The 20 Gauge Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol

Beretta announced a new version of the A300 Ultima Patrol in 20-gauge at the 2026 SHOT Show. Beretta’s new Ultima Patrol 20-gauge has a new stock design with integrated quick detach sling attachments and users can shorten the length of pull to twelve inches. Beretta made additional design changes including an enlarged loading port, a reversible safety, and extended bolt handle.

I recently attended a SymTac shotgun class. A fellow student who also happened to be a Lipsey’s executive brought one of the new 20-Gauge A300s to the class and allowed me to test fire it. I normally use a Beretta 1301 tricked-out with a Magpul stock and multiple Aridus Industries accessories and the weight difference between the two guns was eye-opening. The 20-gauge A300 weights only 6.0 pounds unloaded and the gun’s handiness is immediately apparent.

I am not recoil sensitive and if you correctly use SymTac’s push/pull technique, recoil is not an issue. However, I fired the A300-20 without using push/pull to see what the full recoil would be. Subjectively, the A300-20’s recoil was much less that what I typically feel with a Mossberg 590 20-gauge; a difference similar to what you could expect comparing the Beretta 1301 versus a Remington 870 pump in 12-gauge.

Now that Federal (as of this writing) is producing two 20-gauge buckshot loads with their FLITECONTROL® wad, a high performing self-defense load is available for the 20-gauge. In January 2025, I tested the Federal 20-gauge # 2 buck FLITECONTROL load that had just been released and found it patterned acceptably for most home defense distances with both a standard barrel and a VangComp-modified barrel.(1)

You often hear people opining that a 20-gauge is a better choice for smaller people because it recoils less. As I pointed out in a November 2019 article, this is often not the case.(2) 

It is a matter of physics. A 20-gauge, twenty pellet standard load of #3 buckshot weighs 468 grains. At 1200 feet per second (FPS) it will have a muzzle energy of 1497 foot pounds. A 12-gauge, 8-pellet 00 buckshot load weighs 430.4 grains. At 1145 FPS it will have a muzzle energy of 1253 foot pounds. All things being equal, the 12-gauge load would have less felt recoil than the 20-gauge load.

All things typically are not equal however. The 20-gauge shotgun will probably be lighter than a comparable 12-gauge shotgun so if recoil is a concern, the 12-gauge will likely produce noticeably less felt recoil. Take SymTac’s shotgun class and you will no longer need to worry about recoil anyway.

For more information on using a shotgun for home defense, please see the 2025 update to my Home Defense Shotgun Manual.

Every time I think I have all of the firearms that I will ever need, some manufacturer comes out with a new must have. I think Beretta's new A300-20 falls into this category

Even though Beretta has improved the stock, I hope a conversion adapter becomes available so a Magpul replacement stock can be installed. I also would welcome an Aridus Industries Imperium Handguard; however, that may be a wish too far--maybe Beretta will make a 1301 20-gauge version.   

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(1) https://www.sensibleselfdefenseblog.com/2025/01/testing-federal-premium-20-gauge-2.html

(2) https://www.sensibleselfdefenseblog.com/2019/11/rangemaster-shotgun-instructor-course_13.html