Semi-autos - How is Benelli ?

[speakerguy79]

First off, I hate cleaning semiautos. Benelli is supposed to be more like traditional break-opens in cleaning because they have no gas system. Are they really that clean?

The other reasons I'm looking at them is I love nicely finished high quality guns and they are supposed to be extremely reliable.

BUT

Is the recoil reduction similar to other semi-autos that use a gas system?

If not, how do Benelli's in general recoil? How do they 'feel' if you had to put it in words?

Are they reliable with a wide variety of loads? I am most concerned about reduced recoil loads functioning reliably.

Are shorter or aftermarket barrels available for them?

Do they make anything in a high gloss finish? I love my Remington 700 with its high gloss stock. I think it's beautiful and as a woodworker myself I find high gloss finishes more durable in general.

Thank you for any help!

 

[mikenbarb]

I own a Benelli SBE and its the easiest to clean out of all the semi-autos I own. They are great guns but mine kicks more than my Browning Gold 3.5 but not by much with 3 1/2 magnum waterfowl loads but the 2 3/4 mags feel like 3" recoil for some reason. And yes, The barrel is like cleaning a single shot or a pump. I have had mine for a while now and ran thousands of shots thru it with no problems except not hitting everything I shoot at with it.lol

 

[BigJimP]

I have a 12ga Benelli super sport - carbon fibre stock - with the comfort tech system in it. They're retailing out here for about $ 1,700. Its a good gun for the money.

With the comfort tech system - they are a soft shooting gun, in my opinion ( softer than a gas gun / hard to tell ). They are a very clean shooting shotgun / and they will handle a variety of loads as long as they are at least 1200 fps. Its my opinion you should clean your gun after every range trip, etc - and keep it lubed as well - but if you wanted to clean it every ( 5th or 10th time ) you can probably get away with it. You sure cannot do that with a gas gun - although Beretta has a decent reputation for reliability as well.

The Benelli is also very quick to cycle - for 2nd and 3rd shells. It is definitely faster than most gas guns. The Benelli also has more adjustability than most of the gas guns - optional comb pad and butt pads on the super sport. Their wood stock guns have less adjustability.

I use mine primarily as a travel and a rain gun .....its not a great trap gun / but it handles skeet, sporting clays, and field gunning very well. Super sport and the crio barrels come with 5 chokes so it'll take care of what you need. I prefer the 12ga in a 30" barrel - its a very light gun - and the longer sight plane is a plus.

 

[Stagger Lee]

Want to see a Benelli in action? Watch Tom Knapp with his out-of-the-box Benelli.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpv0yZC3iMM

 

[jmr40]

I love my Benelli M1 but recoil reduction is not one of the strong points. A good recoil pad helps and the newer M2"s are supposed to have a better recoil reducing stock. I also use a Remington 870 and feel the recoil is very comparable. I'm used to the 870 so it is not a big deal to me. You will not get the feel of a gas auto.

 

[B Hillen]

Love my Montefeltro

Hey, I have a 20 Ga. Montefeltro. Bought it for upland birds. The gun has never dissapointed me or my GWP's. I have since used the Montefeltro for skeet - never have gone quite straight with it, but have come close. Has much greater recoil than my 20 Ga. Citori O/U, but is a joy in the field - very fast handling and light!

 

[ebutler462]

Should anyone want to save a few hundred dollars, buy the Stoeger 2000. It also has the inertia action. It is light and very reliable and has a very similar Vursan action made by the same company with slightly changed specs and a little less polish. I have been using them for over 5 years and am satisfied with them. They are light and very reliable. I use 7/8 oz loads regularly with no problems.

There is very little difference in the actions. Vursan is a subsidiary of the Stoeger/Benelli/Franchi/Beretta group and makes many of the parts of the higher priced brands.

The recoil spring differentiates the higher priced brands (in the stock) from the less polished brands (around the magazine tube). All of these guns are very reliable with heavy loads. Those with the recoil spring around the tube tend to be able to handle the lighter loads, in my experience.

My nephew has 2 of the $1500 Benellis that will not cycle light loads while my 2 $400 2000s will cycle anything you feed it. His guns are so similar to mine that when we disassemble them, the only way to tell the parts apart is that his is more polished and won't interchange. Almost but not quite.

Happy shooting!! Gotta go get my daily dose of radiation at the cancer treatment center.

 

[Logs]

I have the Benelli M1 Field 3 inch gun and a Beretta 391. I think the recoil on both is the same and they have two different actions. I let my dad borrow my M1 Field and he shot his first turkey with it at 56 steps. The Benelli is easier for me to clean. Both my guns shoot light and heavy loads with NO problems. Love them both.

 

[SR420]

I have a M1 Super 90 that I purchased in 1993. It kicks hard, but it's accurate and very easy to clean.

 

[bclark1]

I know a few owners and I've yet to hear anything more critical than the above. I wanted to buy one when I was getting a semi-auto 12ga, but they were just a little out of my price range. Still on the "some-day" list!

 

[LanceOregon]

Beretta has bought out many of the biggest gun makers in Europe, so there are now quite a few companies that are owned by Beretta. This includes Benelli.

Since Beretta acquired Benelli, they have made the Benelli Inertia Recoil System that is used in their shotguns available to two of their other companies: Franchi and Stoeger. So one can now buy shotguns from either of those two Beretta companies now that have the same action, along with all the same benefits, but cost less than a Benelli.

So you can get a Benelli Inertia action shotgun for a lot less money than the high price of the Benelli guns now.

.

 

[ebutler462]

Lance, you are so right. The action parts are all made at the same factory to slightly different specs. The Benelli action parts are polished a bit more than the less economical brands, but who cares? They all are very reliable guns. I have a couple of the Stoeger 2000s and they reliably cycle 7/8 oz loads all day. If someone took a Franchi I-12 and a 2000 and laid the parts side by side, there would not be able to tell the difference. Yet, they have very slight different dimensions which prevent them from interchanging.

Some of the Benelli actions have 3.5" capabilities. However, the 3" models have virtually the same parts as the 2000 and the I-12 made to slightly different dimensions and highly polished. The Benelli actions are smoother when cycled by hand due to the smoothing or polishing of the action parts.

I have found that the economy models will cycle lighter loads than their higher priced sisters and brothers. As I stated, my 2 2000s will cycle 7/8 oz with full reliability. My nephew's Benelli balks a lot even with 1 oz loads.

Each to his own!!

Happy shooting!!

 

[Ruthless4christ]

hey guys I have never owned a semi shotgun, and have always heard from my relatives(duck hunters) that semis are very unrealiable and jam up alot. now i have read online and in magazines that Benelli is differant. is this true? i know that no gun is foolproof but would i be able to depend on this gun?

 

[LanceOregon]

What people are telling you about semiauto unreliability is extremely untrue. Good quality semiauto shotguns are very reliable.

My Beretta AL391 Extrema 2 is one awesome shotgun, and handles everything from 3.5 inch super magnum loads to light 1 oz target loads with complete reliability. Here is a photo of me with my Extrema shortly after I got it:

And here is a close up of it with the action opened:

And here is my Beretta AL391 Extrema 2 next to my other hunting shotgun, a Beretta AL391 Urika:

And here are my two Deluxe Edition Beretta semiauto shotguns. These are both older model A390 guns:

Semiauto shotguns do require more maintenance, though. Gas piston semiauto guns like my Berettas require the most, as you need to keep the gas piston and its chamber clean, and not let carbon build up over time. If you neglect the gun, it can even rust.

As you can see, though, I keep my guns clean .....
.

 

[BigJimP]

My Benelli super sport has no trouble cycling 7/8 oz loads as long as they are 1200 fps. My super sport is very reliable / and in 2+ years, I don't think its ever failed to cycle a shell.

 

[jmr40]

I currently own both Beretta and Benelli and have owned the Stoeger in the past. All are fine guns with their own strengths and weaknesses and I would have no trouble reccomending any of them. The Stoeger is probaby the best buy and I was completely satisfied with mine. I only sold mine after I ran a cross a great deal on a used Benelli and was able to sell the Stoeger for a profit.

I'm still not convinved about the Benelli and Stoeger parts being built in the same factory however. Not saying you are wrong but I would like more information on this. If the parts were interchangeable I could see why they would want to do this but other than choke tubes nothing else is even remotely the same. They both work on the same principal but the actions, barrels, magazine tubes and stocks are all quite different. I fail to understand why they would produce 2 different actions in one location only to ship one of them thousands of miles away to be assembled when they both were doing fine independently for years.

 

[ebutler462]

Breda was the inventor of the inertia action. It was licensed by them to the Stoeger Group which includes Benelli/Franchi/Beretta/Stoeger. What was originally the Vursan factory in Istanbul is now Stoeger Silah Sanayi A.S., a state of the art factory that has the latest in CNC machining and highly computerized tooling equipment. RetiredLawman recently visited several factories in Turkey and has high praise for their cleanliness and engineering proficiency. Stoeger makes barrels and actions and many other parts for other brands. They are made to the specifications required and are shipped to the various companies that outsourced them.

Seeing as how they are under the same umbrella company, why would it not be more economical to specialize the parts manufacture to various factories owned by the same holding company. Since the principle of the inertia was licensed to the Stoeger Group by Breda, different specifications for the other brands using the actions is not a violation of the license. It would be logical to have the more economical brands to have slightly different specs so as not to interchange.

Consolidating parts manufacture at other factories under the same umbrella would seem to be an economical measure. Assembly points are the "Made In" country. Stoeger and Cougar firearms are made in Turkey, many of the other higher priced firearms are assembled in Italy from parts outsourced or made locally. Thus Made in Italy.

I think this is a fair explanation as I understand it.

 

[jmr40]

ebutler462, thanks for the reply. I am not trying to be difficult and am not questioning the quality of any guns or parts made in Turkey. Having owned both I can honestly say both have been 100% reliable and would recommend either to anyone asking my opinion.

I guess I do not understand the ecomomics of modern manufacturing. The Stoeger was being built in Turkey and the Benelli in Italy independently of each other for years before Beretta purchased both. I just do not understand how it would benefit either company do do this when they already had factories set up to produce their own guns.

 

[12ptdroptine]

I looked at the Stoeger 2000 before I bought my M2.... I didnt like the way the end of the barrel looked where they cut the threads for the choke tube's. I could detect some distortion ..It almost looked a little swelled or maybe a little stretched where the tap had been run... The store attendant looked and seen the same thing.. I also noticed this on the Stoeger side by side shotgun's..That is why my SXS is a fixed choke....I bought the M2 and REALLY love it. I sold my 1187 because of the cleaning chore's..And no other reason..However the M2 sure is a sweet shooter. The recoil is not even an issue for me. Do your homework. Use the informatino you get from here to help you make your decision...But make that decision from your own oppinion.. Look at them all and compare. Good Luck Drop

 

[ebutler462]

JMR, specialization!! Change is rampant in every industry now. It is an economy measure, I'm sure, to have various factories specialize in what they do best. In this global economy we share, almost nothing is made in just one country. Parts are outsourced for pretneat every product. When a holding company has several factories scattered all over the globe, it is an economy move, IMO, to have these facilities producing what they can do cheaper and faster. In industry nothing changes but change. The bottom line is all that matters. I haven't been there but I'd bet that every one of these plants have streamlined their operations over the past few years to specialize in various stages of gun manufacture. It seems only logical that they would.

There have been some very interesting articles in the various gun magazines over the past few months that have caught my attention. Breda was the inventor of the inertia action. They licensed it to Beretta, and now almost every shotgun that the Beretta/Beneli/Stoeger/Franchi Group makes is an inertia action. Only a few are gas. It seems only logical that they make the inertia actions, barrels, stocks, etc., in the factories that can make them cheapest, then assemble them in whatever factory they choose. After all, Turkey has a very low labor/wage scale and certain parts can be made much cheaper there.

My thoughts for the day!