gowanie Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 I own two Benelli SBE's...one is used for waterfowling and the other deer hunting (for which I purchased the Benelli slug barrel). Two years ago when shooting at a pair of ducks, my barrel came flying off and fell into the water. What happened was the barrel ring weld (the only weld) that holds the barrel on broke. I immediately contacted Benelli for which they replaced the barrel no questions asked. From here I put the new barrel aside and used the orginal one that came with SBE that I'm now using for deer hunting. Well, this past weekend we were layout shooting in 20' of water on Lake Huron and as I shot at a flock of Redheads...splash, there goes my barrel. Now, there's no retrieving this barrel as it sits 20' down in 40 degree water. I'm calling Benelli today but am concerned since I have no barrel to send them that they may not help me (altough I have the barrel ring). Additionally, I lost my IC Choke and my new Tom Knapp sight. Now I wondering is this a known flaw or what? Not only is this a inconvience but also a safety issue. I searched the web and apparently I'm not the only one who has probelms with this. I will post my results with Benelli Customer Service.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 I've never heard of it. Since it has happened twice with the same gun, if I were Benelli I'd want to see the whole gun. Given the history, and the fact that you've got the ring, I don't think you'll have any problems getting the barrel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudhen Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Well known flaw for certain model years. Many, many, reported incidents from older SBE's. My 1991 SBE broke a barrel ring (the ring base cracked in half) in 2000. Sent the entire gun back to Benelli and they attached a new ring (not a new barrel), reblued, reworked the ejector assembly, put in a new locking head pin, all in 27 days including the shipping time. My questions: How old are these SBE's? I recall most, if not all, the ring breaks are on HK SBE's 1991-1996. The barrel that broke this time was the original barrel from the SBE that you also bought a slug barrel for, right? If so, you should have no problem getting a new barrel from Benelli. They may want that ring base for their files. I know that a worn mag cap contributed to my ring crack. I had worn the nubs almost smooth from daily cleaning after shooting 20,000 rounds over those 10 seasons. I would find myself tightening the cap several times per hunt. I bought a new mag cap from Brownells and have not had to tighten it once in the field. I think you will have no problem getting a new barrel. Good luck! mudhen - CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gowanie Posted October 25, 2005 Author Share Posted October 25, 2005 Both of my SBE's were purchased new in 1997 and yes the barrel that just broke was the orginal (I hadn't used the replacement barrel I received from Benelli with the first broken weld). Additionally, I think you may be on to something with the mag cap as it seems that I was continuously resnugging it. Thanks for the insight on the history of this. I have also been a big advocate of Benelli, but admittingly this was making me a bit nervous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudhen Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Maybe bad mag caps? My new one from Brownells shows no signs of wear. I'll post photos of the old cap tomorrow. mudhen - CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallhanger54 Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 10-4, Mudhen is right. Having and shooting with a loose mag cap will attribute to having this happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudhen Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 This was after 10 years of hard hunting and very frequent cleaning. mudhen - CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gowanie Posted October 27, 2005 Author Share Posted October 27, 2005 Well, it's been 4 days straight for which I have contacted Benelli and I have yet to talk to anyone. I keep getting "due to unusal call volume" and they ask me to leave a message (that's never returned). Slowly but surely getting very disappointed with Benelli. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudhen Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 4 days is nuttin' in the middle of duck season - get ready for some real disappointment if you are not ready to accept reality.... mudhen - CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenhead Smacker Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 My hunting buddy was telling me this happened to his SBE. I was as surprised as he was that it happened. It happened with 2 days left in the season last year. When I went to duck camp this year it came up in conversation again but I didn't really give it much thought until the 3rd day of the season when the same exact thing happened to my SBE. Talk about ruining my trip and my season since it's going to take 6 weeks to get it fixed. I called Benelli and they told me exactly where to send it and what to do to get it fixed which was very helpful. Even though my SBE was manufactured in Nov 94 and my buddies was manufactured in Sept 95, Benelli fixed them under warranty but that doesn't help me this season. As for the comment that a loose cap can cause it to break, I never had to re-tighten the cap on my gun so I don't think that was the issue. When some of the other guys we hunt with showed up at camp we started looking at all the SBE's and it looks like they all have a poor weld. You can see light under the ring where the weld should be. You would think if Benelli knew about this flaw they would ask us to examine our barrels and send in the bad ones during the off season so guys like me don't end up screwed during the season. Just my thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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