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So I actually got the green light from the wife to buy a new shotgun, not just any shotgun my first semi-auto. I was dead set on buying myself the Winchester SX3, that was until today when I went to the big C and checked out a Browning Silver. My buddy has the SX3 and I have shot some trap with it nice gun like I said I had my heart set. My problem is when I shouldered the browning it just seemed to fit me better I am 6'1" about 230lbs, just seemed a bit bigger though the specs are pretty much the same. I will probably never be able to shoot the Browning before buying it if that the route I take. Just wondering if anyone had some more insight or opinions, if you happen to have a Silver I will buy the clays and shells if you let me check it out if you are so willing. Any thoughts appreciated, thanks guys.

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Haven't looked at the browning yet but friends have the super black eagle 2 and the Beretta Extrema 2. I like the Extrema 2 more, that will be my next semi auto. I have a Franchi 48 A/L semi auto that is older than I am and it works great. Although it doesn't cycle as fast as newer guns it is the lightest I have ever carried field hunting.

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I won a superX3 last spring, traded it in for a brand new Xtrema2. I never thought I would ever be able to buy one and it fell into my lap. Love it for ducks and geese. Super reliable and fits me well. I don't know much about the Silvers. Brownings and Winchesters are very similar guns. The old SuperX2 and the browning gold were almost identical. If you have the green light, pull up a bunch of different guns and see which one you like the best. Browning, Winchester, Benelli, and Beretta all make great guns.

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Maxus and sx3 are pretty much the same gun except you can't put a mag extension on a maxus for spring snows. Been shooting a sx3 for two years and have had minimal problems with it, as you will with every semi auto. The only thing I'd ever consider besides the sx3 would be the sbe2. In long can't go wrong with a sx3 especially when they blow them out for 799

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Wise old man once told me if you find a gun that fits when yu shoulder it buy it. No sense buying a gun that doesnt fit you cause everyone else says it a great gun. get what fits you.

I did that very thing had my heart set ona Remington 11-87 camo until I shouldered the Browning Gold that was it search was over and I have not regreted it once

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Good advice Elwood. I currently have a Xtrema 2. I like it but after trying a Maxus...I don't know what it is about Brownings but they just seem to fit alot of people. Go with the gun that fits you best you won't regret it. Not saying I regret getting a Beretta just an excuse to buy another gun down the road grin I'm starting to see alot of sales on shotguns in my area. I will post any sales on the shotguns mention above if you like. Every week I take a peek. Tough to beat Sx for 799.

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If you shoot a lot of 3.5" shells the winchester and brownings are going to give you troubles. It would shoot 3" all day long every day. I finally had enough and traded my sx2 in on a benelli sbeII. Gas operated guns get dirty and don't eject. Always have. Always will. I had to clean it every day before putting it away.

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Wise old man once told me if you find a gun that fits when yu shoulder it buy it. No sense buying a gun that doesnt fit you cause everyone else says it a great gun. get what fits you.

I did that very thing had my heart set ona Remington 11-87 camo until I shouldered the Browning Gold that was it search was over and I have not regreted it once

Great advice. Go to Cabelas and shoulder every single semi auto they have and see which ones shoulders the best for you. I have a SBEII and love it but just because that gun fits me doesnt mean I think its the best gun out there for everyone. I used to have an extrema2 and it just felt big and clunky to me, but I have friends that love theirs. Lots of great guns out their, find the one that feels the best to you.

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Gas operated guns get dirty and don't eject. Always have. Always will. I had to clean it every day before putting it away.

Not to be "that guy," but you should be cleaning your gun every day it is fired. While inertia semis are more forgiving to fouling, gas guns definitely need to be thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis. I'm willing to bet that many folks with "jamming" semis just haven't cleaned them enough.

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Thats exactly what I was thinking Tyler, gas guns need to be cleaned more. Never had an issue with 3.5" in my SX3. But I clean it probably twice between Sept and Dec. I mainly just hunt on the weekends and dont shoot nearly as much as some others do, if I shot more I'd clean it even more often.

To the OP, for sure go with the gun that feels the most comfortable to you. Another thing you can do that I've heard, I think from folks on this HSOforum, is go in to the gun store and find a duck mount on the wall or something to aim at. Pick up a gun, look at the mount, close your eyes and put the bead on the mount. open your eyes and see how close you are. A well fitting gun should be close and a lot of guns you can adjust up\down, left\right with shims that come with the gun.

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Thats exactly what I was thinking Tyler, gas guns need to be cleaned more. Never had an issue with 3.5" in my SX3. But I clean it probably twice between Sept and Dec. I mainly just hunt on the weekends and dont shoot nearly as much as some others do, if I shot more I'd clean it even more often.

I'm with you on That guy Tyler but I'm did much worse this year as I only cleaned my Browning Gold once this season and that was after a case of trap load before goose season. I dont make practice of this or would ever tell anyone to do this but I wanted to prove to myself that you could do it.

I ran 2 cases of steel thru my gun this year and thats Not streching it all all most of it was Black Cloud #4s and federals preimiums not one jam up this year that gun cycled flawless I shot in all types of weather and I'm hard on my equipment yea I sprayed the gun down with LPS lubricant after it had gotten wet but never took it apart this year. I'm done hunting now so it has been thruoghly cleaned.

Again I would not suggest anybody doing this. It was justa test for my own behalf. This is also only a 3 inch model

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I clean my guns once a year (berettas, gas operated) unless for some reason they get wet or muddy etc... I have never had a problem. I generally keep them clean and always lightly oil and wipe down after use. I don't shoot cases of shells in the field though either. I will generally only go through 50-100 rounds for geese a year.

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I shot 16 boxes of shells in 3 days without cleaning in Canada this fall and had no issues with my SBEII. Generally when its warm out it will cycle shells no matter how dirty it is. Now when it starts getting cold thats a different story. When it gets below freezer I make sure my gun is clean before each hunt and I will also make sure to clean my gun everytime I'm hunting in the rain or snow.

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I bought a EXtrema II last year. I've actually have had nothing but trouble with it. I'm about ready to take it back and say "here have it back" cant get it to cycle anything I feed it. I'm a guy that does take care of his firearms cleans and such. Have my old trusty 11-87 REM that i've been using using without a hiccup for 8 years now.

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Pick the one that fits, or every time you pull it up you will say "I shoulda..." and probably miss. Also, remember, cleaning does not mean adding more oil, it means taking things apart, cleaning them, and relubing only the moving parts. Any of the mentioned semi-autos here will give you troubles if you don't maintain them correctly, just like your vehicles. And for my opinion, i really like my SX2, but when I shot the Maxus I developed a condition that has caused me to find a way to justify one ever since, I'd be open to donations for a cure ;-)

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SmilinBob makes an excellent point! Many gun owners, even of conventional weaponry, OVER LUBE when cleaning!!! It takes a small drop on only the moving parts to get the job done. Adding more lubrication, while it may seem like a good idea at the time, will only accumulate dust and grime quicker. Plus extra lube can gum up in cold weather, which is why so many people have issues after the temps drop below freezing.

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If you shoot a lot of 3.5" shells the winchester and brownings are going to give you troubles. It would shoot 3" all day long every day. I finally had enough and traded my sx2 in on a benelli sbeII. Gas operated guns get dirty and don't eject. Always have. Always will. I had to clean it every day before putting it away.

"Always will"? I know I'm being a bit of a smartazz smile but have shot thousands of rounds through my Gold without an issue. Heck, the last gun that I really saw jam up bad was an 870... No kidding. My point is that everyone has their opinion.

I agree with Elwood - get the gun that fits the best. The Golds and Silvers operate just fine - as will the SX3 - as would a Mossberg or Stoeger if you went that route. Last fall my nephew and I shot his SX2 and my Gold side by side and honestly, with your eyes closed it would have been tough to notice a difference.

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Guys that have problems with gas guns usually take shortcuts when cleaning them. A proper cleaning on any of the winchester/brownings should allow you to shoot a case through it before needing anything more than maybe a shot of clp to the rails during temperate weather, and a good 4 or 5 boxes in cold weather with the right lube. The only time I clean my SX2 in the fall is after it gets wet or I run multiple boxes of cheap trap loads through it. High volume snow goose hunts in the spring, I may clean it after every hunt, but that has more to do with personal preference. If I don't have time to clean it, it's still going to run the next day...maybe give it a shot of CLP just in case. Learning proper cleaning techniques, using high quality solvents, oils, and cleaning tools will get you a lot more life and less frustration out of your gun vs. running remoil and WD40 with a few patches and calling it good.

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I'd like to thank everybody for pointing out how ignorant I must be in cleaning a shotgun.

My guns get stripped with gun scrubber or similar product and reassembled with the proper amount of oil. The problem isn't over oiling. It is carbon buildup near the gas system. It gets sticky and then dries to a hard residue. Shooting Winchester or other clean burning shells help. Blackcloud or any shell with Federal powder are the worst. laugh

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I'd like to thank everybody for pointing out how ignorant I must be in cleaning a shotgun.

My guns get stripped with gun scrubber or similar product and reassembled with the proper amount of oil. The problem isn't over oiling. It is carbon buildup near the gas system. It gets sticky and then dries to a hard residue. Shooting Winchester or other clean burning shells help. Blackcloud or any shell with Federal powder are the worst. laugh

I must have been really really lucky SD and I know what your talking about with the carbon bulid up as I had a BIG problem with that.. all I can say is Thanks Chris winkgrin

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squeeb27, let us know what you get and how you like it, it's a pretty rare chance that most of us get the green light on a new firearm, unless we give something big in return.

Now, not to keep this cleaning debate from getting out of hand, it usually takes a combo of good cleaning chemicals, good ol fashoned elbow grease with some tools to remove the deposits, and a non-gumming lube to keep any mechanical device running at top performance. If it were as easy as spraying something into the gun my fingers wouldn't be dirty all the time. And just for the record, I looked throught the book today for fun, and I see nearly equal amounts of gas and inertia guns in the shop, but the inertia guns did number just a few more. I don't recall all the reasons they come through, and I have no idea which outnumber each in ownership, just what I see. With that in mind, there are truly very few bad guns out there, they do exist, but they are rare and don't tend to last long on the market. Ammo is a whole other topic, all shells are dirty, but with the R&D ammo makers put into products, its hard to blame ammo for a lot of problems anymore, but when you turn out millions of pieces annually there are bound to be a couple bad ones. The test guns, they use old guns and new in testing, get thousands of rounds put through them regularly and typically don't get much maintaince until the gun fails to perform as expected.

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I am very meticulous about my guns, most of them look like they did the day I bought them. I am meticulous about cleaning for storage, and even clean some for other people and they look good when I get done. I use a variety of chemicals to clean. What I don't get is why there is all the hate for remoil? I use it alot and have never had a problem with it. I bought some clp but the smell of that stuff drives me nuts.

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