New Beretta A-400 Xcel. Anyone.

I'm pretty close to buying a Beretta A400 Xcel for some occasional trap shooting. That's a 2K shotgun for the summer and fall shooting I want to do. I'll be honest, I've never owned a semi-auto except an 1100 I sold years ago to a friend that I never used. Mostly I'm an O/U type person for target shooting which I left 10 years ago. I sold my 682 Beretta and all my loading equipment. I'm not planning on re-loading shot shells again. I'm getting up in years (74) and don't want the recoil from a 12 ga O/U. I have an 870 but it's not designed to reduce recoil. I want to shoot 1 oz loads in this new shotgun, hoping that a gas gun will mitigate some of that recoil.

Anyone shooting clays with a 12 ga Beretta A400? If so what are your impressions about the KO system to reduce recoil?

I haven't shot an A400 Excel. In addition to light loads and gas semi-autos, some people switch to 28 gauge or 20 gauge for less recoil. I see that mostly in skeet. Not sure about trap.

I've never found the KO system to really make a difference shooting an a300/a400 right next to an a400 with the KO system.

2 3/4 target loads in a beretta semi auto just seem so light already to me

I though about a 20 ga O/U for awhile and still considering it. Ammo selection for 12 ga is much better and prices are more competitive. Seems to me used 20 ga guns bring a premium. I had a Beretta 20 ga O/U years ago but it was mostly used by my wife. When she stopped shooting I sold it. I checked the fit on a Browning CXS yesterday and was disappointed. I need a little cast off which it didn't have and it can't be adjusted with shims like an A-400. Seems all of the traditional wood stocks these days are one-size-fits-all. The older guns built in the 70-80's seem to fit me better. I think mostly they were built with lower combs for right handed shooters.

My primary objective here is to find a gun that fits with reduced recoil. I can probably solve the recoil part with 1 oz target loads or a 20 ga. but the fit part is where I strike out. I found some 1 oz loads in the basement recently so going to take the 870 to the range in a few days to see if I'm remembering the recoil thing correctly.

I am particularly recoil sensitive to abrupt recoil since I was rear ended 15 yrs ago. Any locked breech shotgun gives me a headache unless it's a 410. I have ~40K through my 2013 Xcel with KO and ~1K through my 2022 Xcel with KO.

With the Xcel I can shoot a round of clays using 1oz@1200fps loads without any issue and an occational 1 1/8oz@1145fps. But if I go on a claycation where I might be shooting 1000 rounds in 4 days I have to use 1oz@1150fps as my second shell in the pair - the first shell has less recoil than the last since the bolt is slamming forward. I hoard these lower recoil loads and keep them for trips only.

Some people complain about the stock movement from the KO but I never noticed it. Definitely try one out before you buy it if you can. BTW, the new mid-stock KO does not work nearly as well as the old end-of-stock style. I bought an old style Kick Off stock when Beretta had one of those 30% off sales and put it on my 2022 Xcel.

Just dropped a bid on a Rem 11-87. I looked at all the new stuff, Browning, Beretta, Benelli and decided I'd try something I'm familiar with, which is Remington before they took a dump. I have an old 870 Wingmaster that fits. I like O/U guns, owned several, but the prices are getting stupid for new ones and I didn't really want a 20 ga. just to reduce recoil. I have lots of 12 ga ammo I need to use up so 12 it is. Lots of Remington 11-87's were sold so no problem finding one of those. Not sure why it took me so long to consider one.

Looks like a good used 11-87 is about half of a new A-400 and I know I can get the stock to fit with a Dremel and a spacer. So waiting for the auction on GB to close tomorrow to see how I do.

Good luck on your bid. I have read that the Remington Versamax is also a very soft shooter. The Remington semi-autos, 1100, 11-87, V3, and Versamax are popular with new shooters at my club. For the same reason as you, cost. A decent semi is much less than a decent over under.