Description
The Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus in 20 gauge with Gore Optifade Marsh, part number J42XM28, is built for open water and flooded grass rather than timber. The Marsh pattern runs paler and grassier than the Timber version, which is what works when your background is cattails, phragmites, and sky rather than tree trunks.
This is the 28 inch build with a 3 inch chamber and three plus one capacity, on a Steelium Plus barrel with a stepped rib, a steel mid-bead, and a fiber optic front sight.
A 20 gauge that belongs in a layout blind
Open water hunting means long days lying still, a lot of gear to carry out, and shots that come fast when they finally come. A lighter gun is easier to move into position from flat on your back in a layout blind, and easier to carry across a half mile of mud. The 20 gauge saves real weight over a 12 without giving up much inside normal decoying range.
Modern tungsten alloy loads are what make that trade work. Dense shot in a 20 gauge hull patterns and penetrates comparably to heavier steel out of a 12, so the bore is no longer the limitation it was when steel was the only choice.
Recoil control and cold weather controls
Three systems handle recoil: the Blink gas action spreading the impulse as it cycles, the Kick-Off Mega stock with hydraulic dampers, and a soft comb protecting the cheekbone. On a 20 gauge this is close to overkill, which is exactly the point on a gun that gets shot from awkward positions.
Every control is sized for gloves and numb hands. The loading port is enlarged, the charging handle extended, the bolt release oversized, and the fore-end carries a rubberized grip panel. The safety reverses for left-handed shooters, and the stock takes shims for drop and cast.
Specifications
- Model: Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus, Gore Optifade Marsh, part number J42XM28
- Gauge: 20
- Chamber: 3 inches
- Capacity: 3+1 rounds
- Barrel length: 28 inches, Steelium Plus
- Rib: stepped with a steel mid-bead
- Sights: fiber optic front
- Action: semi-automatic, Blink gas system
- Chokes: extended Optima HP Black tubes
- Stock: Kick-Off Mega with a soft comb and an adjustable shim system
- Fore-end: rubberized grip panel
- Controls: enlarged loading port, extended charging handle, oversized bolt release, reversible safety
- Finish: Gore Optifade Marsh
Why it is worth considering
- A pattern built for grass, water, and sky rather than for timber.
- Light enough to carry to a layout blind and swing from flat on your back.
- Three rounds in the tube, one more than the 12 gauge builds.
- Recoil management that makes shooting from awkward positions comfortable.
- Cold weather controls sized for gloves.
Who it suits
This is an open-water and flooded-grass duck gun for a hunter who values a light package. Layout blinds, boat blinds, and long walks to a marsh hide are where it earns its money, and it suits smaller-framed hunters and anyone with a shoulder that no longer tolerates a 12. Pair it with a quality tungsten alloy load. Timber hunters should look at the Optifade Timber version instead, and anyone who needs 3.5 inch capability or real reach on geese should stay with the 12 gauge.
Shells, chokes, and transfer notes
Shotshell dimensions and pressures are standardized by SAAMI, and the 3 inch chamber accepts both 2 3/4 and 3 inch 20 gauge shells. Federal law requires non-toxic shot for waterfowl. Spend the money on a good tungsten alloy load here; a budget 20 gauge steel load will limit you in a way the gun does not. Steel is safe through improved cylinder and modified extended tubes, never a tighter one not rated for it. For practice, 7/8 ounce lead target loads cycle fine and cost very little.
Timber hunters should compare the Optifade Timber build or the Mossy Oak Bottomland version, and anyone who needs 3.5 inch capability should look at the 12 gauge guns. Every long gun we sell ships to a licensed FFL for transfer and background check, and Pennsylvania buyers should plan on the state point of contact check at pickup.
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