Looking to spend right around $600 for a 3 1/2" chambered 12ga semi-auto.
Locally I can get a nice Browning Gold for that, there is also a Winchester sx2.
For a little more I can pick up a HK stamped SBE just down the road as well.
What do you guys recommend for a reliable, softer shooting waterfowl gun?
Hunted a couple times last year at well below zero, probably will again.

Of those three for reliability I would grab onto the Benelli and not look back. It might not be the softest shooting though.

A Winchester SX3 is a pretty darn good shotgun. Great reliability and shoots softer than the Benelli.

Forget all of those and get yourself a Benelli M1 Super 90. No need for 3-1/2 shells.

I don't plan on shooting 3 1/2" shells, just want the extra weight for taming down the Fasteel. This will be a strictly steel gun.
I have been shooting 2 3/4 shells through my Ithaca 37,and a hunting partners 870 supermag, with great success.

Also the option to shoot anything marked 12ga for trips is nice.

I have shot many flats of Fasteel thru my M1 Super 90's. There are better ways to add weight if you really want or need to.

SX2 or SX3 and never look back.

Benelli Super 90 anything else is second class

Is there a super 90 in 3 1/2?

Tried every one chambered for 3.5 today at the Sportsmans, really liked the super vinci.
Except for the price.

No Super 90's are 3" guns.

SBE is the 3-1/2" gun.

If you are going to shoot 3" shells and you want some weight to tame recoil try out a Browning Auto-5 Magnum twelve gauge - plenty of used ones out there and a most reliable shotgun as well.

Just add the weight where it should be, under the fore end and your good to go with the best duck gun ever made.

But if your the type of guy that wants to try to reinvent the wheel and learn the hard (expensive) way then just pick any one that floats your boat.

Starting QB Benelli M1 Super 90

Back-up QB Beretta 390/391/A300

No i meant SBE

Thanks for the info gents, now I just have to find the right used gun.

Any of the guns mentioned in 3" will be reliable. The key is to get one that fits you well and is within your budget. Consider putting a good recoil pad like a Limbsaver on it if it doesn't already have one and that will significantly reduce recoil. Personally, I think a lighter 3" is more versatile for waterfowl, upland game, dove, turkey, etc. if you want to use it year-round.

Unless you want the ability to shoot your friends 3 1/2" ammo.
Or the only non-tox in the hardware store is 3 1/2", or the only suitable shot size available is in a 3 1/2"

You can lead them to water, as boxer would say.

Have the SX 2 in 3.5 and the gold hunter in 10 GA. I like both guns, but if I were going to get another probably would be a M 90.

By a used Rem. 1100. One of the most reliable autos ever made, as long as you keep them clean. My second choice would be a used Browning A5. Lots of deals to be found in Pawn Shops. And you can buy a used 1100 or a A5 much cheaper than a used Bennelli.

If I just had to buy a new gun, it would be a 3" Berretta or the WW SX3
Nothing wrong with Bennelli's, just overpriced IMO.

Read that slowly ssslllooowwwlllyyy! If you have to keep it clean it ain't reliable.

$700 for an M1 Super 90 is so expensive.

This shiitt cracks me up.

So I should just buy a Benelli and NEVER clean it??? Sounds pretty stupid to me

Why is that? All it needs is a little oil here and there. I have one M90 with 70K thru it and has been cleaned maybe 3 or 4 times.

I clean my shotguns every year after bird season whether they need it or not. Never had it jam once.

And if you have put 70 THOUSAND rounds through your M-90, you must shoot a LOT of trap & skeet with it, or your a really bad shot on Ducks & Doves

I haven't even seen 70 thousand birds to shoot at in all my life! Just Sayin

I can't hit the broadside of a barn.

I shoot at a lot of sportclays, birds, ducks, and geese. One of these days maybe I will hit one. I don't mind so much missing clays, they taste like shiit.

We can't shoot doves here. But I have been to mexico a few times. Lots of opportunities, lots of spent shells, and lots of bacon wrapped Jalapeno dove. Good thing my friends can shoot or I would have been hungry down there. Oh and always use their guns down there, take a guess what they supply you with? It starts with a B and it isn't a Beretta.

I have yet to have a FTF, FTE, FTF, or any other type problem. I did take a swim with it one time while duck hunting on Mosquito Lake in Haines AK. Don't you know once I found it on the bottom, poured out the silt and water it went bang?

I understand. I can't hit shiitt with a shotgun either. Except with my little Rem 1100 Sporting Clays 28ga.

And if I was buying a new Shotgun, it would be Bennelli's cool little 28ga auto.

I've only owned one Benelli, and it was one of the first Super Black Eagle models I bought for Goose hunting. Guess it just left a bad taste in my mouth. Damn thing would get sand in it from the Peanut Fields we were hunting and start to jam with the 3.5" shells. I here they got the bugs worked out soon after.

The reason I recommended a used 1100 to the OP was he sounded like he wanted a spare 12ga auto to hunt with a few times a year. You can pick them up in the Pawn Shops here in TX after Dove Season for $400 bucks, usually.

I happen to have a Benelli 28ga. Do yourself a favor and pass on the Benelli and get the Beretta A400 28ga. 28" barrel is what Benelli should have done, lucky for you Beretta did!

I understand $400 is an easy pill to swallow.

I had one of the first SBE's to hit the market. Was given to me so I couldn't say no. The only problems I had with it was light loads. But that can be fixed. The SBE's extra weight is in the wrong place for most. I never found a good reason to shoot 3-1/2" shells.

I traded the SBE for A Seminole Gunworks Benelli Super 90 Duck Devastator. I would still own that one if it wasn't for a guy I met hunting White Lake in Louisiana. He had to have it because in his mind the lenghtened forcing cones and Seminole chokes were worth his Super 90 and Beretta 391.

An Attorney friend of mine has one of the Benelli 28ga models with a 24" barrel, he's been trying to sell me I was thinking it would be the ShiiTT for quail & pheasant here in TX.

I haven't had a chance to see the Beretta in a 28ga yet, but the A-400 Beretta 20ga models sure look nice. Buddy has a 12ga that he shoots Clays and Doves with that he absolutely loves. I shot his 12ga, and it sre doesn't have much recoil.

Try the Beretta before you buy the Benelli. 24"and 26" on the Benelli is much to fast for most. 28" is where you want to be with a little lead under the fore end.

I am a waterfowler that's just about all I hunt. I have a 391 beretta, benelli SBE & M1, 2 browning golds and the guy I hunt with uses a browning gold. For reliability a SBE is very hard to beat but I shoot my M1 as much for crows doves and pigeon. Stay away from the browning golds, every one I have owned and friends that have (had) them, had problems with them when it got cold. Bolt speed slows way down and sometimes you get failure to eject. They have to be cleaned often. The benellis run dirty, not that I don't clean them but to kill ducks in east tn. you might belly crawl through weeds and brush and junk the next day you gotta hunt mud flats so junk gets into the action, dirt, mud, weed seeds, bits of bark and twigs, you name it..

A SBE is easier to clean even in the field than any semi auto made. I dropped mine on a mud flat a few years ago. I took it apart with no tools and washed it off in the creek. For a waterfowl gun the SBE is simple, rugged and 3.5" capable, a good option to have in case you have to buy ammo when traveling or if you run out and are hunting with someone who shoots 3.5s. You can shoot 3" in a 3.5 but not vis versa. The winchester SX2/3 are good guns, very similar to the gold but without the speed feed feature. They dont slow down in cold weather like the golds do, probably because the lack of the speed feed. 1100s are great guns too but the O ring can fail easily and they need to be cleaned more often.

Get a SBE and forget about it, you won't get one for 600 bucks though. I have had mine for at least 10 years and only a couple of hiccups with hard use.

Super x-2, everytime.

Since you say you don't intend to shoot 3 1/2" shells much (if at all) the 3" magnum will do everything you want. I went through the whole "bigger is better" argument when steel shells were introduced and even ended up with a 3 1/2" 10 gauge.....for very little gain in performance.

In the end I found that the 3" shell is at the top of the usable advantage level (damn that sound awkward....but you know what I mean). Larger guns gain little (if anything) but are much more inconvienient to use (really the 3" shell gains very little over the 2 3/4" on decoyed ducks).

I admit I am an old-school blued steel and walnut kind of guy (some say old fasioned). To me, the best compromise in ther used market is the 3" Browning A-5.....my own personal waterfowl gun. Reliable, effective and "classy" in appearance.....and will do anything a 3 1/2" gun (12 or 10 ga.) will acomplish with more style and less weight.

Second choice (if semi-auto is a requirement) would be the Remington 1100. If semi-auto isn't a priority, the Remington 870 in 3"......or my choice.....a 3" double would serve as well and be even more reliable.

Weight can be added much more effectively with lead in the stocks or such rather than s lsrger, more awkward 3 1/2" action. Also, the use of steel is NOT a requirement. There are much better non-toxic loads than steel.....and they all work better in 3" (or even 2 3/4") guns over decoys.

The really big guns (3 1/2" 12 gauge or 10 gauge) are "specialty" guns and seldom required for waterfowl in "normal" settings

[quote=Backroads] Looking to spend right around $600 for a 3 1/2" chambered 12ga semi-auto.
Locally I can get a nice Browning Gold for that, there is also a Winchester sx2.
For a little more I can pick up a HK stamped SBE just down the road as well.
What do you guys recommend for a reliable, softer shooting waterfowl gun?
Hunted a couple times last year at well below zero, probably will again.

Not on your list BUT we hunt A LOT in cold weather our group has most of the big names in waterfowl guns and far and away the most reliable is the Beretta. I hae a 391 ans an A300 my two partners shoot 391s and of the bunch we are the ones who av no problems, second best is the SX2/3. Our waterfowl season runs from Sept. to Mar. with a few breaks in between and the Berettas are the ones that preform day in and day out no matter
the weather.
As far as 3.5" goes, when goose hunting, I load my first 2 shots with 3" and my 3rd 3.5". I don't often use that last shot but when you get one of those "Kevlar" coated honkers that have been rocked hard but keep flying that last 3.5" can make all the difference in the world between a goose in the bag and one that flies away to die latter.
Hint for cold weather shooting clean all grease and oil out of your action with starting fluid or brake cleaner and relube with graphite powder.

Feb. '14 -10 degrees



Dec. '13 -17 degrees

I own and shoot 12 ga.browning gold,winchester SX2.I recently bought a franchi affinity 20ga.(they also make 12ga.in this model)and have to tell ya my choice is the Franchi.

My Benelli 20 is blessed with a 24" by choice. That kind of compensates for the extra length of the receiver. I love it the way it is.

When I get a 28 (soon) it will be a 24" as well. Daughter and SIL both use them with 26" barrels and love them. I have shot them and still believe in the 24" for quail. Longer might be better for dove, but I have other shotguns.

My first Benelli was a 28 inch Legacy with a weighted forend cap. It was a great clays gun, but the pitts for upland game.

For the duck gun, topic of discussion, I would ask how you hunt. For example, it doesn't take a cannon for decoyed ducks. Geese from pits is entirely another matter.

My A-5 Light 12 Browning has been my companion since 1963. They were not steel compatable. A Jap barrel solved that, but limits me to 2 3/4" shells. It never gives me grief. When it was my only shotgun, I cleaned the action once a year, but scrubbed the plastic residue out of the barrel every few boxes of ammo. The Magnum 12 is normally well priced on the used market.

I'm not a 1100/1187 fan. To each his own. I am a big time fan of the 870 and Model 12, but you are looking for semi-autos.

Good luck with your search,

Jack

I hunt ducks and geese just about every way I can.
Jump shooting, both on foot and from canoe.
Pass shooting from a couple well placed covers
Over dekes too, from canoe and in fields.

Still in the market for a 3.5in semi-auto, had to save up again after a sweet little SKB 500 in 20ga came up for sale here.

I've used a Browning Gold just fine in the cold. It is a good gun. But I consider it too heavy for pheasant usage.

I've used a Benelli M2 Comfortech also. I prefer the Benelli for an all-around auto shotgun. I cannot tell the difference in recoil between the two, but the Benelli sure is lighter.

Learn to run a pump-it just isn't that hard to do-and all those reliability, light load/heavy load, clean/dirty issues disappear. Win Model 12 or Rem 870 for the win by much more than a nose.

Buy what fits. Go look at a bunch, maybe your local gun club can help out and let ya shoot some too. Im an 1100 guy cz I shoot them well but there all pretty dam good..

Have you looked at the Beretta A300 Outlander? They are pretty solid 3" guns with a reliable gas system. They can be had new for a pretty reasonable price.

The older HK SBE's are highly sought after here in Arkansas, especially if it has a 24" barrel. I probably don't have to tell you, but with the older HK guns's some guy's still take the chance and do the Benelli shuffle. I have never found the need for shooting 3 1/2" shells to kill ducks. But to each his own. If the HK Benelli is in excellent to new condition, it will appreciate in value. If you are young, and don't mind the weight of a gas gun, the Beretta AL 390 would be hard to beat.

The only used super 90 I have seen around here was a Montefeltro and was priced at 1100.
Yikes
Ended up getting a Winchester SX3 waterfowl on sale
Will be putting it through its paces for the next couple months