Shotgun Setup Benelli Vs. Remington

[Hoytmystic]

This is my deal. I am going to southern Iowa on a slug gun hunt. I am going to put a gun together for the hunt. I have a Remington 870 express that I was going to buy a cantilever barrel for. I was thinking about putting a cantilever barrel on my Benelli SBE II. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with either. How much do the barrels cost.

Thanks for any help.

Hoytmystic

[Bryce]

Have the Hastings heavy barrel for my 870 from my deer hunting days. Pretty sure I was using the 2 3/4" BRI sabots to get a 3" grouping at 100 yards. Very heavy for drives or stalking but made an awesome stand gun.

[lawdog]

I shoot an 870 with a fully rifled slug barrel from Mossberg on it. Topped with a Nikon scope. Its a darn fine deer gun.

The slug barrels for Benelli's are OBSCENELY expensive and you don't need an auto for slug hunting and at about $12-15 for a box of slugs now days, you really don't want to be shooting too many. One good shot from the 870 is all you'll need.

[mechanictim]

For the 870 you can find a fully rifled cantelever barrel for $175 on up. For the SBE II you won't find a cantelever barrel since the reciever is allready tapped and drilled for a scope mount. Fully rifled barrels for a benelli are $ 500 on up.

You could buy a nice shotgun scope and mounts and install a rifled choke tube in the Benelli for about what you would pay just for the Remington Barrel. I have seen some pretty good groups with sabot slugs fired from barrels with a rifled choke tube. You would just need to try a couple of different loads and see what your gun likes. I use a padded, raised cheek piece for better eye alignment with a scope on a shotgun. It also helps get a good cheek weld to the stock which helps make the recoil more tolerable.

I have some aquaintences who have hunted southern Iowa, You could see some real nice bucks if you get on the right grounds.

[koonie]

For a Benelli setup you'll also need a new forearm. $90 or so.

[Doug Smotherman]

A little off topic, but what you pay for a cantilever barrel for either gun you can buy a H&R ultra sluger. The H&Rs are heavy, but they are short. I have a 870 cantilever and a H&R 12ga and both shoot good, but I love hunting with the H&R. I shot 3 out of 3 beer cans at 135 yards last season off the hood of the truck. For me I can shoot off hand better with the heavyer gun. In my opinion buy a H&R ultra sluger and put a nikon or leopold on it and your will have one of the most accurate slug guns for the price.

[Ray1]

I shoot an 870 with the cantilever riffled barell and a red dot scope. I have a 3" group at 100 yds. Plus the red dot is nice on drives because you can pull up quickly and get on the animal easily. You should be able to buy one for 130 dollars or less. Look on hsolist or try a scheels outfitter store.

[lient]

I would go with the 870, you can get after market barrels for them (Hastings), and not spend as much to get the Remington barrel. The only barrels you can get for a SBE II would be Benelli barrels. These will cost you a pretty penny, I would say at least 350.

[candiru]

Last year I looked at the Remington 23" heavy contour barrel for my 870. It was about $220. I ended up getting the whole gun for $350. (deer model) I picked up one of those "squishy" recoil pads and am currently getting some trigger work done to make that a little lighter and more crisp. Nice shooting rig. I think the Bennelli barrels are more like $500-600. I have shot a Hastings barrel in the past and was not impressed. Thank you Cabela's for a good return policy.