heavy4x4

Beauty! Hunting in Wisconsin has been tough too. Everyone I've talked to has said the birds are not responding as they usually do. If you get more than 10 minutes of gobbling out of a bird, you're doing good...and that's right out of the roost. If you hear a bird gobble after about 8 in the morning, you're doing pretty good too. Nobody said it was supposed to be easy...if it was, we probably wouldn't do it!

Good looking bird, Alex. Congrats. You have accomplished something I have not.

coltchris...it appears he has the SBE, not the SBEII. In that case, he does NOT want to get the one for a Crio barrel. -Steve

Cleaning: Hoppe's #9 Protecting bore and outside of gun: Hoppes gun oil Lubricating sliding components, inertia spring, trigger assembly, & choke: Benelli's oil [ 05-05-2005, 11:54 AM: Message edited by: heavy4x4 ]

Surprised nobody said Comfortech stock...

I think mine is accurate to +/- 1 yard also. 1 yard...even 5...wouldn't really matter on big game at long distances with a high powered rifle.

Back on topic... I have Bushnell's Yardage Pro Sport. I got it several years back for $170 and I think that's the price they're still selling for. It's a smaller unit, nice to carry. Monocular. I think it's rated for shiny, large objects (side of building, for example) to 300 yards and deer size to 150 or so, but you may want to check on that. I haven't used it to range game yet, just targets and trees/landmarks around my hunting stands. If you'll be hunting in open land, you may want something that has a little further range. My opinion is Bushnell all the way for range finders. [ 04-26-2005, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: heavy4x4 ]

I was turkey hunting last weekend, and while I didn't bag a bird, I did shoot my gun twice at a paper target to pattern it at 25 and 40 yards. I was using Remington's 3.5" Hevi-Shot with 1-3/4oz load, #5's. This was all being pushed through a .675" H.S. Strut UnderTaker turkey choke. The pattern was great, and I did a lot of damage to the slab-board that my target was pinned to. HOWEVER, I only fired two shots and when I got home and cleaned my gun, I couldn't believe how much junk was in my barrel from those Hevi-shot loads. Initially looking down the barrel, it didn't look much dirtier than usual, but when I made the first pass with the brass brush dipped in Hoppes, the brush was gunked with black stuff like I had never seen before. It took about three of the normal cleaning procedures I do before I got it clean to a point I was happy with. No doubt Hevi-shot is good stuff, but I don't know if I want to shoot a box of that stuff duck or goose hunting. I hope companies are working on making it cleaner. Maybe there is no hope in that regard...I realize the "gunk" is filler/plastic that protects the barrel from the shot.

Since it's going to be your back-up gun, I wouldn't worry about bringing a whole bunch of different shot/shell sizes. Since it's a 20 gauge, I would stick with the 4's, but 6's would work pretty well for ducks. Use a heavier load and shot. You're bringing a 12 gauge for your "main gun," correct?

Well, my weekend was a good one...but I don't have any pictures to share. I talked to a gobbler on Friday, called in 3 hens and a strutting Jake on Saturday, and talked to a gobbler on Sunday. I consider my weekend a success even though I came home empty-handed. Oh, and I patterned my 28" SBE with a .675" H.S. Strut UnderTaker choke tube, 3.5" Remington Hevi-Shot 1-3/4 oz #5. Shooting at a turkey head printed on 8.5"x11" paper, it was a dead turkey at 25 and 40 yards no problem. That Hevi-shot sure makes a mess in the barrel...I've never seen so much gunk from shooting two shells of anything before. Happy hunting/shooting, -Steve

What choke were you using?

A week from today, I'll be in the woods, clad in camo, and toting my SBE...it's spring turkey season. Who else is going out and when? I'll be sure to share pictures if I am so lucky.

[ 04-13-2005, 09:37 PM: Message edited by: heavy4x4 ]

"The size of a barrel does not matter as far as accuracy, the only reason they make them longer is because its a little easier to aim. 24" is probably perfect for you if you want to do waterfowl and turkey. it's not too short for waterfowl and its not too long for turkey. I recomend your original decision of getting a 24" barrel: It's perfect for what you want to do" ______________________ Not to get too involved in this, but The_Gun_Guy, I think tucker301 was commenting on the inaccuracy in your choice of wording/explanation. 1) Barrel length does affect accuracy. When it comes down to the difference between 24", 26", and 28", the difference isn't all that significant. But there is still a difference. Your statement could be taken to say that a 10" barrel will give you the same pattern/accuracy. I think we can all reason that the last statement is not true; therefore the general statement is not accurate. 2) Longer doesn't really mean "easier to aim." It affects the swing of the gun and the way it balances. Technically, aiming the gun (lining up the two beads or the bead and the rib as the case may be) is just as easy with a 24" barrel or a 28" barrel. In fairness, you did say that you recommend the 24" barrel. For whatever reason that is, that's fine...you have your reasons and opinion. I like how you said you didn't feel it was too short for waterfowl or too long for turkey. My personal opinion is that a longer barrel would suit him better. If he's truly more of a waterfowl hunter than a turkey hunter, he'd see the benefits of a longer barrel. Then again, he'll get the most benefit trying different barrel lengths to see what fits him the best and what he shoots the best with. Tucker's little cartoon, while effective in showing his disagreement with your statement, did little to explain his reasoning and teach the un-informed. Happy hunting/shooting, -Steve [ 04-13-2005, 09:38 PM: Message edited by: heavy4x4 ]

Chip, It depends on your personal experience/ability. If you can shoot sporting clays or waterfowl well with a 24" barrel go for it. Easier to swing sometimes loans itself to over-swinging the target. My good friend is a big sporting clays guy and he's looking to get an o/u with 34" barrels. I offer you this thought though...you said you're mostly a waterfowl hunter, so it might better suit you to get a 28" barrel. A gun with a 28" barrel can be used for turkey hunting no problem.

If you haven't guessed by now, you should buy it! I bought a new SBE in synthetic stock a month or so ago for $1000w/tax. I thought that was a good deal.

I went yesterday and fired off 50 shots at sporting clays. I didn't shoot well, but that's not the point. I just wanted to fire my new gun. To break it in, I shot 12 3" Nitro Magnum shells with 1 7/8oz #6 shot. It kicked hard, but not too bad. Those clays broke like you wouldn't believe. After that, I shot 2 3/4", 1 1/8 oz, 3 dram eq, #7 1/2's. It cycled those flawlessly. Then, one of the guys handed me two Mini-max shells packed with 1 oz of shot...it cycled those fine. I'm impressed! I love the gun and it's versatility. The only issue I had with it the whole time I was out (mind you it was the first time shooting it, it was 35 degrees, windy, and spitting rain/snow pretty good) was that once, while firing the 3" mags early on, the action cycled so fast that the shell loading into the chamber from the magazine caught the end of the ejecting casing. It jammed. No other hiccups other than that, though. Happy hunting/shooting, -Steve

When storing my gun (SBE I) in the Benelli hard case, if the bolt is all the way forward, it doesn't fit very well...it hits on the plastic of the case slightly. So, whenever I put my gun away, I take the bolt all the way off the gun and place it in one of the "trays" in the case. 1) Would it be okay to leave the bolt in the "cocked" position or would that damage the spring in the stock? When I remove the bolt, the trigger is cocked. I gently release the trigger so as not to let it slam all the way forward. 2) Again, would leaving the trigger in the cocked position damage anything...or should it always be "fired" prior to storing? I plan to get a soft-case at some point so I don't need to keep taking my gun down each time. Once I put the sling on, it will become somewhat of a hassle to disassemble for storing. Happy hunting/shooting, -Steve

Here's what I do after shooting 50-100 rounds through my shotgun: 1) Remove barrel from gun. 2) Dip metal bore brush in Hoppe's #9 cleaning solvent. Run through barrel twice. 3) Let barrel sit for 2-3 minutes. 4) While barrel is sitting, dip old toothbrush in Hoppe's #9 and lightly scrub inside of chamber, bolt, etc. 5) Now that barrel has sat, run dry cleaning patches through bore until they come out clean. 6) Spray wool/cotton bore brush with gun oil (not brand specific) 7) Run through barrel 2-3 times and check for nice shine. 8) Take old cotton t-shirt and wipe off Hoppe's #9 and all the gunk that comes with it from receiver, bolt, etc. 9) Shoot a few squirts of gun oil into trigger assembly, firing pin, and on surfaces that see sliding action (under forend, in receiver, etc). 10) Assemble gun and wipe entire gun with oil-soaked heavy cotton rag. Place into gun case without applying finger-smudges to blued surfaces. That's what I do with my Remington 870 and rifles. Now that I have a Benelli SBE, I'll probably take apart the bolt each time to clean the inertia spring, firing pin, etc. It's a lot easier to get to the trigger assembly/inner-workings of the SBE than the other guns I have, so I'm sure they'll get a better cleaning.

Haha, thanks tucker! ...and the mechanical engineer inside me comes out.

To add to what tucker said: What you're looking for is down-range energy. Kinetic energy is defined as (1/2)M*V^2. M is the mass of the projectile and V is the velocity. One pellet of Hevi-shot has more mass than a lead pellet of the same size. So, if one pellet of each is flying at the same speed, the Hevi-shot will have greater energy downrange. Now, when people told you "speed kills," they were right. You'll notice in the equation for kinetic energy that velocity is squared. So, increasing velocity will increase energy better than increasing mass. This is the reason for the "high-speed" steels. Because steel shot has less mass than lead shot, shell companies increased the velocity so that the downrange energy was about the same as standard lead shot. For example (and I did NOT use any actual masses for this, I'm just throwing out a "for instance"), a #6 lead pellet fired at 1500fps will carry more energy downrange than a #6 Hevi-shot pellet at 1200fps even though the Hevi-shot pellet has more mass. Ultimately, you want to shoot the heaviest, fastest round out there. Then, of course, you'll be dealing with major recoil. As Newton's law says, "every action has an equal and opposite reaction." That is to say, the mass and acceleration of the shot coming out of your barrel is equal to the mass of your gun and how much it accelerates into your shoulder. A heavier gun = less felt recoil. Happy hunting/shooting -Steve

You can shoot Hevi-shot through a turkey extra-full if you want. BUT! Whatever choke tube you use, it needs to be approved for steel-shot. If you use one that isn't meant for steel or hevi-shot, you will score and dent it with Hevi-shot. [ 03-13-2005, 09:12 AM: Message edited by: heavy4x4 ]

Sorry...I should have left the part about chokes out...I meant to ask if Hevi-shot will ruin my barrel at all? Scoring and such. -Steve

There isn't any problem throwing Hevi-shot through my SBEI, is there? I'll use "steel ok" or "Hevi-shot turkey" chokes only. Happy hunting/shooting. -Steve

If you want the best bang for your buck and a very versatile gun, go out right now to all the dealers in your area and look for SBE I's. That's what I did. Since Benelli is "discontinuing" them in favor of the SBE II non-comfortech, you should be able to pick one up on clearance. I got mine last week for $1002 w/tax from Gander Mountain. The non-clearance price was $1139. Happy hunting/shooting. -Steve [ 02-25-2005, 06:52 AM: Message edited by: heavy4x4 ]