Other than the humpback at the end of the receiver, why pay the same/more to get a Benelli with literally no customer service or warranty? I honestly don't get it.
What is the attraction of having a wall in front of your eye. In your peripheral it is there. And no clay event has ever been won by one using it. There is a reason for that. In addition it frees up the off eye, which isn't all that good for those who have a minor cross dominance issue. However, some of you have been waiting, so have fun!!!!
heck, 20 years ago, youd be shamed for owning short bbl shotguns under 26". now its vogue. add me to the list of (i dont get it) solid steel belgian? yes. alloy...no.
Retired Military Aviation Former Member, Navy Shooting Team Distinguished Pistol Shot NRA Certified Instructor/RSO
I have a LN Gold Hunter 20, but if I wanted another 20 I’d save up another $1k for another 725. $2k is just more than I’m willing to drop on an auto, however nice.
Those are almost as spendy as an original 20ga A5……
heck, 20 years ago, youd be shamed for owning short bbl shotguns under 26". now its vogue. add me to the list of (i dont get it) solid steel belgian? yes. alloy...no.
Carrying a 5.5lb gun all day bird hunting beats the [bleep] out of carrying around an 8lb gun all day bird hunting.
I'm a 20gauge nut and while my preference is a DT SXS, the new "a5" is a good looking guns. Add in lightweight, and the fact that I am currently without a 20ga auto....it would make a good bird/bunny gun.
What is the attraction of having a wall in front of your eye. In your peripheral it is there. And no clay event has ever been won by one using it. There is a reason for that. In addition it frees up the off eye, which isn't all that good for those who have a minor cross dominance issue. However, some of you have been waiting, so have fun!!!!
The first sporting clays Nationals held at the Minnesota Horse & Hunt Club was won by Jim Jameson wielding a Browning A-5. That is the latest significant event I can recall off hand. That was 30+ years ago. One would have to dig further back than that to find someone that won a major event with a SxS. If not for 16 yard trap and handicaps the pump gun may have also fallen by the wayside in open competition.
Going back in history, many major skeet shoots as well as trap events were won by those using A-5s and Remington 11s. They were pretty popular choices back before O/Us became affordable.
That "wall" is there with all shotguns, it's just that in many of them the reciever is sloped downward while the stock wrist slopes up. many see as aesthetically more appealing but the back of the receiver is still in the periphery of one's vision. If fitted/held correctly (the A-5 was developed when the shooting style called for greater drop at the comb) one looks over the hump just the same as with a more modern semiauto. Many others, most notably Beretta, carried this characteristic bump in their shotguns to some degree in their shotguns until relatively recent times.
So if the shooting style called for more drop, then were they anchoring more of their chin than the cheek bone? It would seem they had to be....or they would be looking directly into the wall. However for myself, with the more modern design, I don't notice the back of the receiver at all. Of course the same could be said for the more modern design if the comb is too low. The front sometimes is in the peripheral on slow moving targets. Hardly at all on anything that has speed.
Before someone mentions you should only see the target, there are some world class shooters that will disagree. They bring hard focus in at the trigger pull. Prior to that they know where the barrel is...."peripherally".
Many things today are different than "back in history", reason being better options.