Browning A5 or SBE ll

[Kettle]

Finally going to bite the bullet per say and get a new shotgun this year. I have been shooting an old wingmaster for about 14 years now and it is getting tired, before I bought it it was a trap gun so it has thousands of rounds through it. I have it narrowed down to two autos the a5 and the SBE II. Was just wondering if anyone out there has the new a5 and hunted with it last year. I do hunt primarily waterfowl these days and hunt from the 70 degree MN opener weather to January in Missouri with temps in the single digits that is why I am leaning towards the inertia driven autos. Any input would be great!

Kettle

[Bryce]

Like my duece. Can't really comment on the Browning. Just never been a fan of the brand. Kind of a Ford-Chevy kind of thing probably. The Benelli will need replacement in the next few seasons so have slowly been looking for a replacement. Hunt with several guys shooting various Beretta models with good results. Waiting for a chance to test shoot the Extrema and see how easily it breaks down for cleaning. Hard to beat the duece in that regards. Just wish that I didn't have to do it quite as frequently.

[Kettle]

I do have a buddy of mine with a A300 and he seems to like it. I guess it goes back to the gas versus inertia debate for me. I know that they have come a long way but I had some very bad cold weather experiences with a browning gold. Bryce I know you hunt a lot and you said you are getting close to replacing it, is that due to it just getting worn out or are you just looking for a new gun? I am just trying to get the most reliable gun out there for my late season hunts. I have not bought a gun in years so cost is not a worry since I have been saving up for some time. Did you run factory chokes in your Benelli? Besides cleaning it often did you have any cold weather issues with it? Thanks for the reply

Kettle

[Crow Hunter]

I have a Benelli M2 and have hunted pheasants in North Dakota when it was 22 degrees below zero, the inertia action worked perfectly.

[Bryce]

No signs of wearing out but it has a lot of rounds through it. My hunting time is too important to me to have to worry about gun problems. Only issue I had with the duece was a poor fitting recoil pad that was replaced and the same with the cheek pad. A few stovepipes over the years and problems feeding late rounds with the extension tube but I attribute that to a cheap tube not the gun. I run a patternmaster long range. I hate having the dogs chase cripples. Factory tubes work fine on clays.

The guys I hunt with are not having problems with their Berettas either. Saw one that had issues but was most likely due to cleaning or lack thereof. Did see one with cold issues but think there were other issues. Fairly new gun and it wasn't that cold. Beside how it shoots, my biggest concern will be ease of cleaning. Black Eagle and Super Vinci are pretty tough to match in that category. Even the M2 is a pita compared to the flagship guns. Hope it matches up. Be nice to lose a little of inertia recoil.

[lawdog]

I LOVE my berettas, I have a 303 and a 390 and I'd really like to upgrade that to an A400 Extreme. I bought a Browning A500 years ago and couldn't stand the hump back, couldn't hit much with it. Tried a Benelli M2 before getting my Beretta and didn't really care for the different recoil feel and couldn't hit much with that one either. Bought the 303 and never looked back.

Now, Beretta and Benelli are part of the same company and both quality. Browning is also a quality gun.

Try them and get what you like and what fits you well.

[Comit 2]

I have never been big in the scatter gun arena but the old school recoil operated A5 is one that I do love to shoot. Mostly because the 20ga 3" mag fit me, I would bring it up and I would be looking right down that nice long sight plain.

The A5 can be heavy but you said you were after ducks so heavy isn't necessarily bad.

Get a gun that fits you. Try them on for size.

[PurpleFloyd]

I have a Beretta Extrema2 that is about 10 years old and it has been flawless and the recoil on it is as tame as any gun I have ever shot. It was expensive but most likely I will never buy another shotgun in my lifetime. Last year when my son and daughter started shooting on our HS trap team I bought my son an SX3. I find it to be outstanding and while it was considerably less expensive I don't think it gives up anything to my shotgun and since he shot a 96/100 at the state trap meet in Alexandria last year as an 8th grader I would say it shoots OK. I bought my daughter a 20g Franchi Affinity because she is a smaller frame and i thought a 20g would be better for her. After we went out and shot both of them it turns out that the 20g inertia affinity kicked harder than either the Beretta or SX3 12G guns and she couldn't get it to pattern decent so we took it back, got her an SX3 and she got 5th place in the female division at Alex as well so I am officially a fan. After their success we probably have 7 or 8 of 40 kids shooting sx3's this year.I paid $799 each for them at Scheels.