Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Why are shotguns so expensive now?

My policy is to never lose sight of my truck when my guns are in it. We stop in Memphis every year to eat ribs on the way to Arkansas for a duck hunt. We NEVER allow a situation where we can't see the truck. We heard of another group of duck hunters heading to Arkansas that lost all their guns and some of their clothes/bags on the way out there while they were eating somewhere.

I have always loved wood stocks and blued steel. Today it seems as though everything is heading for the plastic/stainless steel route and I find myself cold with that.

However, if you do want to find the best semi-auto shotgun in the world, you would probably have to look to the Benelli Supers. Like them or not, if you go to Argentina or Chile or any other country in South America, where they shoot the living snot out of the guns and run 100's of thousands of rounds through them, you won't see the lodges using 1100's and the like, Benelli is the one you will find more than any other.

There is nothing to compare with a fine English double, but when it is icky out and I want something I can abuse and not worry about, a Benelli works great...

Yep, Benelli is one make that disproves the theory that modern semiauto shotguns are undependable. I was just down in Argentina this April and the "lodge guns" go through at least 100,000 rounds every season. They're Benelli Montefeltro 20-gauges that are several years old. Yeah, they need a part replaced now and then, but not very damn often.

And some Benelli autos have pretty nice wood, and I haven't shot one yet that doesn't balance well and have a good trigger.

I also know more than one gunsmith who works on high-priced shotguns who loves Purdeys, because they need "adjustment" so often compared to German and Italian doubles, and Purdey owners are willing and able to pay for that adjustment. But everybody knows Purdeys are the best shotguns in the world....

Perazzi and Beretta are fine O/U that will normally give more than most ask them to take. Kreighoffs are fine but complicated, and if not so well made with quality parts and attention to detail they would't work very long. They are expensive.

Benelli rules when it comes to semi-autos, but a girl I know has had feeding issues with hers. Dressing up a Benelli with nice wood is a waste of nice wood.

Other than recoil-which is a big other-semi-autos can be a pita. They break comparatively more frequently when used hard and require more maintenance then any other action type. Know a few clubs that use them for club guns and rentals and may have 30 or more. These get used hard and a few of them are always down waiting for a part replacement or are being fiddled with. And certain individual ones are genetically flawed and are not ever reliable.

But If it has to work come rain or shine I'll take a solid American pump.

Know a guy who shoots an 870 so much that he has gone thru a bunch of trigger parts. Only reason for issues is the trigger parts are of cheap quality to begin with. But he is the exception and probably shoots 30,000 rounds a year.

Addition: One guy I know was down in Argentina shooting Doves and he said while they were having a tody at days end the workers were going over each semi every night. Taking them apart and cleaning an oiling parts. Any that had problems that day were culled out until they started working again.

Also at the one club Beretta gives them their rental semis and replaces them on a regular basis. They want to put them in the hands of new shooters hoping for a future purchase. Not sure if the they do the same in Argentina.

Beretta semis are 10 x's the gun a Benelli is. I never have, and never will understand the love for an inertia gun when you can shoot a gas gun. It makes zero sense to me.

Actually the Beretta semi rules in numbers on the sporting clay range, but I always hear that Benalli has them beat for not skipping a beat. Have a Beretta and it has been extremely reliable.

I have shot both and the Beretta seems to kick less

I like the handling of a Beretta better myself.

Franchi seems to make a pretty nice gun for the money.

I have fewer problems in the field with inertia guns, than I do with gas guns. I'm not a venerate gun cleaner. Inertia guns work better for me, personally.

Still, my favorite autoloader is an obscure older Manufrance I got back in the late 70's from a product rep. It was his sample, and it has never missed a beat. It will shoot the lightest dove loads to the heaviest 3" 12ga loads with its progressive spring gas venting system...

AND it was Cheap!

These high priced plastic wonders are akin to Corona Beer. Corona is one of the cheapest to produce as a corn beer, but marketing made it Yuppie...just like the Italian zip-guns.

That's inertia semis through and through.

Definitely nowhere near a shotgun expert, owned a SBE I and a Beretta, call me simple but I still own a cheaper Winchester/FN SX3 and am happier with the sx3 than i was with the Benelli Super or the Beretta that moved on down the road years ago.
SO let me add a vote for the lowly less-expensive Winchester/FN sx3, a damn fine shotgun in my experience!

I've always wondered how much a model 12 or Super X1 would cost to produce now...the same way they were produced new. I'm guessing it would make a Vinci seem cheap. I think it was around $450 for a super X when the 1100 was introduced at around $150. That was the early 60's wasn't it?

The Winchester Super X model 1 semi auto would cost over $2000.00 and likely higher to produce again. Having been designed with a "Short stroke" gas system the Super X was the fastest cycling gas shotgun and best semi-auto shotgun ever produced in the USA.

Having 5 Super X's it is the easiest shotgun to strip down for cleaning.

Doc