I just came back from another pilgrimage to the wing-shooting Mecca, Cordoba.  It has been longer than I would have liked...my last trip was in 2014, but life, finances, and a new bird dog got in the way.

It was my third trip to the same lodge and I was shocked to see  Benellis pulled out of the cases.  On my previous trips, the owner had expounded the durability of the Beretta 391, and it was the only gun (other than a couple of Beretta Silver Pigeons) in his armory, and in the armory of the two other lodges in the area.

When we got back to the lodge, we talked about it in quite a bit with the operation's foreman, over  fine Argentine Wine and not so fine Argentine Whiskey.   This lodge purchases 1,500,00 - 2,000,000 shot-shells a year, so if your looking for a authority on shotgun durability, they speak with serious authority.

A die-hard Beretta owner, I felt almost sickened as he told his 5 year adventure following the discontinuation of the 391.  They had jumped on the A400, but it could not handle the round count...he worked directly with Beretta, but there were three parts that failed repeatedly, and they were core to the (cheaper) design. He had managed to scrounge enough new 391s to keep them in Berettas for a couple of more years, but they dried up, so  they went to the second best...Benelli.  He said that Benelli made a fine gun, but it was not as well suited to the punishment in Cordoba as the old Beretta 391.  With the same level of maintenance they were giving the 391s, they saw a lot more day malfunctions from the Benellis, and almost every single return customer was telling him they preferred the 391.  While the Benelli had a fair lifespan in terms of total rounds, they could not handle the 1000 - 2000 rounds between cleanings (daily) that the 391 did.  This mirrors exactly what I experienced during my three days.  The mornings were almost failure free, but in the afternoons FTE and FTF became increasing more common and a little Rem Oil did not solve the issue.   By the time I was closing in on 1000 rounds for the day, I was probably seeing two failures per box of shells.

The day-today reliability of the Benellis was of enough concern, that he was trying out other manufactures, like BREDA. (Tried one of those for a half day. My hit ration went down...I believe the comb was too high for me)

Now Cordoba one of the few places your likely to put this kind of round count through a gun daily, but it is surprising that Beretta management would be willing to give up the bragging rights to being the preferred gun of high volume operations.

I've got two 391s in my gunsafe (from before my first trip to Cordoba).  While I have some parts (spring sets and firing pins), it's time to review my parts inventory and maybe pick up a few more, before support for those parts go away.  I may start keeping my eyes out for a used 20, so I have a spare in that gauge.

Beretta=Benelli.  Benelli=Beretta.

I'll agree. but

Inertia  ≠ Gas Piston. Gas Piston ≠ Inertia in terms of recoil

Its clear that Beretta chose to make some compromises with regard to the A400.  Were those a careful evaluation of how to reduce weight, or were they done strictly to cut production cost?

Its also a strong statement against the common belief that gas guns are higher maintenance than inertia guns.

Either way, to me it a serious blow to the Beretta/Benelli brand.

Assuming they were M2 Benellis?

You say they started FTE and FTF when dirty; was this due to powder residue in the action?  Was the bolt not rotating and locking?

It really comes down to design.  The gas system in the Beretta is a beautiful designed thing.  The gas system on, say, an 11-87.... Not so much.

What was failing on the A400's? I have a 391 and no issues after thousands of rounds.

Curious on the A400 as well.  My waterfowl gun is an A400 and I love it.  It will probably never see the volume of shooting the in its life as the dove lodges shoot in a season.

The only issue mine has had is that its fussy on what 3-1/2" loads I use.  It likes Kent, it doesn't like several others.  As near as I can tell comparing shells side by side the Kent's are ever so slightly shorter than Federal and some Winchester.  When I use a longer shell the shell stop doesnt engage and it tries to feed 2 shells out of the magazine when fired.  It's perfect with Kent and I like Kent ammo so I have not sent it in.

Curious as to what benellis were being used. M2? SBE iii?

I think they were Sport IIs

Well this is dishearting news, sold my Berreta 12 ga. set up with extended mag snow goose gun to my buddy in so. Ill.

Long term beretta lover....especially the 391's.  My last one had 15k rounds...10k of it were done in one year.  Absolute tanks. I wonder if the a400's bolt design has anything to do it...