OwnerOfaBrokeFranchi

After some deliberation and several phone calls, Benelli pulled through and the lead smith took matters into his own hands and got the shotgun fixed properly and send back. He took out the ridiculous auto safety bar and converted the shotgun over to a manual safe which is how they should be in the first place. The gun came back spotless and fires as expected now.

I have a question for Benelli about a new Franchi Instinct SL 16ga that I bought late last year. I got the shotgun because I wanted an over and under that fit well, swung well and I wanted a 16ga without spending an exorbitant amount on a custom gun. After comparing some other models from other manufacturers the Franchi fit the best. After some pattern testing I began my upland bird season and almost immediately noticed issues with the shotgun, these issues costs me birds and quickly became a source of frustration. The ridiculous auto safe feature keeps kicking on after the first shot when shooting high velocity shells, mostly Federals Pheasant Forever line that are around 1425 fps. I switched to Fiocchi Golden Pheasant shells, same thing but less frequent. I then tried a slower offering from Remington and Winchester, and these shells fire fine, anything in the 1145-1250 fps range function as intended, follow up shots are normal. This is unacceptable to me, I should not have to shoot a lower speed shells in order for this shotgun to function. I ended up sending this shotgun in and it was received on Jan 10th. I got an email that said the lead time was 45 days, great, I'll be able to hunt still when I get the gun back. Now I am being told its 9+ weeks and nobody answers the phones at Benelli and all I get is a snarky response from a tech support agent via email when I call them out on their BS. Am I just expecting too much of Benelli/Franchi? Did I make a mistake investing in Franchi? I'd really like to get back out before my season ends in mid March, but now it seems like myself and my dogs are going to sit out the rest of the season.