New Beretta A400 Xplor Unico revealed

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OK, the wraps are off. Nov 1 is here and I can reveal the photos I took of Beretta's new A400 Xplor Unico at the press preview event back on 8 October.

Here, in the words of Beretta product manager Paolo Buffoli, is a description of the operating system:

Beretta has developed for the A400 Xplor Unico a new functioning system made up of: a new rotation bolt system, improved feeding system, and a new Beretta gas valve. That’s B-Link! UNICO, thanks to the new Beretta functioning system, is the fastest shotgun of the world.

Specially designed for A400 Xplor, the new gas piston has an elastic scraper band that, as well as cleaning the internal part of the cylinder, is a washer to prevent the gas from leaking out of the valve (as happen in the car engines). When the gas come into the valve the pressure increases immediately, because of the washer, and consequently the piston starts its movement.

To obtain the best performance and the highest speed, racing car engines must be top efficient, without any waste of power…and Beretta has followed the same philosophy.

Is certified that A400 Xplor is, at least, 36% faster than any other functioning system in the world.

While making its washer function, the new piston elastic band cleans the internal part of the cylinder and prevents the gas exiting from the valve. As a result the gas mechanism cleaning is maintained; cleaning that of course is stricltly related with the quantity of the gas present. Thanks to this new seal system the quantity of the gas spilled from the barrel is exactly what we need for the functioning; this means that we have half of the gas inside in comparioson with the old models. B-Link, the new A400 Xplor engine, is the best on the market in terms of efficiency and cleaning.

And finally, here's Beretta's leaflet explaining the key features of the new gun:

Beretta A400 Xplor Unico - specifications

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OK, following my previous post on the A400 Xplor Unico, I've clarified what I can tell you about the gun. So here (above) is the full technical spec sheet as issued at the press launch (click the photo for a larger, more legible version).

In a nutshell, it's a brand new semi-automatic shotgun from Beretta, with some very interesting new technical developments and striking new design - including an anodised green coloured receiver.

For me, the feature that really stood out was the ability to fire any 12-bore load, up to 3 1/2in and from 24g to 64g, without any adjustment. And I know it really does cope with those weights and anything in-between, because I've fired them (well, up to 63g anyway).

The fact that I am still standing up and have no broken bones is testament to another big feature of the Xplor - its recoil reduction system. This takes the established Kick-Off butt pad system and adds a third shock absorber in the stock bolt, giving up to 70% recoil reduction.

Beretta are making much of the action's speed - the Xplor is now, apparently, the world's fastest semi-automatic. In practice, I've never found a modern semi-auto that cycles too slowly for a second or third, aimed shot, so I haven't felt the need for more speed, but I suppose it can't be a bad thing.

More observations and info to follow later...

Beretta A400 Xplor Unico

For all posts on this gun, click here.

Today (8 Oct) I'm in Italy for the unveiling of Beretta's 'green monster' - the next thing in semi-automatics. Except I'm not allowed to show you a photo of the gun itself, or they'll feed me to the velociraptor...

UPDATE 9 Oct: OK, so I've shot the new A400 Xplor Unico, and it's very interesting. Beretta are determined to keep the details under wraps until the official unveiling on 1 November. They invited around 100 journalists from around the world for the pre-launch briefing in Brescia, and a chance to try the gun, and swore us all to secrecy. It'll be a real test of the sporting press's integrity - will anyone dare to break the embargo?


Actually it's not at all clear just how much info we are allowed to release. At the Q&A session at the end of the briefing, no-one thought to ask. We were all busy asking technical stuff like 'how much will it cost' and 'when will it reach the shops' and 'how does that bit work'.


But they did issue two high-speed photos with the instruction 'you are allowed to use only these photos before 30.10.2009'. So I guess it's ok to publish them here. If this blog disappears in a puff of smoke, you'll know I got it wrong!

UPDATE: Specification sheet now available here.


From the photos you'll notice that the shooter has managed to fire four shots remarkably fast - three shells in the air at once, and the next shot already exiting the muzzle. So, as an informed reader of this blog, you might infer that the A400 Xplor Unico has a very fast cycle. It won't have escaped your notice that the chap pictured is dressed more for hunting than clay competition, and you'll be drawing your own conclusions from that. And knowing Beretta's reputation for technical innovation you'll be guessing that they wouldn't have made the quantum leap in nomenclature from the A300 series to A400 without some fundamental changes to the mechanics.

And that's as far as I dare go at this stage. More info - and photos - as soon as I can.