Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus 12 Gauge 28in Optifade Timber — Superb Waterfowl Gun

Description

The Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus in Gore Optifade Timber with a 28 inch barrel, part number J42XN18, is the configuration for a waterfowler who shoots at distance. The longer barrel lengthens the sighting plane and keeps weight ahead of the hands, which is what you want when birds are crossing rather than dropping in.
Chamber is 3.5 inches, capacity is two plus one, and the barrel is Steelium Plus with a 7×7 stepped rib, a steel mid-bead, and a fiber optic front sight.

A camouflage pattern built from vision research

Optifade was developed from work on how game animals actually see, rather than from photographs that look convincing to people. The Timber variant uses a mix of micro and macro elements intended to break up the outline of a shooter and a gun against a wooded background, at the distances where a circling duck is making its decision.

None of that replaces a good blind and a still hand. What it does is take one more edge off the shape that a bird overhead is most likely to notice, which on a heavily pressured marsh is worth having.

Recoil control and cold weather controls

Three systems share the load of a 3.5 inch magnum. The Blink gas action spreads the impulse as it cycles the bolt, the Kick-Off Mega stock uses hydraulic dampers between the action and your shoulder, and a soft comb protects your cheekbone from the vertical slap that heavy loads send up through the stock. The result is a magnum gun you can shoot all morning.

Everything you operate is sized for gloves: an enlarged loading port, an extended charging handle, an oversized bolt release, and a rubberized panel on the fore-end. The safety reverses for left-handed shooters, the stock takes shims for drop and cast, and five extended Optima HP Black choke tubes come with the gun.

Specifications

• Model: Beretta A400 Xtreme Plus, Gore Optifade Timber, part number J42XN18
• Gauge: 12
• Chamber: 3.5 inches
• Capacity: 2+1 rounds
• Barrel length: 28 inches, Steelium Plus
• Rib: 7×7 stepped with a steel mid-bead
• Sights: fiber optic front
• Action: semi-automatic, Blink gas system with a cross-tube piston
• Chokes: five extended Optima HP Black tubes included
• 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 Timber

Why it is worth considering

• Barrel length that steadies the swing on crossing and passing birds.
• A camouflage pattern designed around game vision rather than human perception.
• Three recoil systems working together on a 3.5 inch magnum gun.
• Controls sized for gloved hands in freezing weather.
• Five extended choke tubes and a shim kit included in the box.

Who it suits

This suits the hunter shooting divers off a point, geese over decoys in a field, or ducks working the edges of open water, where the extra sight radius earns its keep. It is also a capable turkey gun. Inside a tight timber hole or a small boat blind the 26 inch build handles better, and neither version belongs on an upland walk or a clays course. If your birds are close and your cover is thick, buy the shorter barrel; if they are crossing at thirty-five yards, buy this one.

Shells, chokes, and transfer notes

Shotshell dimensions and pressures are standardized by SAAMI, and the 3.5 inch chamber accepts 2 3/4, 3, and 3.5 inch shells without adjustment. Federal law requires non-toxic shot for waterfowl, so steel, bismuth, or tungsten alloy is what this gun sees in the field. Steel is safe through the improved cylinder and modified extended tubes supplied with it, and not through a tighter tube that is not rated for steel. Ordinary 2 3/4 inch lead target loads cycle fine for off-season practice at a fraction of the cost.

Hunters working tight timber should compare the 26 inch Optifade build, and anyone who prefers the old-growth bark pattern should look at the 28 inch Mossy Oak Bottomland version. 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.