Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Need help on a decision

On the prowl for a great shotgun and I've got it narrowed down to 3 and my LGS. These will be used primarily for waterfowl
First is a new Winchester sx4 28"---$859

Next is a used browning maxus sporting 30"---$900

Lastly is a Benelli M2 28"---$995

My heart has me leaning toward the maxus but the Winchester has my attention too. I just don't have any experience with them

Anybody got any insight, or things to know about these shotguns? Good news is I doubt any of them are junk

Browning Maxus
Benelli M2
Winchester in this ord

Flip a quarter between the Browning and Benelli. Or whichever fits you better.

Fit here is important. I had an M2 but could never get comfortable with the stepped rib. Ended up selling it.

Benelli is an inertia gun. Will be lighter, recoil more, and have the easiest takedown of the three.

Maxus is a great gun but I assume the sporting has a wood stock. Not what I'd choose for primary waterfowl.

Not on your list, but a new Browning Silver or A300 would be worth a look too.

Of the 3 you mentioned, the Benelli will be the most reliable and the only one I’d consider. As another poster said, skip all three and get a Beretta A300. Less money and IMO the clear best value in the autoloader market.

The Benelli

Funny some of you guys said the Beretta A300 because that is one I forgot to include as one of the favorites. After I posted, I remembered that I liked it too. I have read the Beretta had some trigger issues about a year ago, does anybody know if that has been fixed?

Of the ones listed - I'd go Win first. Yeah I said it - one hell of a shotgun that has never choked for me. Trap loads to 3.5 snow goose killing roman candles.

When I was younger we'd do a lot of "redneck" diver hunting. We'd wade out infront of a friends house into the bay. Toss dekes and then simply set up, in the water/weeds on stools in our waders and shoot blue bills. SX was soaked and 1/2 submerged at anytime for hours. Never a single issue (proper clean after). Trust them completely.

I have not had a SX4 but did have a SX3. It fit me better than the others listed and I did own a Benelli but borrowed a buddies Maxus.
If it were me, I would go Win, Browning and Benelli in that order.

So to throw a kink in the mix......the a300 ultima is only $699.99 and its brand new. How does that change things?

Where do you get the most reliable part of it? Have you taken apart both of them and had and shot them any for a period of time?

Love my m2 . Ive shot it a lot without a single issue

Note the safety location on the Berettas. You may be okay with it, I would not. Just something else for you to consider.

I've shot a couple Benellis and still have one. They've worked fine in poor conditions. I admit I quit Browning gas guns after owning a couple of their Gold models. They ran ok clean, but not dirty. My buddy shoots more than me and he ditched his Maxus due to jamming. He now shoots the A300 and it runs like a charm. YMMV but I've seen enough gas operated Brownings.

Right now I am leaning hard toward the Beretta

I am a Benelli fan. That seems like a good deal on tbe Benelli M2.

I have two Winchester SX4s and two Maxus IIs. I will say the SX4 is right up there with the Maxus II in terms of performance. In terms of fit and finish, the Maxus II is a little nicer. You see this mainly on the internal parts. Maybe the Maxus is a little more refined. The Maxus II also has a magazine cut off switch that lets you change out a shell in the chamber without cycling in a new one from the magazine. The Maxus II also has a speed load feature - it let's you open the bolt, feed the magazine, the press a button to cycle a round from the magazine into the chamber with just a press of the button. The SX4 doesn't have these. I don't use those features, really. Both the SX4 and Maxus II work on the same gas action. Both are made by Browning in their Portugal plant. Both have chrome lined chambers and bores. Both use the Browning Invector Plus choke tube system.

If you can live without the speed load and magazine cutoff features, the SX4 and the Maxus II are identical in performance. I'd go with a new Winchester.

I don't own an inertia Benelli, but I do have a Browning A5 that uses a similar system. I like it. It's ultra reliable with heavier loads. It's a cleaner design and cleanup is a breeze. But the felt recoil is noticably harder than a gas gun when using equal shell.

Whichever one fits you best.

Went back to the gun shop and pointed the winchester, the browning, and the beretta to see which one fit me the best. The beretta was the clear winner. So now its in the back of my car.

Congrats on a fine gun!