Geno

A peace-maker appears from the head shed.

Thanks-that helps. Can you remove the bracket entirely when not shooting trap-for visual reasons if nothing else-or does the double stick tape weaken if you do so? Is the wire arm that catches the shells distracting/visable in your eye sight when mounting the gun and shooting? Thanks much!

Guy, assuming you bought one and tried it by your comments. In reading the description, I couldn't really picture how this catcher works and is inserted in the action. Can you describe it a little better? I have a Sport II so I assume it would be compatible as with the Supersport model. Thanks for your comments.

They sent me the neat one with the thread cleaner-and I did speak to a human! This was for my Sport II which came with the newer styled wrench which would not fit the full choke. I think I got it within a week or so.

No I haven't myself but a local gunsmith told me that any modification to the factory standard model invalidates the warranty. So I'm relying on hearsay maybe! I had a different gunsmith shave down the bolt handle so it would pass over the snap-on shell catcher [which was a standard Beretta catcher] on a M1-90 I owned and used for trap. Our club requires shell catchers on all auto's. I traded that gun for the Sport II and use the rubber band method. It's not the best especially in cold weather up here trying to dig out a spent hull inside the action with winter gloves but it works about 90% of the time. The rest of the time the spent hulls bounce off of or close to whoever is on my right side.

It might work but doesn't it invalidate the warranty?

Mine was great on ducks and pheasants and I also use it, along with my SKB, for sporting clays.

Drundel, ther doesn't appear to be an end cap that is removable-it looks like a solid machined piece-I started to try to twist it by hand but no go and I did not want to try to twist it off with a pliers and wreck something. The way you described is how I did it with the MI-90 but this is different. Thanks.

I JUST RETURNED FROM A SOUTH DAKOTA PHEASANT HUNT AND WANTED TO BREAK THE GUN DOWN TOTALLY TO REMOVE ANY DEBRIS FROM CORN STALKS, SEEDS, ETC. NO PROBLEM WITH THE BOLT AND TRIGGER MECHANISM BUT WHEN I WENT TO REMOVE THE MAGAZINE SPRING SO I COULD SWAB THAT OUT, I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO REMOVE THE END CAP. IT'S NOT THE SAME AS THE MI-90 THAT I HAD BEFORE. CAN ONE OF YOU GUYS OR SOMEONE AT BENELLI HELP? THERE IS NOTHING IN THE OWNERS MANUAL ON THIS PROCEDURE WHICH WAS REAL EASY WITH THE M1-90 I HAD BEFORE. THANKS, OH BY THE WAY, LOTS OF BIRDS AND GOT OUR LIMITS BUT WORKED HARD FOR THEM!

The longer the barrel the smoother the swing in my opinion. I went from a 28 inch M-1 to a 30 inch Sport II and although I've only used the Sport II last week-end duck hunting here for the opener, shot clays with it all summer and averaged around 46 on Sporting and 23 on trap for what that is worth. It also depends on your size and strength, I'm 6' and about 190. Good luck-let us know what you get and how it fits/works.

From what I've read, I'd go with the M-2. It is basically the SBE w/o 3 1/2 shell capability. Sounds like the new SBE II has bugs to work out. Good luck!

They sent me a replacement which looks exactly like the one I had with my M-1 90 and it works fine on all the extended crio chokes on my Sport II but the thread cleaner end won't drop and fit the barrel grooves. Even had 2 plumbers/pipefitters on my trap team try with no luck. I guess I can live with that but anyone else notice the same?

I have the 30 inch sport II for 3 weeks now and love it. I was told by a local dealer the Supersport won't be on the shelves until late this year or maybe not until next year. I have always had 28 inch shotguns and decided to try the 30 inch. It feels a bit more balanced and the extra few ounces seem to smooth your swing out on clay targets. I will use it for hunting this Fall as well. I think the Supersport looks too funky from the catalog picture-I prefer wood myself and don't think you can go wrong with the Sport II. It's tried and true-good luck and post a comment on what you do.

Benelli does not make a shell catcher-I believe because the bolt handle and action/receiver are intregal to the inertia cycling system and a standard shell catcher would cause a hang-up if they did fit in the first place. I tried a Beretta shell catcher and it was too small to snap in the side of the action/receiver-anybody have comments on that. The good old small and thick rubber band placed in front of the bolt handle does work quite well in keeping the spent hull inside the receiver but you do have to sort of dig it out after firing a round. That's what I do with my Sport II and it's fine in warm weather shooting but much more difficult around here in the winter time when you have to wear heavier shooting gloves usually stuffed with a hand-warmer. Try it, it does work and in time you'll get used to it. Let me know how it goes.

What # did you call to get the new wrench?

Camo is right on-I used the small "handle" looking part of the choke wrench and it loosened the full choke so I could twist out by hand [the Sport II has the extended crio chokes]. I'm not sure if that's how it was designed to work but it did. The weird looking part of the wrench with the notches in it works for the other 4 chokes just fine. Did this work for you other fellows too?

I noticed the same thing with the full choke only on the Sport II I just bought a couple weeks ago-I liked the old one better too!

They are 1 in the same and has the inertia system.

I concur with Damie-just traded my M-1-90 for a Sport II and love it. I load single shells as above, have shot 4 rounds of sporting clays [44-42-43-49] and 3 rounds of handicap trap at 21 yards [24-21-23] and have not had a jammed shell or any malfunctions. I got the 30 inch barrel as a reader suggested in a previous forum, put an orange hi-vis sight on it, and am good to go. I will use this gun for duck and pheasant hunting too! My primary target gun is a SKB 685 o/u which is also a great gun but I am very happy with the Sport II. It sounds like most of the problems being voiced are with the new SBE. Incidently, my brother bought a 12 gauge Legacy 2 years ago and loves it.

Just to let you know I purchased the Sport II yesterday at Scheels Sports in Appleton, Wi. as 3 were shipped the day before. I traded my beloved M1-90 after shooting 23/25 at 21 yard line the night before in trap league so gave it a decent send-off. I bought the 30 inch model and off course as is always the case in assembling it at home put a nick in the receiver plate because I didn't read the instructions and it assembles differently than my former Benelli. My fault! I had to fire it so went to a local sporting clays range last night and ran 44/50 on an Intermediate/Difficult course and had no malfunctions, jammed shells or any problems. It shot were I was looking except for the 6 operator errors. It didn't have any of the "problems" we have seen in the forum about the new SBE-no safety problems, no chips in the barrel, all chokes, wrench, oil, manuals were included. It has decent wood and feels well balanced and smooth. The only so-called problems are that the 30 inch didn't fit in my normal soft case which I didn't even think about [it comes in a break-down case from the Dealer] and no shell catcher available for trap shooting. I think I have a keeper.

Lazerus, sounds like you got a lemon. I realize these guns take a bit of time to season but if you continue to discover these little problems, I'd be losing confidence in this particular shotgun. You'll need to bring a back-up gun wherever you go to shoot!

Lazerus, sounds like you are a gunsmith. If it's new, it shoudn't be that way and even though it's under a warranty, I think I'd contact the Dealer you purchased it from. It will be out of commission for a good length of time if you send it for repair-I think I'd want a new one if that's an option.

Lazarus, that shouldn't happen. I use my M1-90 for trap and load the same way and never had that problem. I bet a lot of others use their various Benelli Models for trap and sporting as well. You must have a defect-how old is the gun and when did this start to happen-anyone else with this problem?

Thanks to the 3 of you for responding. I prefer to workl with a local dealer for service purposes and as far as I know, there is not a Sport II within 100 miles of here right now-and we have no shortage of Gander Mountains-Scheels-and privately owned gunshops in this area. All are on back-order. When I got the bug to get one, the Benelli dealer I prefer said about 60 days. When I called about 10 days ago, they said another 45 days. I just want to pick up both lengths and see which one feels the best. By the way, doesn't the Supersport look almost too space aged? My M1-90 is synthetic and I purchased it that way for a purpose[ glare-dings, etc.] but don't you think a real shotgun should be of wood and metal-at least for looks! I like the idea of the new recoil system because Benelli's do carry a bit more jolt-would like to see it in the Sport II. Incidently, I did e-mail Tom Knapp a month or so ago to get his opinion, didn't think I had a chance of him responding, but he did e-mail me back his opinion [favorable] within 24 hours-I was impressed!

I'm thinking of retiring my M1-90 12 Gauge to a back-up gun and buying the Sport 11 [if I can find a dealer with 1 in stock] for hunting and sporting clays/trap shooting since I've heard the Supersport won't be on the market this year. I've only fired the Sport 11 one time at the DU Great Outdoors Festival in Wi. last summer and really liked it but don't know anyone that has one. I'm looking for comments good or bad on it's performance, feel, reliability, 28 inch vs 30 inch barrel, etc. Thanks from Packer Country!