So I am wanting to get a new semiauto 12 ga for clays, dove, and general all around hunting. I started my search looking at the Remington 1187 and the Mossberg 930. Then I thought why not throw in a little more cheddar and pick up a Beretta a300 Outlander. So I got the wife to hang around Gander Mountain one evening while I shouldered a bunch of shotguns. At once point I picked up a Benelli Montfeltro and remarked on how well it shouldered and felt. My wife then says if you looking at the Beretta why not spend a bit more and get the Benelli (what an amazing and horrible thing to say). So after fondling a dozen guns I had ruled out the Remmy's and Mossy's and was pretty set on the Beretta then she give the green light for a Benelli.

So after hours of reading reviews, discussions, and blogs I really can't find where the Benelli really has an advantage over the Beretta.

They both have pros and cons.
Beretta: Lighter recoil (gas system), not to light so it swings good for clays, awesome reputation, shoots light target loads to heavy 3" mags, good looking oil rubbed wood stock

Benelli: Cleaner inertia system, lighter weight for hunting, easier to clean, awesome reputation, shoots everything from light target loads to heavy 3" mags, good looking wood finish with good grain

So what am I gaining with spending a few hundred more on a Benelli over a Beretta? Or am I just buying the Benelli name?

I'm sure Berreta's are great. To me it came down to how they felt in my hands. A benelli just felt right. To me the Berreta felt like a club. But that's a highly subjective thing and without picking them both up you won't know. I've had my m2 for a couple years now and have run a couple cases of duck loads through it without issue.

Go w/ the Benelli over the A300, hands down. The A300 is their lower end auto, quite a different gun than the A400 (which I would prefer over the Benelli, depending on the use I intend for it).

I've held them both side by side and honestly they both felt great to me. I really wish one felt noticeably better, it would make my decision much easier.

You're not gaining anything except maybe lighter weight and a little easier to clean with the benelli. I lean toward benelli, but different models than what you're looking at and the beretta 390, no longer made, might be my favorite of all. If weight is a factor and your hunting involves a lot of walking the benelli might be better, if not the beretta will do what you want. I don't see the recoil difference as much of a factor although some would disagree. Beretta customer service has a poor reputation, the good news is, you probably won't need it, and if so you can always send it to Cole's, the beretta guy here in the US.

Being an island of one who loves double guns, surrounded by a sea of buddies who are semi-auto geeks, I have had a lot of exposure (shooting/handling, but thank god not owning one!) to both brands. It would seem that one could close one's eye and pick one and live long afterward and prosper. Two of my buddies own both makes and swear that the slight advantages of either system don't counterbalance the other enough to tilt the scales.

Have looked at but never touched either one; not a semiauto guy, at least not yet. Having said that, a factor that seems overlooked in most cases is the location of the safety. I cannot abide a safety on the front of the trigger guard, so of the two I'd have to opt for the Benelli just on that basis. Not to put a knot in the thread, but I think I would put a Remington V3 on my short list of options were I to decide to go the semi auto route, assuming I could wait for it to hit the stores.

I researched a new autoloader last year and watched YouTube video's on cleaning and make up you mind if both kinds fit similar.

In the end I bought a Ben... Franchi affinity. Its awful similar and less money.

I have had both. Extreme with the recoil reduction was great but my favorite and I still have it is my Pintail. Light weight and easy to pack in the field.

Get what fits best

I have to cast a strong vote for the Beretta. When a group of us hunts the flooded timber of Arkansas we have found that the Beretta allows for faster follow up shots than does the Benelli. I believe the A300 has a similar action to the old 390, which many consider is one of the best shotguns ever made. I have a 390 that I want to be buried with.

^^^ This...^^^ I've owned several samples of both and have come to prefer the Benelli but there are no flys on the Beretta shotguns. I'd get the one that feels best in hand and seems to jump to the shoulder and eye when briskly handled. Then shoot the heck out of it to really make it yours.

Well I pulled the trigger tonight (I bet you never heard that pun before.) I went to Gander Mountain on the way home from work and had the CS guy lay out the Montefeltro and the Beretta a300. I shouldered both and tracked imaginary birds across the store at least a dozen times. I changed my stance and shouldered them I compared the finish of the both of them. The more times I shouldered then the better one felt over the other. I ended up deciding on the Beretta in the oil rubbed wood stock. I got home and found an awesome deal online ($639 that cheaper then the synthetic most places) for it and put my order in tonight. I'm super excited and ready to bust some clays later this month.

Too move as a choice between the two.

The only thing to gain with an inertia system is much more recoil

good choice. My father shoots a benelli (comes in left handed) and I shoot the Beretta 390. I shoot both well, but I favor the 390. no wrong choice with those two. If something were to happen to my 390, I would search out another just like it. Have had it 20 years now, by far my favorite gun.

Lol, really?