Do the new Italian autos really offer anything over the 1100s?
The newer designs are much lighter, but you said you're using it for shooting sports, not hunting, so that shouldn't matter in that case.
Recoil-wise, I don't think that extra weight on the 1100s helps much. A few years back I switched from an 1100 to a Benelli M2, and I was shooting a bit so could make a pretty good comparison. I decided that (using target and light game loads) the Benelli kicked me less. The difference could have been the modern recoil pad and reduction features, as the 1100 had an old Pachmayr pad from the 60s on it, so YMMV.
Reliability wise, using the same cheapest-possible factory ammo, I'd say the 1100 rarely if ever gagged, but the Benelli occasionally would. Again, maybe it got the worst of the ammo, I don't know.
Since you can probably get used 1100s at half the price of used modern B-guns, I think the questions are really moot. They'll work, and at a half million rounds of ammo, the initial cost of the gun is beyond irrelevant anyway.
