Beretta A300 Ultima Field: Mixing Old And New

Beretta is expanding its hunting shotgun lineup again, introducing the new A300 Ultima Field for 2024.

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Old-school materials, modern finish

The Beretta A300 Ultima Field is a gas-operated semi-auto shotgun based on one of the Italian manufacturer’s most successful shotgun designs ever made—the B-Link action also works 36 percent more quickly than competing semi-auto designs, says Beretta. Whether that makes a difference for you or not, it is true that the A300 is simple and easy to clean, and with a design that dates back to the late 1960s, it has stood the test of time.

The same goes for the materials this shotgun is made of. Check out that walnut stock—in an age where firearms manufacturers want to slap a synthetic stock on field models, Beretta has gone for high-quality furniture that should help soak up recoil, due to its weight (the Microcore ½-inch recoil pad should help too). Although, at 7.2 pounds unloaded, this is certainly not a beefy heavyweight.

The A300 Ultima Field is chambered in for 3-inch 12-gauge shells, with a 28" barrel. That barrel has a red fiber-optic bead and a mid-bead on a stepped rib. Beretta gave the barrel and receiver a Bronze Cerakote finish, which is certainly not traditional like the stock, but probably offers better weatherproofing than a lot of old-school bluing jobs.

The magazine capacity on this shotgun is 2+1; it’s a bird blaster, not a tactical shotgun. To that end, Beretta gave it an enlarged loading port so you can stuff shells into the receiver quickly in the heat of the hunt, and an extended bolt release and bolt handle also make it easy to operate the shotgun in the cold, or in a hurry. A reversible cross-bolt safety is standard.

Asking price this year? A $1,399 MSRP in the U.S. market—see more details here.