Jeramie Posted November 12, 2012 Report Share Posted November 12, 2012 So two years ago I decided I needed a new shotgun. I shelved the pumps and bought a Charles Daly 3.5" duck gun because they were closing them out. Charles Daly is out of business so I bought the shotgun new for $400.00. Overall the shotgun shoots really nice. Its accurate and folds up birds. My only complaint until recently is that it wouldn’t cycle 2 3/4" shells. Still, with 3.5" and even a heavy 3" it would work. I dropped it off with a gunsmith last year to see if he could do anything with the cycling. He cleaned it and took it on a few duck hunts and told me to just break it in. Jump forward to this year. I took it dove hunting and shot way too many rounds out of it for the number of doves I got. I took it on my first duck hunt of 2012 yesterday morning. Everything seemed to be fine on the first two shots (missed, bad wind). I had two more ducks come in a few minutes later so I pulled up and *click*. Shell jammed in the chamber, action locked and will not open. Ergo, its back to the gunsmith this year during duck season... AHHHHH. So the first of next year I will be in the market for a new Semi-Auto. I am going to have this one fixed and its hit the road jack. I have already told my wife to brace herself, I plan on buying a good Semi-Auto that shoots 3.5" shells and told her I would likely spend around $800+ so I wouldn’t have to buy another. We watch Duck Dynasty together (she loves the show) so she asked about Benelli. I’m not ruling it out but even a used Super Vinci will cost over $1k. Still, I would like opinions based on solid performance. I need a rock solid Semi-Auto, open to brands, but it must shoot 3.5" shells. What say ye?...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted November 13, 2012 Report Share Posted November 13, 2012 Save a few extra months, suck it up and pay the big bucks for a new SBEII. I dislike the vincis and have seen a few have some issues. I have shot my SBEII for the past 4 years. Never an issue. I have 3 hunting partners that have them and the Extrema IIs. The Extrema IIs have been sent it for work, the SBEII have not. You want something that you can shoot for a very long time without issues, without having to google things about small changes to make the gun better, and researching why something happened when you pulled the trigger. Get a Benelli and be done. You will notice that everyone that buys a new shotgun always seems to compare it to a Benelli, good or bad, it always comes up (happened on RT very recently) There is a reason there name is so known. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Before you go dropping a mint on a Benelli, new or used......... look at a Super X2 (or Browning Gold). Would not trade my X2 for a truckload of Benellis. Haven't had the Super X3 long enough to gie it the same endorsement. But it seems to be the Super X2 in spades. Browning Maxus is the X3 with a few more bells & whistles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesse8953 Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 A guy I hunt with had all the semi autos on a counter of a shop. He walked out with the benelli SBEII.The guy at the shop said it was a proven work horse of the autos.I shoot a 870 super mag and must say i'm jealous of his new gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiethekid Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 What Semi-Auto? The benelli's are amazing however I prefer the M2 to the SBE2. The back weight just seems to feel a little better. But myself I have always been diehard remington & browning. You can get a nice used 3 1/2 rem. 1187 or browning gold or silver hunter under 1k. I have a I'm not so partial to 3 1/2's as I have a bunch of rem. and brown. 2 3/4's and 3" but I did buy the browning silver lightning ( just like the silver hunter just glossy wood) in 3 1/2 an i love it. Very light weight, goes up nicely. Cycles all size shells with ease. And after 2 seasons have no issues. And it's a great looking gun. Just some food for thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckrich Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 Last year I ponied up and bought a Browning Maxus. One of my hunting buddies had picked one up the year before and let me try it out, and I was very, very impressed. I hunted and shot clays with it all of last year and have never had a cycling issue, no matter what ammo I used(from light 2 3/4" target loads to 3 1/2" high velocity steel). I had previous experience with the SBEII and liked it, but didn't like the price. Inertia driven guns can have some cycling problems with the lighter loads, and I had heard complaints of this from a close friend so I decided on gas driven. I shot a SX3 days before my purchase and was impressed with the smooth action, but the gun didn't really fit me. After a little hands on research, I saw that the SX3 and Maxus were very similar as far as mechanically, but the Maxus has the has a magazine cut-off lever and speed lock forearm where the SX3 does not, and the gun just shouldered well for me. It also comes with adjustment shims and length of pull butt plate spacer, all of which are easy to swap out in a matter of minutes. I fully recommend the Maxus, and I think anyone would be more than happy with it. I can't really speak for the Remington Versa Max other than that I've handled it and it seems like a quality firearm. The Berreta A400's are beautiful guns and I've heard great things from customers, but I couldn't spend $1650 on a duck gun. Then if you want a touch of nostalgia, there's the new Browning A5 with the updated recoil driven system and lighter weight design. I'd really like to get to try one of these out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted November 14, 2012 Report Share Posted November 14, 2012 One thing to research before your purchase in a gas gun are which ones are now made with aluminum. Everyone is trying to go lighter weight and use aluminum these days. Customers see the word aluminum and think, oh so fancy! BUT...When you put enough shots in an aluminum gun it will wear out mulitple times faster than a steel gun. Just be aware and have that thought in your mind when buying. I shoot 18-25 cases of shells a year through my gun. From light 2 3/4 to 3 1/2 BBs. The only issue I have ever had was it freezing one morning. But, it was -11 degrees, snow and ice everywhere and using the gun to break ice that would build up within minutes. Out of the 4 guns that were out there, 2 autos and 2 pumps, not a single one worked untill we kept the recievers under our arm pits till the ducks were in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted November 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 Some added information.... Ive been reading reviews for several days. Im still open but I have to admit im not the best about cleaning my shotguns during season. That seems to make a difference on some of the Brownings and Remingtons.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 Some added information.... Ive been reading reviews for several days. Im still open but I have to admit im not the best about cleaning my shotguns during season. That seems to make a difference on some of the Brownings and Remingtons.... Just an added point, anecdotal or whatever........ When I bought my Super X2, I had heard some pretty off the wall claims about reliability. I decided to see if they were true or not. I shoot a ton of shotshells during the year....... everything from Wal-Mart 7/8 oz. low brass to 3 1/2" turkey and steel (no O-rings or springs to change). I vowed not to clean the gun until it failed to feed, eject or function. 8 years later................ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .............. I got to feeling so guilty of neglect that I broke down and cleaned the gun. Up until then and until this very day the gun has not burped once, not EVER. Can't get too much more reliable than that. The off the wall claims were absolutely spot-on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 P.S. That may be part of the reason used SX2's are selling for more today than mine cost me brand spankin' new 10 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted November 16, 2012 Report Share Posted November 16, 2012 8 years without cleaning or a malfunction? You have to be shooting under 500 rounds a year. Especially shooting cheap loads, they're always dirty. I shoot on average 20 cases a year, 5000 rounds. My gun's action finally slowed to a crawl just this past week and needed a cleaning, after 2 years. I have shot my other guns, autos and pumps and both slow way down from so much gunk around the 4-5k mark. Jeramie, go get you whatever you want. In todays world, any high end gun is going to perform well. Some better than others, and they all might have their issues, but they will all be good guns. The difference will be in 10 years, which ones are doing what. Personally I would never shoot a gas gun over inertia. Its like a mechanical and fixed blade broad head. Fixed, way less things to go wrong and worry about. To each their own. I will continue to shot my SBEII till it falls apart. Which will happen as I am using it to break ice, paddle my boat, swinging limbs to break them or using as a walking stick through the mud. I am harder than anyone I know on my duck gun. Guys I hunt with make comments daily about why do I do things with my gun that cost so much money. I just laugh and continue to do my thing. Gun still fires everytime I pull the trigger, unless it's coated in a sheet of ice. No gun works then, not even pumps, Time to go home to a fire at that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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