Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters New shotgun(s) & sifting through the propaganda

Certainly did not aim to infer that. I know better.

OK. The Beretta would be my choice. The theory is that the inertia autos are more reliable, however the Beretta will never fail anyway and definitely is softer shooting.

Don't knock the older 1100's. The word on the trapshooting lines is that the 70's models were the best, but that the newer ones (and double for the 11-87) are not up to par. I have an 1100 Trap that has certainly had over 75000 through it. I quit shooting trap in 1981 and recently shot a few again 'cause my grandson wants to. I shot one practice round, broke 22, shot my hundred targets and broke 94. They are definitely too heavy for an upland gun, at least in my opinion. I want a 20 ga to be 6 pounds, 28 ga at 5 pounds is my preference.

I've had both Benellis and Berettas in different models and prefer the former because of the characteristics you point out -- lighter, simpler, at about the same price point generally as the Beretta depending on model and purely dependable. While Berettas are excellent guns, weight is an issue with me as I may walk five or six miles in uneven country in SD with some up-and-down too.

That said the Beretta A400s are pretty darn nice guns but much more complex running a gas system at 7 lbs+ and mine got very sooty after a short season. The Benelli inertia-drivens can be stripped down to parts pretty quickly and much more thoroughly cleaned with less effort IMO.

Right now I consider the Ben Ultralight in 12 ga with a 24" tube at 6 lbs to be about the perfect uplander in a semi-auto for me though the 20 would probably be as good and even lighter. For late season, wind-driven, wild pheasants I've come to prefer the 12 though. The Ben Montefeltros are very nice guns also and almost as light too but IIRC a mag capacity of one more.

The Ultralights reduce weight in part by having a mag capacity of just two plus one in the chamber.

I'm leaning towards the Benelli Ultralight and I prefer a 24" tube versus a 26" or 28" barrel; perhaps this is just the turkey hunter in me getting in the way.

I didn't catch the reduced mag capacity of the UL, thanks for pointing it out.

Re: magazine capacity, maybe it's the result of shooting double guns some but I have gotten in the habit of loading my repeaters with only two rounds, one in the chamber and one in the magazine when hunting upland and small game. It dawned on me I rarely needed the 3rd shot and rarely are they high % shots. It also makes it easy to load and as importantly unload your gun. To load, drop one in the port ( side ejection guns) and close the action, slide one in the magazine. As quick as loading a double. To unload open the action catch the shell , roll the gun on its side dumping the 2nd shell into your hand. No chucking or shucking needed. I haven't noticed my game bag being lighter though my shell bag is a bit heavier since I'm not wasting those 3rd shots.

Things to keep in mind about shotguns.

most shooters have several rifles a drawer full of pistols but use one or so shotgun
they get used to its quirks and over the years they seem to disappear

as you know shotguns are rarely used from a resting or support position. so
the fit is extremely important. They are shot usually from an upper body rotating
The new bunch of guns have adjustable stocks for comb height cast off and cant. Take advantage of that and get as good as fit as possible. Some have polyurethane inserts on the comb to reduce cheek soreness.

compared to a good O/U most pumps and autos have inconsistent triggers.

weight reduces recoil. gas guns spread the recoil impulse over a longer period of time. nothing cycles faster than a double.

barrel length quotes in pumps and autos rarely include the length of the receiver which will make them longer than s/s or o/u

trying to decide on one shotgun is a shame, particularly if you reload. the monotony of one gun and one load may be very important in the case of trap or skeet but if if you reload the different guns open up horizons just like rifles or handguns

I enjoy searching for 12 autos that will shoot and cycle 28 ga equivalent 3/4 oz loads. Favorite to date is a Browning B 2000 made in Belgium, beautiful wood.

Etoh, very true; basically I'm a SXS guy but I always have at least one auto on hand.

The Ben Ultralight for a semi-auto has hit the sweet spot for me and there is a turkey choke for it too BTW which last week I proved worked just fine.

One other important piece of info for any lefties -- the Ben's plunger type safety's are easily reversible which I prefer over buying a left hand-specific gun for resale purposes should I choose to. So I buy a right handed and reverse the safety.

On the Beretta A400 the trigger unit contains the safety had to be sent in to a Beretta service center. It was one glance at it that told me I was not going to attempt it. So, even the trigger-safety unit was quite complex compare to the Ben'; at least this was true of the A400.

one question about shotguns I've never got the answer.

Why is the wood always better on left handed shotguns?

other distractions may make this ok in the game field, but in skeet and trap the gun cycles different on the last round and the action locking back is distracting. The B 2000 has a nice side loading port and if you release the round it will load itself

When shooting 3 gun I usually hold 4 shells in the left and load on the move while holding the gun on target with the right so the chamber is always charged.

Beretta all the way. Way softer to shoot and more reliable.
Wouldn't own a Benelli as a gift. Didn't Benelli fire Tom Knapp after he got sick with cancer. I think he went to Mossberg after that.

If letting go of Mr. Knapp is why you dislike Benelli and go "Beretta all the way" you should note that Beretta owns Benelli so the decision makers were essentially all the same. I will agree that it was a completely crappy thing to do. I think Mr. Knapp went to CZ afterward, right?

At the time Mr. Knapp was let go, I believe Benelli was not owned by Beretta. No matter it was a terrible way to do business. And you are right that Tom Knapp did shoot for CZ. I still believe that Beretta autos work better and shoot softer than Benelli.

Take note of the safety location on the various guns you are considering. The Beretta safety is located at the front of the trigger guard, which is a deal-killer for me. You said you liked the ergos of the Beretta, but unless you've shot the gun in a situation where you need to fire instinctively you may not realize the importance of this. It's a bad feeling when the bird flies away unshot-at because you didn't get the safety off.

Perhaps on softer to shoot, but I think you would have a very hard time proving more reliable. Both great guns, both reliable, but if utter reliability is paramount I'll take the Benelli every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
I was with a group in Argentina duck hunting (shooting, really) out of a Remington sponsored lodge a few years ago...care to guess what they had in the loaner rack? All Benelli. Said the Remingtons had stopped working long ago. Asked why no Berettas in the mix, they said "good for doves, not good for mud." This lodge shot cases a day.

Remingtons are fine for the average hunter,but the 10K rounds you have put through yours in 40 years will be shot in a week in an Argentina dove hunting lodge. They only use Beretta and Benelli shotguns because they can use them with that kind of volume shooting for years and years.

Let me throw one more wrinkle into the thread. I prefer a 24" tube, but have nothing against a 26" barrel. I realize the 28" gives the maximum sight plane, but is there any appreciable difference between a 24" barrel and 28"?

While I predominately hunt with my 20 & 28 gauge O/U guns these days; in the mid-90's a friend recommended a Beretta A390 12 gauge.
I took his advice and bought a A390 "Silver Mallard" w/ a 26" barrel in 1995 and it's been my only 12 gauge hunting shotgun since. It gets used for trap/skeet/clays, waterfowling, a couple of turkey hunts and many dove shoots.
The A390 has been trouble free for all these years, I couldn't ask for anything more.
I do keep my eyes open for the same gun in 20 gauge but after a few rounds and a dove hunt with an Franchi Affinity I might change my mind.

StarchedCover

When I was in Argentina last summer, my rental gun was a Benelli Montefeltro with a 24" barrel. Everyone else in the group had Beretta 391s with 26" or 28" barrels. After running +3,500 rounds through it and a couple hundred in the 391 (swapped up with my buddy just because), I can say that I really liked the short barrel. Most experts will say that longer is better for wing-shooting, but I think I could go either way. I can't say if I shot the Montefeltro better because it fit better or because I had more experience with it? But after the first day, I was shooting really, really good and I'm not usually a great shot-gunner.

I spent most of my life shooting an 11-87 in 12 ga and now own a Benelli M2 in 12, but after that trip, I vowed to buy a 20 ga semi in the near future.

As others have said, there are only 2 guns in the high volume dove shooting world, Benelli and Beretta, but most hunters will not shoot 5,000 rounds at game birds in their whole lives so gun reliability long term is a non-factor. Argentine dove outfitters run 5000+ rounds thru their guns every week, year round. I asked the outfitter how often they replace the guns and expected his answer to be yearly.....he said every 7-10 years....you can run the numbers on that!!!

The Franchi Affinity is the same quality produced at the same factory as a Benelli. But at a much lower price point. If going inertia, it is the one to get.

StudDuck,

The Berretta 391 20 runs flawlessly and can be had in longer barrel lengths.

By the way, I recommend you just get a 20 gauge. They're just fine for turkey with good loads.