mudhen

Probably. Almost everyone I know that shoots an M2/SBE II says they shoot higher than the earlier Benellis with the flat vent rib.

I basically have no idea what you are trying to say. My old Benellis have always shot perfectly for me with the C shim. POA matches POI. Cover the bird, add whatever lead is appropriate, and shoot. I shot my low ribbed 1991 SBE the other day and tripled, doubled, and doubled again to limit on ducks in ten minutes. My 2005 SBE II is a completely different gun. POI was well above the POA out of the box. Even with the C shim, it was hitting high. I added a ground down A shim to the C and got a close match to how my older Benellis shoot. But I love the gun so much for turkeys, that I just leave the B shim in it and keep it nice and safe for turkey season. Now I use a Browning Silver & BPS 10 gauge for waterfowl mostly. The Silver is 1/2 the gun the SBE II is, but it's fine in the duck blind and I shoot it well. I don't know the year that Benelli went to the high rib barrel. Maybe 1998 or 1999? Maybe when Beretta Holdings bought Benelli? Dunno. Don't really care. If you are looking for old flat rib barrels, good luck. No more gun parts on E-Bay and these barrels are in high demand. Maybe gunbrokers or gunsamerica?

No........

Being a new Benelli owner, I will give you a pass for not knowing what you are talking about I would very much doubt that a brand new M2 would come with a weak spring. I would very much more believe that the rigor of hiking after upland game in a vertical environment such as chukar habitat in Nevada is causing the bolt to bounce slightly and not return back to full engagement. I would go even further and presume the bolt handle is being hit while the gun is being carried. I say this because it happens to me all the time during turkey season. It does not bother me at all to check the bolt once I get settled in. This has been working for around 20 seasons, so I guess I can keep it up. Of course, I never need to snap shoot at a turkey, so I appreciate a chukar hunter's issue. Take your Benelli semi-auto and bounce it on the butt pad. You will see the bolt travel back a distance relative to the amount of force you used to bounce the gun. Slight enough bouces can cause the bolt to not engage. Design flaw? Maybe. Defective? No. The Benelli click is a common complaint of new Benelli owners. Most learn to deal with it. If not, sell the gun and buy another brand I already suggested a stronger recoil spring - Wolff makes a +25% spring. Others have modified their bolt handles to avoid snagging. That's all I have to offer......

I shoot both and I find them to be totally different. Black Cloud is plain old steel shot mixed with unfinished steel shot that just happens to make bigger holes in ducks. The Flite Control wad causes the payload to stay together longer, which in theory, can allow for longer shots. Don't use it with ported barrels, ported chokes, of wad stripper chokes. I like it for 35-45 yard shooting. Hevi Steel is just a blend of steel and tungsten that creates a pellet heavier than plain steel. Shoot it as you would regular steel, but it gives a bit more knock-down power. If Hevi Steel is the same price as BC, it's at last year's price. Hevi Steel is $35-$40 per 25 shells in my area. I use #4's for close up work.

Interesting issue, but really not one for Benelli CS or a Benelli dealer. It is operator error. If you carry a Benelli semi-auto on a sling, the bolt might disengage at any time. I can certainly appreciate the need to carry a shotgun on a sling while chasing chucks in Nevada, but a Benelli shooter needs to be sure the bolt is closed prior to firing no matter the setting. If I had to think of a fix, I might think about a stronger recoil spring that might keep the bolt closed better. A modification of the bolt handle might work to make it hang up less. Good luck!

It's been going ok here in Cali:

+ another vote for the SBE II. I think the M2 is a great gun, but I also think the SBE II is much better built for the extra money.

Why do I have a feeling that NBC's Dateline 'To Catch A Predator' show is behind this

No........

You will probably get a new one this time. I'd be willing to bet you or the gunshop broke it though. It's a snug fit, especially when new, and it's pretty easy to break if you force it off or on. Just take it very easy on the new forearm Not a great design on Benelli's part for sure.

Bought a SG for my SBE II. The SG does not come with any shims, nor do I think it could be easily adjusted by a gunsmith. The gun did not shoot to my preferred POI, so I sold the stock on E-Bay and got 105% of the purchase price back I'd look at a Benelli SG again if they are adjustable.

All of my SBE's and SBE II's have worked with with all the 2.75" - 3.5" loads I have tried. So now you know at least one person who has not had the same problems as the owners you have talked to

But what if they are the same speed What if the 3" is faster than the 3.5"? Does the 3.5" still shoot farther? What makes the 3.5" better in your opinion Why do you want one?

So you are saying that 3.5" shells shoot farther than 3" shells Why?

You may . I said I 'had' a 24" Nova that did not pattern well. I bought it in 98 or 99 for $200 NIB. I never liked the gun much. Gave it away to a friend. Patterned poorly and the choke tubes swelled. I recall lots of folks had barrel issues with early Novas. So that was 1999 and a totally different gun. It's 2007 now, and I have not heard many patterning complaints about SBE II's regardless of barrel length. The new Crio chokes seem to be working well for folks. My 26" bbl SBE II patterns very well. All seems well with the SBE II. That's why I said a 24" bbl SBE II would be a good gun. I also think a 26" bbl SBE II would be a good gun. A 28" bbl SBE II sounds good too. A 30" Sport II might be nice. Hey, you said you wanted a 3.5" gun. Why Are they better? Are 3" guns bad? What about the lowly 2.75"? Ineffective? Obsolete? Does 3.5" allow me to make longer shots? Why, why, why???????

Sure Fire Kroma.

Then it must be true

I've got lots of MO Break-Up. I'm also liking MO Brush. Just bought a new turkey 10 in MO Duck Blind. I think that for the average weekend warrior, any old camo will do. They are only dreaming of the couch and a cold beer anyway. But I don't agree that camo is just for people. Maybe some people, not me I spend thousands on out of state trips and use very valuable vacation time on these hunts, so I'm not willing to rely on other folk's opinions on how I should dress. Last year in Missouri, I worked a flock of 15 turks in to five feet. The tom (with 23" of beards) was way in the back, not willing to move until his hens did. I was covered head to toe in MOBU Trek Lite, laying on the side of a small creek bed, SBE II resting on a log. After five minutes of having 14 hens purring, clucking, etc. all around me, the tom finally worked into 25 yards, where he lost his head. I don't know if the same result would have occurred if I was in jeans and a t-shirt, but guess what, I'm never going to try to find out

Probably my Primos Single Boxcutter call. Maybe the Primos A-Frame Triple Bat Cut mouth call?

Next time I see it, I will try to post up. Don't hold your breath though, I don't go looking for that stuff. I've never heard of your 20-22" theory. If absolutely true, you would think we would see lots more 22" barreled guns on the market. But, I don't pay much attention to that stuff in general. I have heard, for about the last 20 years, that starting from a 28" barrel, you lose approx. 7-10 fps per inch that you go down from 28". Given that so many of today's loads are in the 1450-1550 fps range, the 14-20 fps I might lose with my 26"'s and the 28-40 fps you might lose with a 24" bbl seems trivial. But that's just my take. You could e-mail LP Brezny at Wildfowl Magazine. He is probably one of the main experts in this area. You could also look around at Shotgun World's website. Lots of guys post up there about trivial stuff like this

I took a few days off, but some birds were there when I went back. The sprig in the second photo had the largest body of any sprig I have ever killed. No tail, just a large body. He's almost as big as the speck.

Pretty good question From what I have read and viewed on TV, the inside diameter of 12 gauge Benelli barrels can vary from around .719 to .723 +- .001 or .002. Also from what I can recall, the reason for this is the bore device gets worn over use and gets replaced once they get to the .718 area. I think the technically correct ID is .723. What effect does this have? I guess some barrels will pattern slightly different than other barrels. Some chokes will fit more flush to the barrel wall than others. I would think the effect would be slight and hardly noticable to most shooters. Short of bringing your own barrel mic, I can't see how anyone could tell what the ID is when they are making a purchase. You could bring a small flashlight to check to see how close the choke tube fits the barrel wall. I have read that some think the guns at the .719 end don't pattern as well as guns at the .723 end. Some think the tight bore can lead to blown patterns. Don't know if it's true, it's just what I have read.

Ok. What shim do you have in it now? The A shim should shoot the highest, the D the lowest. If it's A, maybe go to B. If it's B, maybe go to C. If it's C, maybe go to D (if yours is an older SBE, it might have the D shim). Someone already told you that it should be ok to shoot without the shim. Do you read the replies?