Getting frustrated with my Beretta Outlander...

[cat_IT_guy]

So I'm fighting with my Beretta A300 Outlander. For the first 9mos or so I owned it, worked great. More recently, however, its been an exercise in frustration.

It started probably around Memorial day, lots of fail to eject, stovepipe type issues. Not a lot of fun when your semi auto gets rendered to a single shot. Admittedly it had been sitting since duck season. So I took it home after the stovepipes and gave it a good cleaning. Next time to the range, more frustration, same problems. Took it home, cleaned it again, found a youtube special on cleaning it and found that I'd missed a step (cleaning the gas piston). So I cleaned it up.

Took it to the range today. Note that Im using cheap Winchester ammo. First 8 shots ran clean - 4 shots, reload, 4 shots. Note that Im not shooting as fast as possible, but quicker than most field situations would require. It went downhill from here. Lots more stovepipes and fail to ejects.

So, what to try next. My two working theories are 1) the cheap winchester steel low "brass" ammo. Im going to try some better stuff tomorrow or next day hopefully. 2) Is it normal for a hot gun to not cycle well, due to expansion of the shells or some similar phenomenon?

Anything else come to mind that I might be overlooking?

 

[rcmodel]

No, you figured it out yourself.

Buy some decent ammo this time.

Looking back on these threads, more people have more problems with more kinds of shotguns using the value pack Winchester ammo then all other brands combined.

Even normally reliable pump shotguns often fail to extract & eject it.

rc

 

[Virginian]

I have not had to hone the chambers on my 60's and 70's era vintage Model 1100s to get them to cycle the Winchester Universals, but they will routinely rip 1/2 to 1/3 of the bases of the shells cycling them. I have run across at least one of every newer model semi auto gun that needed the chamber honed in order to cycle them reliably, except a Benelli. This includes a Browning Gold, Remington 1100, Beretta 300, Mossberg 930, Winchester SX2, a Stoeger, and a Franchi. I do not think gun manufacturers pursue the same level of polish in the chambers as they once did in the eternal quest to meet cost pressures. (I have not done a surface analysis to prove this) When you combine that with the Winchester Universals, trouble ensues.

 

[HexHead]

It never fails, people buy the cheapest crap ammo they can find, then blame the gun.

 

[oneounceload]

The two worst ammo are both Winchester- the Universal and the Super Speed. Buy some Remington Gun Clubs, RIO, Fiocchi or similar quality and see what happens. Have you run a pipe cleaner through the ports in the barrel?

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Thanks all, pretty much what I expected to hear: "throw that cheap winchester crap in the garbage" lol. So better ammo it is - I know there is truth to the old adage you get what you pay for.... but cheap (and stubborn) as I am, I still gotta try and pinch pennies. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it bites me.

Oneounce, I havent tried that with the pipecleaner in the gas ports. Seems like for the $1 for pipecleaner and 10 minutes of time it sure wouldnt hurt.

 

[oneounceload]

Or use the straw that comes with a can of brake cleaner - cheap ammo has a tendency to leave a lot of crud and clogged gas ports will cause those issues you're having