Butch-M

I use the QRW rings on my SBEII for easy removal of my "turkey" optics and have had no problems at all. If I recall correctly I think the "W" designation had some importance in making the setup work properly ... originally they gave me QR's and they weren't right. Unfortunately I forget the specifics. I assume the QRW stands for "Quick Release Weaver" ... a quick release for a Weaver style base. (which is similar to the Picatinny rail on the R1)

There are charts which the dealers have which tell you what height mounts you need. If that doesn't work I'd ask both Leupold & Benelli. Obviously, you want to go as low as possible. I like that illuminated reticle. Good Luck with your new rifle ... nice gun!

I'm assuming you have the molded in anchoring hole that mine has ... mine's a little tight, but works. If it was a problem I'd judiciously file, shave or slice a smidgen of the plastic away to make it fit.

I've shot most of the sabots out of my SBEII, including the new Hornady SST and repeatedly found the Winchester Platinum Tips to group the best so far. I got 4" groups as I was sighting in my scope at 110 yards two weeks ago; and that will shrink to 2"-3" when I get serious. I THINK the Winchester Partition Golds look good if you want more penetration and more range, but I didn't have enough shells or enough shoulder left to really test them. As far as performance goes ... the Win. Plat. Tips dropped 15 deer with 15 shots for me in 2004. Individual shotguns are very ammo sensitive, so you have to test them all yourself. A lot of guys have great success with Federals with the Barnes copper bullet. (I didn't) And the Lightfields shoot great, but I don't like the longer range ballistics on them. (If 150 yards is long) I like the looks of the new Remington Ultra Coreloks too. Someday I'll test the Remingtons.

.300 Winchester Mag. One rifle, good for anything you may ever want to hunt in the Americas. You don't know what you might "get into" ten years from now, but the R1 in .300 which you're completely familar with ... will handle it.

I'm not pushing one model or another, agree with Birddog ... but one added thought might be "if you think you might ever want or need a slug barrel ... the SBE or SBEII might be the way to go for versatility." Near as I can see the Cordoba (which is on your list) & SBEII are pretty similar. (The M1 & M2 also have slug barrels) [ 11-15-2005, 07:07 AM: Message edited by: Butch-M ]

My suggestion would be to try them yourself at the range you expect to use them; because every gun shoots a little differently. You'll then know exactly what you're dealing with.

By the way ... wind has a huge effect on slugs because they're so big and slow. It's best to sight in during calm conditions. So if it's at all windy when you sight in, don't make yourself crazy about right/left bullet holes if your elevation is consistently good. Another little fun fact ... temperature change ... you lose about 1 inch in elevation for every 20 degree drop in temperature ... so if you sight in at 90 degrees and hunt in 30 degrees you’ll be hitting 3" low. Let’s see ... one last thing I can think of before you go out into the woods. You’re all happy and confident about your gun now, so you figure it earned a little TLC and cheerfully give it a super clean up job to be ready as Freddy on opening day ... BUT ... if you don’t put a “fouling shot” down that barrel before you go hunting to clear out any oil &/or solvents; you can count on your first shot hitting anywhere from 2" to 4" high. Most guys forget that and can’t figure out why they missed.

Feels good ... doesn't it??? LOL Good Luck out in the woods!!! Butch

#1. “50yds is what I've always sighted in at. The rear sight is almost off of the dovetail, past the last white marking on the right. Even being this low (as low as possible), it is still shooting about 4-6 inches high at 50yds.” #2. “This is the first time I've ever fired slugs through this shotgun, and prior to that, I've only fired 1 box of regular all purpose loads, 7.5 shot, through it. It was either NIB or LNIB when I bought it.” One more thing ... I’m a little confused as to whether you have a rifled barrel or not. On one hand you mention what sounds like fixed open sights, which normally don’t come on a smoothbore barrel, and on another you say you fired 7-1/2 shot through the gun. IF you have a rifled barrel ... you will severely foul the rifling by firing non-sabot slugs, or lead shot through the gun. The rifling scrapes prodigious amounts of lead off and it fills the grooves. NOT that this would have anything to do with your 6" high point of impact problem.

I’m glad you’re getting great groups at 50 yards, because I get just barely acceptable groups at 110 yards with my SBEII & Zeiss scope. About 4 inches so far, but I expect them to improve a little with some more work. I pounded my shoulder this weekend trying another new type of slug. Tried the new Hornady SST which looks spectacular on paper ... didn’t shoot worth a hoot in my gun. These slug guns are EXTREMELY ammo sensitive!!! Over the last two years I’ve tried just about everything out there in sabots. Keep coming back to Winchester Platinum Tips. Did so again yesterday. The Winchester Partition Golds shot pretty well yesterday, but my shoulder was giving out by then ... punishing. (50 rounds) Every different brand and load shoots so different that the scope requires large chunks of adjustment. The only “operator error” I can think of off hand that might cause such consistently high point of impact is “are you laying the gun BARREL on something hard for a rest?” If your rest the barrel or forend on something like a wooden rail for instance there will be massive muzzle jump in the “high” direction. Other than that; with a slug gun, you have to pull the gun back into your shoulder quite firmly with your right hand and HOLD DOWN THE GUN by holding down the forend with your left hand. Slugs are so slow that muzzle jump has time to effect the projectile, hence the shooting style which is contrary to what you’ve been taught about shooting a rifle. You can pick up a lot of good slug shooting information at www.tarhunt.com. Read through the stuff they have available. Click the “Shooting Guide” tab on top, then work down the “Overview” subjects on your left. By the way, Lightfield Slugs shoot quite accurately and a lot of guys use them. I just personally like the ballistics on a more bullet shaped slug for longer range, and flatter trajectory. If you’re shooting smoothbore, I read a lot good about the new Federal “TruBall” rifled slug. Good Luck Butch

Led Zeppelin??????????? and I would have taken you for a "Deadhead." LOL

Good Luck Tuck!!!

You might consider "reduced recoil" or perhaps "light" field loads (used to be callled low brass) for your first experience with a 12ga shotgun. 150lbs is plenty of beef to take normal recoil, but since you have no idea what to expect it might not be a bad idea to start light. 12 gauge is extremely versatile ... great choice. You can shoot everything from real light stuff to skeet, trap, haymaker goose & turkey loads, and effective deer slugs too. Great gun, great gauge, GOOD LUCK!!! Butch

smoothbore = 75 yards rifled barrel & sabots = 150-200 yards. (if you're a good shot)

My personal opinion is that there's a "cover your butt" factor involved. Once the lawyers got involved, everything gets scaled back to ludicrously "safe" levels. a.k.a. the 8lb trigger pulls, etc, etc. Take a look at old reloading manuals ... they listed hotter loads than the new ones ... lawyers again. The old loads worked fine for a half century, but to pacify the bottom feeders .... So, in a sound, modern barrel I personally wouldn't hesitate to use a more constricted choke ... if it patterned better.

69beers has astutely observed and accurately conveyed the precise procedures and expectations of the Benelli/customer "relationship." Although relationship may not be the right word, since the term relationship implies that there are two parties participating. I sort of get the impression that the "customer" is at best an faint, abstract, mirky, afterthought; floating aimlessly and only occasionally striking & triggering conscious awareness in the minds of a bunch of my crazed countrymen over there; buried in the passion & romance of designing and building a Ferrari like firearm. 99.9% of them probably have no idea what happens after the guns leave the end of the factory. On a more serious note ... I suggest you take either the 26" or 28" if you can find one. I have done a fair amount of shotgunning with guns from 24" to 30"; ordered & bought a 28" barrel for my SBEII and the barrel "feels" a little long to me. Not uncomfortably long, but the 26" would feel fine too. Ballistically, there is no difference in performance, so it's just a mater of preference.

My impression is they're more of a confidence placebo rather than actually helping to stabilize the slug. The slug spends so little time in the short tube that it doesn't get much chance to do anything. I have never read any test comparing a straight choke tube to a rifled tube though. So ... my opinion is that it can't hurt and might help. Go with the longest rifled choke you can buy to give the slug more chance to spin. Mudhen is right, I think you should stay away from the sabot slugs and stick with Buckhammers or some kind of quality foster slug.

Good Luck ... They're pretty hard to come by and take forever to get if you have to order one. If your dealer has one, you should probably grab it.

I paid about $400.00 for a smooth bore barrel to convert my SBEII slug gun for turkey & waterfowl. I'd assume a slug barrel would be in the same price range. I didn't need a modified forend because I had the slug barrel forend already. You needed it to go from smooth to slug, but not the other way around ... at least on the SBEII. One thing to look into; Benelli barrels can take eons to come from the factory, so try and find one in stock. If you're considering deer hunting with your M2, a rifled barrel and some decent optics is infinitely better than a plain smoothbore. Go to www.tar-hunt.com for a lot of good slug shooting information. Click on the "shooting guide" tab and read through by clicking on the headings listed down the left margin. Lightfield slugs are pretty good too. Quite a few guys I know use them and love them. [ 09-29-2005, 08:45 PM: Message edited by: Butch-M ]

If you are not using sabot slugs through a rifled barrel or choke; it is my understanding that the rifling grooves fill up with lead after only a few shots. The rifling doesn't spin the soft lead slug as much as the lead just plows straight on out the barrel being scraped off as it passes over the lands. All of which happens under great temperature and pressure. Supposedly it's a pain to clean out after you've fouled the barrel. So, there is no damage; just world class fouling. There are some cross-over slugs these days that do a passable job through a smoothbore barrel. Hastings Magnums, Remington Buckhammers and Federal Truball come to mind. I've seen quite a few guys using the Buckhammer with pretty good success. You lose about 75 yards in range with a smoothbore. A common slug is realistically about a 75 yard gun in the hands of somebody who has tested and grouped it; AND knows how to shoot slugs. There are critical technique differences between shooting a rifle and slug gun. The new premium sabot slugs through a rifled barrel are accurate and ballistically capable of taking deer ethically out to 150 yards and even further. New Jersey is a shotgun only state, so I read everything I see on slugs and have tested quite a few. With an M1 Benelli and no scope, considering sighting down the barrel, and slug/barrel accuracy ... you probably don't want to shoot more than 75 yards anyway. [ 09-29-2005, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: Butch-M ]

Check out some of the Ferrari forums and listen to the whining over there. There are always negative attitudes around ... you can't please all the people all the time. Benelli makes a great gun. I love mine; but then again ... I tend to value performance first.

It wasn't funny to her because she knew the choice. LOL "There but for the grace of God, go I ...etc, etc"

Maybe the Canadian government is confiscating catalogs now. Amnesty period to turn in your catalogs ....

Thanks ... I like my BAR, but it has the BOSS system which was a nightmare for me to work with. I shot 165gr Hornady's for twenty five years and couldn't find a setting that worked for them. Wound up shooting 200gr Federals because they worked; after stuffing everything I had from 150's to 178's, 180's to 190's Remington, Winchester, Hornady, Seirra, Federal, through the gun ... and about a zillion settings. While I like a lot about the gun, the whole ordeal didn't leave me overjoyed.