10Gauge

huh??? .......i typed that hit submit reply and an icon popped up saying my reply was too short! LOL

I can't agree more with MudHen on the key points he makes in his reply! My patterning experience has been very similar to and like his has not been limited to Benelli's.....two of my best patterning guns at the moment are a Browning Gold 10ga and a TC/Encore shooting 2-3/4" loads! Pattern eveness or patterns without holes is more important to me than the number of pellets in the neck of a turkey target. Maybe the reason "holes" bother me more stems from testing lots of patterns during my sporting clays tournament days....my patterning targets were 30 inch circles filled with orange clay targets and density wasn't as critical as putting several pellets in every clay inside the 30" circle....a different patterning game all together and one I still use for my waterfowl combos. I also do a lot of experimental reloads using mostly copper or nickle plated lead, typically buffered loads and all sorts of wad configurations. One of the best loads I have ever worked up was a paper hull 16ga 1oz load with no shotcup, just a felt wad and it was shot from 3 different full choke guns (fixed chokes) with similar results. I've also found the old fashioned "roll crimp" loads can pattern better than "crimped" shells. When testing chokes, loads or gun modifications I seldom pattern beyond 35 yards anymore, occasionally I'll push one out to 40 just for kicks but I'm just not a big believer in shooting turkeys at that distance. When I talk to someone who says he regularly kills turkey's or patterns his guns at 65 yards I immeadiately ask them is to point out an object that is 50 yards away......9 out of 10 times the object they point to is 30-35 yards not 50. For some reason I think guys find it more impressive to talk about shooting a gobbler at 65 yds.....but to me the mark of a great turkey hunter is the guy who can bring that bird in to 10 yards or less and dropping the hammer!

i actually have a gamo for squirrels but it damn sure wont kill a groundhog (woodchuck or chuck) at 50 yards.....i'm not sure what you guys are smoking but send some my way!

dawg, we did some horseback riding in the area where the new housing developments (million dollar vacation homes) are going in.........overlooking the gorge during our summer family vacation. Saw tons of turkey sign and bear sign along those old logging roads. That looked like a great area to hunt and the guy who owned the riding stables owned a lot of that land.....for the life of me I can't recall his name but you might check with the "boy's" over at ClassVI. They also own a bunch of land down along the rivers and they might give you permission to hunt/access some prime turkey properties!!! One of their guides told me they do some hunting on ClassVI property. The ClassVI folks were very nice people and very professional....even thou the owners are a bunch of Ohio boy's!

well it was for real.......one of the guys from the hunt club went to Gander today and got the Super Nova that was marked $419 and they took 20% more off because of a sale that was going on this weekend! He got a NEW SUPER NOVA for $335 plus sales tax!!! AMAZING.......my Max4 camo gun was $400 used, but I still think I got a fair deal.....however, $335 NEW seems unbelievable too me for a Super Nova with Steady Grip stock.....I might go up tomorrow and try to buy one and sell it for parts! Surely I could sell the barrel for $250 and the stock for $140.......that's $55 profit and I can keep the trigger assembly and bolt as spare parts for my SN.

i need a fender for a 68 GTO.....anybody???

amen bartman! Speakin of cheap....Cabela's has MadMax Turkey chokes for SBE2's for $19.88 (on-line)! It is NOT ported and I think it is a .665" but thats a heck of deal even if you have to give it to a buddy when it doesn't pattern well enough to suit ya!

Lab, if you like the Savage price and the gun sounds like you found a match made in heaven! Personally, I wouldn't spend more than $250 for a good 22lr bolt action......I picked up a slightly used Anschutz sporter in 22lr a few months ago for less than $250 and it's a very good shooter! Not as accurate as my "tricked-out" 10/22 but I have much more munny in the former Ruger....it doesn't have anything Ruger on it anymore! 22WMR's make a lot of sence when shooting critters like coyotes in that 100-175 yd range effectively. A 22lr doesn't kill effectively beyond 75yds....yep you can punch holes in paper buy I've seen chucks run in a hole with 3 shots from a 22lr in them at 50yds! I'm in the same camp as tuck with respect to the 17's...just don't get all the marketing hype and I know alotta guys love'm! I think everybody needs a cause to champion and for some folks it's the 17.

rehh, my take on this follows the same reasoning benelli doesn't make a 10gauge SBE2....they would only sell one each of them! I'd buy the 10 and you'd buy the 20 lefty! seriously, the only 20 gauge lefty (autoloader) I know of right now is the NEW Remington 1100-G3, looks like a nice little gun if you are one of those guys who use the wrong hand!

tuck, you have very good taste when it comes to scopes!

DISCLAIMER - I'm not suggesting this info is 100% accurate but it might prove valuable to someone in the future?!?! As always you should contact Benelli Customer Service to get the final word. Found this at Brownell's site; Q: Benelli choke tube systems. A: There are three known choke tube systems that have been used on Benelli shotguns commonly encountered in North America. They are as follows: First Generation: External Thread System. This is the earliest of Benelli choke tube systems and is typically found on the SL-80 Series: Models 121 and 123, from 1960 through 1986. The thread is on the outside of the barrel and the choke tube has a female thread. These chokes are very much like the old Weaver choke tube system. This requires a special spanner to remove and install the tubes. No current source for these is known at this time. Q: Franchi/Benelli choke tubes interchangeability. A: Franchi was purchased by Beretta in late 1997/early 1998 and has come under the Benelli U.S.A. division of Beretta. There has been some confusion about pre and post Beretta/Franchi choke tube applications. Benelli U.S.A. is telling dealers and consumers that the Benelli/Beretta thread pattern choke tubes will fit the Franchi shotguns. This pertains only to Franchi shotguns marked Imported by Benelli USA. Franchi shotguns that were formerly imported by American Arms and made prior to the Beretta take over of Franchi will not use Beretta x .75 Metric pitch top thread tubes. Currently, Colonial Arms has these thread patterns available. Second Generation: Internal Thread System. This system was used on models imported by Heckler & Koch U.S.A. from 1986 through 1995. The barrel is internally threaded with a male thread on the choke tube. The threads are square and are located on the muzzle end of the tube. The major diameter of the threads is .810". The tube has a nominal overall length of 1.888". Included in the overall length is a collar with a nominal length of .118". (1.77" length from face of barrel muzzle to breech end skirt of the tube) This collar extends from the muzzle of the barrel and uses slots for the tube wrench. Third Generation: Internal Thread System 1995 to present. This barrel is internally threaded with a male thread on the choke tube. The threads are square and are located on the muzzle end of the tube. The major diameter of the threads is .810". The tube has a nominal overall length of 2.050" from the face of muzzle to the breech end skirt of the tube. This system is interchangeable with the Beretta Mobil Choke style choke tube system.

dbh, try a 10 gauge....heavier and less recoil i can agree with tuck, recoil is nonexistant when shooting game?!?! must have something to do with physics or gravity or sumthun????

I would not use the term "older" Beretta & Benelli guns used MobilChokes (MC) because they both are still making guns (new guns) that use MC's! td is correct....Stoeger's, Franchi's, Beretta & Benelli all use MobilChokes but make sure the gun in question (Beretta & Benelli) has the MobilChoke System. I have owned Franchi 48's, 620's & 612's that all used the same Beretta MC tubes.......some Benelli MC's are black not SS (StainlessSteel), too!

DawG, there are a lot of turkeys in your area but man they gotta be tough to hunt! We "floated" the New & Gauley last summer w/ClassSix and saw tons of gobblers in the mountains and along the rivers....beautiful place West-by-God-Virginia! Scouted my two KY farms last weekend and saw several BIG flocks of gobblers, hens and jakes....one pasture had over 30 birds in it at one time until a small herd of horses ran them off! The farm owner has wagged war on the BobCats & Coyotes the last couple of years and it seems to be working....17 cats were removed in 2 years and nearly a dozen coyotes, all were live trapped! Got a lead on a farm in Northern Illinois close to the Wisconsin border and will scout it next week if the weather permits.....might be my last stand in May!

pattern, pattern, pattern with #5's & #6's first at 20, 25, 30 yards......then you might decide to keep your shots inside 30 yards (maybe 25), but heck yeah a factory full choke will work on turkey's...ALL day long. Then when the turkey drops in his tracks jump up and stick your boot on his neck! ......more turkey's are killed by a size 10 boot than ALL shotgun chokes combined!

Quake, I don't post pics of my wife or my guns on ANY forum!

This was IN-STORE.......on the "TURKEY" Gun Rack! Don't believe it was advertised or not but like I said I'm thinkin this was an error at the Dayton Ohio Gander Mountain! I told a buddy about it and he is going up tomorrow and buy one, I'll let you guys know what happens.......

I was at Gander Mountain near Dayton today and they had NEW Super Nova's with Steady Grip in Realtree HD Timber for $419.......I was stunned, had to be a misprint because the SN's in Black w/ComfortTech stocks were $549......are any of you guys seeing this in your areas????

widely used in military & police "riot" situations to push back a crowd....i.e "Stand-off" tool. On the end of the muzzle and pushed or shoved into someone on the receiving end it promotes discomfort to the would be bad guy....or angry liberal anti-gun terrorist!!

looks like a very good reason to buy a new gun to me! seriously, the science behind hitting ANY moving clay target boils down to these; 1.) proper lead 2.) follow thru (smooth swing....longer barrels are better here!) 3.) proper choke for the distance to the target (sometimes cyl, sometimes full....O/U's are nice when two targets are thrown at different distances....with an autoloader I would use modified 90% of the time when shooting Sporting Clays & 5 Stand.....Full for trap.....SKT, SKT2 or CYL for skeet) Finally "Competition" Trap, Skeet & Sporting Clays shotguns shoot a different POI than most Field or Tactical shotguns so I stick by my first comment.......it's a very good reason to buy a new gun!

both the Rhino & Kick's (.660's) pattern well with my copper plated and nickle plated "reloads"......#5's seem to shoot better in the Rhino & #6's from the Kick's! Found similar results with Federal's Flight Control copper plated loads. Maybe I'm old fashioned but I have not seen a need to shoot Hevi-Shot (or other non-toxic) on Turkey's.......and this is coming from a man who uses it on geese!!! Before someone asks.....I like it for two reasons on geese 1.) can't use lead. 2.) shoots like lead (better than steel)!

SLATE......any brand but gotta be REAL slate! ........and a striker!

I think what HOG was saying is; "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!" If you have gone to this link and followed their advice below; http://www.benelliusa.com/customer-service/contact.tpl Our goal is to be able to serve you, our valued customer, in the most complete and time-efficient manner. For this reason, we maintain Troubleshooting and FAQ databases containing constantly updated information about our products. If you reviewed the FAQ or Troubleshooting sections and you did not find the answer to your question, please select your state below to direct your question to our customer service department. ........and have gotten nowhere try calling them around 1:30 pm EST, you might find them easier to nail down right after lunch time! I've also had better luck calling later in the week like a Wed or Thur....everybody calls on Monday to order parts and on Friday to check on status of shipments. Good Luck!

silent1, try some lighter loads in you Nova.....pump guns will have a bit more felt recoil than an auto loader (SBE, M1, M2, etc).....if you are shooting skeet i'd suggest 2-3/4" shells in 1oz load....maybe even "light target" 7/8oz loads......WinAA's are a good load and can be purchased at WalMart! Not only didn't you mention the shells you were using but didn't mention your choke either.....hopefully you were using an "open" choke for skeet.....i like an Imp Cyl but know a lot of skeet guys who shoot Mod and then there are guys who shoot Cyl or SKT tubes (more open). I've found after shooting hundreds of rounds of sporting clays in one afternoon an open choke tends to be easier on my shoulder than a mod or full if shooting "hot" or "high velocity" shells. Shot gunning is something you should work up to....shoot 25-50 rounds each time out not 150 then work your way up to shooting 400-500 in an afternoon! The bruises will not be so bad....your body will get used to it eventually!

excellent advice, slick!