Who is making the best semi auto these days? Use for ducks and pheasants.
Thanks

MY money would be on a Benelli M2.

No idea of today’s.

Years ago it was the Browning B2000.

We used a number of them, shooting literally hundreds of thousands of various ammo through them.

They worked, and worked, and worked.

Never had any problems whatsoever!

I like my Winchester SX3. Tried a Benelli but though recoil was softer than the SX3. That said, a lot of duck/goose guides love Benellis.

If you are capable of maintenance it’s a toss up between a Benelli or a Beretta.

The Benelli is a bit more reliable and lighter.

The Beretta has a gas system and recoils less.

Personally, the Benelli fits me better, and fit is everything in shotguns.

Try a few and what fits best is what to get.

If durability is your thing, find a low-use Winchester Super X-1...built like a tank.

Browning A5!! Sweet 16. Hunt the classics

I go along with Biebs on the Winchester Super X-1, but my friend who guides goose hunts in Alberta and would know something about long term reliability tells me they use Benelli's.

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Its got to be Benelli hands down, but having said that I own and shoot dozens of shotguns but do not have nor want a single semi auto. Sure they have their place but not in my gun room.

.

I'm still shooting my stable of Browning Auto 5s and Citoris, in 12, 16, and 20. Literally hundreds of ducks and pheasants have fallen to those shotguns. The vast majority of the Auto 5s are between 50-60 years old; some of the newer ones in the minority shoot steel shot and have the screw in choke tube system. The Citoris are, on average, around 25-30 years old and one Lightning Sporting Clays has had over 100,000 shells through it and still locks up tight and on face. The only thing that I have ever did to any of them was to add a recoil pad on some. I have never had to replace any parts on any of them. John Browning was indeed a genius. I also shoot Browning BPS pumps and Model 12s and have a number of them. I have other shotguns in various manufacturers as well including Berretta, Franchi, Benelli, Ithaca, Weatherby, Mossberg, and a few others. Just my firsthand experience and my two centavos worth of opinion.

Semi auto now days?? I hate cleaning them and have had the best luck with Benelli (any model) and Remington versamax. I abuse them terribly and people complain about how I use them. Two versamaxs have been sunk five feet in mud etc, pulled up and continue to shoot like champs with no jams etc. I haven't dropped a Benelli in the pond but still never clean them and they just work. My benellis shoot 5000-10,000 rounds a year each with all types of people using them and no issues.

Every beretta I have had starts jamming somewhere about 500-1000 rounds and just becomes a single shot. I don't currently own any but will probably in a moment of weakness, foolishly buy a new one for duck season just to become mad at it and give it to some kid who likes cleaning stuff. I don't learn well apparently. The last couple a400 whatever's I had I brought benellis as backups and had one jamming in 50 rounds and the other in about 100.

I have had great success with weatherby, franchi and tristar but nowhere near the round count to really compare but would choose any of those three (and do when taking kids out) over berettas any day.

I had terrible luck with two mossberg semi autos I won, no cycling right out of the box.

Old guns that work well for me have been the first browning A500 when they were recoil operated only, browning 2000 and Winchester sx1, but that is not what you asked.

Please don't think I'm beretta bashing as I own and love several, just all over unders. Also remember I won't clean them, people who do seem to really like beretta semi autos.

Matthew

quote:

MY money would be on a Benelli M2.

I agree. I bought an M2 a few years ago and use it for goose hunting from layout blinds and it's also my rainy day pheasant gun. Works perfectly.

Ross,

I would put the top two as the benelli (SBE or M2, but check out the Rob Roberts customized ones) or the Beretta A400.

Trade off comes down to the A400 being a softer shooter if you care about recoil and most will say the benelli handles and points better. Benelli might handle cold, mud, etc a bit better but my A400's have run fine in everything and very cold temps.

If you are not worried about recoil (either gun is a great gun), I would make an effort to handle both of them and see what feels better to you.

quote:

Originally posted by Labman:

quote:

MY money would be on a Benelli M2.

I agree. I bought an M2 a few years ago and use it for goose hunting from layout blinds and it's also my rainy day pheasant gun. Works perfectly.

I use a super M1-90 works well most of the time. It is the only simi-auto I own.

But for udder reliability feeding and going bang with most any thing you could stuff in a shotgun.

Give me a 870 or model 12.

Buy a Girsan MC312 and save about $1500.00 over a Benelli. Great gun. Read the r
eviews.

those Girsan's are pretty decent guns, if I ever see one in 20ga. I'd probably give it a good look over.
it'd have to be pretty good to replace my Win. super X-2 I been trying to wear out since the 90's though.

I think one of the best deals for the price is the Beretta A300. My son and I each have one and they work great. We shoot target loads of 1 oz. at about 1150 fps (manual says about 7500 lup) up to 3" steel waterfowl loads and neither of us has had a single malfunction. We have been using them about 5 years. I think you can still buy one for about $700.

Benelli is the king in Louisiana. My son and I personally shoot an M1-90 and my son in law shoots a Benelli SBE, he kills more waterfowl than anybody I know (that is saying a lot because Louisiana guys are duck and goose killing machines). He hunts about 50 days a year from Geese and ducks in Kansas, to Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

I have shot a Benelli M1-90 20 gauge on dove shoots twice in Argentina, once in Uruguay, and once in Bolivia. 1000s of rounds. Never a problem.

They are inertia guns so they kick more than gas guns. I have my barrels ported by magnaport. That reduces recoil slightly but drastically reduces barrel jump giving me a quick second and third shot.

They are indestructible.

BTW,
Saeed is right. My go to gun before the Benelli was the Browning B 2000. They were discontinued and parts became hard to find so I unloaded the 4 I had. They were sweet shooting shotguns.

I don’t semi autos that much, but bang for the buck it has to be Tristar.

"Best" semiauto is a little vague, as it could mean best value, best fit, best reliability rating, best handling characteristics -- all of which change according to who is doing the shooting.
The Benellis have a great reputation for reliability all right. We sold a lot of them, especially to hard-core waterfowlers.
I have been impressed with some of the Turkish imports -- the Weatherbys, for example.
Had not heard of the Girsan. Looks interesting for the price point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqrldVU0C2k

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
If you are capable of maintenance it’s a toss up between a Benelli or a Beretta.

The Benelli is a bit more reliable and lighter.

The Beretta has a gas system and recoils less.

Personally, the Benelli fits me better, and fit is everything in shotguns.

Try a few and what fits best is what to get.

We had people using both Benelli and Beretta, and some Franchi too.

Non.

Not a single one was as reliable as the Browning B2000.

Those shotguns just worked.

Non stop.

I had one which always stayed in the trunk of my car.

Well, a few years ago I bought a CZ 912 which I use for skeet. I am sure that it costs a lot less than the guns previously mentioned, and I do not pretend to be a high volume shooter. Neither am I an expert on semi autos. Just a thought.
Peter.

Most of the guns provided for Argentine dove hunts seem to be Benellis. And those get more use out of them in a month than most people do in a lifetime.

High volume sport shooters who shoot semi auto's instead of O/U's overwhelmingly pick Beretta's. Hunters overwhelmingly pick a Benelli. I've seen both (and all semi autos) develop jamming problems, generally fixable. Often related to cleaning, but sometimes spring or battering related.

Also, Randy Wakeman has reviewed all of them. He really liked the new Remington V3 and the Weatherby S-08's IIRC, as well as the Beretta's and Benellis. Berettas and all gas guns shoot softer than intertia guns.

There are also a bunch of guns set up for heavy loads/3.5" loads (I think Browning Maxus, Winchester SX3, and and Remington VersaMax's and Beretta A400's) but they are incredibly bulky and don't seem like they'd be very lively, but might be good for waterfowl in a blind.

Still shooting a Remington 11-48 (got for Christmas in 1968) and a Remington 11-87 that I bought in 1988. Never had any problems with either.

I'm shooting an 80's 1100. I've managed to shoot it dirty enough to jam, and I've tried my light 7/8 oz loads in cold weather and had it be unreliable. But it's my favorite. No rib. Steel receiver. Lively, well-balanced gun.

I am a turkey hunter first and foremost. If I were going to use a semi it would be a Super Black Eagle 11.
I think ducks ant geese need similar gun. If not my 10 gauge BPS, I would buy a Super Black Eagle II of or Browning A5 for ducks and geese. I killed a 3 year old Tom at 42 yards with a new A5 and Winchester High Brass 1300 FPS 7.5 and Browning factory full choke. The new A5 is just an inertia gun with a little Auto5 styling.

My wife has a wonderful Benelli 28 Gauge.

quote:

My wife has a wonderful Benelli 28 Gauge.

Those 28s are sweet little guns. Just a joy to shoot.

I have a bunch of shotguns. I have shot many owned by others in my travels. To me, it has to be either Benelli Or Beretta.

I probably shoot a lot more than the average person. Pre-pandemic, we usually made one or two trips a year to Argentina for high volume shooting. These would be 8,000 to 10,000 per trip. I probably shoot 2,000-3,000 a year quail hunting. My guns get used.

I choose Benelli over the Beretta for a variety of reasons. The two most important are the location of the safety and the size/location of the button used to chamber a shell when loading.

I have 3 Super Black Eagle 11 guns for me and my sons. These are largely used for turkeys & ducks. I have a Legacy in 28 & 20. These are largely used for quail. I have a 20 gauge Cordoba for high volume doves in Argentina. There are a couple of 20's for my sons.

I waterfowl hunt probably 40 days a year in flooded rice fields and flooded timber when the conditions permit. I have a place in Arkansas, go to Canada every other year and ponds in my native state of KY I've been a hardcore waterfowler for maybe 15 years. Not much is harder on a shotgun than a duckhunter and a dog....LOL

For most of those years I shot a Benelli Super Black Eagle and SBE2. Benelli's are just tough and dead nuts reliable. They kick maybe 10% more than a gas gun but nit enough to matter in a duck blind or pheasant field. I still have my SBE2 and it still sees several days a year in the field but the finish is mostly worn off and I really need to send it out to have it dipped and re-coated. Still runs like a champ though.

The last five years I have been running a Beretta A400 Extrema. Its gotten all the punishment a duck hunter can hand out and hasn't missed a beat that was the gun's fault. The first two years I owned it I never cleaned it. Literally took it out of the box, put it together and went hunting with it. I forgot to clean it at the end of the first season and just said the hell with it and went hunting the second season. Sprayed a few blasts of CLP in the action and called it good. On the last day of the second season it choked on a shell. I quickly diagnosed the problem--the back of the receiver was packed with enough rice straw and mud that it prevented the bolt from fully cycling to the rear. I took the trigger group out right there in the blind. Scooped out the offending straw and mud with my finger, put it together and finished the season without missing a beat. Can't fault the gun for that. Since then I've cleaned it maybe twice a season. Amd it gets dunked in the water and knocked over in the mud a bunch. Its never missed a beat except for a bad stick of ammo or two.

I will say I would not buy a Versamax as I've seen way too many of those guns go down and end peoples hunts. Three people I shared a duck blind this past year had problems. Two lost their bolt handles and one bent the operating rod system on the back of the bolt. All of them commented their Versamaxes have had lots of problems. Of course with Remington out of business its a moot point.

These days with steel shot its really a 3" shell game. 3.5" during late season maybe. You old guys shooting old 2 3/4" Recoil driven guns are going to have a hard time keeping up. Not impossible. I shoot a 20 gauge Benelli sometimes during early season just for fun. But late season...the shots are long and far between.

The turkish autoloading guns have been OK from some. COuple of people I hunt with bought them for their kids. THey all seem to choke some...

So in summary,,,,a Benelli or Beretta has been a great choice...again I'm running them hard with maybe 500 shells a season and almost zero maintenance. 500 shells isn't a lot. But in those conditions it is...
YMMV

To clarify, the A5 I referenced is a New A5 which is just a Benelli inertia gun with a little Auto5 styling of yesterday in the receiver. The receiver on the New A5 is much less square and high.

Love the gun and does good work. I used the 2 3/4 inch Super X 1 1/4 1300 FPS rated 7.5 shot sell because on that turkey Tom because I grabbed the wrong box hurrying to get out the door, and was not going back.

Bang and flop.

Dogcat, are you looking for a hunting gun, or a show piece?

Hunting...

I am getting more recoil sensitive due to shoulder issues.

What does the collective wisdom of AR suggest?

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Hunting...

I am getting more recoil sensitive due to shoulder issues.

What does the collective wisdom of AR suggest?

Beretta A400

I personally like some kick in my shotgun. But then I don’t hunt birds anymore just feed them in my backyard and catch ducks out of my pool with a pool net. I do like shooting my Benelli M4 at the plinking range. I never miss with it

Mike

quote:

and catch ducks out of my pool with a pool net

Yep, me too. I know that it is somewhat off topic, but true!

I usually shoot my S/S or O/U, + sometimes my pumps but for an auto I still like my OLD early A5. Shooting a piece of history.

quote:

but for an auto I still like my OLD early A5. Shooting a piece of history.

I do too, and mine's still going strong!

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Hunting...

I am getting more recoil sensitive due to shoulder issues.

What does the collective wisdom of AR suggest?

Ross, I’ve been hunting ducks for 53 years. For the first 50 seasons, I shot 12 gauges. Then, I sold my duck club in California and joined a new club in Idaho where 12 gauges are not allowed. We only use 20, 28 and 410’s to hunt ducks, over 90% of which are mallards. There is a big drop off from 28 gauge to 410, but you’d be surprised at how effective a 28 gauge shooting quality shells is for mallards. I prefer Hevi-X 4’s.

I’ve bought 9 or 10 small gauge shotguns over the last 3 years, as I provide guns for my guests to use when they hunt with me. The most popular are Beretta A400’s and Winchester SX-3’s.

My favorite is a 28 gauge Beretta A400. I’m getting another for my guests to use, I like them that much. Once you start shooting birds with a 20 or 28, you’ll discover they’re plenty effective and a hell of a lot more pleasant to shoot. Several of us even use 20’s for most of our Canada Goose hunts. They work fine on decoying geese.

As I have gotten older, I have shot the 20 and 28 gauges more and more. I have stables of both 20's and 28's, in SXS's, O/A's, semi-auto's and pump's. You will enjoy hunting and shooting so much more! In fact, the last time that I hunted Chukar with a friend of mine, I carried a Browning 425 Citori 12 gauge O/A (wanted to try out some new Browning Midas choke tubes). I was sorry that I did! It'll be back to the 20 and 28 next time!