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.