cost extra
- Product Origin
- Manufacturer Sample
- Test Type
- Point-of-impact check from sandbags at 25 yards, patterning with the Modified choke, and skeet shooting
- Ammunition Tested
- Migra 24/7 HuntCo Funeral Pack 1¼oz 1,450 fps No.2 and No.4 stacked; 1⅛oz loads; B&P 1oz 1,160 fps; Federal Top Gun 7/8oz 1,200 fps; Clever 7/8oz 1,150 fps
- Malfunctions
- Failed to cycle Clever 7/8oz 1,150 fps only; all other loads cycled
- Point of Impact
- 1¼ inches high at 25 yards, approximately 2½ inches high at 50 — roughly a 55/45 pattern
- Pattern Result
- 80% with the Modified choke and the Migra load
- Stock Setup
- Shim kit fitted for maximum drop with a little left-hand cast
- Tested By
- Phil Bourjaily
- Gauge / Chamber
- 12 gauge, 3-inch chamber
- Action
- Gas-operated semi-automatic, B-Link
- Barrel Length
- 28 inches
- Overall Length
- 49.5 inches
- Weight
- 7.75 pounds
- Stock
- Synthetic with modular grip and in-stock Kick-Off recoil reducer; shim kit included, spacers sold separately
- Trigger
- Flat, approximately 4¾ pounds
- Sights
- Fiber-optic front, brass mid-bead, stepped ventilated rib
- Receiver
- Grooved, drilled and tapped for optics
- Magazine Cap
- Quick-release push-and-half-turn, high-visibility green lining
- Finishes
- Black synthetic, Optifade Timber, Optifade Marsh, Realtree Max-7, Realtree Legacy, Mossy Oak Bottomland
- Capacity
- Three rounds with plug installed
- MSRP
- $1,549 black; $1,649 camouflage
Meet the Uppercrust Beretta A400
Meet the new A400 L Field. Yes, the price tag of $3,619 might give you pause, but when you feast your eyes on the A400 L Field, you’ll understand what you’re getting yourself into.
The Wood Grade: The A400 L Field, with a new ergonomically upgraded European Walnut stock and forend design, features an enhanced and enlarged checkering area and an ambidextrous palm swell for superior grip and control in all clay target applications
Full Reciever Engraving: The A400 L Field is made for those who appreciate a beautiful, functional work of art. The nickel plated receiver has attractive scroll and floral engravings with inked background that fully cover the receiver.
Barrel Tech: Beretta’s exclusive barrel technology reduces felt recoil and optimizes patterns for decisive on impact performance. Longer forcing cones, smoother shots, Steelium Plus barrels use a triple forcing cone that stretches the transition out to about 320 mm (12.6 in).
Built on the revolutionary A400 action, the newest iteration of the Beretta A400 platform features an exclusive, eye-catching engraving and a highly figured European walnut stock.
The A400 L Field also sports an aluminum triggerguard, enlarged controls, and the innovative B-LINK gas operating system.
