10Gauge

i'm not sure i'd want a "dummy" in my shotgun....if i have to grab a gun i want it to go "boom" and i want it to be lethal.....just my 2 cents reloading fast should be practiced by single, double, pump and auto loader shooters! I had a game warden visit me on the dove field one morning to check my benelli for a plug...he said, "it can't possibly have a plug in it as i was shooting 5-6 shots at incoming birds"....he checked it and it was indeed legal then I showed off my reloading skills and he was amazed, comes in handy in a gunfight too i would guess!

makes one wonder how mossberg manages to sell their turkey guns that come with the knoxx stock???

cali, get your girlfriend a beretta or other gas operated autoloader and stick to a 20 ga if she is recoil sensitive.....my two cents

he probably paid $200 for a PatternMaster and likes it better.....lol

gregor, sent you an e-mail

thanks "quake"......i've used "gel" pads for years on my beretta sporting clays guns but have not tried the Sims Limbsavers yet!

there is lots of talk about 40 yard and beyond patterning or people suggesting that they have a turkey gun set up that is going to kill turkeys at 40, 50 and even 60 yards....not just on this site but on many others. Many years ago, before some of todays "experts" were even born Winchester studied lead shot sizes in great detail and their tests showed that No. 6's ran out of energy at 32 yards. No. 5's, being bigger, carried farther, and were good to around 40 yards. The larger No. 4's had enough foot pounds to penetrate effectively at 55 yards. "Heavier than lead" shot does have slightly more energy but not significantly more....it is penetration that kills turkeys at extreme distance NOT patterns....if you want to test this shoot some phone books at 40+ yards after your patterning sessions. i would never recommend to a novice he needs a gun that can shoot 40 or 50 or 60 yards, as I suggested in my previous post go practice at 25 yards and until you are comfortable making longer shots keep your distances under 30 yards in the field! i'm not suggesting it is impossible to kill birds at distances over 40 yards, just saying it isn't practical for most newbies to the sport and if you have killed less than 10 mature gobblers in this sport your a novice....just my opinion!

you may still pay more for a 1oz tube of "thread" grease than you will for a 16oz cartridge of high temp moly grease! since I work for a synthetic lubricant company I don't buy greases anymore I just get free samples.......grin......per "quakes" recommendation a tube does make it easier to apply, too!

ditto w/FullBore on this one! I have an M1 Super 90 in 20 gauge and it shoots soft with 2-3/4" target or dove loads but the 3" slugs or heavy turkey loads are as wicked as any 12 gauge!

dawg, unless you have a beretta that has been "backbored" both the Beretta & Benelli should have .723" bores and the chokes should be the same (mobil chokes work in both Beretta & Benelli). Optima Beretta's have slightly larger bored barrels "backbored" (.727") and maybe this is the difference between your two guns?!?!? This would make a cylinder Benelli shoot tighter than a modified Beretta! I would suggest you have your benelli barrel measured internally and get someone like Briley to match your chokes to that bore size. lets say your benelli barrel is .725" and you purchase a cylinder choke that measure .723" you really don't have cylinder constriction (.000") you have .002" tighter than cylinder. "backboring" is done on many competition guns to reduce recoil, improve pattern (not tighten pattern, make it more uniform), reduce flyers (less pellet deformation) and increase sales (marketing hype). Some guns like Browning & Mossberg have 12 gauge bores as large as .735" and these guns tend to shoot larger diament shot better than their tighter bore competitors! Large bore diameter is why I own a 10 gauge....it has nothing to do with 3" vs 3-1/2" mags....a larger bore diameter simply shoots large pellets (#2 and bigger) more effeciently than a smaller bore. Pattern is improved and flyers are reduced when the pipe is larger in diameter.....it has more energy and goes farther than it's little brother the 12 gauge, too!

the problem may not be the firing pin protrusion it could be head space......a gunsmith could easily determine this for a small fee or benelli may repair it free if it is a defect! from my own gunsmithing days....(hobby not a real job!) I recall most older shotguns had a .075" to .085" firing pin protrusion but this was getting shorter all the time and it was not uncommon to see some guns with a pin that was .030" and working fine. My specialty was old sxs guns and I replaced (made) tons of firing pins and what worked in a Winchester might not be the same in a Parker or Fox with respect to protrusion! Head Space is the gap or distance from the shell (brass) to the reciever or action and is measured in .001".....some guns need more to function properly. i'm sure you want to fix the gun yourself but return it or find a good smith to check it out....there can be more to this than simply having a "short" firing pin. Good Luck!

come on down to the USA and live.....heck people in Mexico do it all the time! LOL Yep, I know those Canadian laws are brutal....can you guys still own handguns??? just kidding! Good luck hope the gun arrives soon!

jdr, not a thing wrong with those factory chokes! 1.) install the full choke and go buy 3 boxes of #4 copper plated lead turkey loads (Federal, Winchester & whatever), get a few turkey targets, go out and shoot them at 25 yards! 2.) if you don't have a slate and box call buy one of each and practice calling by listening to tapes. 3.) scout before turkey season begins....everyday if you can! 4.) call a gobbler in, at less than 25 yards, kill him dead with a std full choke tube & lead shot! Works everytime (well almost everytime)!!!

I am not a big fan of optics for ANY shotgun and have used fiber optic sites for many moons on ALL of my shotguns for both turkey and deer. My reason for this is based on several considerations, my shots are seldom over 20 yards and without optics I don't have to worry about lens' fogging up or getting wet....I had lasik surgery a few years ago to get rid of my eye glasses for the same reason (fog & wet lens')!!! Having said that I recently picked up a used Encore Shotgun barrel with a Nikon Turkey Pro scope on it and may give it a go this spring. This scope has an interesting reticle design that they claim helps one determine the distance to the target (turkey's head) and if you are into taking 40 yard shots this would be the perfect scope. Having shot ground hogs for years here in Ohio with a 22-250 at ridiculous distances before laser range finders judging distance to a 500+ yard whistle pig was always a bit challenging unless one learned to use his reticles to determine distance. The Nikon Turkey Pro does this by giving the shooter a 40 yard sized window for turkey sized targets. I have shot a few shotguns with red dot's but the idea of having a battery operated unit on my gun does not appear to me.....fiber optics NEVER fail and NEVER fog!!!

td, I'm not a big fan of optical sights on turkey guns.....there is another post here that I gave details so I won't bore everyone with repeating it! Fiber Optic front & rear is the way to go in my book.....I've use fiber optic rifle sites and long stick type front sites alone on some of my guns that pattern dead on....I have a Browning Gold that had to have rifle sites installed to get the POA and POI to come together! My Super Nova (or my son's) is a Comfort Tech Max4 camo, w/26" tube and I picked it up used for $400....actually I traded an old worn out Browning A5 for it and several folks told me the Browning wasn't worth $300?!?! I felt it was worth $400 and apparently the new owner thought so too?!?!? Hopefully, we are both happy with the trade....I know I am!

thanks td! I saw the post you mention from the "quake" and he compares a Super Nova to an SBE if memory serves me one with Comfort Tech one with SG and given these two guns are very different with respect to recoil it was not much help. I though this button must work like a magazine cut off......i guess since the Super Nova forearm comes way down on the reciever it was impossible to put this on the opposite side of the reciever like most autoloaders! I've had lots of guns with mag cut offs and can't say I have ever used one even when waterfowl hunting?!?! it always sounds like a great idea but I can never remember to use it when those ducks or geese come into range!

bull, you didn't mention if you were shooting 3" shells or not but lets assume you are and the folks who owned the gun before you shot a lot of 2-3/4".....I'd give the chamber a good cleaning with a chamber brush to make sure the 3" shells are not getting slowed down by some old powder and plastic residue! i'd also check the recoil spring as others have indicated as well....good luck! BTW - I don't know anything about the shells you are using but do you know if the shell is "skived" or smooth plastic? Some guns shoot smooth plastic better than "skived" or ribbed shells and other guns are just the opposite and this can be altered with a good chamber polishing!

Gio, I have a 26" Super Nova in Max 4 camo.....interested??? You didn't mention if you have camo or black??? If yours is black have it "dipped" in Max4 and lets trade....still cheaper than buying a new barrel.

i'd send it back to benelli and have them look at it....maybe its a firing pin issue but i'll bet benelli will fix it and shipping is all you will pay. Good Luck! BTW-Some primers seat differently than others and some guns can react differently to various types of ammo. On a recent quail hunt in Georgia the outfitter was giving us a brand of shell I had never heard of and everyone had problems with it in our o/u & sxs guns....we all switched to Federal and problem was solved. The outfitter swore it was ALL of our guns and not his ammo but we knew better!

Why such a long wait? I picked up a used one last weekend at a local gun show and saw two others there while I was shopping....Gander Mountain in Dayton Ohio has them in stock??? Maybe you are buying something special???

you might try williams.....they have tons of rifle sights for all types of guns. I used them to replace the factory sights on my Beretta slug barrel a few years ago! You might have to call them to find something specific for your gun or take it to a good gunsmith and let them figure something out for that particular barrel. Gander Mountain offers sight replacement in their stores that have gunsmithing services too! Good Luck!

i'd sell the benelli and get a remington 870 if I were you!

benelli dealer is about the only source unless you can find something at a gun show....you might find it cheaper to buy the whole gun than to buy a barrel, they are expensive!

i believe they are all interchangable but the best way to know for sure is contact a dealer and have them look up part numbers for each. Good Luck!

good job!!! It was easy once u figured it out wasn't it?!?!