Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Turkey/Duck combo gun

12 gauge is a must. Autoloader is a must. Synthetic is a must. Reliable for certain. Thinking Benelli, what say you?

My combo guns for the same purpose have been made by Browning, Beretta, Remington, Ithaca, and Mossberg. I have not been a fan of Benelli though they are good guns.

26" barrel M1 or M2. You are on the right track. Throw in a Wolff increased power recoil spring and they are darn near unstoppable.

Why not a fan of Benelli? just curious

This ^^^^^^^^

I’ll toss in a plug for the Franchi Affinity.

Mine digests everything from the lightest trap loads to the heaviest coyote and turkey loads without missing a beat. I’m sure the benelli does as well, but it’s just another option to consider.

You can't go wrong with either one of the three B's!! Browning, Beretta, or Benelli....However I just bought a Franchi Affinity 3 in a 20 gauge, I've set up for a turkey gun so far I like it a lot Like Ky221 said take a look at the Franchi Affinity 3 but be fair to yourself and go look and shoulder all 4 to see which one fits you best....I also have a Browning Maxus that I use for waterfowl....It handles and comes up to the shoulder nice, I'm real fond of the Maxus.

Benellis tend to be lighter than I like for the uses that most buy them, especially turkey and waterfowl. For such use I prefer gas operated autoloaders. The stocks tend to be a bit short too though that can be fixed readily enough. My main reason for preferring something else stems from long ago when Benelli was imported by Heckler & Koch. The brand became very popular very quickly and there were problems with supply meeting demand. I feel quality control was lowered to meet demand as I saw a number of these guns have problems in the field. I was guiding goose Hunter's then and many of those with new guns had various issues when put to hard use. It was not uncommon to have hunters with new guns end up using someone's spare by the end of the week.
That, coupled with their rather high cost has never caused me to have much appeal for them. They are now not bad guns by any stretch of the imagination but I do not see their value matching their cost. Just my opinion, others have differing criteria that would lead to different results.

Benelli without question.

Its a chevy vs. ford vs. toyota vs. dodge debate. It rages on infinitely.

Find the one that fits you best and clean it every thousand shells or so and you'll be good.

My vote would be for a Super X3 or a Super X4. Ultra-reliable.............softer shooting than the Benellis.............easier on the wallet, too.

If you DO go with the Italian Mossberg..............be absolutely SURE to load it in the dark at the truck in the morning and be SURE to bring the bolt the whole way back and let it slam shut.

I think you couldn’t go wrong with any of them. If possible shoot the ones you like, your choice would be easier.
I would go with a gas gun just because the ammo for ducks and turkey carry a heavy load and kicks a lot. I use my Beretta 391 sporting for both. I bought it 20 years ago for sporting clays, but got invited to go duck hunting shortly after and not wanting to get beat up by one of my doubles took it. It worked fine.
Started turkey hunting a few years ago and it got the call again. It’s latest victim is in the 2020 turkey thread, page 5.
Are there better choices? Sure, but any good auto-loader will do. It’s sure fun to agonize over a new shotgun, Lots of good choices here. Have fun with it, good luck.

I hunt a ton of both waterfowl and turkey. My main dual purpose gun is a 26” barreled benelli super black eagle II. Bought it when they first came out(somewhere around 2004/2005). I’ve used it hard, and never had a single issue with it. It cycles everything from 3.5” magnums to 1oz dove loads. I’ve since move to a benelli m2 that I specifically set up for turkey only duty and the sbe II is now just a waterfowl gun. Also, there’s no need to slam the bolt shut to make sure the gun is fully into battery. All one needs to do is learn how the gun operates. It’s a rotary bolt. One can ease the bolt foreward and simply rotate the bolt head closed with your finger if stealth is a necessity. It’s also pretty simple to check it in the field in the same manner if there are any concerns that a hard knock moved the bolt out of battery. I’ve never once had any of my 3 benellis not fire when I pulled the trigger. They’re light weight, bullet proof, and Uber reliable.

Of the Semi Automatic Shotguns I presently own, which are Remington 11-87 Special Purpose, Remington 1100, Beretta Extreme, and Benelli SBEII, all of which are excellent. The Benelli SBE II is my favorite.

[quote=Yoder409]My vote would be for a Super X3 or a Super X4. Ultra-reliable.............softer shooting than the Benellis.............easier on the wallet, too


This is to avoid the "Benelli Click "

Benelli click... LMAO!

A $10 Wolff spring all but eliminates the "Benelli click" that's due to the rotating bolt not seating fully into battery. Since the intended use is for turkey and waterfowl it would be no issue with possibly not cycling light loads. My SBE 2, M2 Waterfowl and H&K M1 Super 90 all have the Wolff Springs and never have had issues with 1 1/8 of loads which is my personal minimum for 12 ga...anything lighter and I use my inertia 20 ga which is made by ATA and the same gun as the Weatherby Element. I have several 1187s in 12 and 20 and an 1100 Competition but for hunting guns I choose inertia for the simplicity and weight savings. Buddies have all the 3.5" Berettas and while nice, they feel like 2x4s to me and heavy.

Benelli click = operator error. I've ran two H&K M1's HARD for probably 25 years with zero issues.

Or buddies messing around with you. I've never experienced it but with the factory spring it is possible to set the gun down hard enough to dislodge the locking bolt head and the spring isn't strong enough to re-seat on it's own. The Wolff springs are string enough it is nearly impossible to do this without being intentionally rough on the gun. Plus they help ensure proper function in extreme cold. At least that's my opinion....worth what everyone paid for it.

Your opinion is valid and appreciated. If a guy is concerned about such an issue the Wolff spring can possibly help prevent that and certainly isn't going to hurt anything. I do get tired of hearing about the infamous "Benelli click" as if it happens constantly and is a major issue for consideration before buying an inertia Benelli shotgun. I honestly feel it's one of those internet tales that gets regurgitated by people as a talking point because they want to be part of the discussion. Though most have no actual experience with it.

I had, honestly, never heard of it before (because I run FN gassers) until I was reading a thread in another forum. Guy was hunting turkeys and had "The Benelli Click". Then a not insignificant number of other guys posted in that they had also, first-handed had it happen to them, too. My posting here to that point was just to inform a potential buyer of the possibility.

Like I said......... I have no first-hand knowledge of "The Click". I shoot Winchesters. 😂😂😂