Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Browning A5 or Benelli SBE 3?

I have narrowed it down to these two for a do-all shotgun, this gun will be my Spring Turkey shotgun and My Rabbit/Squirrel shotgun in the Fall...I think they have very similar actions and are priced pretty close, I dont think I could really go wrong with either gun but I would like to hear opinions for some that know a lot more about shotguns than me......Thanks Hb

SBE3 all the way. The original Browning is a truly wonderful old shotgun, but it simply does not keep up with the other in terms of reliability. The new model is still just a recoil-operated shotgun with a hump added for looks...

Yeah, its the new Model A5 I am considering, I was under the impression that the actions on these two are basically the same, why is the SBE so much more reliable?........Thanks Hb

Beretta, and if I may say so, find a used Urika 2 and jump on it. Take the savings and buy some turkey chokes and a bunch of ammo.

Sorry, im not interested in a gas operated shotgun......thanks anyway....Hb

Shoot sporting clays on occasion with a feller shooting the new A5, its good for at least 5 re shoots on doubles due to malfunctions. sbe if you must go inertia.

Sbe3 all day every day.
Sweetest shooting semi auto shotgun I have ever had the fortune to handle or fire

The new A5 is inertia driven very much like the Benelli. I would go with the Benelli, however if you ever needed customer service Beretta/Benelli isn't really great at that. Browning would likely give you better customer service. In Beretta/Benelli's favor is that customer service is rarely needed with one of their shotguns. The SBE is more problematic than the M2 and for your uses I don't see the need for a 3.5" chamber. M2 wasn't mentioned but it would be my choice.

That!!

Ah yes the M2 is a fantastic shotgun, I have owned a few and like them fine but I do want a 3.5" chamber, I have owned more SBE's than any other semi-auto shotgun but I recently handled an A5 and I loved the long sight plane and the dura-touch finish felt great, these are two features the good ol SBE dont have but they aint worth it if the A5 is a POS shotgun thats going to jam every third round....Hb

I have several SBE's and they are great guns. Also love my SX3. The new A5 is attractive but from what I've heard and read, the 3.5" A5 should be avoided. Lots of cycling problems.

I have a good buddy with a 3" A5 and he loves it. Shoots a fair amount of heavy (waterfowl) loads through it (1.5-2 cases/year) and it goes boom every time. He was the one who alerted me to the issue with the 3.5" guns.

Thanks thats some good info.....Hb

I hadn't been paying attention to the shotgun market. Geez, why did Browning bother calling that thing an A5? Does it have anything in common with the original design?

Besides the humpback maybe the speed loader but im not even sure the old original A5 even had the speedload feature.....Hb

The original was pretty standard but it did have a magazine cutoff - something that the Remington 11 and Savage 700 series didn't include in their versions.

I have had an M2, which I loved for 15 years, but it has been problematic with jams since new. Bought an SBE3 and shot 250 shells shooting five stand Sunday,. No jams and soft recoil. Not a bruise or flinched. Shot light 1 oz loads to 3 dram 1 1/8. M2 is now gone. do

For what it's worth the M2was great and its reliability was not typical in my opinion. I think they missed the interior receiver dimension. When new, It jammed one in five rounds. The gun shop I bought it from ground and polished some out and it dropped to jamming one or two per box and only with Rios. And yes, the new owner is aware of the issue.

What amazed me about the SBE3 was how light the recoil is. I thought about a Cordova but didn't want the porting. Great shotguns. I shoot really well with benellis. When buying, I thought about trying a new A5, but looked at the price and decided to get an SBE3.

The new A5 3.5 is a jam machine. Skip it.

Get the SBE 3 and be happy for a decade.

If you mean the first round loaded goes directly into battery, then yes, the original A5 did. At least mine does. I have the Browning A5 light twelve (a low number) for 2&3/4" shells. It was my father's, and his pride and joy. None of us kids was ever allowed to shoot that gun as a child. It was passed to me about a year ago. I hope to hunt with it this year.

I finally gave up on a new Benelli Cordoba (M2) and went back to my old Belgium Auto-5. The latter is unquestionably the most reliable shotgun on the planet.

I am also now considering a Franchi Intensity, you can get a brand new Intensity for a fraction of the cost of a SBE or a new A5....The reviews I have read on these seem all good.....Hb

I don't know if my experience with an SBE applies as I used mine in cold weather waterfowl, but I hated it. One drip of water in the action would cause it to freeze up inconsolably until introduced to warmer climes. The "Benelli click" was incredibly frustrating but could have been overcome with caution in usage. The "click" would rule this out for a turkey gun for me. While it shouldered and shot beautifully, the forearm was always loose and sloppy. The camo finish on mine would come off if you shot it a dirty look. It kicked harder than its gas-operated peers, but was not obnoxious especially considering the weight. At the considerable risk of being a pariah, I would say I found the SBE to be an over-rated, over-priced disappointment. And how I wanted to love that gun...

Can't speak to the new Browning, but I love the old ones. I have one I take out on occasion.

Yeah I also have owned 4 or 5 (i cant remember, ha) Benelli SBE's, they are pricey bastids for sure but all mine were good shotguns, no complaints with function but I cant give them the "best shotgun ever made" glowing report that many do, and I do remember the camo finish was not very durable on the shotguns I had......I Never had one with a loose forend though....Hb

I'm not the Benelli expert but think the Cordoba is more similar to the SBE than an M2 in regards to its design. What trouble did you have?

Cycling issues. Tried everything. Got to the point where I was disassembling the buttstock and cleaning the recoil spring and tube after every shoot. Refuse to buy an aftermarket kit to address a purportedly "high volume" dove gun having cycling issues after 150 rounds - especially when said high-volume gun cost me upwards of $1900.

I may have gotten a dud ... but I'm done trying to make my Cordoba a dove gun. Figure that one out.

Belgian Auto Five Sweet Sixteen... And I think you know that already. Waiting for a pic now...

That's odd. Usually Benellis run fine, until the spring is actually worn out. I would put a Wolff 25% extra power spring in it to see if that helps any (though I know you don't want to put outside parts/money into it).

I have had cycling trouble with the one Benelli M2 mentioned above. The other 4-5 I have messed with have not had a single jam. Sounds like you got a lemon, as my first one was. For what it's worth, a good one can be really good. I have a hard time using much else.

Internally they're basically the same gun other than bolt shape and how the bolt head is held into place. Also there are lots and lots of reports of the SBE3 shooting way high,too high for shims to help. 60/40 high is a normal bird gun and they have been shooting well above that ratio. I've owned multiple SBE's,SBEII's, and 3 of the new A5's and they have all been quality guns. Get the one that shoulders best for you and run with it. Personally I'd lay off the SBE3 for a couple years until they get the bugs worked out. They'll eventually make them into the solid performers their predecessors are

I'd like others to chime in on this too. There's a youtube vid that compares the M2 to the Franchi and they seem really similar. I also like that the spring is at an easier place to access.

I agree Bean, I think I like the spring in the forend better, seems it would be a more simple and easier to maintain system not to mention the Franchi shotguns are quite a bit lower priced than the A5 or SBE......Hb

I think this is some very good advice.....Thanks Luv,......Hb

I have the new version A5 (not 3 1/2 though) and a franchi intensity,,,,,,,like them both. Guess I am lucky as I have never had a failure to load, eject, or any other failure with the A5 in the field or on the sporting clays courses,,

however the last two years I have used the Franchi for ducks (made by benelli according to barrel markings),,,,,mainly becuase it's ugly already (black gun vs the beauty of the A5's wood and blued steel) and I like the high rib for some reason,,,,,,,,,,

The Franchi inertia guns (Affinity and Intensity) are great designs built very well for a nice price.

If they fit you, get one of those ahead of the Benelli.

If the Benelli ergos are your thing, then nothing else compares.

Here is an update in that as mentioned above, I am a new SBE3 owner. I am about 3-4 weeks and 500 rounds into my SBE3. I just got back from a dove hunt and the birds were flying really high. The SBE3 knocked a few out of the air WAY up there to the surprise of myself and those around me. I am a fair shotgun shot but usually in a group of 25 like this one, there are a few shots better than me. On this hunt I knocked as many birds down as anybody and maybe had the most so the gun made me look really good. So far, my thoughts:

1. I oiled the gun before shooting it the first time and haven't cleaned it yet. No malfunctions whatsoever and have used loads from 1 oz 1200 fps target loads to high brass 1 1/4 ounce.
2. Recoil is significantly less than my old M2. In fact the SBE seems to be one of the lighter recoiling 12 gauges that I have ever fired. I don't know why this is. Maybe the updated stock design.
3. I have not patterned mine but I shoot it really well and don't think it is shooting high for me.
4. The safety button is a little large and I can feel it under my trigger finger when shooting. It bothered me at first but is well contoured and I have gotten used to it.
5. The gun is REALLY long. Mine is a 28" and appears to be slightly longer than my 30" 391 Sporting gun. It handles well so I guess I am fine with it.
6. I always feel Benellis are really expensive for a design that seems like it should be fairly easy to manufacture. So yes, I think they are significantly over priced, but I shoot well enough with them, I live with over paying. Buy once; cry once.

I have several shotguns but am considering making this my primary gun for everything, including waterfowl, upland and sporting clays. I even ordered a second one as a spare and am considering selling my Beretta 391 sporting gun and just using the Benelli for sporting clays. Given how much the two Benellis cost me, selling a couple of guns is advisable and the Beretta sporting gun now feels extraneous.

Is your M2 for sale now? If so, give me a PM.

If this is referenced to me, it is now a friend's gun.

VaHillbilly, I know you said no to the gas guns, not sure why. The recent crop of gas auto's are light and very reliable. Beretta,Winchester,Browning, Remington all make good dependable guns. I was pro Benelli for years till, all these other light gas guns started showing up.

Yeah, i have owned several gas guns over the years and i have found that i like the simple/cleaner shooting Inertia guns better, but its whatever "floats your boat" if you like gas guns best, enjoy........Hb

Fair enough, then I would go Benelli by A long mile.

I hunt with a Browning Auto 5 mag 12 It has always been reliable with an occasional hiccup with light dove loads. It isn't designed to shoot 1 oz loads but I ask it to and it is usable.
This year at our annual dove hunt it wouldn't cycle at all the shot shells from Wal mart. I did a little reading online on some shot shells on shotgun sites. I read several claims that the lower priced shotshells are made with such cheap plastic now that they won't work reliably even in some pump shotguns because the shells deform when cycled through the action. I tried some better grade hulls the next weekend and it worked flawlessly. That could be part of the issue with some of these shotguns that are built well not working as they should.

One question:
Are we really comparing apples to oranges?
Isn't the new A5 about 2/3 the price of the SBE 3?

Wait, why would you want a do-all shotgun? A guy needs at least 5 or 6 to cover even basic shotgunning needs.

Apples to apples, I think they are close to the same price. Neither are cheap.

http://www.browning.com/products/firearms/shotguns/a5/current-production/wicked-wing-atacs-au.html

https://www.benelliusa.com/super-black-eagle-iii-shotgun

Yeah i think this comparison is apples to apples, the prices arent that much different.....Hb

No way would I give up a Beretta 391 to shoot clays with a Benelli.

Lol, Really? All I use a shotgun for is hunting rabbits, squirrels and Spring turkey, I can easily get by with 1 or 2 shotguns.....Now rifles are another story...Ha!.....Hb

I have a good friend that I used to shoot leagues with and he has put a couple hundred thousand rounds through a Benelli Sporting gun. Before the Benelli he shot a Browning sporting gun. He had a stroke a couple of years ago and lost his peripheral vision but still breaks clays with the Benelli and even though he can't always see the target, he now shoots 70-75 percent at sporting clays, which is off from the 90-95 that he used to shoot before the stroke.

I like my 391 but the Benelli SBE3 doesn't recoil any harder for me and is much easier to clean, which is a plus in that I have gotten lazy with gun maintenance.