Butch-M

Yes Brice I have seen the SST's advertised and they look good. No dealers by me have them yet. I've been using Winchester Supreme Platinum Tips. Tried quite a few others too.

I may be wrong, but I think some guides used to use shotguns as defense weapons for bear hunting. Pretty potent in close ... BIG projectile. Some of the new sabot slugs have formidable ballistics even at reasonable distances.

Well Nelli girl ... you sit quietly on the sidelines ... but when you do jump in it’s with sword drawn. LOL God, one pseudo sexual inference and the thread regresses to seventh grade and you’ve corrupted the self righteous indignity. LOL You’re pretty good. RANTS??? Well when corporations like Exxon & Mobil are making tens of BILLIONS in quarterly profits on the backs of the working masses ... we tent to rant. Beretta/Benelli are viewed far more favorably than the oil boars nest ... but I would guess that most hunters understand they’re a multinational corporation governed by the fundamental laws of capitalism and not a house of craftsman tinkering away lovingly on each hand made firearm, by glowing sunlight streaming through a window in Milan, or Urbino or Brescia , Italy. I also suspect that those same hunters and shooters; keep an uneasy subconscious vigil waiting for the beloved brands to show signs of going over to the dark bureaucratic and impersonal side of the business world. When Benelli was replacing SBEII recoil pads at no cost for instance ... while I didn’t partake of the situation ... it made me feel more comfortable with my first Benelli purchase. Moved Benelli way up the ladder when I consider my NEXT purchase. We rant more particularly towards those who will listen; husbands, wives, loved one, friends, like minded people, politicians looking for votes ... and sympathetic personnel within those corporations; that have a conscience and/or a customer friendly policy. Those corporations which still make their sales and profits with an attitude of their customers being a partner to their success. Corporations like Dell Computer and Swarovski come to mind. Lifting my Benelli out of the case on a crisp autumn morning; produces feelings of trust and pride of ownership and a sense of kinship ... good feelings. There’s a far deeper reason than most realize that you see the firearm or bow displayed in every hunter/trophy photo you’ve ever seen!!! You need that for me to buy another Benelli product. So ... Nelli girl, you should feel honored that we choose to rant to you. I suspect we clearly felt that you, or some person with a connection to Benelli would be alarmed by the “rants,” and indeed Brice’s dilemma; and help him. Not only is it the right thing to do for the guy ... I think there is a subconscious “But for the grace of God there goes John Bradford” working here too. LOL I don’t think these posts were meant to be soothing Brice Hensley’s damaged psyche. In the frenzy of corporate life, sometimes, through no intention; things can just get overlooked or shuffled to the side. I think the posts were meant to reach Benelli with some customer concern; and get them to focus on and correct; what appears to be at least a misunderstanding, and at worst an injustice. Okay ... it’s so friggen hot out I had to quit practicing with my bow, come in and sit at this desk in front of the air conditioner and find something to do ... I admit it. Rant?, Sermon? Perspective? Rambling?

Brice must have originally been talking to the same "Benelli lady" that the guy trying to put .308's & .300 magnums through his R1 was talking with. LOL My dealer was waiting quite a long time for my smoothbore barrel to be delivered until he got to the right person too. Once he did ... the barrel was delivered three days later. Looks like they're trying to "do the right thing" for Brice.

Just out of curiosity and owning a BAR (with a Zeiss) ... when you say your R1 shoots better than your BAR ... how's that? More accurate? More comfortable? Thanks ...

Man ... everybody agrees ... and we still find something to yak about. LOL WELL ... if the THREADS are screwed up (so to speak) and Brice is right eye dominant and not cross eyed with rage ... obviously Brice holds no fault in this situation ... THEN ... Friggen Benelli better get on the stick and make this right!!!

Well ... you're right ... BUT, looking at it from the worst perspective ... and I don't think Brice would be so vocal and indignant if he wasn't suffering an injustice ... but even if Brice took a tumble and bent the barrel ... how often does that happen??? Benelli would gain a lot of good will, reputation and future consideration for just replacing the thing. What's it really cost them??? $150.00??? Benelli is getting premium prices for their stuff, so there must be some room for such a "write off" without even getting into accounting and tax benefits they might have coming. Those companies that have spectacular reputations for customer service take care of their buyers even when it's pretty clear that they don't have much obligation to do so. How many people have you heard say Swarovski fixed xyz ... and the customer was stunned that the optics came back "no charge?" I have Leica binos & rangefinder and Zeiss scopes ... love them both ... but odds are my next purchase will be Swaro for all the great things I hear about the way they take care of their customers. (Although Ziess was good to me during my research)

I'm not sure that the general website membership would support a dishonest post/poll ... I know I wouldn't. I voted for Brice ... and I didn't even ask if he was checked for being left eye dominant!

I have a Beretta A302 gas operated 20ga that I think shoots soft as a mouse. Bought it for a girlfriend to use 15 years ago. Most women who have shot it had no problem, although a few weeks ago a new girlfriend @ 5'-8" & 117lbs handed it back after one shot with a Winchester AA. Personally, I would do all I could to make your wife's FIRST shot a pleasant one. They make reduced recoil shotgun shells these days, although I don't know if they come in 20ga yet. I haven't been to a skeet/trap range in years, but do they have "house" guns to rent for new shooters??? A .410 or 28ga might be good to try if they do. Other than that I can't add anything to what's already been written above.

I don't like the way THAT sounds ... guess Benelli isn't in the elite Swarovski class after all.

First go to www.tarhunt.com and read about how and why shooting slugs is different than shooting a rifle. Pay particular attention to your front grip. I bought a SBEII slug gun in 2004 and recently purchased a smoothbore barrel for it. I do believe you need a different forend if go the way you’re going; at least in the SBEII ... I’m not sure about an SBE1 I settled on 2-3/4" Winchester Supreme Platinum Tips (sabot) after testing quite a few brands and loads. I had to qualify for a special hunt with about 200 guys shooting, so I saw a lot of different guns and ammunition. Many of them had great success with Lightfield slugs. They grouped well for me, but I didn’t like the long range ballistics. Federal slugs with the Barnes bullet took the tops spots in qualifying, (in “Browning A Bolt” - bolt action slug guns) but in my gun the groups weren’t great ... about 2-1/2" at 50 yards. (The Winchester’s shot 1-1/8" groups and qualified in 6th place) Remington copper solids grouped about like the Barnes bullet for me. I just picked up a box of Remington Ultra Bonded 385gr Corelokts that got good write ups. The gun shop spoke well of it, saying guys are having great luck with them, and the ballistics seem exceptional. I’m going to test them this summer. Hornady came out with an SST slug that looks great too, but none of the dealers around me have it in stock yet. I’ve shot Hornady ammo for years, including in my muzzle loader and I’m betting their SST slug is going to be good. Also, test at 50 yards like you’re supposed to, but when you find a slug you like, test at 75 and 100 yards to see how it behaves ... that’s important. Bottom line is you have to try different ammunition in your gun. One thing you’ll learn if you do is ... different brands and loads behave radically different. There can be as much as a 4" difference in group size at 50 yards. I had some heavy and slow slugs that grouped decent at 50 yards, disappear off the target at 100 yards! So when you find a slug you like, buy some extras ... you don’t want to run out in the field because not much is going to behave like what you had.

I've shot Winchester AA's and Lightfield reduced recoil slugs out of an SBEII ... with no problems. Butch-M

While the 28 inch barrel will pattern almost identically to the 26" barrel, I think most guys like the 26" better. Rumor has it that longer barrels swing a little better, on ducks & geese for instance; something about sight plane & balance ... but the shorter 26" barrel seems to handle a little better. Responds quicker and is a bit easier in tight spaces. Personally ... I have a 28" barrel and it feels a bit long on the SBEII platform ... not a big deal, but if I had it to do over, would go for the 26" If you're really torn over barrel length, find one of those 5 dealers who has the guns and try shouldering both barrel lengths ... see which one you like better. Otherwise, I think the 26" is a good choice. Great gun by the way! Butch-M Be forewarned ... ordering something from Benelli MIGHT take an inordinate amount of time to receive. I waited 5 months for my 28" barrel; and I've heard of a lot longer waits than that. It will be much safer to purchase out of dealer stock.

Well, ...much as I know and regret this morphing away from Benelli and much as I told myself I wasn’t going to let myself get dragged into a ludicrous public debate over this ... and much as I know I’m taking liberties with the venue and taking members time away from legitimate posts to quench my own ax to grind ... after sleeping on it ... I’ve always taken offense with bullies who use intimidation as a way to relate to people. Strikes me as lacking strength & honor. As I raised my kids “character assassination” during an argument was absolutely unacceptable. It was NOT allowed in our home ... period. Destructive to both the giver and receiver. A sure sign that you were losing an intelligent debate or disagreement and trying to introduce a base childish emotional reaction. STICK TO THE FACTS was the rule! Fight if you must ... but fight clean, fight fair. Be a man, or a woman and admit when you were wrong; with respect, and head held high. Be correct or right; graciously and equally respectfully as when you were wrong. First off, it was me who insinuated that you MIGHT be a neophyte ... Tucker did not. Beginner is not a derogatory term. YOU choose to take it as so. Your post sat unanswered for over a week before ANYBODY decided to answer it. So, clearly, neither me nor Tucker was eagerly seizing the opportunity to play “holier than thou” expert. I saw it early and after a week of it still going unanswered, I started to worry that without SOMEBODY addressing your false ideas you might be minutes away from going out in the field, or to a range, to experiment with your convoluted ammunition theory; and blow up an R1; with shrapnel killing and maiming. Hence the sense of duty ... and urgency in my response to your post!!! I’m guessing Tucker figured that supporting my post would further weight my words; especially dealing with you ... as I now see he has had previous experience with you and R1 questions. Your “thank you” for our being concerned about you and your family and/or friends who would be standing around you while trying to fire .308's out of a .300 mag. Chamber is among other things ... defining. Second ... Tucker didn’t rightfully label you ignorant & arrogant until AFTER you decided that I was a coward who needed to get out from behind my keyboard and get a life. (I tip my hat to him for he said in one sentence that which takes me two pages to say) Now, much as I know I shouldn’t bother; much as I know it would be nobler to suffer your slings and arrows rather than take up arms against them ... such an unfounded, unsubstantiated, ignorant, blanket accusation such as you made IS offensive by almost anyone’s standards. People like you should not go unchallenged or it only encourages and reinforces additional attacks as your normal way of doing business. You presume to know a man ... a man’s courage ... a man’s lifestyle from a few sentences on a Benelli forum??? How dare you??? Tucker’s admonishments towards you were far too kind. I’ve been an Ironworker and steel erector in the NYC megalopolis for a large part of my life. Walked steel beams 57 stories up alongside men who are MEN and trust one another literally with our lives daily. Watched on 9/11/01 in person; from the roof of a building we were erecting on the river; as the terrorist Islamic scum flew into the World Trade Center and then took a NYC Police launch at 1:00am across the Hudson River to work in the smoldering WTC debris field alongside Cops & Firefighters & Ironworkers, drove Corvettes & Ferraris over 160mph, bikes over 140mph, pole vaulted as a youth, risked my home and assets in business, spent 5 years in a Karate school & had my share of street fights, etc, etc, etc ... so while I don’t see myself as being a particularly brave man ... I’ve yet to have any man or woman who knows me or knows of me, label me as a coward. While I’ve been called some pretty unflattering expletives ... coward has never been one of them. Put your brain in gear before engaging your mouth in print. A life??? I raised two kids with straight A’s no drugs no trouble with authorities, put them through good Universities, hunt, shoot bows, shotguns, rifles, ocean fish, 2 boats, canoe, ATV’s, scuba dive, ski, travel, golf, coached hockey & baseball, 3 homes, and have 50 things to do every day. And ... yes ... I get behind this keyboard a few times a day to relax, have a cup of coffee or while having lunch, answer my e-mails from family & friends all over the country, and perhaps have a little fun and learn something on a few forums. You display about the same ability to judge people as you do judging ammunition ... you’re not very good at it. Third ... Tucker may have a little edge to him now and then, but I’ve never seen him write anything that didn’t look true to me. He does his homework. (****, he even does the OTHER guys homework by researching stuff and posting links to answer their posts!) He thinks before he writes. I’ve never seen him launch an unprovoked attack of immature name calling during a valid discourse on an issue. Personally, I’ve learned a lot from the guy. If he chooses to chew into my butt while answering something particularly “Darwinian” something that should be obvious, something simplistic or fundamental I was too lazy to research myself, or some question which is just plain stupid ... big deal. So what if he “doesn’t suffer fools gladly?” Suck it up, get over it, don’t take it personally; and move on. And frankly, throughout my life, coming from the people street savvy land of the Sopranos ... I’ve found that those types who belittle, denigrate and launch derogatory character epithets at somebody who invites their wrath by disagreeing with them, challenging them, or by proving them wrong; are almost always “projecting” their inadequate view of themselves onto that perceived “opponent.” If guts (or lack of) is an issue ... if I had to be in a foxhole with someone,(aside from the fact that he’d know the correct ammunition to put in our weapons) ... while I don’t know Tucker from Adam ... I’ll take the tough egg over the bully any day. Bullies have a pretty predictable habit of turning into rabbits when you need a lion. Finally ... if some sort of an apology for your unjustified tirade was supposed to be woven into your last post because you now understand you were wrong (dangerously wrong) ... it was largely more of your self justification, deprecation of others and attempting to shift negative focus onto somebody, anybody, everybody else. A behavior my kids had already developed enough self confidence, self esteem, and strength of character to cast off by the time they were about seven years old. Butch-M

You know what moracho ... if you're going to take honest concern for a fellow shooter who is talking about doing something which is asinine and dangerous as being “authoritative” and judgmental ... knock yourself out. I have yet to read anyone on these forums who claims to being an "expert." They all share information ... and we do with it as we please. I learn things on theses forums from guys gracious enough to share information and experiences; that I didn’t discover in 40 years of hunting and shooting. I only hope that I occasionally have something useful to contribute as well. Although I tried to be diplomatic in my tone, perhaps the magnitude of the consequences of such a dumb idea and my sense of urgency to prevent a potential disaster, coupled with my amateur writing style, offended your psyche and triggered your defensive reply. Don't forget YOU asked the question. Too bad if you didn't like the answer. You obviously didn't believe the professional Benelli Representative ... the authorities at Benelli; or you wouldn't have floated the question to 5,000 Benelli Forum readers for further advice. Trust me, the original intent was not to sound pompous, just to prevent someone getting hurt and the resulting media fodder. Do whatever suits your fancy. If you cripple or kill yourself or someone around you ... let the survivors not say you weren't warned. Butch-M P.S. Funny, I’ve shot a Browning Bar Safari MKII autoloader in .300 Winchester Magnum for 12 years and a "worked" Winchester Model 70 in .300 Win. mag for 30 years and my owner’s manuals have huge red danger warnings all over about not switching ammunition. Call the Benelli lady back and ask her to send in writing that you can interchange those three cartridges. I can well imagine the lawyers would like to see it ... I mean just in case we lifeless cowards happen to be correct.

Unless I'm missing something here ... I assume you're a neophyte at this? It is extremely dangerous to attempt shooting anything other than the ammunition listed on the barrel through the barrel!!! The three "projectiles" (bullets) are the same but quite obviously the brass shell casings (and therefore the cartridges) are radically different. Bad stuff can happen here. Read your owner's manual cover to cover ... if you don't have one ... go on line and download one ... or write to the manufacturer and get one. Half the manual is about safely using the firearm. "READ IT!!!" Judging from your question; and no disrespect because everyone is a beginner at one time ... I suggest you not even shoot the firearm until you read the manual and get some instruction from a competent experienced shooter. (Preferably a trained, certified instructor) Butch-M

Just can't help trying to light off sprigsss again can you??? LOL Yeah, I see they have doves, ducks, crows, owls ... quite a mechanized little airforce. Keep it up and you'll need one of those deep cycle batteries they use for trolling motors and a labyrinth of wires running all over the river bank. Or you could con your chewing buddy to tap into one of those turbines.

Can there be a more despicable habit than chewing tobacco??? They dribble, drool, spit ... and the clumps of what certainly could pass as feces were it not for the fierce stench ... coming out of their mouths??? There's nothing like turning to your buddy and seeing that blood brown stain on the front of their shirt to make you wonder what in the world could you possibly have in common with this guy??? What thought process, what corrupted logic, could possibly lead someone to think that stuffing your mouth with a foul smelling carcinogen that produces prodigious amounts of vile liquid which has severe disposal problems ... has merit??? Now ... just picture being the poor woman who has "that" coming at her with intentions of intimacy!!! LOL It's a miracle that they get to pass on their genes. What an unpleasant habit. Addiction is a terrible thing. Well, I'm sure he's a great guy aside from that foible ... just keep to the upwind spot in the blind ... and make him buy a pump to inflate his share. Anyway ... I usually set up my spread in sort of a "U" shape with the blind between the open legs. Have a few confidence decoys on shore and a few ducks in front of the blind kind of closing up the "U" a little. Leaves a big hole for them to land at around 30 yards. I add three or four goose decoys up wind separated from the ducks a little ... and have some crows sitting on the boat. My flying decoys on pipes are down wind as if coming to land into the wind. Seems to work pretty well. For some reason, I rarely have ducks landing out of range on the outside of the spread. What I do have happen surprisingly often is to have ducks swim un-noticed into the spread. I guess you watch the skies so intently ... unless they're using subs? Sneaky little ... I find myself counting decoys, but of course can never remember how many I put out. LOL Problem around here is where I usually go in a river; we get about 3 or 4 foot tides. At low tide the boat is high & dry in the swamp mud. Retrieving a downed bird is done with some pretty primitive poling & levering; and with great effort. And if we've had any storms ... huge mats of meadow weeds can come floating by taking "X" number of decoys with it. Results in a Navy seal like scramble to launch the boat & get em back. It is fun though! Butch

God ... I can't wait to get back in the swamps. So much new stuff to try out since my last foray. New gun, new chokes, new ammunition ... and yes ... new types of decoys!!! Got my "old" duck boat engine running again last week. Changed lower unit lubricant ... purrs like a kitten. Say ... what are you hearing about the acceptance of those new screen painted inflatables??? My bay boat is loaded to the gunwales with carrylites right now ... but if a little bit is good ... a lot is better ... right??? I have a canoe I could tow. I have to pay more attention to the waterfowl section of Cabelas from now on. By the way, speaking of decoys ... ethically ... do you think it's a good thing ... or a bad thing ... to anchor bouys at 30yds, 40yds, 50yds marking ranges?

I guess what the hunting fraternity considers ethical & unethical is similar to what individuals in a society consider right & wrong. One would probably say it's a "sense" or "feel" ... an internal, inherent instinct. (Less the lawyers of course) BUT ... What the ancient Greeks or Romans (quite civilized societies) considered acceptable; has evolved today into what we "feel" is barbaric. (Like feeding Christians to lions for example {being Christian, I can identify with that one})(Or stealing surreptitiously into Troy inside the worlds biggest Robo-ized decoy) I wonder where Achilles thought THAT decoy was going to lead his hunting in the future?) Next thing you know EVERYBODY is going to have to have one; or be left sitting bored at the gates. Soon after that you'll be killing nothing but young, and/or stupid enemies. You'll find your enemies flare and keep running. Long shots, cripples ensued, etc, etc. I'm sure given the chance ... Hector would argue & debate the ethics of the Greek's lure; same as you do about Tucker's Mojos. (You don't mind me using you as the focal of Robo users for literary impact ... do you Tucker??) At one time the samurai considered gunpowder and guns as unethical ... they all got shot in battle by ignominious farmers wielding firearms! Using and/or defending heroic & honorable traditional methods of course. Adaptation or extinction. Try as they may ... the samurai couldn't convince the farmers of the error of their ways ... to put down their guns and take up a sword like a real man ... wonder why? I'm afraid you may be a Samurai among Musketeers. Noble; holding your own for now ... but archaic. The native American (Indian) comes to mind too. Hold your ground. Continue your articulate crusade ... perhaps ... like we honor the old ways of the ancient primitive bow & arrow ... and the less primitive and more technologically advanced blackpowder rifle (but still acceptably "old ways" right?); with their own seasons ... there may be a swing of the pendulum to old fashion decoy waterfowl hunting. (Less the punt guns no doubt) Until then ... the ignominious modern waterfowlers will be ruling the marshes. Personally ... it doesn't mater to me either way as long as we're all playing by the same rules, and we're adjusting bag limits to keep the waterfowl population strong. Butch

You want I should send the gun too Tucker??? I wound up working my butt off sunrise to sunset on the hunting lodge for 4 days and the only shooting I did was a few Winchester AA's just to see if they'd cycle. Flawless! This SBEII has cycled AA's and reduced recoil Lightfield slugs ... so the low end of anything I can imagine ever wanting to shoot through it works fine. It felt surprisingly nice coming up to shoulder too. Light, quick, agile ... belying the black ominous look of the gun at rest. Autoloaders usually feel weightier ... as if you're compromising some degree of smooth & sleek for firepower. I had a shocking nanosecond of pause during my test ... that this SBEII Slug gun -3-1/2" digesting Turkey/Waterfowl cannon; could rival or replace my beloved Beretta O/U in the field. What a dilemma. Butch

.660 Rhino, ordered and on the way! Odered two boxes of Winchester 3-1/2" ExRange #6's at my local shop too. A pile of old blueprints & three ammo cans full of assorted 3" & 2-3/4" lead & steel ammo from #7-1/2 up to BB for this weekend's testing with crio chokes. When I was making the rounds of the local gun shops looking for Hevi-shot & Extended Range ...discovered a new Remingtom Ultra Corelok 385gr slug with good looking ballistics too. Hope I have time to try all this stuff.

I tried a few outfits including wingsupply, but none had them. Thanks ... I'll call Rhino.

Anyone know a place that has them in stock for a Benelli SBEII?

Ain't that the truth!!! LOL