J J Mac

I hunted three days in Devils Lake in October for about the fifth consecutive year. We had really good luck on geese but not so good on ducks. A total of twelve of us hunting in three groups of four + a guide killed 72 Lesser Canadas (possession limit), 159 snows, and about 70 ducks. It was the best year we have had there for geese although some years we get some Giant Canadas.

The choke tube websites that I have looked at show skeet II and light mod the same in between improved cylinder and modified. Some manufacturers call it skeet II and some call it light modified,

Saw it happen to our guide's barrel in North Dakota two years ago when hunting there. If I remember right, the barrel came off the gun during the recoil after a shot.

Check out the Patternmaster website. Patternmaster makes several different chokes based on wad retention technology to get improved patterns for different uses. Don't expect to buy one Patternmaster and expect it to be a perfect choke for all your shooting just like you wouldn't expect one constriction type choke to fill all your needs. I have seen quite a few people say that a Patternmaster is too tight but they undoubtedly are using the long range Patternmaster for close shots too and for most shooters it might be too tight for birds when they are decoying in close just like an IM or Full choke would be too tight. Patternmaster makes Short Range, Mid Range, Long Range, and Extended Range chokes for different types of hunting. I have all of them except for the Extended Range tube which is for Long Range shooting with 3 1/2 inch shells but will work fine for shorter shells too. I use mine for most of the hunting I do with lead (upland), steel, and HeviShot. I had them turned down by the factory so I can use them in my Beretta O/U in addition to my SBE (not SBE II). The SBE II takes a different choke. They have worked out great for pheasants with # 5 lead shot in addition to the waterfowl hunting with nontoxic shot, mostly steel. I have been very happy with my Patternmaster chokes and recommend them. Just don't think that one choke will do everything for you. The Patternmaster people say you get tighter patterns with bigger pellets. I like the non ported chokes.

3 dram 1 1/8 maybe, lighter probably not. This has been discussed here many, many times. See http://www.benelliusa.com/customer-service/troubleshooting.tpl. You can download a manual at http://www.benelliusa.com.

As Mudhen wrote, there is no gun designated SBE1. The first was SBE, the second was SBEII. People call the original SBE the SBE1 sometimes to distinguish it from the SBEII.

Sounds like you have a good dog. My comments after owning two labs and hunting with them for twelve years follow. You might want to consider force breaking to aid in the retrieving. There are trainers that believe all hunting dogs should have this training. I didn't do it or have it done. One of my dogs was an excellent retriever and the other not so good. If you don't know about this I'm sure you can google it and find info or go to the library and get some books on dog training. I have seen dogs that will come back and walk with their master when they get tired. I have also seen dogs that will do this if they are borderline gun shy and so they come back to the owner for a feeling of safety/security I guess. You can probably tell if it is the latter problem.

I have a Benelli 1994 Black Eagle Limited Edition which I have been thinking about selling. It listed for $2000 retail in 1994. It is NIB, with fancy wood, gold inlays, shoots 2 3/4 or 3" shells. A supurb gun in new, mint condition with all the papers, etc. It looks quite a bit like the SBE Flyway at Jacques in a post above but is new, never fired, and does not shoot 3 1/2 inch shells. I think it has nicer wood. Let me know if interested. I can email pictures. I will PM you too. We could make arrangements through a third party (maybe Paypal?) to make sure we are both protected in the transaction.

This might help http://www.benelliusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14742 I have seen cases where the firing pin does not stick out of the bolt face far enough to strike the primer sufficiently because of residue on the back face of the Locking Head Assembly. See Tucker's cleaning instruction link on the above thread. To check, take the barrel off the gun, remove the bolt and push the firing pin forward as far as it will go. If it does not stick out very far this could be your problem. To fix, dissassemble the bolt and follow the instructions I (J J Mac) gave in the above link. It could be due to other problems as well but this is a place to start.

The Black Eagle slug gun which is what you have according to this post and your previous post was imported in 1990-1991 according to the Blue book of Gun Values. You can check with Benelli customer service but I am pretty sure that Black Eagle barrels interchange with Montefeltro Super 90 barrels and maybe others but certainly not SBE. If you dissassemble the gun and the receiver is in two parts and the top part separates from the barrel, it is a Black Eagle not a SBE. Also the Black Eagle would shoot shells up thru 3 inch and the SBE shoots 3 1/2 inch also.

There is a shoulder on the front of the firing pin that prevents the firing pin from sticking out of the Locking Head Assembly too far. I have seen buildup of residue on the inside front face of the Locking Head Assembly prevent the firing pin from extending out far enough to hit the primer sufficiently. To clean this area, spray solvent inside the Locking Head Assembly, insert the firing pin and twist it in a circular fashion to clean away the residue. Then flush well with solvent and let dry before lubrication and reassembly. This is how I fixed one that this happened to. I had no tools with me so we used the firing pin to clean out the residue. There might be some tools or brushes that could be used too.

I used to have a Benelli Black Eagle (not a SBE). This gun was similar to a Montefeltro and I think used the same barrels. It had a two piece recieiver kind of like a SBE but the top part was a separate piece not part of the barrell. I had a slug barrel for it and suspect it would fit the Montefeltro also. I think the barrell was made by E R Shaw.

I have a 20 ga 24" barrel (blued) with all choke tubes if you want to buy it.

The only study I have seen on products for corrosion prevention is here: http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/NewsletterArchive.aspx?p=0&t=1&i=503 There are probably others. This was just looking at rust prevention not lubricity. WD-40 did quite well in these tests. I have used WD-40 on the outside of guns before and it has not given me any trouble. I wouldn't use it on internal moving parts.

The only study I have seen on products for corrosion prevention is here: http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/NewsletterArchive.aspx?p=0&t=1&i=503 This was just looking at rust prevention not lubricity. WD-40 did quite well in these tests. I have used WD-40 on the outside of guns before and it has not given me any trouble. I wouldn't use it on internal moving parts.

If I were you, I would get him a gift certificate at a local shop if you know where you want to purchse the gun or make up a certificate yourself on the computer en***ling him to a new Benelli. He may have strong preferences that you are not aware of. I have several Benellis as well as numerous other guns and I would never want anyone to buy me one that I had not picked out. Besides appearance and the versatility of the gun, there is the matter of gun fit (quite important) to be considered.

Check out Carlson's chokes http://www.choketube.com/american.html and http://www.choketube.com/guide.html

I have a set of 3 Patternaster tubes that fit the Benelli SBE(I), Benelli Montefeltro, Beretta, etc. The set consists of Short Range (over decoy), Mid Range, and Standard Range chokes. I did not buy the Extended Range tube that gives tight patterns with 3 1/2 inch shells. Following is info received from the Patternmaster owner who I called before I bought them: · The chokes give a shorter shot string and thus a higher shot density on target through wad retardation · Shorter shell, slower velocity, and larger shot give tighter patterns · Longer shell, higher velocity, and smaller shot give wider patterns When goose/duck hunting this year I used the Standard Range tube in my Benelli with a 3 1/2 inch steel shot shell in the chamber (seems to throw a wide pattern with this choke) followed by 3" steel or Hevi-shot in the magazine to give a tighter pattern. I use the Short Range and either Medium or Standard chokes in my Beretta O/U for pheasants. I used these chokes in South Dakota for pheasants and North Dakota for waterfowl in 2005 and was very pleased with the results. Many people that get one of these chokes get the Extended Range and then the pattern may be too tight for them. I got the non-ported chokes because I didn't want the louder noise in the blind that the porting gives.

The early SBE I slug bbl (no fixed sights) was made by Shaw - don't know about now. It was a larger diameter than the normal bbl and the slug gun pkg came with a special fore end to accomodate it. You will probably have to purchase a new fore end unless you can remove some material from inside the fore end to make it fit.

I am used to the impact being at the point of aim. However I bought a new barrel for by SBE (I not II) with the sloping rib this year and it worked just fine for ducks and geese. If the effective pattern is 30-40 " at 40 yds, then shooting 6-9 inches high doesn't matter much.

alculated results in previous fost for point of impact were for 40 yards.

The SBE II barrels I have seen have a rib that is higher in the back than at the tip of the barrel. I think the difference is 1/8" or 3/16". For a 28" barrel, if it is 3/16" difference, the gun would shoot about 9.6" high. If it is 1/8", the gun would shoot about 6.4" high. When I asked Benelli why they did this the said "customers wanted it that way".