Trap/Skeet Shotgun

[jjs1025]

Looking for a new shotgun for trap/skeet.
I have a Remington 11-87 but want a Benelli.
Not interested in comments about your "paying too much for the name, etc" but I'm open to other brands.
What do you guys suggest?
Thanks for you insight.

[bug_eyedmonster]

There are literally tons of options out there. My suggestion would be to try a few out at local gun stores at the very minimum before making your purchase. See what feels better, trap and skeet both have targets that will require you to move the shotgun side to side, but more so with skeet. I shot my Benelli SBE II in trap many times, and tried with with skeet not too long ago at a skeet clinic, but because this is my duck/goose gun, it was very comfortable for me. If you have shot the 1187 at both, you should have an idea of what you are looking for in the Benelli or whatever you buy next. Should it be heavier or lighter? Are you looking for something with a longer or shorter barrel? Do you want something with a taller rib? These are all questions you will need to ask yourself before you begin to narrow down your search. I know Annie's guns in Fremont has a good Benelli selection, and Les over at Solar Tactical is a former national champ trap shooter. If you are in the bay area, these are a couple of options for information. Best of luck in your hunt for a new shotgun!

Jerry

[bigbearbear]

Wife and I both use Benelli semi-automatics for trap shooting, we shoot every week. Between us, we go through 200 to 300 shells a week. I use a 12 gauge Supersport with 28" barrel and she uses a 12 gauge M2 Field Compact with 26" barrel, both are very reliable and have been problem free for us.

The M2 should be easy to find in local stores, you should try mounting it and see if it fits you. If you live in or close to SF Bay Area, you should go to Coyote Valley Sporting Clay. They have a nice selection of shotguns (a lot of Browning, Beretta and Benelli, all the "B" guns ) in their pro shop. You can ask to try mounting those. They also have Benelli Supersport Performance Shop available for demo, $10 for 25 shots if I recall correctly. You can rent it and take it out and see how well you do with it. Just be aware that the trap field in Coyote Valley is more difficult than regular ones. It throws the clay faster and at wider angles, plus, if you did not disable the vertical movement, the height will be random.

If you plan to hunt with your shotgun, you might want to consider the ETHOS from Benelli. It is pretty new to US and very nice looking. Lighter than both the Supersport and M2 and very nice looking, I've been considering buying one myself.

Most trap shooters I've encountered are very friendly folks, if for some reasons you cannot find that gun you want to try, try going trap shooting and see if other shooters have the gun you're interested in. If you ask nicely, I'm pretty sure they'll let you mount it. Some may even let you shoot it for a round or 2. I was at Sunnyvale Rod & Gun a couple of weeks ago and one shooter was looking at my Supersport, so I asked if he'll like to take it for a test drive and he shot a round of trap with it.

[Bill Steele]

I have recently been shooting my 12 ga Beretta A400 xplor unico a lot. It handles everything from nutty 3 1/2" shells to my own 3/4 oz skeet loads flawlessly. I think it is a wonderful all around gun, if a bit expensive.

You can get a Weatherby SA-08 Deluxe for less than half the A400 and if your are willing to change valves for game or target loads and be content with 3" maximum (plenty for any application), you can get a gun as capable as my A400 at 50% off. That is what I would recommend if you are on a tighter budget.

In any case, best of luck in your search.

[josekillyou]

i think so,you can get a gun as capable as my A400 at 50% off. That is what I would recommend if you are on a tighter budget.

[Newshooter]

Beretta A300 if the A400 is out of budget.

[fennecfrank]

my first semi-auto shotgun, also my first clay gun, is a Benelli Competition.

It was made in 1994. After 20 years, it still shoots like it just came out of the factory.





Benelli is my favorite "Semi-auto" shotgun company. The recoil driven system will always perform.

I'm not a fan at all for any guns with gas opreating system. I've tried a few of them, Desert Eagle, P7M8, P7 PSP, AR's, and several shotguns with gas system.

You really need to clean them very well in order for them not to jam. Not that I don't know how to clean, but that manufacturers claiming gas operating systems are "self-cleaning, and you don't need to do a thing", I find the statement not true at all.....for all the gas system guns that I owned/tried. It was quite frustrating when they say you don't need to even touch it, but you'll need to clean it to a point it's almost like polishing the guns.................

[.300 Weatherby Mag]

The one thing I will say if you compare a gas gun to a recoil operated gun is that the recoil operated gun will produce more felt recoil.. I've shot supersports and various M2's and the amount of a felt recoil is substantially greater than what would be produced by either of my Beretta gas guns shooting identical loads..

I will not argue about the reliability of the Benelli system.. It is more reliable.. I will tell you that I performed an experiment in which I ran two cases of shells without cleaning through my 390 Beretta and shot 20 rounds of skeet without a malfunction... I could have kept going but I decided that when will I ever need to fire more that 250 rounds between cleanings, let alone the 500 I achieved.. It was a pain to clean all the carbon off of the piston though..

I will not say that gas guns are all like this.. As I have a Remington 1100 that stops being reliable after 150 rounds of AA factory loads..

[Newshooter]

=Benelli is my favorite "Semi-auto" shotgun company. The recoil driven system will always perform.............

Not necessarily a true statement when shooting target loads. My A391 cycles 7/8oz loads without an issue yet a few of my fellow shooters must use an 1 1/8 oz load for their recoil operated guns to cycle.

I do clean my auto about once a year and it is a full breakdown of the gun, including the gas system. Before i started shooting an over-under, I was running about 2,500 rounds between cleanings. It takes a little while but I bet most guys do a full clean on most of their guns once a year anyway. It really isn't that much more effort to clean my gas gun.

[bigbearbear]

Not necessarily a true statement when shooting target loads. My A391 cycles 7/8oz loads without an issue yet a few of my fellow shooters must use an 1 1/8 oz load for their recoil operated guns to cycle.

On the Benelli Inertia Driven system, you should be able to go as low as 1oz #7.5 shot loaded at 1180fps (Estate target load). I've shot an entire case of this on my Supersport. It is one of my favorite load actually, pity finding them in stock at a good price is a little difficult.

I've never tried any 7/8oz load though, probably won't cycle unless I change out the recoil spring for a light load specific one.

The ETHOS is supposed to be able to cycle 7/8oz loads though, so if you want an Inertial Driven Benelli that can handle these light loads, the ETHOS might be a good shotgun to checkout.

[XDshooter]

Benelli recoil system is awesome.

I have a 12 gauge Benelli Montefeltro that will cycle my 3/4oz 1290fps loads without any problems.

[alfred1222]

Why don't you go test out a variety of shotguns, and see what fits you best, rather then deciding to go benelli straight away. Nothing wrong with benelli, I have a few, but it's all about what fits you

[Newshooter]

Why don't you go test out a variety of shotguns, and see what fits you best, rather then deciding to go benelli straight away. Nothing wrong with benelli, I have a few, but it's all about what fits you

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