mudhen

Doesn't matter. Barrel ID on the SN & SBE II are the same. Is the .643 SSX just a card shooting choke?

Good post

I've had little luck with any turkey choke below .660 in my SBE II. Indian Creek .650 patterened poorly as have other .650's and .655's. You are not the first person to tell me that the SSX .643 is the best choke for my SBE II. Why would the SSX in .643 work any better than all the .650/.655's? Thanks!

Cheapest place I have found is www.wingsupply.com $37 or close to that.

I don't get your comment. Does one have to try every combination possible to be able to make a comment? I'm guessing that including custom work from the many different choke makers + factory and reloaded ammo, there are maybe tens of thousands of possible choke and shell combinations out there. And that's for just one gun. I have six turkey guns now (down from ten). How many combinations have you tried? I know one thing for sure, I have tried many, but I'll probably never give up looking for the perfect combination. Yes, I patterned quite a few PHT191F7's last season. At $50-60 per 10, it was somewhat expensive. Being Flitecontrol, I could not use a ported choke, so I went with a Briley non-ported turkey choke for the test. Results were the same as most of my other choke combinations, excellent at 30, poor beyond 40. Actually, the HW7 patterns looked a lot like my Win XR #6 patterns. I think I killed a Cali tom with those #7's last year. He had no comment as to the effectiveness of the shot. Actually he was speechless

Interesting post. I agree, if you can't get a tom into 35 yards, you have accomplished nothing in my opinion. Anything past 40 yards is just killing a bird - again, in my opinion. I've been patterning Benellis since 1991. I've never found a pattern I love. Best patterning guns I have ever seen have been Mossturd 835's and just about any 10 gauge pump. I do now own a 10 gauge pump, which might get to see some playing time this year. I would not accept a free 835 or any other Mossturd product. Bore ID is a likely suspect. They run from .723 when the cutter is new, to .718 when they finally decide to use a new cutter. I suspect the .718's are the toughest to pattern. My current SBE II is a .719. I also suspect that as the ecomony slumps worldwide, there will be plenty of .718's around Shot size is also a critial issue. I've got guns that love #6's, but can't kill a emu at 10 yards with #5's, and vice versa. 10 chokes? Child's play. Any of them any good? Lots of crap out there. Tight Wad? Crap. Carlson? Crap. Indian Creek? Crap. My Rhino is marginally acceptable. Primos Jellyhaid is my current choke of choice but only because I have not found anything better yet. Here are photos of what I am printing right now. It's good enough for now, but I'm planning to test more combinations this year. The counts are hits on the sheet over pellets in the shell. Each shell pellet count is an average of 3-4 shells cut open and counted. I like the eveness of the patterns. Toms don't always stand perfectly still, so a little horizontal pattern is a good thing. It also allows for a follow up shot (yes, it does happen to some of us). At 30 yards, there would be little left of the paper, and counting pellets would be almost impossible. At 50, there would be 1/2 or less hits. It just seems like the magic distance for my gun is 30-38 yards.

I think they came out in 2003 at the earliest. I bet Tuckereverlasting can find out for us. Tucks

No light primer strikes in the 17/18 years I've been shooting Benellis. Make sure the lock-up area is very clean. I clean mine with a dentist's pick. Golden Pheasants are notorious for this problem. Hard primers?

I have never had a problem getting through to Benelli CS via phone in the 18 years I have owned Benelli shotguns. I've been on hold though. Today I was on hold with ADP Payroll for 53 minutes to make a minor change. Also today, I left Logan's Roadhouse after being told they didn't know how long the wait was. BJ's said 20-30 minutes (during my lunch break), and we ended up at Mimi's where we waited 20 minutes for a table, 12 minutes for drinks, 25 minutes for burgers, and 8 minutes for the check. Get used to it guys. The economy is not doing well right now. CS is the first thing to go because it is run by humans. Humans are expensive.

The SHOT Show starts Saturday. That is when many new products will be announced. Anything new for 2008 will be announced when Benelli feels the time is correct. I'm sorry they did not check with you though Remington? Remington? You mean the near bankrupt company that loses money on hundreds of millions in sales? That Remington? The one that had to be bailed out by an investment group just to keep the doors open? That Remington? Browning may have a new inertia semi-auto being announced this week. I first heard this rumor in 2003. IMHO, there will be little new from Benelli for 2008. They sell every gun they make as fast as they can get them out of the factory. This is not the usual formula for a focus on new items. We should hear details about any new items next week.

I CAN hunt CA, WA, OR, TX, MO, KS, NE, PA, OH, OK, and a few more. Don't know for sure where I WILL hunt. Probably only five or states this year

My JH outshoots my Rhino in my SBE II.

As much as I respect some guys here, I respect Benelli more My Browning Silver and Gold kick the crap out of me with turkey loads. Both are gas guns. Sharp, hard, violent recoil. My many SBE's and SBE II do not even remotely kick the same way. The SBE II kicks plenty, but not the same way. More of a firm push. Apples to oranges for me. But that's just my take.

I'd go with Realtree APG. Max 4 has been fine for me, but it's a tad yellow. This guy didn't notice though

The only thing 'frustrating' for me is having to work for a living and not being able to hunt turkeys every day of the season

Honestly, your request is far too complicated to be answered in a single reply. I would suggest using the search function to look for past discussions on the guns you are asking about. Also, you may want to order a Benelli catalog and/or DVD, as they provide a great deal of information on the various models. I wouldn't accept a free M2000. I might use an I-12 as a boat oar though.

It's been a good season in Cali. Only a few days left - we end on the 27th.

Sounds like you broke the new ejector plate. Flat sheet metal style? I've only seen one of those broken (after maybe 15,000 3.5" steel loads) and we sent it back to Benelli CS for repair. Sorry, I don't know how to fix that

Well, if you think about it, the barrel OD on the slug barrel is much LARGER than the standard barrel, so it is unlikely that the regular forearm will fit the slug barrel. I have heard that some grind out the regular forearm and it will fit with little effort. I don't know that for sure, I've never tried it. I do know that the slug forearm works fine with the slug barrel. A tad loose, but I don't really care about tads.....

Do your own homework There is no such gun as an 'SBE1'. All the other issues have been addressed here ad naseum over the years. My blued H&K SBE was $1000 in 1991. My camo SBE II was $1300 in 2005. Yep, much higher priced. Dead on there buddy. There are no major differences between a 1991 SBE and a 2007 SBE II. The II series added a few nice features that can be read about in their catalog or on their website. Hint; Comfortech stock, Crio treatment, Crio chokes, new trigger guard, etc. I'm only guessing that the vent rib changed around the time Beretta Holdings acquired Benelli - maybe 1998 or 1999? Same time for the change in the ejector plate. The only real downside is the suspect ejector plate in some older H&K SBE's. The older hockey stick plate can break. I've seen 98% H&K SBE's go for $400-$450. I've seen almost NIB matte black SBE II's go for $700.

I was wrong.....

This might be the dumbest thing I have ever read on a website.....

Golden Pheasants can have very hard primers. I've seen many fail in various guns. Make sure your bolt is closing all the way. Buy some extra strength pipe cleaners with the plastic in them - they work pretty well to clean out the pin chamber. I use the pin itself to clean out the hole - sometimes a good amount of crud will accumulate in there.

I don't know what Wingmaster HD you shot, but the stuff I shot this year (400 rounds so far 2's, 4's, 6's) is not soft at all. Yes, it will flatten just a bit with pliers, but it's not even close to being as soft as lead. Anyone that thinks the stuff does not work just has not shot enough of it yet. The stuff is $$$$, but it simply puts steel shot to shame. As far as cost, good lord, how does a few bucks for shells compare to the cost of all the other toys we 'need' to hunt ducks

I never liked bismuth much. Too brittle. I would find broken up pellets in the meat. Matrix just killed it. Now they are all pretty much out of my price range, but I did enjoy shooting three cases of Wingmaster HD for $8/box of 10 this year