IdahoDucker

I don't say a whole lot here but I feel that as a new Benelli owner I should add to mudhen's lament. I recently bought my first Benelli, a SBE1 simply because there was a closeout deal on them because of the new version. Anyway, like mudhen, I'm terribly dissapointed. It works correctly on every shot especially when I use loads that are at or above the clearly stated minumum recommended by Benelli. Isn't that odd? Can anybody recommend an extremely light load that may or may not cycle in this gun? Please?! I really need to reduce this recoil issue. I simply cannot believe that a gun with this reputation and at this price would have any recoil at all. Since when does a 12 gauge shotgun of any description kick? It boggles my mind. Even worse, when it kicks more with real hunting loads it seems to work better and faster and to top it off the birds seem to die better! I can't stand it. At this price I should be able to reload half ounce loads (the only way to tame the heinous recoil of the SBE) and have them cycle flawlessly while instantly killing every bird I shoot at. They do say, "Performance worth the price.", so am I asking too much here? All I can say is that I am certainly glad that I didn't spring for the SBE2 only to end up with all the additional problems that poor mudhen and so many others are having. By the way mudhen, what email address did you use those 8 times? I'd like to send several to them demanding that they address this recoil issue. [ 03-21-2005, 11:46 PM: Message edited by: IdahoDucker ]

Webfoot, Whenever I decide I can afford it my favorite duck load is 2 3/4" hevishot in #6 shot. That down range energy, so helpfully explained above, combined with the pattern density of 6's is extremely effective for me. And it's a little cheaper than the same thing in 3". I hate to hear about people trying out hevishot or any of the other alternatives to steel and doing it with the same shot size they use in steel. They're loosing one of the major benefits of hevishot by shooting 2's and BB's at ducks. A dense pattern that retains it's killing energy. I got to start my bird hunting back in the lead days and myself and the people I knew just didn't use anything in 3" for ducks and never anything bigger than 4 shot. 2 3/4" 6's were the norm with 4's being for days when you thought you might need longer shots. Even clear down to 7 1/2's when jump shooting. I normally reloaded 5's for a happy medium. 3" 4's and 2's were pretty much reserved for geese and even then many guys just used 2 3/4" for them too. Half of the guys I knew only had a 2 3/4" chamber in their guns anyway. The gun I had at the time had a 3" chamber but I don't think I ever shot a 3" shell in it until steel came along. When we had to start using steel we had to go up in shot size, especially in the beginning when the loads were so slow. People who started out with steel, which still typically calls for a larger shot size, seem to carry the larger shot size over to hevishot and I think they're missing out. Not to mention spending more for 3" or 3 1/2" shells when it very often isn't necessary. Dave

I was wondering, how bad does the R1 kick compared to a bolt action or a single shot in the same caliber?

He answered a similar question on his web site and said that the camera was owned by the production company and he had heard that the cost for the camera and everything that goes with it was around $4000.

Yes. http://www.benelliusa.com/firearms/m2.tpl

I know this has been covered elsewhere but I thought I'd jump in anyway. Here's the rule directly from the USFWS site under "What hunting methods are illegal [for migratory birds]?" " (b) With a shotgun of any description capable of holding more than three shells, unless it is plugged with a one-piece filler, incapable of removal without disassembling the gun, so its total capacity does not exceed three shells." Then it goes on the list the exceptions for the special snow goose seasons tucker301 mentioned. I guess the key word is 'capable', if an officer knows to check an SBE for the mod and finds it while you are hunting ducks or doves or whatever then you're busted whether or not you had 4 shells in the gun at the time. Anybody know what a spare bolt for an SBE costs? That way you could have a legal gun when you wanted/needed to.

There are user manuals under the 'customer service' link on this site. I imagine you don't normally get one with a gun from a pawn shop. Might be helpful if you don't already have one.

I'm fairly new here and very new to Benellis. Don't even actually own one yet but will in a couple of weeks. Have to agree with tucker301 about WD-40. It's petrolium based and therefore a dust and dirt collector. Definately better stuff for taking care of a gun. However, I always have a can of the stuff in my boat. Comes in handy for the boat at times and when my gun gets a dunking, which seems to happen all too often, I will hose the action down with it for it's water displacing qualities and for temporary protection and lubrication. When I get home all that gets removed and the real stuff put on. My favorite is Breakfree CLP.