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Beretta A400 Barrel Failure or Problems?

23K views 32 replies 24 participants last post by  Buyersremose2 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I just bought a Beretta A400 Extreme a bit ago and love it so far. BUT, I was on a hunt recently and a guy mentioned that he has seen a couple of the barrels crack/explode/fail/whatever you wanna say and it has be concerned. I have searched all over google with zero results so maybe he is full of it and the one that failed was due to barrel obstruction etc?

Just wanted to jump on here and see if anyone heard anything like this. Love the gun and all my other Berettas so I'm skeptical but I also dont want a barrel failing either. Let me know what you guys have heard, thanks!
 
#2 ·
I have heard nothing about barrel failures. I shoot an A400 Xcel sporting for Clays and see an awful lot of these on the Sporting Clays courses and have never heard anything but good feedback regarding them. I would guess that the information given to you is bogus.
 
#3 ·
I do not own one myself, but I have never heard of any barrel failures related to the A400. Many think very very highly of them. To be frank, for you friend to say he has seen a couple of them fail makes me think he may have been pulling your leg or something. I do not know many people who have seen a single barrel failure...much less several failures on a single model.
 
#7 ·
I've had an A5400 Xplor Action for years. It has 4,200 rounds through it per the computerized accessory, so it's definitely had some use. I screwed up twice with this gun. Once I dropped a 20 gauge shell in the barrel and not realizing I'd done that, put in a 12 gauge shell and fired. (yeah, I know, but the details are too long to explain.) The barrel survived with a bulge so modest it was almost imperceptible. Some months later on a goose hunting trip in Ontario we loaded just as dawn was breaking and I mistakenly put a 3 1/2" shell (with difficulty- my bad) in the chamber. The gun fired it, although the action jammed badly and took a while to free up. But the important point in the barrel more than survived. I subsequently bought a replacement barrel to not push the envelope too much, but the original barrel on my A400 was clearly more than simply well made.
 
#10 ·
QUOTE: "I have heard nothing about barrel failures. I shoot an A400 Xcel sporting for Clays and see an awful lot of these on the Sporting Clays courses and have never heard anything but good feedback regarding them. I would guess that the information given to you is bogus."

Agree 100%, and I have fired 5k+ rounds through my A-400 Sporting. I did need one trigger repair which Beretta promptly repaired at no cost to me, under warranty. Midwest Gun Works in Pevely, MO is a Beretta warranty shop, and treats shooters well (ask for Jason).

gold40
 
#11 ·
Good to know, not surprising considering the guys personality. Cocky jerk of an outfitter, only thing that made me think about it at all was that another hunter with us sold his due to this, but he is buddies with the guy so no shock there either.

Thanks guys, i just figured better safe than sorry, rather ask than worry. I LOVE the gun it rocks just like all my other berettas. Cant wait to give it a real workout on snow geese soon!
 
#13 ·
Islayclay said:
I heard 3 stories so far, 2 hunters and one clay shooter, all of the barrels bulging just before the choke tube, one of them even splitting so wide you can push your finger in it.

Could be a loose choke doing that.
Remember, those were stories???

I would guess that there was something inside the barrel, like a plastic wad that didn't clear the barrel or in the case of the two hunters it could be a plastic wad or some dirt or debris.
 
#14 ·
Islayclay said:
I heard 3 stories so far, 2 hunters and one clay shooter, all of the barrels bulging just before the choke tube, one of them even splitting so wide you can push your finger in it.

Could be a loose choke doing that.
:lol: :lol: :lol: No, choke tubes don't spread B.S., and choke tubes don't shoot other guy's guns.



Though returned to the manufacturer because "my shotgun blew up," in actuality it is is no firearm failure at all. In this case, it is the shotgun that has been shot. The shotgun was shot, at obvious close range, by a hunting buddy. The rib was shot off, a hole was shot in the barrel, and you can see where a few stray pellets whacked the area close to the muzzle, knocking off some camo finish.

It happens more than you think: and that is a true story.
 
#18 ·
I joined this forum specifically for this topic. I am the sad owner of an a400 xcel that has had this problem I purchased mine in july 2018. I shoot clays about every other week on average and do 75 to 100 rounds each day. Several of us have champion throwers and we alternate setting up our throwers. they dont have the speed of a commercial thrower so i was mostly using the stock modified choke. I usually only hit about 75 % but one day all of a sudden I started hitting close to zero. figured I'd try a different choke but it was stuck. thats when I noticed the tip of the barrel was bulged. it caused the choke to point off to the right a bit. that was 1 year and 1 month after I purchased it. beretta did not return a single call or email.

every once in a while I search for a used barrel on line and this time I happened upon this discussion so I figured I would share my story.
 
#19 ·
bouts said:
I joined this forum specifically for this topic. I am the sad owner of an a400 xcel that has had this problem I purchased mine in july 2018. I that was 1 year and 1 month after I purchased it. beretta did not return a single call or email.

every once in a while I search for a used barrel on line and this time I happened upon this discussion so I figured I would share my story.
This "topic" is from Feb 10, 2015. If you registered your shotgun, you have a 3 year warranty. I have no idea who you e-mailed, but Beretta has service centers, as in https://www.colegun.com/ . They answer the phone, no need to wait for an e-mail at all.

However, if you shot your gun without the choke being seated, it is not a warranty issue even if you did it the same day you bought the shotgun.
 
#21 ·
RandyWakeman said:
bouts said:
I joined this forum specifically for this topic. I am the sad owner of an a400 xcel that has had this problem I purchased mine in july 2018. I that was 1 year and 1 month after I purchased it. beretta did not return a single call or email.

every once in a while I search for a used barrel on line and this time I happened upon this discussion so I figured I would share my story.
This "topic" is from Feb 10, 2015. If you registered your shotgun, you have a 3 year warranty. I have no idea who you e-mailed, but Beretta has service centers, as in https://www.colegun.com/ . They answer the phone, no need to wait for an e-mail at all.

However, if you shot your gun without the choke being seated, it is not a warranty issue even if you did it the same day you bought the shotgun.
thanks for the reply. i did notice it was an old topic. I called beretta customer service detailing the problem always starting with my contact information and emailed baretta support.com. neither option ever resulted in a reply. no one ever answered the phone (I also dialed the number numerous times without leaving a message, no one ever answered) It seems like you are saying i could just call a service center and all would be taken care of. I remember thinking i needed an authorization from beretta. I may have gotten that idea from one of the service centers but i dont remeber that for certain.

but one thing i do know for sure THE CHOKE WAS ALWAYS SEATED and it was checked rather often. and the the shot gun was never registered because I had never thought to. the good people at beretta already know exactly when,where and to who the gun was sold by the sales receipt and serial number.

A certified service center isnt going to just fix something without the manufacturers ok.

may be an old topic but the info may come in handy to some one.
 
#23 ·
I vaguely recall reading about a problem with Remington Hypersonic Steel loads, but no firm details.

My experience, based on working at a clays range is that the Beretta gas guns, and especially the A400s are very reliable. One had perennial cycling problems but a trip to Cole's fixed it.
 
#24 ·
Let's put it straight boys
I own an a400 Xtreme Unico for more that 3yrs. My observation is that OptimaHP design is poor engineering - someone of Beretta team needs to go back to a university to learn the "Resistance of materials" subject. I keep my guns clean as often as I feel I need to. It is army habit. I never do more that 300...400 shots without cleaning my gun. The rifles are to be cleaned after 50...100 shots. For the shot guns I take the choke(s) out every cleaning, clean the threads both inside barrel and on the choke, put a little but of thermal resistant grease on it then screw the choke(s) in back. First of all I've noticed that my Beretta M choke has got slightly swollen after couple of boxes of 3.5 waterfowl steel. It developed just a little bit or resistance when I rotate it. I do quite a bit of pass shooting, so I was experimenting and looking for a best setup. I bought a Jebs High Voltage .690 then got it swollen just after couple of hunts using 3.5" roman candles. This one was even more resisting to come out. I think this is due to having more constriction that the earlier mentioned M choke. So the shot meets even more resistance and friction thus making the damn choke to expand even more. I phoned Jebs and they sent me a replacement which I've put on a shelf and never use it so far. There was one more try a "Super Waterfowl .685" by Trulock - same story. But this time I asked their support to send me three regular chokes (Precision Hunter: IC, M and TKY) instead of this one, since a SW costs three times more than a PH. I've received three replacement chokes from Trulock. Good guys and good chokes, I'm happy. Btw, I also did pattern my shotgun a lot. Here is a report with some numbers and pictures is you're curios: http://bikernotes.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html
I've also done some penetration tests.
To say it short, finally I've made two very important conclusions:
1) you do not really need to shoot those 3.5" roman candles. They over stress your shotgun mechanics, your barrel and make your OptimaHP choke swollen. You waste your money paying extra for Super Magnum and it doesn't help you as much.
2) you do not need more than 0.020 constriction (M choke) for steel shots. If you check my report mentioned above, the " Precision hunter Mod .713" which is .020 constriction has patterned at 82%. The penetration test using the 3" Challenger #2 steel shot and a "Super Waterfowl #1" tube has shown -16% less of depth in penetration against same shot but using the "Precision hunter Mod .713". So my waterfowl current setup is:
a400 + Trulock chokes SK1, IC and Mod and 2-3/4 to 3" steel shots ##3,2,1 at 1400 to 1550 fps. I do not shoot 3.5" steel shot anymore.
The 3.5" lead shot doesn't make choke swollen though.
 
#25 ·
I have had several A400 Excel models that I've shot for a few years. The oldest one I had was purchased used from a friend. It was a 2014 model. I shot it a few years, averaging over 25,000 rounds per year, and I would estimate my friend probably had 20,000 rounds through the same gun. Last year, the barrel flange (chrome portion that extends into the receiver) cracked. The gun was well out of warranty and had over 100,000 rounds down the barrel. Coles said that this was not a replaceable part and that a new barrel would need to be purchased. (Super expensive option!)

I contacted Beretta USA, and Beretta USA repaired this gun and replaced a couple other parts for around 150$. They did have the gun for about a month if I were to find something to complain about. Another friend has a newer A400, and did have the plastic sleeve that houses the recoil spring crack. He is a high volume shooter also. The funny thing is, the gun continued to cycle with only a couple malfunctions now and then! Beretta replaced the sleeve at no cost while we waited at a large tournament, and sent him a free one by mail the second time this happened.

I've found the a400 to be the most reliable auto I've ever owned.
 
#26 ·
i3rider-I think if you go to carpenter steel this will alleviate the choke swelling problems. I agree with you that the choke design sucks. The skirt is way to thin. Carlson's told me to never shoot steel from anything tighter than light mod and if I do, get a carpenter steel choke.(which I did from them) I believe patternmaster's are made with carpenter steel too.

Claycrusher-My 400's and my son's 350 have been some of the most reliable auto's we have owned. I too have seen this barrel fracture you speak of. Did Beretta fix it or replace the barrel? The two guys I know that this happened too had the part replaced(by Beretta) and the barrel did not have to be replaced.
 
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