Beretta’s new top-of-the-line waterfowl gun, the AX800 Suprema semiauto, features a one-piece, all-polymer stock and receiver. It looks like no Beretta gas gun that has come before it. In hand, though, it feels exactly like a Beretta semiauto: hefty, just a bit bulky in a good way, and very easy to shoot. I reached that conclusion over the course of just eight trigger pulls after two hunts last winter. Those eight shots netted me six greenheads (one banded) and a Canada goose, although I had also shot it at the range. Naturally, I developed a fondness for the gun after my brief time in the field with it. Perhaps I am biased toward the AX800. Keep that in mind as you read what follows because this is a gun that people will either love because of the way it shoots, or hate for the way it looks and how much it costs. I am in the former group.
Quick Overview
Beretta AX800 Suprema Shotgun
Pros
- Innovative all-polymer grip/receiver design
- Flat trigger gives excellent pulls
- 50/50 point of impact
- Excellent ergonomics
Cons
- Some may not like the futuristic looks
- I personally hate the slammer button
- Expensive
Specs
- Chambering: 3 ½-inch 12-gauge
- Length: 49.25 inches with 28-inch barrel
- Weight: 7.75 pounds with 28-inch barrel
- Barrel: Beretta Steelium Pro with raised rib, twin beads, Cerakote finish
- Action: Gas semiauto
- Trigger: 4 pounds
- Finish: Black, solid earth colors, Realtree, Mossy Oak and Optifade camos
The design of the AX800 builds on Beretta’s experience with military small arms, specifically, the AR160 rifle made for the Italian armed forces. That rifle also has an all-polymer frame. Polymer is easy to care for, requires little lubrication, and is less sensitive to extreme heat and cold than alloy frames. The polymer frame also makes it easy to offer modular grips, a reversible swivel socket, cheekpieces, and pad spacers. This gun also has a redesigned, flat trigger and an in-stock recoil reducer tuned to heavy loads.
All the parts of the gas system, which Beretta calls the Blink-Pro, including the action spring, lie underneath the forearm. “Blink-Pro” bears a lot of similarity to the innards of the A400 Xtreme, which is not at all a bad thing, given the A400’s track record of reliability. The main difference between this gas system and the one found on the A400 is that the barrel ring that houses the piston can now be disassembled for very occasional cleaning, although Beretta suggests you have a gunsmith take it apart for you. Aside from that, all the parts come out very easily for routine maintenance.
The gun comes in 3 ½-inch 12-gauge only, with a 28-inch barrel which is bored to the Beretta “Steelium Pro” interior dimensions, the same as on the high-end DT11 target gun. It features an extra-long forcing cone for improved pattern performance and extended Optima HP chokes. Beretta’s B-Lok magazine cap holds the barrel on, and it comes off easily with a push and a half turn. The inside is bright green plastic, which makes it easy to find if you drop it in the weeds.
Test Results
My AX800 was a pre-production model, and I have to take Beretta at their word that the guns you see on dealers’ shelves will cycle light target loads better than mine did, which was not at all, except with the very heaviest 1 1/8-ounce target ammo. The springs in the Kick-Off Pro recoil reducer are so stiff that I didn’t notice much recoil relief with target loads. The gun did shoot softly with hunting loads, though, and it cycled perfectly with them. With the Modified choke in place, the gun shot 65 percent patterns at 40 yards with Migra’s 24/7 1 1/4 ounce 2×4 steel loads. On the pattern plate, it hit very close to 50/50.
Despite its very modern looks, the AX800, beneath its textured polymer, felt like a Beretta. I am among those who find the bulkier Beretta semiautos easy to shoot, and I hit with it well at the range and in the blind. The flat trigger pulls at a clean 4 pounds, about the minimum I’d want in a waterfowl gun that will be fired with cold or gloved fingers. Even though the grip and receiver are one piece, the gun remains shim-adjustable for drop and cast like other Beretta semiautos.
The gun has a huge round safety button, which I love, an easy-to-grab, enlarged bolt handle, which I also like, and a very large, hair-trigger bolt-closer button, which I hate. There is no reason for such a button on a hunting gun, in my opinion. The button was like a mousetrap, and when I opened the bolt and handed this gun to a friend who wanted to see it, he accidentally bumped the smaller button and closed the bolt on his hand, drawing a little blood. A smaller, less sensitive closer would be better. I do like slammer buttons on target guns, but not on field guns.
Final Thoughts
My first two shots in the field with this gun dropped a pair of greenheads. The next hunt was even better, and I enjoyed hunting with the Beretta AX800 Suprema. It fit me well, and its weight suited the way I shoot. The cutaway receiver and soft magazine spring made loading easy with cold hands. Between the poly frame and furniture and the Cerakoted barrel, the gun was easy to care for and virtually weather-proof. It does sell for $2500, which is a great deal of money for a duck gun. But, if you live and breathe waterfowl hunting—and I would, if only those pesky upland birds would stop distracting me—this would be a gun to consider very seriously. That is especially true if you shoot lots of heavy duck and goose loads and appreciate some recoil reduction.
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