mudhen

By shooting the gun First one blew up in my hands - early stock - 1990 or so. They replaced it at no charge, but the second one broke too, even with the metal retaining band they stamped in. Other than maybe a rifle or two, I'll likely never buy another wood stocked gun again...

I've broken two Benelli wood stocks

Location is critical for sure, but I wouldn't give it 90-95% outright. Some days it might be 100%, but some days, other factors might apply and drop that number way down

They don't look like the same shim to me - I don't think they are interchangeable. I don't have a manual right in front of me, but I seem to recall the C shim on the II/2 series offered the same drop as the D did on the I/1 series. You may have to try to pad the II/2 C shim to get more drop.

I've always preferred the SBE/II over the M1/2

Anyone in the blind with you will not like the Cordoba.....

I love the feel of the Vinci Cost is a bit less than the Cordoba. It will probably take Benelli many years to turn a profit on the Vinci if new machinery was needed to make it's parts. Knowing what I do about Italian manufacturers, I would guess that the end price is very much determined by the costs of the good required to make the item + freight & customs factors. Sure, some supply/demand comes into play, but with all the competition out there, a gun maker has to be careful to sell some guns along with all the hype

Buy both While I will almost certainly add a Vinci to the crowded safe this year, I will never be without a few SBE/SBE II's in the safe. Read up here a bit and you will find much info about both guns. I don't need the Vinci, I want the Vinci.....

My sweet lord, Donnie says vacuum..... http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/shotshell.aspx?id=778 http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/shotshell.aspx?id=779

You wouldn't, unless you were informed

You be pretty sharp! That was the discussion I heard when the issue first came up - that all SBE's would have to be plugged to hold only one shell But, from what two federal fish cops told me, Benelli agreed to add the groove, and the fish cops agreed to not push the issue on the existing guns. Don't know for sure if this version of the story is accurate, but it sounds logical...

Just thought I'd add that I don't care if someone floats. That's your call It just seems safer to float with an unmodified gun or only use the modified gun legally. Might be a good reason to keep an eye out for older SBE's - they are starting to show up cheap, although in pretty poor condition. But if the gun is not totally shot, a few parts from Brownells could keep that old SBE running for a looooong time

I wouldn't mess with the JB deal for many reasons: The plugged gun issue is federal in nature. You think your state F&G is tuff? Wait until you have to travel to the nearest federal court to make an appearance. I see Mr. Tanjeans almost as much as I see Mr. Greenjeans. That little blob of glue could end up costing a shooter his gun + some hefty fines. I sometimes hold two shells in my left hand and can rattle off five shots pretty quickly. I have incorrectly been accused of floating and/or pulling the plug. Can you imagine me telling the fish cops that I only float during spring snow season? Can you imagine a judge buying that after seeing the glue? I don't float and I wouldn't believe myself The whole SBE floating thing was a big issue in my area a few years back. I've talked to wardens about it. They know about it. They read these websites. I know several wardens in my area that read the Refuge Forums on an hourly basis during the season. I've been called 'mudhen' by wardens at 5 a.m. in the pitch black. Nope, no desire to pick at this scab. The bolt was modified by Benelli for legal reasons, and I'm fine with their logic. If you want to float, buy a gun that floats unmodified But that's just my take.....

Fed HW #7's have been around for several years

Oh lordy, H-13 #6's with the right choke combination can be deadly, just deadly.... Same for Federal HW #7's.... If you guys really want good turkey load info, spend some time on the NWTF board & the Old Gobbler boards

B will make it shoot higher, as C offers the most drop. The M2 is supposed to come with cast shims as well, which can help your cast issue. If C does not shoot low enough for you, you may need to make your own shims or alter one of your existing shims. Do a search, this comes up all the time here.

Ain't the Vinci cool? I agree, I love how it fits and feels. Given that the Vinci has the same old underbored Benelli barrel, I would think that extended chokes might produce better patterns due to the longer parallel sections of the extended choke tube. I like the Primos Dead Zone chokes. I also like chokes from Carlsons. Maybe buy a few for different shooting conditions; LM, M, IC, etc. Plus the extended chokes are easier to remove by hand. Good luck with whatever you decide to do

After 20 years of 26" bbls, I am buying 28" these days. Mostly because they pattern better for turkeys. Probably not much of an issue with wing shooting.

Got out one day for dove before going on the road for work. Just got back. More work travel coming up. Deer/pronghorn/hog hunts coming up in Oct, very busy before our 100 day/15 bird daily limit waterfowl season starts on Oct 24th. Late season deer in Iowa and maybe archery deer in NoDak during the waterfowl season. I'll get my days in, just not now. Trying to make it rain $$$ at work is more important these days. Besides, it's a marathon for me, not a sprint

Yep, with an emphasis on the 'dumbass' behind the gun part I'm partial to Glock .40's, S&W .38/.357 revolvers, and maybe even a S&W M&P .45 by the end of the year...

For me, it just depends on what situation calls for. Get it? Calls for? Few cheap poly calls can match the pure loud ringing hail of a high quality acrylic duck call. If you need to reach out to the birds, you may want to consider a high quality acrylic call. If all you need is a call for finishing work, then certainly, just about any call, high end or not, can be very effective for bring the birds in for the kill shot. I would suggest looking at some reasonably priced call makers like; Winglock Echo Ducklander

This is what one of my better turkey gun throws at 35 yards: Best Benelli combo for me is H-13, Jellyhead, it patterns something like this at 40 yards most of the time: I'm still looking for the perfect combo....

Same choke basically, BUT remember the choke constriction will determine the pattern, not the name of the choke constriction, because the two guns have different bore ID's

I've been out of the deer slug scene for a few years since switching to late season muzzleloader hunts, but I still shoot slug guns on occasion (20 rounds through an 870 Express today ). My Benelli slug guns have always favored Winchester Platinum Tips and/or Partition Gold saboted slugs. I've seen big bucks soak up the Barnes Expanders and keep running. Sure they died, but not soon enough for my taste. Lately, I've been moving away from slugs with any bells and whistles, and moving towards bonded bullets that retain more weight. You might want to check out the new Fusion saboted slugs. As to ammo for the regular barrel, anything should work fine, just remember your Benelli is under-bored and may tend to prefer smaller sized shot over large harder shot. Good luck!

Yep, I do all that sort of geek stuff all the time! Btw, some HD pellets tend to be irregular, and that can account for different pellet counts as well Companies like Environ-Metal are really in charge because they can mix and blend to get almost whatever density they wish. Turkey is the heaviest, Goose is next, Duck follows, etc., and so on.....