Oldmotorcop; What?! A 1950's Vintage Carbine Williams designed M50 Winchester with the short recoil system,like the principle in the over 7 million M1 Carbines...the model 50 with a floating chamber & fixed barrel to wring all the power out...instead of a gassy action type Eyetalian wunderbar shotgun...is better than the newest, latest marvels? Well...you know I agree with you on this one...! Thanks for the comment.
Tom from Cody

In my humble opinion the best semiautomatic shotgun ever made,and my first new gun,is the Winchester Model 50.
I still prefer wood and blue steel.

GRR, Yes I do own and shoot them, point is that gives me the authority to opinionate because I am making as much fun at myself as anyone else. Get you feelings off your cuffs, just because someone says something about your beloved Beretta. If you will read my post correctly you will see that I stated Beretta USA is their biggest problem in this country employing a bunch of don't care non gun/hunting people just marketing geeks to run operations in this country. It's not necessarily the Beretta group although with their Italian mindsets they don't really care to much about us Americans anyway just your money. Without a military contract you would see much less of their presence in this counrty and hopefully they will loose that soon. :)

I'm with Dovebuster and Oldmotorcop on this one. The cost of the gun is not the point. Some people grasp the concept that tradition makes up a large portion of the enjoyment of hunting. Others could give a rats' ass, so long as they limit out and are on the cutting edge of high tech and don't have to clean their shotgun. To each his own.
Any bets that this trend-setting new gun will have a production run as long as the Remington 870, 1100, Ithaca 37 or Winchester Model 12? And my Win. Mod. 50 is not for sale either.
By the way, Remington did the quick-change magazine cap thing on 870's and 1100's years ago. Push it down with your forefinger and rotate.

To Anhinga: I realize I'm not Phil but My Job has allowed me to take out all three (Maxus,A400 and SBE2) at once for comparisons. They all shoot great and manage recoil as good as they say they do with the SBE2 only slightly more on the noticeable recoil but I think it is highly subjective? Without all 3 right at your feet where you can shoot one, set it down and then pick up the next and continue on, you'd never know the difference. Normally the last gun shot you feel more recoil regardless of who made the gun because the pounding is more noticeable as the shooting mounts. I prefer the Maxus because it cost a couple hundred less but all three guns are winners! I own a Browning and the Benelli and won't own the Beretta because of the unlikely event you need parts or service you are in for a long frustrating experience and I say that through the eyes of a dealer.

I guess I am a gun nut. I like shotguns, rifles and pistols. got some $200 870 pumps and some $1500 Browning doubles. I like shoot'n the doubles more though. Try shoot'n a Special Steel Citori in a 3 1/2" 12ga sometime. You don't notice kick when you're wearing heavy hunting coats in the field. I practice with a 20ga. I think I'm gonna use my old Belgian Browning A-5 Sweet 16 that I picked up in an estate sale for $350 on my next quail hunt just for the heck of it. It ain't about how much you make or spend on a shotguns, its about having FUN and enjoying a day in the field.

The A400 is, in my mind, the best auto made..number ONE. 500 yrs. of gun making behind Berettas. Very light, not a beast of a gun in the 12 ga. Nice profile looks. Very classy gun. But I would still prefer the safety to be at the BACK of the trigger guard. OK for me in a duck blind, but not as an upland gun. Maybe if I practiced with it a lot on the trap range with gun down, and safety on. And cost? Doesn't phase me anymore. The consumer will have to get use to it because it will get worse. I just got my Bean catalog. What seems like it was but a few years ago for a pair of rubber bottom, leather top Bean, upland bird hunting boots that were around $39.95 now were $119.00 !!!

Oh Yea, $1700 dollars to look like the Michelin Man shooting ducks. You better hope you don't need parts or service, it's non existing with Beretta USA. Sad because they build good products.

if i wasnt left handed i would shoot beretta semi's. looks like a nice gun, however, i like my shotguns to have wood stocks.

Dovebuster....it's great to hear you have money and can own them all.
If that's true, then why own anything but your old A5 and bash a firearm you don't own?
The A400 is flat out a great gun.
I've shot it and can't wait to hear your opinion AFTER you have shot it.

Right on target with your last comment Sayfu, I've always said if a duck gets close enough to see my gun, there are far more serious it should be concerned with than the condition of the bluing on the barrel.
The A400 is a fine fowling piece, in either camo or a wood/blue configuration, now if they could just get the safety in the right place on the trigger guard,,,,

dove...WE care about Italy, and Italy cares about the USA..believe me when it comes to business. We all get clobbered IF Italy goes under financially, and they are in bad straights. RE1956 Wow! You are the only one I have read on this thread that doesn't like where the safety is located! I thought I had lost it. I'd go to bed at nite visualizing that safety location on the Benelli Nova pump that I bought just for duck hunting. I jump shoot when I do duck hunt, and my lab I thought was going to attack me after the 2nd bunch of ducks we jumped off the irrigation ditch went silently off into the distance.

Phil- How does the A400 compare to the Browning Maxus? Has anyone actually done ft-lbs of recoil energy comparisons with the same loads in the various 'new' 3.5" autos; Beretta, Browning, Remington & Winchester? I realize "felt recoil" may not be the same as the actual numbers generated (e.g. real data), but that is what I'd like to see.

I love the feel of Berettas and have more of them than any other shotguns. The price point made most of the purchases something of a sacrifice but I felt each was worth it. Now, however, what with the current economy, etc., buying one would be a big sacrifice. But I still lust after this new one, especially since I could really use a new duck gun. And, FWIW, I have had pretty good service from Beretta in the past, getting replacement parts for my old 390 a couple of times (granted, that was about 10 yrs ago). But my main question is: can anyone tell me how the new A400 compares with Benelli's Supervinci?

WAHUnter..Agree, you have too many shotguns. So do I.

z41..Me also. BUT. I still want to get out, and bird hunt with good dogs. I have to do it with a cane now, but I still hunt, and with a cane! I can't pack my old 12 ga. guns around anymore. I pick one up off the rack, and can't believe I hunted with them the distances I use to walk years ago when I was in good shape. I enjoy the new 20's that are lt. BUT an A400 Berreta is but 6.28 lb.'s, thin profile, and lighter than my Beretta O/U at 6.6 lbs!

Why not just buy a gun that doesn't need warranty work?

Sayfu, your friend and his dad shot 76 mallards in a weekend? That's way over the possession limit in any place that I ever heard of! That's not a "passion" it's being a HOG! Yeah, I'm sure he dressed all of those birds! He needs some counseling for his addiction, preferably from a CO and local judge. No one I know would ever dream of telling me a story like that. I'd rat them out in a heartbeat.

LOL-It's all in your perspective. The right place for a safety to be located for an individual is what they have become accustomed to over the years. I have never shot a gun, other than a 390, that had the safety in the front of the trigger guard, and then only at skeet where the safety was never employed. Everything else had a tang safety or one in the back of the trigger guard.
My fowling piece, as most of you know, in an old 11/87 SP that has no finish left on the stock and the forearm is split. If something breaks, I can fix it, no need for a gunsmith or customer service department and I have a large cache of parts in case I need them. Max time to fix anything: 15 minutes. I think I paid $300 or 350 for the gun used, but like new years ago when I bought it.
I really love my new Maxus cause it's a lot lighter and that will be a benefit next fall when tromping for pheasants in SD. Why do I still pick up the old 11/87 when I'm loading up to go duck hunting? Because in my hands it is deadly since I have so much confidence knowing what I can do with it.
I appreciate fine guns as much and probaly more than the next guy, but if I'm gonna drop a couple of grand (or more) on a shotgun, you can bet your ass it's gonna have two barrels and probably won't get thrown on top of a bag of decoys in the boat.
BTW, DuckcreekDick, Remington has a quick 1/4 turn Magazine Spring Retainer, not magazine cap. That was a great improvement since the old spring steel magazine spring retainer was a pain in the ass.

RES1956 I can afford your non-automatic safety...gets tougher to afford from there. :) I've always spent above my means for shotguns as I saw it. Then as time wore on, was sure glad that I did. Now I can easily fall, and did with a fine O/U. Tripped on some lava rocks and put a 3" scratch across the receiver's engraving. One mistake I made was to give my A-5 to my brother who doesn't hunt. Grandad's old gun, and in good shape. I couldn't shoot well with it, decided I disliked the square back because I shot well with an 870 with the rolled over receiver, and gave it away. Wish I had it back, and could look at it, and reminisce.

Thanks for the tip, RES. I lost my spring retainer thingy years ago and have been dealing with flying magazine spring every time I clean it. I'll have to pick up one of those.

Thanks SD Bob. Still interested in 'ft-lbs data'. I shot an SP-10 for about 15 years and decided I wanted a lighter gun to tote to the rice fields. Bought a Beretta but didn't really like it and sold it. Now I shoot the 11-87 I bought for my son in about '98, since he has graduated to a Benelli. I have been interested in the Maxus and your comments may have made up my mind - thanks again.

I hunt too hard for pretty wood. Way too hard. I don't care much for the trap shooting club scene either. Not a showoff. Therefore, plastic is fine with me. That kind of price tag is not! I now have more money than I can spend in two lifetimes and no family left to spend it on but I still can't bring myself to pay that kind of money for something that is or should be essentially a tool. Fifty years of struggling to make ends meet leaves a healthy respect for the value of money that is hard to kill ... even with heavier loads and faster guns.