Description
The Beretta A300 Ultima in 12 gauge, part number J32TU18, is the Kick-Off build finished head to toe in Mossy Oak Bottomland. Barrel is 28 inches with a vent rib, the chamber is 3 inches, the receiver is aluminium, and the magazine holds three with one chambered. The A300 sits below the A400 in Beretta’s line but shares the important parts: the same gas system architecture, the same Optima-Bore barrel profile, and the same enlarged controls. What you give up is the Xtreme’s speed of cycling and some of its refinement, not its reliability.
Bottomland is the old Mossy Oak pattern, mostly bark and mud tones. It works in flooded timber and in early season fields where the green has already gone.
What the Kick-Off system actually does
Kick-Off is a pair of hydraulic dampers built into the stock rather than a thicker recoil pad. They absorb part of the rearward impulse over a longer travel than a pad can.
On a 12 gauge shooting 3 inch waterfowl loads that difference is felt, particularly late in a day when the shoulder is already sore and the shooting starts to fall apart.
It is not free. The dampers add a little weight and length to the stock, and a shooter who mostly fires light target loads is paying for something they will not notice.
If you shoot heavy loads, or you flinch, buy the Kick-Off gun. If you shoot an ounce and an eighth at clays, the standard stock is fine.
Where the Beretta A300 Ultima sits
The gas system is self regulating within its range, so the gun cycles light target loads and heavy waterfowl loads without adjustment.
The controls are oversized: the bolt handle, the bolt release and the safety are all larger than on the older A300, which matters in gloves.
An enlarged loading port and a bevelled carrier make loading the magazine easier with cold hands, which is most of what a waterfowl hunter actually asks of a gun.
The receiver is aluminium and the whole gun is Aqua Technology coated under the camouflage, so the finish is a corrosion barrier rather than a printed film.
Specifications
- Model: Beretta A300 Ultima KO, part number J32TU18
- Gauge: 12
- Chamber: 3 inches
- Capacity: 3+1 rounds
- Barrel length: 28 inches, vent rib
- Receiver: aluminium
- Stock: Kick-Off synthetic
- Finish: Mossy Oak Bottomland overall
- Action: semi-automatic, gas operated
- Right handed
Shotshell dimensions and pressures are standardized by SAAMI, and the 3 inch chamber accepts both 2 3/4 and 3 inch shells. For upland work we stock Browning BXD Upland in 5 shot, and 2 3/4 inch target loads are the cheap way to practise. Rinse the gun with fresh water after a day in salt marsh, camouflage finish or not.
Buyers who want the same gun without camouflage should compare the black synthetic A300 Ultima, the short barrelled defensive build is the A300 Ultima Patrol, and anyone who wants an over and under instead should look at the 686 Silver Pigeon I. Every long gun we sell ships to a licensed FFL for transfer.
Why it is worth considering
- Kick-Off hydraulic dampers in the stock, not just a thicker pad.
- Mossy Oak Bottomland over the whole gun, receiver and barrel included.
- Oversized controls and an enlarged loading port, which matter in gloves.
- A gas system that cycles light target loads and heavy waterfowl loads without adjustment.
- An aluminium receiver, so the gun stays carryable through a long walk in.
Who it suits
This suits a waterfowl or turkey hunter who shoots heavy loads and wants the recoil taken out of them, and who hunts where Bottomland makes sense. A clays shooter firing light loads is paying for a system they will not feel, and should buy the standard stock. Every long gun we sell ships to a licensed FFL for transfer.
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