DumbDuck

26 March 09 I got the same e-mail and I've a question. If Benelli was the first to offer a shotgun with a rotating bolt head in 1983 then how did I buy a Winchester 1400 with a rotating bolt head in 1965? I still own and shoot that 1400 and the only difference I can see is that the bolt head on the 1400 turns clockwise when it engages the lugs in the barrel and the bolt head on my I-12, 612 and 620 turn counter clockwise. Is this poor history or a misprinted date? Confused DumbDuck

21 Feb. 09 I don't know how you people survive with so few shotguns. I counted them up and if we don't consider antiques and muzzle loaders, I have 25. 8 Winchesters, 6 Remingtons, 3 Rugers, 2 Ithaca/SKB, 1 Huglu, 1 Browning and 4 Franchi. Yes I do shoot them all and with the exception of the 410s, I hunt with all of them. DumbDuck

14 Oct. 08 The reason I bought the Franchi I-12 rather then a Benelli gun was the fact that bolt isn't pushed into battery by a plunger but dragged back into battery by a spring around the outside of the magazine tube. If the gun were totally immersed in muck (there is no water where I hunt ducks, only muck) there is no part that cannot be accessed in seconds and easily cleaned. Like the others, I clean the gun completely whether I fire one shell or a box. If it gets rained on or splashed with the afore mentioned muck, the trigger assembly is remove and the magazine disassembled. DumbDuck

To increase your effective range you can tighten your choke, increase the velocity of your shot and go to a larger shot size which will maintain velocity better. The 20 gauge throw shot out the barrel at the same velocity as the 12 and there is less of it. Most commercial 20 gauge shells have the same or slightly lower velocity then 12ga. You should be better off with the 12 for longer range shooting. That being said, 40 yards is a stretch for a small bird like a dove. Even the tightest pattern has holes they can go through. Shooting at 75 to 80 yards is just plain stupid. You're wasting ammunition and you stand to cripple and lose more birds. DumbDuck

24 July 08 I'd look at the Franchi 720 with the youth stock. 12.5 LOP and 5 pounds 14oz. Gas operated guns kick lighter then recoil operated guns and unless you intend to shoot 1000 shells without cleaning them, are just as reliable. DumbDuck

18 July 08 Save your money. I've purchased a couple Benelli Skeet tubes over the past year and they are identical in diameter to the IC tubes. The only reason I bought them was my Renaissance came with only IC, Mod and Full tubes and my brother bought a used Franchi 720 which only had the Mod. tube. I shoot 8-10 rounds of skeet a week and any choke between cylinder and IC is just fine. I have a couple O/Us and SxS guns with fixed IC/MOD barrels and TMAC is right, the MOD tube does just fine, it just grinds them finer. DumbDuck

1 Feb. 08 Ric Tic, If you want to use you X2 3.5" with light target loads, try reloading with a slow burning powder like PB. My gun wouldn't function well with AA sporting clays loads or any of my usual reloads. I switched to slower burning powder and got the gun to function with loads down to 7/8 of an oz. Why the burning rate of the powder made any difference is beyond me. My brother has a SX2 3.5" that he bought a year before I got mine and his will run with 7/8 oz loads using Clays and some of the faster powders. Darned if I know why. I guess its the individual gun or perhaps Winchester/Browning made some minor change to the gas system. DumbDuck

3 Jan. 08 I own 2 Winchester X2s and an I-12. The current I-12 seems quite reliable and if it is totally immersed in water, it would be easier to strip, dry and clean. However unless the gun goes for a swim, the X2/X3 is also easy to clean. The advantage of the I-12 is that there is no spring loaded piston in the butt to push the bolt into battery. If it gets wet, there is no need to try and remove that piston, drain and lube it. I believe the Benelli guns have the piston and wouldn't have that particular advantage. One other factor is recoil. Say what you will, ID guns kick more then gas operated guns. There is a distinct difference in the recoil of my X2 Composite and my Franchi I-12 when shooting the same heavy duck loads. If recoil doesn't bother you, then it matters not. If it does and you'd like to get back on target a little quicker, you might think about the gas guns. DumbDuck

Tarpon, I own an I-12 and after a trip back to Franchi/Benelli it now appears to function well. My brother went through 3 of them before getting one that worked. The design is sound, the execution of the design isn't. If they work the bugs out, it will be great foul weather gun. If I were looking for a new duck gun I'll look real hard at the Winchester X2 or X3. I've got a couple X2s (light field and 3.5" composite) and both are absolutely flawless. The Remington 11-87s that I bought for my kids several years ago are also extremely reliable. Unless you plan on shooting several hundred shells without cleaning it, the gas guns are just as reliable as the inertial driven guns and they kick a lot less. DumbDuck