I was in Bass Pro today getting the kid some hunting boots and made the colossal mistake of handling the Benelli shotguns. The Vinci feels GREAT! I also held the SBE II for comparison and have to say I liked them both but the Vinci feels better. The grip and forearm are more ergonomic. Both pointed dead on. I also handled a Berretta...Eureka, Arora, Optima, something...can't remember but the Benelli's felt better to me.
Sooo... What are ya'lls thoughts on the new Vinci or even the SBE II? My focus will be for waterfowl in South Tx, mainly ducks; teal, gadwall, pintail and widgeon. Maybe a passing goose too.
If I pull the trigger on a purchase, like the pun, I will be replacing a 40yr old 1100 12ga.

Perry

Love my SBEII, no shotgun feels better in the hands. Sorry, but the Vinci is uglier than hillary(well, almost) but if you like the way it handles then by all means get one. I just read a great review on it.....the tester fired 7,550 shots thru it with zero failures......pretty good I'd say.

Benelli Vinci? Life's too short to hunt with an ugly gun.

Life's too short...to look good with a pretty gun and miss!

Honestly I could care less about looks, especially in waterfowl conditions. I have a BEAUTIFUL Winchester 21, 3 barrel set, fully engraved, that has been passed down from my great grandfather through the generations to me that will flat kill ducks BUT I am not bouncing around in a Polaris in the salt water with that!

Here's my other question about the Benelli's. Do they really reduce recoil? That would be important to me shooting magnum loads.

Perry

quote:

Do they really reduce recoil? That would be important to me shooting magnum loads.

Not as much as my Beretta's do, we've tried both side by side. To me the Benelli's have an odd feel while the action cycles whereas the Beretta is smooth.

Another option is the Winchester SX3, which is very smooth and fast and cycles everything. They feel good too.

Bottom line: I hunt salt marshes and rivers with a lot of silt.....I have no interest in having to thoroughly clean a gas-operated semi every time I hunt. The recoil with 3.5" in my SBEII doesn't bother me one bit, and I can shoot 'em all day long. Long live inertia-driven! And my back up duck/turkey gun is a Stoeger M2000 also inertia-driven.

perry,

I have both Benellis and Berettas.

RECOIL:
Any gas operated gun (Beretta) will be much easier on the shoulder than an inertia operated gun (Benelli). Some people are recoil sensitive and that is an important decision making point so I totally understand.

CLEANING:
Gas operated guns (Beretta) are a bitch to clean. Benellis on the other hand are a joy, they come apart easily, no secret holes to take crud out of, and you can put them back together with your eyes closed.

SBE II vs Vinci
If Geese are on the menu and you like to shoot 3.5" shells then you have to go with SBE II. Vinvi will not shoot 3.5" shells. The older SBE you can probably pick one up from gunbroker.com for under a thousand dollars. They are built tough, the only weak point in a Benelli is the recoil spring which resides inside a tube in the stock. 99% of people will never clean it, it will rust over time, break and people will replace it or put a surecycle in there. I take my SBE's down compeltely (I have 4 of them) every year, remove the stock, take the spring out of the tube, clean it, lube, put it back in. One of my SBE is 9 years old, still has the original factory recoil spring and still works great.

....Just buy a Benelli. Don't mess with the Beretta

I shot one at a Tom Knapp shooting demonstration. I smoked 4 for 4 on clays. I like the gun except for the cheese grater feel on the forearm (should'nt be an issue for you during waterfowl season) and the placement of the safety in the forward portion of the trigger guard. As an 1100 owner, the safety placement of the SBE will be more intuitive.
The Vinci was very soft shooting, but we were only using target loads.

Perry

I got to put 500 rounds thru a Vinci last sunday. I am not much of a shotgunner, but after about a dozen shots, I was making very good hits on Clays and Skeet. Its a very good gun, a little funky looking but dam it was a joy to shoot. I am going to buy one as soon as I go back to work.

My Fiance and I went 1/2 on a Vinci ( I lost my Half) she has put over 500 rounds and has been on her first Goose /duck hunt with it.
she loves it . Light , much less recoil.

I have 6 Benelli shotguns. 3 SBE's. A 20 ga Cordoba and 2 20 ga m-90's. They all shoot well and are reliable. I can tell you without hesitation that the recoil is much reduced over other shotguns I have.

Unless you are shooting shells larger than 3" try a M2. I have two M2's in 12ga and 20. Whacked some crane this evening using 3" Black Cloud in the 12. Been busting pheasant earlier in the week with the 20 M2.