Mossberg 930 vs Beretta A300

The A300 is the better gun of the two, handles better, and runs more smoothly. However, the gap is not remarkable and there's nothing wrong with the Mossberg. Restricted to those two, I'd get the one that fits you best and be happy.

Despite your Turkish caveat, I'd also recommend the Weatherby SA-08. 12ga 3" 28" matt black synthetic available under $500 and camo finish at right about $500. Weatherby customer service is fantastic and while getting the hang of cleaning and reassembling the SA-08 is a little tricky, it is a solid, albeit not innovative, Brescia design and well made.

The Mossberg runs $500 at Cabela's. The Berretta starts at $669.00. Both come with 3 choke tubes(Full, Modified and IC.). The Mossberg is D&T's for when you buy a slug barrel and scope it. The Berretta is not, but comes with a camouflage finish.
It's really a coin toss.

I'm bias to a fault so take this with grain of salt. The a300 synthetic version would be my pick. Fit is very easy to accomplish with the 300 due to it's built in adjustability. It's well thought out and isn't ammo sensitive. The word rugged comes to mind. With close to 4K rounds through mine I think I may have 2-3 failures that were caused either by ammo or operator. This may be the gun we are still talking about 20 years from now.

Never bothered with the 930. I'm sure it's nice and all but I'm thinking some or most of it is made in Turkey for Mossberg. Then again so is the Weatherby. Of those two I would still pick the Weatherby. It is the equal of the a300 IMO.

I have 2 930's. A JM PRO model for 3 gun, and a hunting model. Happy with both of them.

Shed said:

I A sub $600 inertia driven gun is quite appealing...

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Look at the Franchi Affinity, then. Basically the same as the Stoeger M3000 but perhaps a bit better quality, made in italy and a slightly different spring return system. Inertia driven, generally around $600.

My 930 Rhythm is an amazingly good gun for the money, very smooth running action, good trigger and never a failure through many hundreds of rounds in 3 gun. Having said that there is nothing wrong with the Beretta or Franchi either.

I've owned both and do not believe the A300 is better quality. There is a substantial difference in fit between the two so the determining factor should be which one fits best. The 930 could be shimmed to fit me, the A300 could not, it could be just the opposite for you.

sappyg said:

Never bothered with the 930. I'm sure it's nice and all but I'm thinking some or most of it is made in Turkey for Mossberg.

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I'm willing to bet more Beretta parts are sourced from Turkey than Mossberg. 930's are assembled in the US.

I believe the 930 to be on the heavy side compared to many others. That bothers some but not me because I have a bad shoulder.

The Affinity is made on the same assembly line as the M2. It's much nicer than a Stoeger. I have two Affinity's and shoot them very well.

Can't say enough bout the SA-08. We have three in the family. I believe the Element to be just as good.

Both have a solid reputation for reliability. It all comes down to personal preference IMO. I have more Beretta shotguns than I do Mossbergs. I'm pleased with both of them but on balance my Beretta shotguns seem to have a little better fit and finish. That said I wouldn't go around feeling sorry for myself if all I had was a Mossberg.

cdb1 said:

I'm willing to bet more Beretta parts are sourced from Turkey than Mossberg. 930's are assembled in the US.

Can't say enough bout the SA-08. We have three in the family. I believe the Element to be just as good.

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I'm gonna have to disagree about beretta outsourcing to Turkey. The receiver on my a300 says 'made in the USA'.... The barrel was 'made in Italy'.

Now the SA-08 is all Turkish and an outstanding shotgun IMO. You'd be hard pressed to find a better gun at most any reasonable price.

Nice collection BTW.

My dad has a beretta a300 outlander. His broke within 200 rounds- can't recall the part name, it was a rod that snapped. Anyway, he sent it back to beretta and they repaired it and works fine. I always liked shooting it mainly because it fit me well. When back for repair, he had them switch the safety for a lefty. Think he did it so I wouldn't want to borrow it.

sappyg said:

I'm gonna have to disagree about beretta outsourcing to Turkey. The receiver on my a300 says 'made in the USA'.... The barrel was 'made in Italy'.

Now the SA-08 is all Turkish and an outstanding shotgun IMO. You'd be hard pressed to find a better gun at most any reasonable price.

Nice collection BTW.

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There are more parts to a shotgun than barrel and receiver.