In the second half of 2009 the Beretta presented in the splendid setting of Villa Fenaroli, near Rezzato (BS) the technological summa, to use a term worthy of the product, of its semi-automatic: perfect functionality in every hunting situation was the theme on which the designers had worked and comparisons with the automotive sector were really spot on. City cars, travel sedans and then sports cars were examined: the different prerogatives of each type were brought together in the SUV and, in hindsight, the market after these seven years continues to consistently reward this kind of cars on where you go to a party in a tuxedo or you climb mountain trails with a backpack and a rifle to get a little closer to the territories of the chamois. Beretta wanted to create with this project A 400 a rifle not good a little for everything, the philosophy of the House does not contemplate these downward acquiescences, but excellent for everything excelling in technology, metallurgy and related treatments, in ballistics and functionality in the close relationship between the firearm and the shooter. The first evident conclusion lay in the possibility of using every type of cartridge in 12 gauge with cases from 70, 76 and 89 mm with weights from 24 to 64 g, including steel shot. This of course with regard to the larger caliber: today however we want to talk about a 20/76 caliber to inaugurate a brief overview that will soon also see the, indeed the older brothers proposed in the two options of right and left-handed.
La Lite Series stands as a happy interpretation of the low weight and, at the same time, also of the controlled price, winking at those who love lightness and stick to targeted spending possibilities: in this context, the equipment remains praemium with which the rifle was born so as not to leave fans out of the game who can be part of it with a few more eyes on the outlay.
Beretta - The A 400 series Lite
Precisely in the 20 gauge we begin to observe this recent proposal characterized by the search for mass reduction to which the great majority of today's hunters tend, much more used to tapping on the computer keys than to strike with hands and arms by moving tools of considerable weight; to this is added the desire for speed in the most difficult terrains, in the mountains as in the marshes. The solution naturally starts from the castle, always obtained from an extruded aeronautical light alloy (ergal), but with a particular search for thicknesses and points of resistance to remove unnecessary material by structuring the points most at work in a different way: milling operations they obtain the front ring, seat of the barrel, the sides with the ejection window connected to the cap equipped with opaque grooves to guide the rib eye and front sight, with the addition of four claws to conveniently fix an optoelectronic sighting system. Below is the slot for inserting the cartridges into the tubular magazine subjected to the barrel and the lifting spoon which hands them to the bolt for chambering; behind this is the seat of the trigger and safety unit including the guard. On the left side is inserted the lever to interrupt the power supply (in English it is the cut off) convenient to remove a cartridge in a difficult passage and promptly put it back in the chamber, replace the cartridge with another socket from the cartridge belt and more suitable for the moment without affecting the supply of the tank. The general design maintains and implements that Italian style that manages to refine and make the appearance of these guns very pleasant, never falling into that functional which, unfortunately, rhymes with banal.
The repetition system, Named blink, sees the shutter carriage in NiCr steel with a cylindrical mass with a flat bottom bearing the sliding guides, a head with two fins brought back with a rotating motion determined by the translation of the carriage and the interaction of a pin on an inclined track: on the face you can see the hole of the firing pin and the extraction nail registered by an internal spring. The reset is determined by the usual, reliable and tested gas system: about the first third of the length, the elongated base of the bell connected to the tapping holes and containing the self-cleaning piston from which the motion of the base originates is welded under the barrel ring of the two rods inserted in the front part of the castle and connected to the trolley. The return energy is recovered by a coaxial spring to the cartridge magazine: movement and placement determine a static and dynamic balance which is favorable for handling and, above all, for maintaining the aim of the rifle. We point out here how the whole structure of the weapon is proportionate to the lower caliber and, placing a 12 and a 20 gauge close together, you can immediately appreciate the extent: even the mechanics are affected by this research and in the 20 there is no compensating valve, no necessary, thus an additional 40 g is saved, while it is still possible to use any cartridge of 70 or 76 mm with the extended range of charges, including those with steel shot.
The stock made of polymer with an innovative design of the details, it incorporates two other peculiarities: the Gun Pod2, an electronic device that is not a GPS, but in connection with the hunter's smartphone, records the distances, the shots fired and how much forms the personal diary of the hunting activity, which can then be shared with friends. The second is the implant Kick Off Plus combined with the buttplate micro-core, an open cell expanded technopolymer with great smoothness and the particularity of instantly increasing the contact surface with the shoulder: from chemistry we move on to mechanics with the recoil absorption system (-70%), unique in the world in its genre, based on two hydraulic shock absorbers, similar to those of cars, placed between the pistol and the rear part of the stock to remove the sensation of movement from the cheek, reducing the wheelie together.
The barrel Steelium made with the peculiar Beretta tri-alloy steel company technology sees deep drilling, cold hammering and special vacuum stress relieving to give the metal the optimal characteristics to manage the swarm of shot that passes through the interchangeable chokes Optimabore HP able to satisfy every expectation on the hunting ground. Three barrel sizes available with 66, 72 and 76 cm.
To conclude we note again the low weight of the weapon, with a 66 cm barrel, equal to 2.750 g certainly one of the lowest in the category while the ballistic technical equipment, as expressed, places this A 400 Lite cal. 20/76 certainly at the top of the world offer.
Beretta, I love You .. You are my favorite and thanks Caccia Passione for updating us daily and so well on all the news of the Beretta world. You are both number one of the Italian hunters .. Keep it up .. Lupus