Beretta AX800 Suprema shotgun review: built for the foreshore

Beretta’s dominance in the semi-automatic shotgun market is a relatively modern story when compared to the history of the company. It began in earnest following World War II. Seeking to expand beyond its famous break-action shotguns, Beretta introduced the Model 60 in 1955. This early design relied on a recoil-operated system, where the backward force of the fired shell cycled the action.

From the Model 60 to the A400: how the gas gun grew up

The true revolution occurred in 1968 with the launch of the A300. This model marked Beretta’s pivot to a gas-operated system. Instead of relying on raw recoil, gas operation bleeds off a small amount of high-pressure combustion gas from the barrel to drive a piston, which unlocks and cycles the bolt. This mechanism offered a massive engineering advantage: it drastically reduced felt recoil for the shooter and handled varying ammunition loads with much greater reliability.

Throughout the late 20th century, Beretta continuously refined this gas system. The A301, A302 and A303 series became legendary for their durability in the field. In the 1990s, the AL390 and subsequent AL391 Urika models introduced self-regulating gas valves. This innovation allowed the shotguns to reliably cycle everything from light target loads to heavy magnum hunting shells without manual adjustment.

My first shotgun, in 1988, was an A301, and I can tell you that even then the recoil reduction versus an over-and-under was noticeable. Recently, Beretta’s A400 series has set the bar for gas guns. The modern action utilises the B-Link gas system, combining a rotating bolt with a redesigned gas piston. This allows the shotgun to cycle up to 36% faster than competing models, while integrated recoil reduction systems (like Kick-Off) absorb up to 70% of the kick.

If you have been paying attention, and since you are reading this I guess there is a decent chance you have, you will have noted that Beretta are not afraid of investing in R&D and trying new things, which explains the radical new gun we are looking at today.

What Beretta engineered into the AX800

The AX800 is as close to a science fiction prop made real as I have seen when it comes to shotguns, and yet when speaking to Pietro Scovazzo I learned that the appearance was not part of the primary brief for this new model. It evolved from the design process and choice of materials.

During Covid, with engineers at home, the team floated a question: “How do we improve on the A400 Extreme Plus?” Targeted squarely at the tech-focussed wildfowling market, the team took a fresh look at the problem with no guard rails and decided to start with the best barrel tech available at the time, and hence started with a Steelium Pro tube topped with a 7mm step rib. The internals of the Steelium Pro barrel are already engineered to deliver best-in-class recoil reduction, but opting for this barrel tech on a gun at this price point was a bold move. Additionally, the rib is drilled for fitting of a Picatinny rail should the shooter decide they need to mount optics or accessories forward of the receiver.

The B-Link gas system was the next challenge. The A400 is no slouch when it comes to cycling and is already optimised for gas flow, so the team looked to motorsport for inspiration. Being only 90 miles from Ferrari HQ, one can imagine that the engineers at Beretta are open to influences from advances in automotive technology. The team opted to look at coatings for the stainless steel gas piston that would reduce fouling (which, let’s face it, is the bane of gas-operated guns) and increase longevity, just like the cylinders in a modern engine. Beretta claim the system is 46% cleaner than before and 36% faster than any gas system released before.

The stock was another area of focus for the team, improving the existing Kick-Off Plus recoil system with the new Kick-Off Pro but incorporating adjustability for drop, cast, and interchangeable cheek pads and pistol grips. This means this is a gun that can be adapted to almost any user and handle the heaviest wildfowl loads for those birds you would swear are wearing little plate carriers under their feather jackets.

Tying all of this together, and of course the most radical thing about the gun at first sight, is the use of technopolymer throughout. Black plastic shotguns are hardly new, but Beretta, who have already proven the use of this material in the ARX160 AR and ARX200 DMR, in use with Esercito Italiano since 2008, had no qualms about using plastic for the receiver as well. This choice led the team to a design unbound by convention, as injection moulding meant they could do wild things that would be prohibitively expensive and heavy if milled from aluminium or steel. Polymer obviously does not corrode or oxidise, and requires no lubrication, which is perfect for a piece of its kind, but it also doesn’t resonate, which further reduces felt recoil.

How does the AX800 handle in the shoulder?

Picking up the 7½lb AX800 for the first time, one is immediately struck by the feel of the gun in the hand. The ergonomics are as radical as it looks and this translates to a feel unlike anything I’ve shot before. The balance is extremely neutral and shouldering it for the first time just feels weird, there is no other way to describe it. This feeling continues the first time you pull the flat trigger blade (another first on a shotgun as far as I am aware). The trigger has a little creep but it’s surprisingly smooth, and pleasantly light. The oversized controls are easy to use, and understand. The oversized trigger guard and large safety button are obviously designed to be used while wearing gloves, but feel easy to find and operate without.

The fore-end is chunky and features sections of grippy rubber coating that offer positive grip and feel quite premium, capped with the B-LOK (are you seeing a B-pattern?) nut requiring only a third of a turn to release. The nut has a swivel stud for standard sling fitting, but the stock and fore-end also feature QD mounts for more adventurous users.

The sci-fi receiver is drilled for optics as well as the rib, so owners will not be short of options there. Clever touches abound here, with the front of the enlarged trigger guard acting as a feed ramp for slick reloads, further enhanced by the fact that the elevator stays open when the bolt is in battery, clearing the loading gate. That means slotting in additional cartridges without overcoming the resistance of the elevator spring is a doddle.

I can say honestly and without hyperbole that shooting the AX800 with normal clay loads is disorienting the first few times, as the lack of recoil and resonance from the gun is almost spooky. Heavier loads (up to 3½in) are dealt with in just as eerie a manner, with the combination of barrel, polymer receiver, Kick-Off and B-uffer (B-ok, we get it) recoil pad meaning this gun is engineered from top to bottom to shoot hot loads faster and more comfortably than any other autoloader on the market.

For the clay shooter this might seem like overkill, but I am sure there are plenty of people out there with shoulder injuries, or who just don’t like recoil, who will love this gun for all sorts of applications.

The swing is about what you would expect for a gun of this weight, with no surprises in the handling, or the ability to break clays. This will of course translate to all manner of quarry from the hide or foreshore. 7½lb isn’t “racing snake” spec, but it’s light enough to be handy, and I reckon more than a few of these will, in their various camo finishes, find their way into the hands of pest control shooters on corvids and pigeons, as well as the intended wildfowl shooters.

Beretta AX800 Suprema specifications

Prices are RRP at time of publication and may have changed since.

Scores

Our scoring: 0-19 stinker, avoid at all costs; 21-40 buyer beware; 41-60 fair; 61-80 good; 81-90 great; 91-99 iconic, must have; 100 perfect, this gun transcends scoring and deigns to exist despite the laws of physics.

Verdict

With an RRP of £2,445 the AX is a little more than the current A400 Extreme Plus, but honestly, Beretta have thrown the kitchen sink at this gun from a technical perspective, and I think the price is beyond reasonable for what you are getting.

This new generation of autoloaders is sure to be polarising, with adherents to both new and old technologies and those who clutch their pearls at the plastic receiver, but in all honesty, I can’t see anyone shooting one and not being actually impressed with what Beretta have achieved. I expect we will see more like it in future.