POORBOY Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I just purchased a new Benelli last week mounted a Nikon scope fired around 60 rounds through it and it still won't cycle 2 3/4 shells. 3 1/2 mags work ok. Benelli customer service says it takes 200 rounds to break gun in? Anyone got experiece with this gun. I purchased from Cabela's they will take it back within 30 days or exchange it for another Benelli. What other gun would you recommend? Should I keep it? Exchane it for another SBEII? Buy a different manufacture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 You answered your own question. 200 rounds. After 200 rounds, shoot at or above the recommended minimum load. Inertia guns aren't made for light trap and field loads. If you want a light load gun get a gas gun like the Beretta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigL Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I talked with Benelli and my gunsmith at depth about this problem because my gun was giving me periodic troubles. 1)Take it all apart and clean all of the cozmaline out of it. 2)Lube it, not too much, but just enough. 3) Grab some cheap ammo and blast (that's the fun part!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POORBOY Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 The 2 3/4 shells were 1 1/8 shot N0#8 3 1/4 Drams powder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigL Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 The minimum load Benelli says will cycle is 3 dram 1 1/8 oz. I may be off on the payload, but the dram is definitley 3 drams. You are definitley good on your load. Claen it, lube it, and shoot it, and let us know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POORBOY Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 Nobody says get rid of it and buya Browning, Rem or Winchester. I thought this would be an ideal turkey gub with pistol grip stock and a good gun for crows grouse etc with the regular stock and 2 3/4 shells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigL Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 It is! I had troubles with mine until I headed theadvice people gave me, which I gave you. Top it off with a Rhino .660 choke and Nitor Ammunitions 4x5x7 Hevi Shot shells! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty or death Jr. Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 The SBE II is a goose/turkey/duck gun. It isn't made for shooting 2-3/4 inch shells. They claim that they will shoot them, and some do, but some don't. Like Tucker said, get a gas gun, or get one of the inertia ones designed for the lighter loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krr6581 Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 On the Benelli firearms show on cable tv they addressed this issue and they said there that you need to shoot approximately 200 rounds through the gun to get it to cycle reliably with the lighter loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POORBOY Posted May 16, 2007 Author Share Posted May 16, 2007 The Cabelo's store replaced the gun, changed the stock and scope no charge excellent excellent customer service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boo Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 If Inertia guns are not made for light trap and light field loads then what is Tom Knapp shooting at clays, Mags or 3". And also you see him shooting at clays with the gun out away from his shoulder and up side down and all with Benelli enertia guns.I`m just wondering why other Benelli`s seem to have a problem with the enertia thing and light loads.My SBE11 for the most part will handle all loads light or other wise and I had to work a couple of bugs out but Benelli C/S and repair was great about that and took care of me.Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty or death Jr. Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Well when you shoot hundreds of thousands of rounds, you tend to figure out what your gun can do. And he figured out how to hold it right so the inertia would work, and his guns are pretty well broken in. And he shoots an M1, which is made for 2-3/4" and 3" rounds, the SBE 2 is not for that. Its for geese ducks and turkey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boo Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 I thought my SBE11 is made for shooting 2-3/4,3,3-1/2 shells but I could be wrong.Inertia is inertia no matter what gun you have it in.I will still go to the trap range with my SBE11 and do ok even if it`s just for Turkey,duck and goose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudhen Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 I've been shooting 2.75" light loads in my SBEs and SBE IIs since 1991 with no problems. But all of my guns have been broken in with 3.5" loads - usually turkey loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOGWILD Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 No problems here and my Dealer said to shoot 3 boxes of 10 shells= 30 shells and make them the heaviest shells ya plan on shooting thru the shotgun and my SBEII has NEVER had the first malfunction so i would suggest if you have malfunctions to call benelli like they reccomend! 30 Turkey loads 3 1/2's were not much fun all at once but i guess it did what it was intended to do! I have shot every cheap walmart winchester load they make and have not had the first malfunction!! Do so so on trap & Skeet with NO malfunctions!! If yall have done what Benelli has told yall to do in their manual or over telephone and did not get the answer/results ya wanted ya need to call them back and ask for a supervisor and this might get you an RA so you can get your gun fixed, just a thought!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdkidaho Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 And does it shoot the 2-3/4" shells now? You'll still need to break it in with approximately 200 rounds. And as stated also, I would put 30-50 rounds of 3-1/2" shells through it. That'll help the break-in process. Then clean it. You can follow Tuckers instructions on how to do that by downloading this PDF file: click HERE. Follow the instructions on that page (click NEXT PAGE three times and then DOWNLOAD SBE cleanup.pdf) to get the easy to follow instructions for cleaning your SBE II. Return and report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregor187 Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 sit in the living room while watching TV and work the bolt back and forth a few nights. Like a thousand times a night. And this will help breaking in the gun without spending a small fortune to get it done. Just pull it back and let it go. That and put a very small amount of lube in the recoil spring. Never had one not shoot 3dram 2 3/4 inch loads after that. (has worked for us) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dooderman Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Liberty and Tucker I know I will hear it for this but your statements about the SBEII and shooting 3/4 inch isn't true. Benelli's customer service doesn't say it will not work, event the owners manual doesn't say that. Bottom line, Boo is to break the gun in. #1. Clean the gun with degreaser and re-lube with light oil #2. Find some HOT shells. I broke mine in with 3 1/4 oz #6 at 1500fps 3 1/4 dram magnums. #2a. As much as it may suck shoot 3-4 boxes of these shells. Basically shoot the biggest hot rods you can find. #3. Take the gun apart and disassemble it and degrease and clean and lightly lube again. From there you should be able to shoot anything from promo Wally World stuff all the way down to 7/8 stuff. I shot over 750 rounds of 7/8 oz 2 3/4 length, 2 3/4 dram, 1200fps at #8 and NEVER had a hiccup. I even have cycled some 1 1/8 oz, 2 3/4 dram at 1145fps in #8 with no problem. I shot over 200 of those in a tournament with no malfunctions. Tom shoots light stuff too. Mr. Liberty. You say Tom learned how to hold his gun so it works. Holding a gun upside down doing multiple shots, flipping it shooting some more and then going behind the back does not require a "proper" way of holding it. The only thing they have to learn is hitting the target in those positions. Oh buy the way Liberty, he USED to shoot and M1 which is in the Cody museum. He shoots an M2 for his shows, Supersport II or a Supersport w/ comfortech on his shows. How do I know, I asked and he told me. Even their new shooter Tim Bradley shoots an M2 in his shows. Tim and Tom also told me in some cases the local dealer or rep provides the guns. Tom told me that he builds the guns and runs a magazine through the guns to get everybody's attention and then startst the shows. Boo, The ONLY thing that I have been told is that since the SBE II is a field gun it has a heavier recoil spring which can take a little longe to break in. I know Liberty rocks the house and knows a lot and Tucker has a million years of experience but to just tell you to turn around and buy a gas gun is HORSE CRAP! My Montefeltro, SS and SBE II works just fine with the light stuff. I am sure there is always something that can go wrong but I have seen just as many "GAS" guns fail too. Anyway, clean, lube, shoot big loads and write back and let us know if it works. CR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 Liberty and Tucker I know I will hear it for this but your statements about the SBEII and shooting 3/4 inch isn't true. Benelli's customer service doesn't say it will not work, event the owners manual doesn't say that. Assuming you meant 2-3/4" and not actually 3/4" Where did I mention anything about shell length? Liberty did, but the kid's still learning, and I missed correcting him on this one. Of course the gun will cycle 2-3/4" shells. What the manual and CS will tell you is that it isn't recommended to shoot light loads through the inertia guns. Look at the sepcifications in the catalogs and on this website. "Minimum recommended load, use 3 dram 1-1/8 ounce loads in all Benelli 12 ga. semi-auto guns." Anyone who is going to spend the majority of their time at the club shooting the girly stuff needs to seriously consider a good gas gun over the inertia designs. The light stuff BARELY has enough oomph to cycle the action. This cuts the shooter margin of error down to nothing, so that one slip in form will result in a failure. Yes, like you, many shooters run thousands of rounds of the light stuff through the inertia guns without a problem, but anyone who buys one for that purpose after being warned by the manufaturer against it is all about the HORSE CRAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 You know, I was thinking I had explained the whole light/medium/heavy mystery to someone before, so I got to digging around through my old posts. A noob was wanting to know how to determine a heavy load from a light one. He said he was confused. Rather than reposting all of it here, I'll just post the link. http://www.benelliusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12689 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acmf74 Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 On some ammo I see MAX. Dr. Eq. How may drams is that or does it vary from each manufacturer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 It's a matter of the ratio of powder to shot. For a 2-3/4" load with 1-1/4 ounces of shot, the max. is 3-3/4 dr. eq. of powder. That's about the most shot and powder you can safely squeeze into a 2-3/4" load. IMHO, manufacturers shouldn't be allowed to vary from the standards by saying stuff light "max. dr. eq." and the like. Anything measurable should be listed numerically. Look at this chart for Wolf ammunition, for example. Some are numeric while others are words. http://www.wolfammo.com/1_shotshell.htm It would be like buying a bag of potato chips and the FDA lable reading, "Fat - Max.". If someone could dig an old MEC chart, it would have the numbers for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty or death Jr. Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 I even have cycled some 1 1/8 oz, 2 3/4 dram at 1145fps in #8 with no problem. I shot over 200 of those in a tournament with no malfunctions. Tom shoots light stuff too. Mr. Liberty. You say Tom learned how to hold his gun so it works. Holding a gun upside down doing multiple shots, flipping it shooting some more and then going behind the back does not require a "proper" way of holding it. The only thing they have to learn is hitting the target in those positions. Oh buy the way Liberty, he USED to shoot and M1 which is in the Cody museum. He shoots an M2 for his shows, Supersport II or a Supersport w/ comfortech on his shows. How do I know, I asked and he told me. Even their new shooter Tim Bradley shoots an M2 in his shows. Tim and Tom also told me in some cases the local dealer or rep provides the guns. Tom told me that he builds the guns and runs a magazine through the guns to get everybody's attention and then startst the shows. I'm not going to give you crap, you are right, but I did not say that the SBE II will not cycle them, I said it was made for killing big birds with big loads, which it is. It wasn't made for 2-3/4" shells. Break it in right, it will shoot them just fine. My uncles shoots 2-3/4", but he broke it in during goose season. I failed to mention the breaking in part, it seems everyone else covered that. Tom Knapp uses guns that are made for 2-3/4" and 3" rounds. Be it M1-M2-SS. Thats all I was saying. And even Tuck will tell you, if an intertia gun is held wrong, it WILL NOT cycle the second round properly. We hear about it often. For example, we hear about people not shouldering it right which causes a miscycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Liberty's correct. Watch Tom Knapp closely when he fires the gun without putting it to his shoulder. His arms are stiff and his grip is strong. I've fired dove loads from the hip in my SBEII and will fail to eject the spent shell, because I let my arms absorb the recoil instead of letting it energize the inertia bolt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdkidaho Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 You know, I was thinking I had explained the whole light/medium/heavy mystery to someone before, so I got to digging around through my old posts. A noob was wanting to know how to determine a heavy load from a light one. He said he was confused. Rather than reposting all of it here, I'll just post the link. http://www.benelliusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12689 That's funny right there, I don't care who you are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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