Dsnyder305

I've had discussions with several seasoned shooters and hunters since encountering my dilemma, and thin barrels on Benelli's 12ga guns seems to be a well documented issue. I looked around at a few different forums and found these threads: This guy used a Stoeger choke in his Nova when the barrel bulged (but Benelli covered it under warranty) A choke manufacturer explains how Benelli and Beretta both have barrels too thin for their products. This hunter's M2 barrel bent at the choke after using a Carlson choke tube I'll keep looking, but to use terms I've heard elsewhere, Benellis barrels are "vacuum cleaner hose thin"

Sounds nearly identical to my experience with Benelli. They know there's a problem, but instead of warranty covering their paper thin barrels and standing behind their products, they'd rather blame us for their failure. Their reps are all trained to vehemently deny any claim remotely related to barrel bulging, and will keep accusing us of mistreatment or misuse to the bitter end (all the while, saying "I'm not accusing you or blaming you for anything"). They gave me the same option; to buy another barrel from them on my dollar, or send them my old barrel to have them cut it down and rethread for a choke tube. Benelli won't ever see another red cent of mine, because it takes a piss poor company to blame customers for their shortcomings.

I'm exploring several NON-Benelli options at this time, and I believe I'm going back to my 870 roots. This whole experience has been very disappointing. I bought what I thought was a high-quality gun and I operated it in accordance with what any hunter would consider "normal use", only to find out their warranty isn't even worth the paper it's written on. I understand, they weren't there when the failure of their part occured.. but I was, and I KNOW I didn't do anything to cause the failure.

It's not overly pronounced, just noticeable enough to cause concern

I've owned my Nova 3.5" for 9.5 years. For the first few years, I never used it because I shot better with my 870. After warming up to it a couple years ago, it has been very dependable and is my primary bird gun. I recently noticed a barrel bulge just behind the choke tube. It appears to be more prominent on one side of the barrel than the other. I find this odd since I've never fired anything but factory loaded ammo through it, nor have I ever had any squib rounds. I've never mistreated or misused my gun and clean it regularly, and I've only ever used the OEM IM choke tube. I contact Benelli to file a warranty claim and I'm told Benelli does not cover barrel bulges, that it must have been an obstruction or something else.. but it's not their problem. I don't understand how it could be considered my fault if I only used the gun as they intended and took the best possible care of my firearm. I've seen similar issues other owners have had that got covered, why is my situation any different? If thats their idea of customer service, they've lost a good customer for life, and I'll do my best to make sure nobody I know ever buys one. What's the point of having a warranty if you're just going to deny simple claims for normal use? I never had any of these issues with my Remington 870..