A300 Competition - Direct Milled

[mmc45414]

Was just farting around, scheming my next thing to buy, and tripped over this:
https://www.beretta.com/en-us/product/a300-ultima-competition-black-synthetic-FA0155

24in with 10 round tube, has the nice fore end from the Patrol, comes with extended chokes, but the coolest thing is it seems to be direct milled for an optic.

I have been thinking about getting a field gun and moving my current MRO and Rusty Nuts mount over, now I am torn...
It does look like it comes with a Kick-Off, and that is just a little longer than the two 1301s I have without it, so might just cheap out and get the 28" Synthetic Field version (since I have the optic already), but this sure looks cool, IMO.

[TCinVA]

Was just farting around, scheming my next thing to buy, and tripped over this:
https://www.beretta.com/en-us/product/a300-ultima-competition-black-synthetic-FA0155

24in with 10 round tube, has the nice fore end from the Patrol, comes with extended chokes, but the coolest thing is it seems to be direct milled for an optic.

I have been thinking about getting a field gun and moving my current MRO and Rusty Nuts mount over, now I am torn...
It does look like it comes with a Kick-Off, and that is just a little longer than the two 1301s I have without it, so might just cheap out and get the 28" Synthetic Field version (since I have the optic already), but this sure looks cool, IMO.

We saw a couple of A300 models that were direct milled for RMR pattern optics at the factory back in late 2023. I don't know if they plkan to ever port that to the UP model, but it would be an interesting option.

I stopped at Bud's Gun Shop out in Tennessee on my way to the Rangemaster Advanced Shotgun Instructor course this weekend and saw that Mossberg is selling a 20 gauge pump with a youth-style stock and a full camo job that would make a really handy little home defense gun with a couple of changes.

[mmc45414]

I ended up getting one of these, and so far so cool.

Was just farting around, scheming my next thing to buy, and tripped over this:
https://www.beretta.com/en-us/product/a300-ultima-competition-black-synthetic-FA0155
Been shooting it at skeet the last two weeks and it is rocking right along.

But I sorta backed into it, because:

I have been thinking about getting a field gun and moving my current MRO and Rusty Nuts mount over, now I am torn...
might just cheap out and get the 28" Synthetic Field version (since I have the optic already)
I was following my plan to just get the 28" field version and but a Nordic tube on it, but... the field guns have the gas system more like an A400 that does not allow for an extended magazine tube. I had already done a deal and sold my 21" 1301 to a friend, so I sorta got stuck out in Checkpoint Charlie, like a man without a country, but ended up with the A300 Competition.


the coolest thing is it seems to be direct milled for an optic.
I could have still moved the MRO straight over from the 1301, but since I have the gun, and one of the neatest features is the direct milled optic, I can't not take advantage of that. So I am contemplating, might/probably end up with the Trijicon RCR (I want the enclosed emitter), but I am still circling the drain. Whatever I do I will not have in hand before three gun on Sunday, so I plan to shoot the gun without an optic this month, and that buys me a whole month to decide before my next chance to shoot it.


It does look like it comes with a Kick-Off, and that is just a little longer than the two 1301s I have without it
It came with the Kick-Off, but it also came with the fitting that replaces and eliminates it. The KO seems like a cool feature, but even with no spacers it ends up being a little longer than the 1301 that is just like the 391 Xtrema I have had for almost two decades (shortly after the released the revised "2" version), so I want it to be short and be the same, so I was very glad that was an included option.

But probably the sweetest thing is the magazine tube setup. Some of us have wondered about the new two piece sleeve on the A300 Patrol (BTW, I picked up one of those the same day, it is good to be me... :cool: ) and the new Comp version clarifies why. It comes with an aluminum coupler that replaces half of the two piece sleeve and accepts the (obviously) Nordic tube (that gives you 10+1) and the cap so it can be setup as a 7+1 capacity (like I have been doing for skeet the last two weeks). But it will also be compatible with any and all of the Nordic tubes (like I already have a pile of) or be a quick handling gun with a 7+1 capacity that has no magazine tube transition (IMO a superior approach).

125211

This could be a real Swiss Army knife of a shotgun, and is probably a preview of some other things to come (like an optic ready Patrol version).
Ben_G and the folks have been doing some very innovative things lately. :cool:

[mmc45414]

Optic Thread Size?

I may have hit a little snag and I am hoping maybe Ben_G might be able to help/advise.
I bought a Trijicon RCR, and I think it will be a very nice combination, but...
Their provided 6-32 screws do not seem to wanna fit, nor do the two 6-40 screws, the holes seem smaller?
I have a thread gauge and confirmed the screws are 32tpi. The gun is an RMR footprint, and the RMR also comes with 6-32, so even though I have not been able to find any screw specifics (I did download the manual (chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.beretta.com/content/dam/beretta-usa/user-manuals/Beretta%20USA%20Semiauto%20Manual.pdf)) I am wanting to confirm I am not putting a square peg into a round hole. Also, since they are the capstan screws it is a little tricky to be sure they are in straight and not cross threaded, and I am being rather careful with my nice new gun. I could find some torx screws that would maybe help me clean up the threads, just wanting to confirm before I use any more force than finger tight.

Really digging the gun, shot it last weekend at 3gun at CCFSA in Wilmington OH and did well, and am looking forward to getting the dot mounted.

125495

[mmc45414]

Their provided 6-32 screws do not seem to wanna fit, nor do the two 6-40 screws, the holes seem smaller?
Well, the plot thickens...
Called Beretta and a guy named John was very helpful, he checked with production and the holes are 6-48.
And Trijicon supplies 6-32 and 6-40, but I called and they do not have any 6-48 options.
And when I search the dang ol internet just maybe a 6-48 capstan screw might not be a thing.
I can find 6-48 screws, but it might be a gun thing, Brownells seems to have the most of them, but I probably will need to get a cap screw and drilling it to make a capstan screw.
I really like this combination, but being an early adopter (gun and optic...) might be a bit of a PITA on this go-round.

[mrozowjj]

The 1301 Comp Pro models are selling for a huge discount right now and my suspicion was to clear out stock before they announce a Gen 2

This kind of lends credence to that theory because I could see Beretta adding some of these features to the 1301 as I would think they would would want their more premium model to be more feature-rich.

I mean if the cheaper gun has better options/features it's harder to justify the extra price of the premium model.