The best ballistic performance on the market
Ballistics may be a complex science, but after 500 years of perfecting the art of barrel-making, Beretta has earned the right to speak with authority. This expertise has a name: STEELIUM®.
Crafted through an exceptionally reliable manufacturing process and shaped by the exclusive Optimabore® HP geometry with extended forcing cones, Steelium® barrels elevate performance to a new level. They deliver smoother, more refined ballistics that help tame recoil and muzzle rise—while ensuring consistently dense, uniform patterns with any ammunition.
The result? A shooting experience that feels effortless, powerful, and unmistakably Beretta.
OPTIMAL TERMINAL ENERGY
Achieving efficient target hits is the top priority for all Beretta barrel profiles. Their manufacturing process and the special geometry with progressive forcing cones make it possible to deliver proven higher terminal energy compared to competitors.
SUPERIOR RECOIL MITIGATION
Less recoil means not only greater shooting comfort, but also improved control over the gun and its muzzle rise. The Steelium® barrels were developed to meet the need for recoil reduction, designed for shooters who want to hit targets with power while enjoying a shotgun that is truly pleasant to shoot.
UNIFORM SHOT PATTERNS
The profile of Beretta Steelium® barrels managed to improve the shot string effectiveness, for the first time observed real-time and in 3 dimensions to address multiple success factors such as pattern shape, distribution of pellets in the shot cloud, the speed of every portion of the pattern, and many others.
Tested: superior recoil mitigation
Shooters experience recoil differently depending on their shouldering style. Many praise the smooth shooting of Beretta shotguns, but how can recoil be defined objectively?
By using pressure sensors and load cells, Beretta can directly measure the felt recoil on the shooter’s shoulder. Each shot produces a heat map that shows the intensity and distribution of recoil across different areas of the shoulder.
Tests repeated with a wide range of cartridges demonstrated that Steelium® Pro X delivers a further improvement in recoil reduction compared to the already high‑performing Steelium® Pro — which itself remains the top performer in recoil reduction when compared with major competitors.
A match made in Beretta
The superior ballistics of Beretta’s Steelium® barrels is further enhanced by Optimachoke® technology.
All Beretta chokes are manufactured from high‑strength steel and treated with additional hardening layers (such as nickel‑plating or DLC) to increase resistance to corrosion and wear.
This ensures total safety, long‑lasting durability, and consistent performance over time — even when using no‑lead ammunition such as steel or tungsten.
Proven: ultimate target smashing
The greater the pellets’ kinetic energy upon impact, the higher the likelihood of breaking the target. But how can we estimate the shot’s effectiveness at the moment it hits its mark?
By using a low‑friction sliding barrier, it is possible to measure the energy transferred from the moving pellet cloud to the target by recording the linear displacement of a metallic plate after each shot.
Testing shows that Beretta shotguns equipped with Steelium® barrels — including the Steelium® Pro X barrel profile — deliver the highest terminal energy on the target compared with all major competitors on the market.
Long-lasting coating
The interior of all Beretta barrels features a protective layer of high surface hardness for exceptional resistance to corrosion, burning powder and high temperatures, as well as long-lasting durability and superior performance, even more when using steel shot ammunition.
Tested for everything
Steelium® has been widely tested to guarantee top and consistent ballistic performance with all types of ammunition: lead, steel, and high-performance steel.
Highly advanced technologies allow to simulate behaviour of components and product systems during main product functions: combinating simulation of the impact of combustion gases on ammunition and of stress and deformation of the tubes and closing components during firing, Beretta achieves detailed understanding of internal and intermediate ballistics.
At the same time, extensive durabilty and performance tests on prototypes and final samples aim to reproduce potential firearm life and different use cases – these activities are also intended to verify and integrate virtual simulation results.
Perfected manufacturing process
The ingredients behind the exceptional performance of Beretta Steelium® barrels are: exclusive Beretta tri-alloy steel (Ni, Cr, Mo), deep drilling, cold hammer-forging, vacuum distension, and a profile featuring progressive forcing cones of different lengths.
The deep know-how on additional key manufacturing steps complement the performance of Beretta barrels achieved wiht the main phases:
- Barrel shaping manages turning and control of the barrel tubes with extreme precision to ensure linearity, chamber-bore concentricity, constancy of thickness and optimal control of weight distribution within the safety limits
- Decades of refinement in barrel tying guarantee the best combination of assembly elasticity, robustness, and straightness – key features to ensure excellent gun accuracy.
How to define the optimal shot string?
Ensuring consistently dense and uniform shot patterns is a science in itself. Everyone has tried shooting at a phone book or paper sheet to evaluate a shot pattern, but that only provides a 2D snapshot on a static surface.
A truly consistent shot pattern results from multiple factors: the overall shape of the pattern, the distribution of pellets within the shot cloud, the individual velocity of each pellet and of the various sections of the pattern, and many other elements. Beretta has succeeded in studying and enhancing shot‑string effectiveness, observing it for the first time in real time and in three dimensions.
How? By using a method that combines high‑speed video and computer‑vision algorithms, enabling the creation of a 3D representation of the shot cloud at a given distance and the estimation of key parameters such as the average pellet kinematics throughout the trajectory, the average energy of each pellet, and the total energy of the entire shot cloud.
Compare STEELIUM® profiles
| Features | STEELIUM® | STEELIUM® PLUS | STEELIUM® PRO | STEELIUM® PRO X |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forcing cone lenght | 80 mm double forcing cone* | 320 mm triple forcing cone* | 450 mm triple forcing cone* | 420 mm triple forcing cone* |
| Optimachoke® choke lenght | 60 mm | 60 mm | 60 mm | 90 mm |
| Bore diameter | 18.6 mm | 18.6 mm | 18.6 mm | 18.4 mm |
| Terminal energy level | 3* | 4* | 5* | 5* |
| Recoil mitigation | 2* | 3* | 4* | 5* |
| Shot string optimization | 3* | 4* | 4* | 5* |
| Geometry description | Taper is limited to the connecting section between chamber and bore | More elongated conical section for a more progressive drive of the wad towards the bore | Conical section increased to maximum length for maximum recoil-reducing effect | Longer length of choke provides smoother ballistics, also benefitting the use of no-lead ammunition |
| Barrel convergence calibration | Standard | Standard | Manual - in blank fitting depending on the selected discipline | Manual - in blank fitting depending on the selected discipline |
| Suitable for | For a first approach to shooting disciplines | For amateurs who begin to have a greater sensitivity and shoot more frequently | For competitive athletes shooting large numbers of rounds | For professional athletes, for whom every detail makes a difference |
| Mounted on |
688 Performance All Beretta hunting O&U A300 line 1301 line A400 line (except A400L and A400 Xtreme Plus) |
694 silver line A400L Sporting - Field A400 Xtreme Plus |
All DT11 models 694 Black DLC AX800 Suprema |
SL2 |
* on a 76 cm barrel
TRI-ALLOY STEEL
An exclusive Beretta proprietary steel recipe (Ni, Cr, Mo), ensuring an optimal ratio between strength and elasticity and constant performance through all the barrel manufacturing process and gun intensive use. The microstructure of each single Made-in-Italy steel batch is stricly controlled by Beretta Quality labs to guarantee the absence of inclusions and impurities.
DEEP DRILLING
Beretta manages turning and control of the barrel tubes with extreme precision to guarantee linearity, chamber-bore concentricity, constancy of thickness and optimal control of weight distribution within the safety limits.
COLD-HAMMER FORGING
Cold-hammer forging makes it possible to obtain the final geometry of the tube with extreme precision, guarantee maximum concentricity between the cartridge chamber and the tube and maintain excellent roughness. Few companies in the world can boast this technology, given the high know-how and the huge financial investment required.
VACUUM DISTENSION
Obtained through high-tech dedicated ovens, vacuum distension guarantees the best homogeneity of the steel microstructure and the absence of residual stress.
MONOBLOCK LASERING AND SOLDERING
The cutting-edge monoblock lasering plant ensures pre-soldering alignment between the tubes, while manual tying is still used to guarantee effective and qualitative fitting between tubes and ribs.
Top Sporting shooters of the Beretta Team explain why they believe Steelium® barrels give them the power to face competitions with extra marginal gain to win.
Follow the tour to discover the full process of R&D, testing and manufacturing performed on Steelium® barrels: see for yourself why Beretta barrels are one of a kind.
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