I'm sold....
My 13-year old boy's 870 was stolen in a home burgulary last Friday night.
Yesterday, a friend lent him a Benelli semi-auto with 26-inch barrel, and he entered the PITA Alaska State Shoot and was the top subjunior in doubles, handicap, and singles for the day. He won the singles title in a shootout against a boy with a M-180 loaded with all the bells and whistles.
While the trap competition gun had to improve the other boys accuracy, my boy has fired over 10,000 rounds since he started shooting shotgun three years ago, and he has never been confused by target rifle "aiming". Regardless, the Benelli opened my eyes about the benefits of the Benelli design.
According to my son, the Benelli field gun has a totally different "sight pattern" than the 870. The Benelli has a rib which allows the shooter to see the clay when firing, whereas the clay is covered by the 870 beebee.
As for accuracy, the Benelli sight pattern improved my boy's scores significantly over prior scores with the Remington 870. In doubles, my boy's scores with the 870 typically ranged from 31 to 67 out of 100 clays, and yesterday he scored a 77. He scored an 80 in singles, and in handicap I didn't see his final score.
And as for KICK, my boy asked, "What kick? Yesterday, my boy shot 300 each 3 dram 1.5 oz No. 7.5 shot 12-gauge loads, then matched his best line score 23 of 25 clays in the shootout and, finally without one word of complaint or the Alaska State Trap Shoot competition, he joined his Red Dragon soccer team for a game. My boy has never shot 325 rounds in one day before.
After yesterday, my son told me he wants his 870 replaced with a Benelli semi-auto with a 30-inch barrel. My friend said he had purchased the gun my boy borrowed from Sports Authority store for about $750. I'm looking for a similar deal.
