Scattergun Beretta a300 vs Mossberg 940 patrol

[Panayoti2]

Looking at tacticool auto loader shotguns. Beretta a300 vs Mossberg 940 patrol.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

I don't have an A300 or a 940. But I do have a Beretta 1301 and it's similar to the A300. I've read many comparisons between the two and I'll likely get an A300 before too much longer.

I can tell you the Beretta is a pretty amazing shotgun and really changed my attitude on shotguns in general. I sold my prior favorite shotgun...a Remington 11-87 Police...to fund the Beretta. Not even on the same planet in terms of performance. The 11-87 is a great gun...just a little dated compared to the new Beretta. Of course, the Remington is about 1/2 the price, too.

Having said all that, I've heard some pretty good things about the 940, too. Plenty of YouTube videos comparing the two.

 

[MilitantBEEMER]

I am really looking forward to trying the Beretta. The only downfall is I am a left handed shooter so the safety is a bit awkward. I tend to lean towards the Mossberg as it has the tang safety.
Is the 1301 a soft shooter?

 

[Panayoti2]

The a300 has a dropping bolt made in TN

The 1301 has a rotating bolt made in italy

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

I am really looking forward to trying the Beretta. The only downfall is I am a left handed shooter so the safety is a bit awkward. I tend to lean towards the Mossberg as it has the tang safety.
Is the 1301 a soft shooter?

Softest shooting, and lightest (6.5 lbs) shotgun I've ever fired. As a matter of fact, the reason I'm looking at getting an A300 is because everyone says you can't tell the difference between that and the 1301 in terms of recoil. My 125 lb, 67 year old wife shot the 1301 and now she wants her own. But I can't afford another one...so we're probably going with an A300 for the second one. Many people say it recoils less than, or at least no more than, the Benelli M4, which is 2 lbs heavier.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

The a300 has a dropping bolt made in TN

The 1301 has a rotating bolt made in italy

This is correct. The 1301 also has a different operating system (the B-Link system). Everything is contained under the forearm. The A300 has a more traditional recoil system with a rod that extends into the butt stock. The A300 also has a single action bar as opposed to the dual action bars of the 1301. The new Mod 2 has some really nice upgrades over the previous versions of the 1301.

Another nice thing about all of them is the 7+1 capacity. 7+2 if you ghost load it. The 1301 also handles cheap, light field loads perfectly...so it's a little more cost effective to practice.

I'm not sure you could really go wrong with any of them.

A few things about the Beretta really pissed me off, though. Not really the shotgun, but Beretta in general...

It's not an inexpensive shotgun. And, it's marketed as the ultimate in a tactical/duty weapon. But Beretta doesn't provide an operator's manual with the gun. I had to order one and pay $7 for postage (the manual was free). Also... The 1301 has a QD sling swivel socket up front on the mag tube/barrel clamp. But it doesn't have any provision for a sling on the standard, Beretta stock. Who designs a "tactical" shotgun and only provides a front sling swivel?

Fortunately, the quality of the gun makes up for stupid designers at Beretta. Noveske makes a rear QD sling swivel mount that sells for $20 and installs easily enough and solves the sling mount problem. The Mossberg comes with sling swivels front and rear.

 

[h4everything]

I have owned or own almost all of the combat shotguns.

The 1301 is the lightest and really soft shooting and cycles really fast. Fairly inexpensive compared to the benlli M4. With the safety in front of the trigger its easily converted/reversed to left hand and it pretty nice.

The M4 is heavy and seems to kick more than the berretta but does cycle fast and they are really tough. all kinds of youtube videos to proves. (1301 does too)

The mossberg 940 shoots good is inexpensive compared to the others. I am also left handed and I do like the tang safety. It shoots fast with light recoil but has a "weird" recoil impulse that is the only hickup. With the new 940 "pro" coming out it might be a really good option. The tang safety is really good for lefties.

My favorites are my Remington Versamax tactical. They are a benelli M4 type clone. they are heavy for walking around quail hunting but they are the fastest shooting and softest shooters in my opinion. Remington has support issues right now but all of the M4 benelli parts from brownells work great.

I haven't shot the A300 yet but If the safety is in a spot you feel like you could train into I think you would be really happy with the A300 or the Mossberg. They are both american made

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

There's a nice 1301 in the classifieds...