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Hey everyone!

I am looking to buy a "do it all shot gun".

I mostly, duck/goose hunt, and turkey hunt. I use, and work my guns a lot.

I have never owned a semi-auto, primarily because I haven't found one that was "just right".

What are your suggestions? Looking for a 12 guage preferably 3 1/2" chambering.

I currently have a Benelli Nova, but am sick of how rattly it is. It functions and works great, but..it's time for a change.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

FMP

Coming from a died-in-the-wool SxS fan, I'll recommend a Benelli autoloader for what you have in mind. Bear in mind no gun will "do it all" with any degree of efficiency, but for waterfowling and turkey hunting I think there's enough cross-over utility.

If I may ask, why pray-tell, do you feel the need for a 3 1/2" 12 gauge? Expecting rogue Rhinos to bust into the duck blind? I do everything, literally, with 2 3/4" handloads. These aren't great big hairy beasts we're shooting!

Just some good nature'd kidding. What works for me isn't everyone's cup of tea. (Although I really can't for the life of me understand why 3 1/2" shells exist.)

870 Express Magnum with synthetic stocks or Browning BPS with synthetic stocks. All pump guns will rattle a littl bit in the forend, it's the nature of the beast. Also could take a look at the Browning Cynergy O/U's as they come in 3.5" Chambers and synthetic stocks too, but are about 10 times the price of an 870.

Try a Beretta Xtrema I (the original model), heavy weight, 3.5" receiver/chamber, cycles all loads light 7/8 oz. to hevi 3.5", and dependable. Made in synthetic black or camo. Mine has a few thousand rounds through, dove, duck, geese, trap, and turkey.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=157223315
$750 is a very good price for one.

gnoahhh- I love to get beat up, that's why I want the 3.5 !

Thanks guys, Ill check them out!

That is one major plus with the Xtrema, heavy gun, backbored, and gas cycle action, 3.5" shells are not that bad felt recoil.

The Benelli autoloaders are great waterfowl guns. You should check them out and see if one of them feels good to you.

I hate to say it, but I love the Remington 870 for waterfowl. For a long time it was my only good shotgun and it always worked great. I still use it almost exclusively for waterfowl and sometimes for upland hunting if the weather is iffy. I probably wouldn't get it in 3.5" though.

870 Remington. Prettu hard to beat. And that opinion is coming from someone that has owned some pretty high dollar fancy smokepoles. I don't still have them but I still have my original 870.

Gotta echo the 870, especially for what you have in mind for it.

I also agree with the poster above who said forget the 3 1/2" version. With today's loads, there's no need for anything more than a 3", and in most cases, the lowly old 2 3/4" will get it done for you.

You can shoot everything sub 3.5 in a 3.5 - why not get the 3.5 and have it available for resale?

Because to a lot of guys, 3 1/2" means nothing regarding resale, and in my eyes is actually a negative.

A Super Mag 870 costs more than the 3" version, so why would I pay more (retail or resale) for something I have no use for? I have actually passed up used Super Mags for that reason, and bought the "regular" version beside it.

So any perceived "plus" when it comes time to resell it may well bite you in the butt.

Ok - just saying that round here - if you don't have 3.5 you aren't gonna sell it. Kinda like a truck with/out 4x4.

For me - I wouldn't entertain a shotgun of any sort (dedicated target and best guns aside) that ain't cut 3.5

3.5 don't shake my teeth loose and I see no reason NOT to use it. But that's me - YMMV

And before someone claims that I've not shot enough to know - I've put as many as 1800 rounds of 12 gauge down the tube in one weekend. At one time I avveraged over 10000 rounds a summer.

Do your self a favor and get a Bennelli, trust me it will fit because you make it fit. With the shims you can adjust cast and drop. I hate autos but the Benelli is the only gun I used this season. All my beloved doubles and pumps stayed in the safe. The simple reason is once you get the gun to fit you your hit rate goes way up. Now I could spend hundreds of dollars per gun to get my other shotguns to fit me perfectly or I can just keep using my Benelli. If they made my Citori with a shim kit I would still be shooting it. It fits so-so and I've killed a lot of birds with it but it takes a lot of concentration to get everything lined up for a shot. With the Benelli shoulder, swing and shoot. You don't even need the bead site, I havn't used it since I got the gun.

3 1/2 guns seem to not pattern as well as 3 inch guns to me. Longer shot column? When I shoot 3 1/2 I go to my 10 ga. Do all guns...
1 Benelli
2 Xtrema
3 870 Rem

Well I been shooting a borrowed Benelli Vinci since last August. Snow Goose season is coming to and end, spent the afternoon cleaning it and putting it back in the box. Took 20 min. Not a 3.5 inch chamber I shot nothing but 2 3/4 shells and didn't find it lacking at all. Had some real good days in the field with it. I plan on buying one once I get back to work. All told I limited out on Pheasants, shot ducks and geese, fished up with snows. All in all it was a pleasant way to get back into shotgunning and bird hunting after a 36 year lay off.

I'd hasten to recommend a Benelli Super Black Eagle (SBE) semi-auto, which does indeed shoot up to and including 3.5" shells.
I have a Benelli M2 (left hand eject), which only goes up to 3" magnum shells, but that's plenty for me, 'cause I'm just plain "chicken" to get slapped around by the 3.5" jobbies! Mine has the "trick" butt stock with those so-called "chevrons" to "flex" and absorb recoil, plus a trick recoil pad filled with some sort of space age goo that's also supposed to absorb recoil better than most. I'm not convinced that either the buttstock or the recoil pad lives up to Benelli's billing, but I also have a SxS double, and I will say that the Benelli recoils less than the SxS double, both shooting the same shells. JMPO

Remington 870, or Mossberg 500. I prefer the 870 by a hair, but they're both great guns.

There is no such thing as a "do it all" shotgun... and even if there is... don't tell my wife.

Check out the Browning 12 gauge, 3 1/2" NWTF edition of the BPS. This shotgun has a back-bored 24" barrel; when you put an extended turkey or waterfowl choke tube in it you have a 25 - 25 1/2" barrel - no more or no less than is useful turkey hunting and waterfowl hunting. I have one in 3" that I bought in January, now that I have had a minor quality issue taken care of I am enjoying the BPS very much, nicer than the Mossberg 535 it replaced.

Spend your money on a good used Remington Wingmaster or a Winchester Model 12. The Winchester is hands down the finest pump action ever made and there are plenty of them out there to be had for a song. The Wingmaster is a close second in my opinion. Dont let anyone tell you the Express 870 is the same as a Wingmaster. While the Express is a workhorse and will do anything you need it to, when worn completely in its not even close to slickness of a new Wingmaster. Oh, and never bet against a man at a clay range shooting a Worn Model 12.