# Berretta Xtrema cycling problems - help!



## fishing extreme (Feb 13, 2005)

Purchased a Berretta Xtrema 1 this year. Throughout the first few weeks of use, on rare occassion, the second round would not chamber after the first shot. The first shell casing would exit properly, but the second wouldn't load all the way in. The bolt just didn't push it up in the barrell, and the action would be wide open. A quick push of the bolt pushes the second round in, right after the ducks wave bye-bye.
Throughout the year, the problem got worse. By the last few days of the season, it was happening EVERY TIME. This was after the gun had gotten wet and cold. It happened with Winchester and Federal ammunition.
I take it to the Gander gunsmith, and he shoots a bunch of shells through it and IT NEVER HAPPENS. No cleaning, nothing - he just goes and shoots it indoors.
Anyone have this problem?
Solution?
Is it now working better because it is warm and dry? Do I have to move to a warm, dry state to duck hunt?
 Help.


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## mwakely (Jan 7, 2004)

I have an EXTREMA and have never had a problem! I've shot it in 90 degree weather and in zero degree weather never a problem. I've dropped in in the marsh picked it up poured the water out of the barrell and it shot. I would call Berretta customer service.


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## harsens hunter (Oct 28, 2003)

fishing extreme said:


> Purchased a Berretta Xtrema 1 this year. Throughout the first few weeks of use, on rare occassion, the second round would not chamber after the first shot. The first shell casing would exit properly, but the second wouldn't load all the way in. The bolt just didn't push it up in the barrell, and the action would be wide open. A quick push of the bolt pushes the second round in, right after the ducks wave bye-bye.
> Throughout the year, the problem got worse. By the last few days of the season, it was happening EVERY TIME. This was after the gun had gotten wet and cold. It happened with Winchester and Federal ammunition.
> I take it to the Gander gunsmith, and he shoots a bunch of shells through it and IT NEVER HAPPENS. No cleaning, nothing - he just goes and shoots it indoors.
> Anyone have this problem?
> ...


I have had the same problem when I shoot 3.5 in shells out of my Extrema. If I shoot 3in shells, I have no problems...only the 3.5in shells (any brand) give me problems. The first shell ejects, the seconds goes into the chamber, but it doesnt close. Like you stated, a quick push of the bolt and the shells move in completely and the chamber closes. I called Beretta and they told me to send it in after the season because they didnt want me to be without a gun. The guy who I talked to seemed like he knew what was wrong with it. 

I seemed to have cured the problem. When cleaning it, I put extra Rem Oil in the chamber and now it cycles fine. After every hunt, I spray some Rem Oil in there and I havent had it happen again. After the late goose season, I will probably send it in, just so they can take a look and see if anything else is wrong with it.


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## bigrackmack (Aug 10, 2004)

Should have bought a Benelli.....


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## fishing extreme (Feb 13, 2005)

Should have bought a Benelli.....

I almost did.
Now I wish I did. 

No, actually, I wish I had bought an American gun...


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## BITE_ME_TOO (May 21, 2003)

Doesn't sound like your problem, but the only time I have had a shell jamb was b/c of user error. When cold- I wear gloves, as so do most hunters. Well, it is very hard to get the 3rd shell to go all the way in while wearing gloves. It has only happened to me 3 times, but when you shoot the first one- the second is already cycling b4 the first empty shell can eject.

All 3 times the first shell is hanging out while the 2nd is trying to make its way to the pin. 

Besides that, I have NEVER had a problem with ANY shell cycling. Three years later with about 2 flats of 3.5"ers and atleast 4 flats of target load- still works great!

Good luck with Beretta Customer service. If you find a good person to help, post his/ her name for us potential customer service users.

Thanks

Jeff- BMT


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

fishing extreme said:


> Should have bought a Benelli.....
> 
> I almost did.
> Now I wish I did.
> ...


:lol: now come on now. You defnitely woulda been without a gun if you bought an American gun. Leave the gun making to the Italians(Benelli),, they make good stuff,, cars, shoes, guns,:lol:


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## thedude (Jul 20, 2004)

hmmmm.. what would john moses browing do?:evil:


(that was just for you kush)


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## maximus (Mar 1, 2004)

The only time my extrema hasnt cycled was do to some old rounds with a little wear showing on the brass. Other than that my extrema has no problems cycling low brass 2 3/4 up to heavy hot 3 1/2.


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## gunner7848 (Feb 8, 2006)

heres one 4 ya brother got an extrema 1 last year same thing happened wouldnt chamber sent it out and now it dosent fire at times sent it back out. Second friend baught extrema 2 took out first time did the same thing didnt chamber then it work then it didnt chamber again he sent it out I have a winchester x2 and i have had miss fires and i have a super black eagle and id had it not chamber at times may be cause of the shell or what, but all these guns cost a lot of money this shouldnt happen 

ps the winchester x2 is what i use hunting and gets put though everything mud, rain, and snow only thing i think it miss fires is because of the grap that gets in to it while hunting Yes im a winchester fan ill let my SBE sit in the gun safe


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## hamburglar (Sep 5, 2006)

I own a super black the old style probably about six years old now and I just went and bought an 870 pump because the thing locks up so bad. My problem is the brass gets hung on the ejection so you have to reach up and yank it out. My brother saved his money and bought a SBE2. His problem with that is it only brings the second round half way out the mag. Plus all the nice rubber pads on the stock are starting to look like hell from shooting 2 cases through it this year. It looks like the pads have cracked an shifted from the recoil. I have seen Extrema's not fire the second round also. Any semi auto is going to hang up on occasion no matter how much coin they cost or how often you clean it. I wouldn't go regreting that Bereta just yet. People that never had a semi jam ain't shootin' it enough. Needless to say the SBE2 is going back to manufacturer to be looked at. The only thing I really like about the bennelli is the light weight.


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

I have an sbeII that is about 6 months old and has had between 3,500 and 4,500 rounds through it in 6 months. The only problem I've had is when I got a bad case of shells in Argentina that didn't have enough recoil to cycle the bolt all the way and so the 2nd shell wouldn't load. Now I shoot 1oz 1040fps loads through it all the time with hardly a problem, so those were some really weak loads. Set that case aside and didn't have a problem after that. Comfortech pads still in great shape.

"Any semi auto is going to hang up on occasion no matter how much coin they cost or how often you clean it." Hasn't happened to me yet where it was the guns fault not the shells, and I doubt many people shoot as many rounds in their lifetime as I do in a year. In 6 more months I'll probably be up to 7,000 through the Benelli in a years time.


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## KLR (Sep 2, 2006)

TSS Caddis said:


> I have an sbeII that is about 6 months old and has had between 3,500 and 4,500 rounds through it in 6 months. The only problem I've had is when I got a bad case of shells in Argentina that didn't have enough recoil to cycle the bolt all the way and so the 2nd shell wouldn't load. Now I shoot 1oz 1040fps loads through it all the time with hardly a problem, so those were some really weak loads. Set that case aside and didn't have a problem after that. Comfortech pads still in great shape.
> 
> "Any semi auto is going to hang up on occasion no matter how much coin they cost or how often you clean it." Hasn't happened to me yet where it was the guns fault not the shells, and I doubt many people shoot as many rounds in their lifetime as I do in a year. In 6 more months I'll probably be up to 7,000 through the Benelli in a years time.


YUP....my SBE1 sees about 3,000 rds yearly. The only problem I've had was when I over-lubed and was crow shooting in -teen temps...lube just got too stiff to alow cycling. I would suggest the original poster give the weapon a through cleaning with a degreasing agent as the guns made overseas are shipped with a heavy grease to deter corrosion in transit. Sounds like the gun operates when warm ("indoors) but maybe hanging up when it gets cold. If the bolt cannot travel fully rearward durning the cycle it could account for the inability to function with longer shells (3.5" v 3") JMO


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## Shiawassee_Kid (Nov 28, 2000)

drench in oil, problem solved.


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## hamburglar (Sep 5, 2006)

Everytime I write some thing on this sight someone gets bent  . I am not a profesional shooter like some people viewing this thread, these are just my experiences hunting with these guns 40 times this year. The shells that seemed the best were Kent and Winchester. Only used 3.5". Yes, we had more problems later in season and on wet days. Guns were also cleaned frequently. To the guns defense we were not shooting in ideal conditions at a range or something either. Waist deep in water and mud all season. Couple times looked down and stock and trigger were submerged. I have to remove recoil pad after some hunts to drain the water out of the stock. Once again guns cleaned after each box put through it. I guess if your shooting skeet in the summer or hunting were cold and rain is not an issue you'll probably be fine.


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## mallardtone-man (Nov 20, 2002)

bigrackmack said:


> Should have bought a Benelli.....


IMO Benelli makes a good gun, but take a Extrema and a Super Black Eagle apart and look at them side by side. The Benelli 3 1/2" gun sucks, it is essentially a 3" gun that has been rechambered. 

I have owned an Extrema for 2 years now and have shot the hell out of it at ducks, pheasants, geese, pigeons and clays. I duck and goose hunt some very nasty conditions (lots of sand, gunk and grime) and give my gun a full tear down after every hunt. They are super easy to dissasemble and cleaning takes about 10 mins. I have had my gun jam lots of times, but every time save one it has been a direct result of dirt. I have only had this problem with 3 1/2"ers. Your gun has to stay pretty clean to cycle the big guys. The only acception to the dirt statement was when I decided to give Federal Ultrashocks a shot. Boy was that a mistake. Of the 30 rnds I fired out of my immaculately clean gun 4 did not fire, a good number jammed and several wouldnt even cycle. It was not just my box, as I purchased two, my dad purchased two and a friend purchased too all at seperate times and different stores. I had the same problem with all the shells. Both of them had similar experiences shooting thier 870's, and everyone had to dissasemble thier gun in the field at least once to remove a jammed shell. Not to mention that these shells had a hard time killed even well hit wood ducks at 20yds. I now stick with the old standbys, rem Nitro Steel. These shells pattern beuatifully, cycle great and consistantly kill birds out to 60yds out of my gun. The only time I have had problems with them cycling is when I have sand or something else in my action and this problem is solved with a quick wipe down and a drop of oil that I carry in the field. These are just my own experiences, but I hope it helps.


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## Shlwego (Sep 13, 2006)

I own an Extrema 1, and I've shot everything from super light target hand loads to 3-1/2" hevishot #2s, and everything has cycled perfectly. I have had one 2nd shot fail to load, but that was in freezing rain and the action had frozen shut and was coated in ice before I fired the first round. I hunt in some pretty nasty conditions, and I'll admit (off the record) that I don't clean the gun as often as I should, but even so, I have experienced virtually no problems in two years and a couple of thousand rounds. One of the guys I regularly hunt with has an identical weapon, and to my knowledge he's had no reliability issues either.


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