Beretta owns the semi-auto shotgun market. Beretta literally owns Benelli, Stoeger and Franchi, three companies whose bread and butter is shotguns. Beretta also produces a fair number of shotguns. Italian shotguns have a few common themes: high levels of performance, feature-filled and a high price point. The 1301 and Benelli M4 cost two grand. Seeing a gap in the market, Beretta released the A300 Ultima Patrol.
The A300 Ultima Patrol has an MSRP of $1,049 but retails for less than a thousand dollars. It hits this comfortable zone for high-quality semi-autos that don’t price themselves out of most people’s hands. The A300 series isn’t new, but the Ultima Patrol takes what’s usually a sporting gun and makes it tactical.
The Ultima Patrol series is an American-made shotgun owned and influenced by the Italians. It takes a few features from the 1301 but doesn’t have some of the more critical and expensive features. For example, the 1301 uses a steelium barrel with an elongated forcing cone for tighter patterns; the A300 does not. The A300 uses polymer sights; the 1301 uses metal.
Although there are several small differences, shotguns tend to be simple weapons. While dedicated shotgunners appreciate fancy features, most users are likely to ignore them.
The Ultima Patrol – Tactical is as Tactical Does
The first thing Beretta did to the A300 was trim the barrel to 19.1 inches. That’s a little longer than most, but it allows the barrel to sit flush with the magazine tube. That tube holds seven rounds. You can also ghost load the gun, which gives you 8+1. Not bad for a shotgun.
The magazine clamp features a single M-LOK slot and a QD point for a sling. The handguard has M-LOK slots for accessories on three sides. Beretta added a very aggressive texture to the handguard. It bites into the hand quite well and allows for a great grip.
The receiver houses our massive controls, including the charging handle, bolt release and safety, which are huge and easy to manipulate. The stock features a series of spacers that allow you to adjust the LOP from 13 to 14.5 inches.
The front sight is a high-visibility orange design. Mine came loose early in my shooting, and it flopped around. It was easy to fix, but kind of annoying. It needed some Loctite. This was probably a one-off or rare situation given the quality Beretta’s are known for, so I’ll write that one up to a manufacturing glitch and not the norm. The rear sight features a nonadjustable polymer ghost ring. We get an optics rail; it’s short and plastic, but it works. I attached a STNGR mini red dot to the gun, which works well.
Chucking Shells With the A300 Ultima Patrol
Let’s talk about reliability since it is one of the most important functions of a defensive firearm. The A300 Ultima Patrol ran quite well. I only had two malfunctions, and they were related to port loading the gun. When I closed the bolt and pulled the trigger, the trigger broke, and I heard the click, but the gun didn’t fire.
The primer lacked an indent, and if I had to guess, the action didn’t fully close and go into battery. The good news is that it won’t fire out of battery. This was likely caused by my hand getting in the way of the charging handle, and it only happened twice in a few dozen different port reloads.
Other than that, the gun ran without an issue. It cycled birdshot, buckshot and slugs. The A300 chewed through light-loaded rounds like an 1145 FPS Flitecontrol load. It ate multiple uber-cheap birdshot loads and didn’t slow down.
The gas system worked to cycle the gun cut recoil. The A300 Ultima Patrol is fairly light at only seven pounds, so it’s nice it doesn’t hit your shoulder like Rosie O’Donnell hits buffets. The gun also lacks the front-heavy nature of most gas-operated guns. The upside is a balanced gun; the downside is a gun that wants to jump a bit.
It has more muzzle rise than some competitors. You must dig into your push/pull to keep the gun on target. It’s not exceptionally bad, but it’s noticeable compared to my bedside gun, the Mossberg 940 Pro Tactical.
Slamming Shells
The A300 Ultima Patrol rips through buckshot nicely and quickly. I can land two shots into the A-zone of an IPSC target in less than one second at 10 yards. I did some ready-up drills at 15 yards and landed rounds in .54 seconds. That’s fast, and the red dot helps a bit, but it’s a testament to the gun’s lack of recoil.
The big controls make the gun easy to manipulate. I never found myself lost while trying to hit the bolt release or rack the charging handle. The loading port comes directly out of a competition gun. It’s deburred and massive. It doesn’t pinch, and shoving rounds into the gun is very easy.
Let’s talk about accuracy, a subject we rarely discuss in depth with shotguns. The rear ghost ring sight is not adjustable. With normal buckshot, it’s not a problem. With Flitecontrol, it’s also not a huge deal, but with slugs, it’s more challenging. Still, it’s not a big deal. I use shotguns for buckshot, and as an optic-ready gun, I’m not using irons anyway.
The First Gen Immigrant
Overall, I think Beretta struck an excellent balance between features, quality and price. They developed a reliable, low-recoiling and easy-to-use shotgun with many modern features. It’s well suited for home defense and even in a patrol car. It’s a solid semi-auto shotgun, and I wouldn’t hesitate to carry one.
Where To Buy
Specifications
Barrel Length: 19.1 in.
Overall Length: 38 in.
Weight: 7 lbs.
Caliber: 12 gauge
Capacity: 7+1
MSRP: $1,050
Ratings (Out of Five Stars)
Reliability – **** (and a half)
I’m taking a half point for the front sight getting loose and the two weird port load failures. Other than that, the gun runs like a beast.
Accuracy – ****
With buckshot, it’s perfect, but the nonadjustable sights make slug shots tougher at longer ranges. With a red dot, it’s five stars, but you have to pay for a red dot.
Ergonomics *****
It has all the modern features I want in a shotgun. Big controls, an adjustable LOP and aggressive grip textures.
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