2na-n-birds Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Hey everyone - new member here. I am a long time upland game hunter (20+ years) and have several shotguns I hunt with routinely. I use a 20G Beretta 686 O/U for doves, quail and clays, and Ithaca SKB 12G SXS for pheasant and chukar. I have a Browning BPS Stalker pump 3" I have used for the occational waterfowl hunt. I am looking to get more into waterfowling and wanted to get a semiauto. But I don't want a dedicated duck gun - I want something more versatile. 9 months of the year I am shoot clay targets, not feathered ones. My buddy has a SBEII that he just loves and so I was looking at this gun. After looking at the Benelli line-up however, I really started liking the versatility of the Cordoba. I have read through a lot of posts here and have learned a lot, but have a couple of concerns. My worries are this - if I get the SBEII, I may not be able to shoot clays with lighter loads due to cycling problems. On the other hand, it seems some of you are concerned about the noise of a ported barrel of the Cordoba in a duck blind. Is it really that bad? How many people hunt ducks from blinds with ported guns? How many of you really hunt with 3.5" shells? Or are 3" Heavy Shots good enough? In short if you had $1500 for one Benelli today - SBEII or Cordoba? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty or death Jr. Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 For your needs, I would really lean on the Cordoba. Its a clay gun with a black matte or camo finish. For duck season, all you really "need" is a 3". I use 3 for all my duck needs, I use the 3-1/2" for geese and long range duck. A 3" BB though will bring a goose down just fine out to about 50 yards, most people don't shoot past that. And if you do like to shoot them high, a hevi-shot 3" #2, even a #4 will bust them at 60 just fine, and there is no reason to shoot past that. An SBE II is the last gun I would buy if I hunted waterfowl for 3 months and clays for 9. As for the ported barrel, yes they are loud. My brothers mossberg is ported, loudest gun in the blind, but nothing I would worry about. I wear ear protection anyway, I value my hearing, ported gun or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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