Beretta A400 or Remington VersaMax?
Looking for an ultra reliable auto loader for waterfowl and upland bird hunting. I have narrowed it down to these 2. Would appreciate the feedback of those with hands on experience. Thanks
Personal experience 20 gauge KO. Broke in with heavy loads. Not a single problem of any kind. Maybe 600 rounds sporting clays.
Two friends with A400's. Both 12 gauge. Very happy.
I have no experience or hearsay knowledge about the Remington.
Thank you, I have heard mosty great reviews on the A400s. I've always like Remington and would like to find a reason to buy from them other than being an American Company. Appreciate your reply
Two of the guys I hunt with use these. One the Beretta, the other the Remington. Both use them hard duck hunting and are both pleased. They shoot a lot of 3.5" waterfowl loads in each. Any gun model can get a lemon though.
After watching these two, if I was on a strict budget, the Remington would get the nod. My guess is the Beretta has less felt recoil though.
* BTW, I use a new model Browning A-5 and the rest of the crew use Benelli SBE2/3s. All the guns seem to function well consider the abuse we put them through. It is not uncommon for each of these guns to eat a case of duck loads each season, plus dove loads, etc.
I actually handled both the A400, the VersaMax, and a Browning Maxus today at my local Cabelas. Very helpful and knowledgeable salesman. Browning handles very nice as did the VersaMax and both came up nice but I’d give the nod to the Beretta there. I have to say the A400 just seems a little more solid and well balanced. I also much prefer the location of the safety on the Browning and Remington.
Both are good SA's. The A400 has a huge following. Much larger than the VersaMax. Which me be a factor if you decide to sell. Rumor has it the VersaMax trigger out of the box is not as good as the A400. If one is trigger critical, then both of them need some fine tuning.
For what it is worth, almost all high volume SA Sporting Clay shooters are on the side of the A400. However, if one has an intrinsic better balance and feel in your hands, then that is the one I would choose.
There is a very long and detailed thread on "Shotgun world" covering the Remington VersaMax, you may want to read it.
I sold my Versamax after it had to go back to Remington the 2nd time for a bent barrel from the factory. They ended up replacing the gun and I promptly sold it and purchased a Beretta A400 Lite. Best decision I've made in a long time. My gun does not have the Kick Off system. ULTRA reliable in the field! Never an issue! I use this gun as a light weight upland gun and feed it mostly 1 1/4oz. pheasant loads although I have shot lighter target loads without a problem. It's nice to carry a 6.5lb 12ga. all day walking the fields.
I also have an A300 Outlander. It's used for everything else from skeet to goose hunting and my youngest daughter has claimed this gun as hers. The felt recoil is almost zero with lighter loads. Best shotgun for the money out there IMHO!
Hope this helps!
Elk Country
Easy call
A400, hands down. Not even close.
DF