Beretta A300 Patrol vs. Mossberg 940 Tactical Pro

[Hawg Rider]

Range report...outstanding!

I finally got the Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol out to the range this morning. Here in Central Florida the "feels like" temp was about 110 degrees, so I was sweating my butt off out in the sun! I put about 100 rounds of 7-1/2 and 00 Buck through the A300, and it performed flawlessly. Action and trigger were smooth, and reloading was easy. Even with my sweaty hands, the aggressive texturing of the stocks allowed a secure grip. Sights were dead on as I transitioned between the steel plate rack and paper plates on the berm. The only issue I had was handling the shotgun and performing tactical reloads with an extremely hot barrel! Wow, after just 14 or 15 quick rounds I couldn't touch the barrel. Looks like I may need some gloves for the next range outting. So far I give the A300 an A+.

 

[rockquarry]

I've never seen a need to go beyond the plain and reliable short-barreled Remington 870 12 ga. with no adornments or junk hanging off of it.

As for Beretta vs. Mossberg, is this even a valid comparison? I thought a Beretta was a Beretta and a Mossberg remained a Mossberg.

 

[Hawg Rider]

I've never seen a need to go beyond the plain and reliable short-barreled Remington 870 12 ga. with no adornments or junk hanging off of it.

As for Beretta vs. Mossberg, is this even a valid comparison? I thought a Beretta was a Beretta and a Mossberg remained a Mossberg.

Everyone has their own opinion as to their favorite shotgun...there is no right or wrong choice. I had a Remington 870 Police Magnum for years. It was a SWAT trade-in and the Police Dept. had already installed "junk": a sling, a forend light, and a side saddle. I recently decided to buy a new semi-auto tactical shotgun and traded in the 870...the semi was a better option for my needs. I hang "junk" off of my shotguns for practical reasons that perhaps you should investigate. At a minimum, most shotgun experts recommend using a sling (in case you need to use your hands or transition to a handgun) and a weapon-mounted white light (for nighttime visibility and to identify friend or foe). I added an Esstac side saddle card to have some extra rounds, just in case. As to your other point, I did quite a bit of research into a tactical semi-auto Beretta vs. a tactical Mossberg. Both are outstanding gas-operated shotguns with great features and performance, both Made in USA, and both are similarly priced. I chose the Beretta because I liked the sights and fit and feel. Your short-barreled 870 is a great choice, assuming you routinely practice with the pump action and are satisfied that you'll only ever need 5 rounds. Enjoy!

 

[rockquarry]

Everyone has their own opinion as to their favorite shotgun...there is no right or wrong choice. I had a Remington 870 Police Magnum for years. It was a SWAT trade-in and the Police Dept. had already installed "junk": a sling, a forend light, and a side saddle. I recently decided to buy a new semi-auto tactical shotgun and traded in the 870...the semi was a better option for my needs. I hang "junk" off of my shotguns for practical reasons that perhaps you should investigate. At a minimum, most shotgun experts recommend using a sling (in case you need to use your hands or transition to a handgun) and a weapon-mounted white light (for nighttime visibility and to identify friend or foe). I added an Esstac side saddle card to have some extra rounds, just in case. As to your other point, I did quite a bit of research into a tactical semi-auto Beretta vs. a tactical Mossberg. Both are outstanding gas-operated shotguns with great features and performance, both Made in USA, and both are similarly priced. I chose the Beretta because I liked the sights and fit and feel. Your short-barreled 870 is a great choice, assuming you routinely practice with the pump action and are satisfied that you'll only ever need 5 rounds. Enjoy!

Quite happy with my simple 870 and it's limited magazine capacity. Reasonable preparedness is okay and I'm not a gunfighter.

 

[Hawg Rider]

LOL! Good point. I'll concede that most of us are not gunfighters, but times and circumstances are changing. As you say, it's best to be prepared!

 

[Rodan]

Did a little pattern testing the other day on the Beretta 1301

Ammo used was Federal Tactical 00 Buck

I had initially tested the 1301 with the factory installed Cylinder choke and was not impressed... with pellets out to the edge of the paper at 15 yards, it was unacceptable for defensive use. The gun had also included an Improved Cylinder choke, so I installed that and tried again.

The smaller holes are from a round of #4 Buck that snuck into the mix and was fired from 10 yards. Otherwise, it was one round at each distance, 7, 10 and 15 yards. The resulting patterns were 5, 8 and 11 inches, respectively. With this choke and this ammo, I would call 15 yards the max distance for defensive use... any further and the chances of putting pellets off target are pretty high.

I would like to try this choke with some Federal Flitecontrol 00 Buck, but it's been very hard to get lately. In the meantime, I may step up to a Lite Modified, or even a Modified choke tube to tighten things up a bit.

 

[Hawg Rider]

The A300 Ultima Patrol that I bought is an LE model. The LE's barrel has a Modified choke (MC)- it does not have an interchangeable MobileChoke system like the civilian models. The patterning from my MC is very good with both 7-1/2 and 00 buck (out to ~30 yards). I haven't shot slugs yet. I will be taking a "Defensive Shotgun" training course in October, so I'll have an opportunity to put a lot of different rounds downrange in a lot of different scenarios.

 

[Rodan]

I debated between the 'LE' and standard models, and the changeable chokes swayed me, even though most of the time it will probably end up with the same choke installed. Modified is a good choice for a fixed choke. All the duty shotguns I carried over the years were either Cyl or IC, and they were pretty bad.

The "Buck Kicker" chokes with an integrated muzzle brake look interesting, but they are all variants of Full chokes. Great results with 00, but I would be hesitant to shoot a slug through them, and the flexibility to 'select slug' is important.