Beretta A390 Gold Mallard

[Gungeek]

... They are thought by many to be Beretta's most reliable self loading shotgun ...

Your gun's predecessor the A303 takes that honour, though it's all hearsay and repeat of other's opinions. I wonder what specifically were the significant 'improvements' made to the A390 over the A303 action. I doubt there's anything truly significant. A 3" chamber is undesirable and unnecessary unless you 'have to' be using magnum load cartridges but it's good to know this causes no ill effects to reliability. You sound pleased with your purchase as I am with my 18 y/o A303 and, like you, I shoot better with it than any shotgun I've previously owned. Enjoy. Regards ... Geek

[Korium]

As far as I remember, the A303 lacked the valve spring which was fitted to these, otherwise they are quite similar. I doubt they are any more reliable from my experience of using them which didn't show any evidence of it. The chap I bought it from uses 3" inch chambered autos very successfully for competitive use; I understand the theory about them, but the practical difference seems very low.

[Gungeek]

Is the valve spring behind the piston, 'helping' to return it to the cylinder after firing? If so, this seems a logical addition. I just wondered. Regards ... Geek

[Korium]

No, they go just in front of the gas block.
I think the current AL391 has the for-end cap spring loaded instead.

[Gungeek]

The main and perhaps only difference between the 390 and 303 is the inclusion of a 'excess' gas vent valve which is, as you say, in front of the cylinder - that's pretty much it. Regards ... Geek

[bootsie]

Hi i have a AL390 Lioness ltd edition, one problem is the rod thats connected to the sliding block breaks every now and then, which is a bit of a pain when your out in the field, but its easy to change just push the pin out replace it with new one, five minutes job done, thanks for looking.