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The stellar Beretta A400 XCEL Sporting 3+1 12-gauge and 4+1 20-gauge semi-automatic shotgun has been a clay-shooting competition favorite for good reason. It’s got great ergonomics, wonderful balance, nice aesthetics and very fast cycle times. The gun has a soft gas-operated system, Blink technology, an optional Micro-Core Kick-Off buttpad and cold-hammer forged Steelium barrels that back to a 3” chamber.

The A400 XCEL Sporting debuted circa 2011 and turned heads with its bright blue receiver, blued barrel and rib and a nicely contoured, fine walnut, forend and stock. You also get a 10x8 progressive top vent rib and a front bead sight.

Beretta claims its Blink technology delivers “follow-up shots 36% faster than any other brand”. In other words, it can deliver two shots within half a second or four in a second. This it does with various loads and for 2 3/4" or 3" shells. In front, you get high-quality Optimabore HP choke tubes.

Steelium is Berretta’s own barrel tech. It’s a steel tri-alloy that includes nickel, molybdenum and chromium. The gun comes in 28” and 30” barrel versions for 20-gauge. In 12-gauge, you get 28”, 30” and 32” barrel choices with various configurations. Specifically, you have A400 Xcel, Sporting in 30”. Then you have A400 Xcel, Sporting, KO in 28”, 30” and 32”. And finally, there is A400 Xcel, Sporting, GUN POD in 32”. What’s the difference, you wonder?

The A400 Xcel, Sporting is the well-balanced base model (so to speak, because it’s hardly “base” in any real way).

The KO is Beretta-speak for “Kick Off”, which is a very comfortable Micro-Core Kick-Off buttpad that has a pair of built-in shock-absorbers! It works with wood stocks. It’s highly rated on recoil reduction for good reason: it works great! It uses (not included) shims and spacers for length-of-pull adjustments.

It seems guns aren’t necessarily a great environment for high-tech applications, but Beretta has found a way with the Beretta GunPod onboard shot-counter system (aka “digital hunting diary”). It attaches so nearly seamlessly to the bottom of your gun’s grip you might forget it’s there. The GunPod tracks shots, where you’ve been, chamber pressure, ambient temperature, etc. It can pair via Bluetooth to transmit data to your phone in real-time or it can transmit data at a later time to not wear down your battery. And then you can track your performance statistics. It’s really an amazing little piece of technology. The battery is good for over 5,000 shots and automatically goes into stand-by mode as needed.

The gun also has a blue balance magazine cap. You can get them in different weights for that just perfect balance.

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