Help with new shotgun choice

[bohica17]

Looking for a semi auto 12, main purpose will be turkey season here in Ohio (hopefully Tennessee soon). I do a pheasant hunt every year we do a tower shoot and then field hunt. This will be used for the tower hunt. I would like to get into goose/duck hunting. Would also like to get into some clay shooting. So basically a do it all semi 12 but will get used numerous times for run and gun public ground for turkeys every spring. Iv had lots of opinions but every gun has its bad reviews. Max limit is $1500 I’m considering benelli m2 field 26”, franchi affinity or affinity elite, a300 ultima, 940 pro turkey. Open to other ideas, posted same question on snipershide and a vast majority likes the a300 ultima there. Thanks for any advice/experiences/first hand accounts.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Eliminate any that do not shoulder well.

I'm partial to my Berettas.

 

[Adam Gibbs]

Beretta, benelli, franchi, Winchester or browning. Pick the one that fits you best and it'll last you pretty much your lifetime.

 

[Wapiti1]

You will be shooting a wide variety of ammo. I would suggest a gas operated gun, and not a recoil operated gun. So, scratch Benelli. They work great if you shoot one load and it's a stout one. Otherwise, they can be fickle.

Jeremy

 

[Desk Jockey]

You will be shooting a wide variety of ammo. I would suggest a gas operated gun, and not a recoil operated gun. So, scratch Benelli. They work great if you shoot one load and it's a stout one. Otherwise, they can be fickle.

Jeremy

my experience is a bit different than @Wapiti1 I have a pair of Benelli m2 fields. Very reliable and versatile. My main gun, “Ole Ben” is pushing 20 years old. Only issue he has had has been a warped stock that Benelli replaced free 17 years in. He gets used for rabbit, turkey, duck, occasional goose, pheasant and clays/skeet. He gobbles everything from 2 3/4 inch light target “club” loads to full octane turkey and water fowl 3 inchers. I hardly ever clean him and as long as he gets a blast of rem oil every so often, he runs like a top. I bought “lil Elly” to shoot 3 gun a while ago but converted her back to a hunting gun. With a 21 inch barrel, she is lighter and swings faster and she runs like a top too but doesn’t get shot much because Ben never has issues, so she is a safe queen and a loaner.

I have tried others but haven’t found one I like. I also like being able to shoot various ammo without swapping pistons or tuning ports.

 

[Jack321]

Benelli SBE and don't ever look back. Love mine so much it's like another extension of my arm.

(Like others have mentioned, Could also look at Winchester SX4, Beretta, Browning and u won't go wrong.)

I love my SBE because it's inertia driven as opposed to gas and it cycles everything from 2-3/4" trap loads up to 3-1/2". A duck/goose gun is gonna get dirty, wet, muddy, slopping muck.

But I shoot everything with it, doves, trap, sporting clays, turkey, waterfowl, upland game and she's never missed a beat. I've had her since '09 and it's the best gun purchase I've ever made.

I've got tons of shot guns, but I always reach for my SBE when I go to grab one out of the safe.

I've hunted in downpours in North Dakota pot hole region, snow storms and everything in-between and the gun is flawless.

I watched my own brother take a swim in N. Dakota trying to retrieve a duck and the gun got completely submerged. He shook it a few times to get the water out, took the barrel/top off and gave the chamber and bolt a wipe down, changed clothes and was back at it 10 min later and the gun still worked. A gas auto, while lighter on the shoulder probably wouldn't have functioned after a swim.

If I had one gun for the rest of my life, it'd be that SBE. Love it and will never go back.

 

[Kilowatt41]

I have had great luck with the Benelli M1 and M2 there’s some maintenance but it’s pretty easy. I have been let down with the gas operated guns. Duck hunting was pretty hard to keep our gasser running.

 

[Remington92]

My benelli SBE2 has eaten everything I’ve ever fed it to the point I even use it in trap league. Maybe a bit more recoil than the gas autos but when you crack one open to clean once a season or so and see there’s just a return spring for the bolt and the bolt itself to clean you can’t beat that level of simplicity and reliability (same goes for the m2). That being said when someone asks for a do all semi auto it’s hard not to recommend the Winchester SX3 or 4. Light weight, reliable, 3-1/2” gas auto under a grand. Had a beretta 391 years ago, not sure how it compares mechanically to the newer models but I never was overly impressed with how it shot.

 

[MT_Fin]

My preference is Benelli M2, but the SBE3’s are great as well.

 

[Slugz]

Another SBE3 fan here. All weather. All conditions. From double double limits in Alberta to Doves in Colorado.

FYI: I don't know why but the prices are coming down in auctions. Maybe too many in the market I don't know but I know two people in the past two weeks that bought em for 1550$

 

[Tod osier]

I'm jumping in with the Benelli guys here, get the M2 if it fits you and you like how it feels. I'm on way over 20 years on an original SBE, but I've been around all of them, great guns as are the Berettas.

 

[willtim]

Benelli M2. I own several and they are rock solid. Avid waterfowler.

 

[yfarm]

Little different perspective here. I live on the coast and needed a 3.5” 12 semi auto to hunt ducks, conservation white goose season and not be concerned about salt corrosion. Like short barrelled shotguns on top of that. Bought a Mossberg 935 turkey gun, checks all the boxes, performance has been flawless. This is coming from a Browning, Cooper, Barrett owner

 

[Sandstrom]

Remember, a shotgun is supposed to do three things, boom, boom, and boom. I have had great luck with my Benelli’s. Thousands of rounds from skeet to magnums without a jamb yet.
Ryan

 

[Supaphly]

I Also love my benelli, but you should go shoulder a few. Most nice shotguns have a little adjustment to the butt stock anyway.

 

[NebraskaStickHunter]

I would say to save some money for a flat of shells or two. Look hard at the Franchi shotguns. They are inertia driven so you can’t have a soft shoulder but they seem like a great value. I don’t own one but if the browning a5 I bought doesn’t continue to just go click bang dead or I just decide I need another in the stable, the Franchi would be it. But it does come down to shouldering and personal preference because the guns we are talking about all do the work just some with more creature comforts than the next. Good luck with the purchase.

 

[Choupique]

Personally I'd get a benelli montefeltro and put the leftover money towards shells. I never use 3.5" shells for anything and very rarely use 3" even for ducks.

I'm a big fan of the ultralight but I think those are a tick above your budget these days, and it's really difficult to say if the extra coin is worth the slight weight reduction vs the regular Monte. They probably have 90% parts commonality just by looking at them. I can say the ultralight is VERY nice to hunt with. Benellis aren't delicate like many wood/blued guns are. The wood is epoxy coated and the blueing is extremely well done.

I know of a dove outfit who only uses beretta A300's as their loaner guns. They said they drastically outlive everything else on the market. Can't go wrong with anything from beretta.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Using a benelli as a turkey gun can lead to heartache unless it's an sbe3 or ethos, due to benelli click from trying to close the action quietly. They've only fixed that on the 2 models I listed.

My wife's Montefeltro 20ga tried to rip the fingers off of everyone who put shells into it. Terrible geometry inside that action.

So, my vote is for any of the gas guns from a B brand. My bils a400 extreme is better built than my maxus, but they both run great.

 

[Remington92]

Using a benelli as a turkey gun can lead to heartache unless it's an sbe3 or ethos, due to benelli click from trying to close the action quietly. They've only fixed that on the 2 models I listed.

My wife's Montefeltro 20ga tried to rip the fingers off of everyone who put shells into it. Terrible geometry inside that action.

So, my vote is for any of the gas guns from a B brand. My bils a400 extreme is better built than my maxus, but they both run great.

I've always found the benelli click thing to be overstated. None of my autos like to be closed slowly whether that be benellis, winchesters, or ithacas, heck even AR's. Although not as obvious as like on my sx2 its still not hard to tell the SBE2 isn't in battery and pull the bolt back a half inch and drop it in place.

I will give you that the engineer at benelli that made the meat fork shell lifter should be taken out and beaten. I swap to a welded lifter on every benelli I buy

 

[motofrog]

I’ve had the 26” Franchi Affinity, 28” Benelli SBE and I now have a 26” Beretta A400 Extreme. The A400 points so naturally and really soaks up the recoil, it’s by far my favorite. No worse on cleaning/maintenance than the inertia guns either.