bluedavis

I don't think they were intended to reduce recoil so much as reducing the jump. The idea is that the barrel will stay in the target area for the second bird.

You're asking a bunch of folk who own benelli's what they like, and I bet I can guess what they'll say. My SBE1 is a wonder to behold when it is working right. But mostly I like the 'feel' of it. My duck-hitting percentage jumped up when I made the switch.

Thanks. Stove piping - now I know what to call it. I've been using Break Free LP - something that was given to me by the dealer when I started having problems. I've tried the extremes of dry to swimming in oil. What do you think are the critical oil points? Certainly the grooves where the bolt slides, and maybe the ejector plate. Anything else?

Hmmm.....not likely anything is worn, because the gun isn't that well-used. The problem has been intermittent, on some days it works fine and on some days I want to throw it. I've been careful to oil the recoil tube and also the area where the bolt slides in the receiver, but haven't paid particular attention to the ejector plate. That might explain the 'hit and miss' nature of my cycling problem. Now I just have to wait until my next venture out. Thanks for the idea.

Thanks for the reply. I guess I'll have to explore some other reasons for the jamming. Does anyone have an idea what causes a gun to jam? The spent cartridges end up sticking out of the receiver sideways, with the bolt closed on top of them.

[ 09-04-2004, 10:29 PM: Message edited by: Montefeltro ]

I was cleaning my SBE the other day and notice that the bolt locking head pin has an unusual wear pattern on the flat spot that faces rearward (see pic). The gun is only a couple years old and I don't shoot all that much. Has anyone else notice this? I'm wondering if this is a symptom of a bigger problem and might be related to the repeated jams that I have experienced.

I had a similar problem with my SBE - it wouldn't cycle 3.5 inch shells and the service folk wouldn't (couldn't) help. It was as if they couldn't believe the gun didn't work. I finally took a video of the thing jamming after they had sent it back to me the second time. That seemed to get their attention - at least they did something - and now it works better. Not perfect, but better. Pay the money for a long distance call to the service department and make yourself heard. They're a stubborn bunch and you have to be that way too. You paid too much money to be shooting a single-shot.

aiming for the bill works for me, except that I don't hold on it. I usually start from behind and try to swing through where the bird is going, and then touch off the shot as I go past the bill. If I start thinking about the lead then I'll miss every time. The hard part is guessing which way the bird is going to go - they seem to have a mind of their own.

Your SBE is definitely broken. I believe the warranty is for the original owner only, so you'll have to take it to a gunsmith. No loss though - based on my experience the Benelli service folk are not capable of fixing anything.

I guess it is ironic, that my SBE won't cycle 3.5 inch loads. Has anyone ever heard of that?