What's better than a Benelli Super Black Eagle?

[KerryB]

This should start some conversation! I have owned several Benelli Super Black Eagle shotguns over the last few years that i use for waterfowling. I understand that there are several 3.5" semi-auto shotguns out there made by many different manufacturers now. How many of you guys have used any of the other brands and what can you tell me about them? Thx! KerryB

[youp50]

I have a Winchester Super X-2, supposed to be the same as a Browning something or other. Mine shoots low and left. Embarassingly, I find this to be an asset to my wing shooting success. I have never shot a Benelli Black Eagle.

I did shoot a Benelli Montefeltro 20 gage. It is recoil operated and the stock fit proved to me that a 20 gage can kick. I used to shoot bayed on the ground black bears with an Ithaca Md 37 20 gage featherweight. Just held it by the pistol grip and leaned over the dogs and pulled the trigger. I am not sure how Benelli managed to get a 20 to kick like that.

IMO and practice I will refrain from 3.5 inch 12 gage loads.

[dans]

I have a Browning Gold waterfowler that has been very good to me. 3.5 inch mossy oak camo, got my first triple with this gun shooting #2 hevishot. Longest kill was 65 yards. I traded a Browning 10 ga. pump for this shotgun. I can't kill them quit as far with the 12 ga. but I never did better than a double with the big ten. I am wanting feed back on the Beretta Extrema II with kickoff recoil reduction. It has many great features.

[ewc]

I can't argue with your logic - I love my SBE II-

I use it on dove, quail, turkey, and waterfowl and it functions flawlessly.

[KerryB]

I live in the middle of the Mississippi flyway and the Benelli SBE is the fowling piece of choice in my neck of the woods. My house is about halfway between the Crab Orchard NWR and the Union County State Wildlife Refuge. The waterfowl winter over at these two refuges and thus they are surrounded by hunting clubs. World champion goose call maker Tim Grounds lives near and has a club close to my home. Waterfowling is big business around here.................

[robhinze]

Nothing. In my safe right now sits a win sup X2, old mosberg 835, rem auto 10, and several other S.S and O.U's. Now all I shoot is my SBE 1 with a pattern master extended choke (I don't use any other choke for doves, sporting clays, to geese) and my black powder S.S. ml. I only shoot home rolled shells from littleton shot maker wheel weight shot to steel 3.5's going way to fast. My poor dad is also so cursed. In fact my whole family (9 of the SBE'S) is except for one uncle but he is slightly touched BUT we all still love him the same.

[wilmsmeyer]

My good friend is an avid waterfowler and turkey hunter. He has raised up a 16 yr old boy in his footsteps. For doing so well in school last year, he bought his son a Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 1/2 inch. His other guns include Smiths, Remingtons and Winchesters. I saw this post and had no personal input so I asked him this same question last night...What's better...? His very quick answer with a huge grin was "ANOTHER ONE!"

Must be a nice gun....that I'll probably never own. ;D

[dougedwards]

Berretta Extrema 2

[ozark]

Being old and brittle I wanted a shotgun that had acceptable recoil, was rugged and would deliver the goods on turkey or small game. I selected and am happy with my .20 Ga. Mossberg 500. Although it doesn't send out as many pellets of a given size as the 12 or 10 gauges, what it does send are moving at a speed equal and I found choke tubes that fits my purposes. Recoil is bearable and certainly milder than the 3 1/2 in. Reminging 840 express that was punishing to me enough to take the pleasure out of shooting it. Ozark

[fowlplay]

The group I waterfowl with use an assortment of shotguns. They have (2)SBE, (1)Berretta, (3)Gold Hunter3.5, (2)Nova, (1)835, and (2)870 pumps. Now the muddy saltwater marshes we hunt in are very hard on guns. With that said the only shotguns that broke are the SBE that two hunter have. Two gun failure does not make this a bad gun, it is just my observation with the guys I hunt with.

I been shooting the Browning 3.5 Gold Hunter since 1998 without one failure. Sure it will jam a shell every now and then when it gets dirty or below 20 degrees but I have never had to borrow my buddies extra gun to finish a hunt. I'm sure all semis are prone to breakage at one time or another. If you want a hard core waterfowl gun then buy a pump.

I also own several other semi and pump shotguns but the gold hunter gets the call nine out of ten times. I love my 1187 but I watched it turn brown from rust on it first outing. Plus the "O" ring is not dependable.
Steve

[KerryB]

I actually still own an 835 Ulti-Mag that i bought the first year they came out. It is the camo version with the matching canti-lever scope mount rifled slug barrel. It never once let me down and i wouldn't hesitate to use it again if the need arose. We don't have problems with the corrosive salt atmosphere here in Illinois, so haven't seen any SBE's fail yet, but i don't doubt it could happen. Salt and guns just don't work and play well together! ;D Now, tell me in detail about the different ducks and geese you boys get out there! If i get time tomorrow, i'll post a pic or two of our birds here in my neighborhood. KerryB

[fowlplay]

Kerry,
The 835 was actually my best patterning gun for steel shot. My son liked it so much that I just gave it to him. I still miss that gun.

Here on the eastern shore of Delaware we have mainly the greater snow geese and Canadian geese. I did shoot a Ross goose last year which is rare for this area.
We also have a good variety of ducks. I mainly kill mallards, black ducks, gadwall, teal, woodies, and pintails. Closer to the shore we got canvasbacks, bluebills, brant, shovelers, goldeneye, bufflehead, and other sea ducks. I prefer the puddle ducks for eating. The shovelers (spoonies) taste like crap even after marinating.
Steve
Steve

[KerryB]

Jan 24, 2009 10:14:49 GMT -5 fowlplay said:

Kerry,
The 835 was actually my best patterning gun for steel shot. My son liked it so much that I just gave it to him. I still miss that gun.

Here on the eastern shore of Delaware we have mainly the greater snow geese and Canadian geese. I did shoot a Ross goose last year which is rare for this area.
We also have a good variety of ducks. I mainly kill mallards, black ducks, gadwall, teal, woodies, and pintails. Closer to the shore we got canvasbacks, bluebills, brant, shovelers, goldeneye, bufflehead, and other sea ducks. I prefer the puddle ducks for eating. The shovelers (spoonies) taste like crap even after marinating.
Steve
Steve

Steve,
I have always had dreams of sea duck hunts with eiders and other sea ducks buzzing the decoys and skimming the crests of the waves. Sounds like most of your ducks are the same as ours other than the brants. We have tons of snow and canada geese as well as some speckle bellies (greater white front) and cacklers. I currently have a cackler and speck waiting for the taxidermist. I have a good collection of waterfowl mounts, but am always looking for new specimens. I am looking at a pair of shovelers, a hooded merganser, black duck, and wood duck as i write this. I don't think i could decorate my house with anything more beautiful than waterfowl (God's handiwork)! I also love fish mounts and i just picked up two bass and two crappie mounts at the taxidermist this afternoon. All are fun to look at on a cold winter day.................

[KerryB]

Here is what i wear out my Benelli SBE on...........snows and blues! I took these photos a couple of days ago ;D

[fowlplay]

Snow geese like that will definitely heat up the barrel. There nothing like snows forming a tornado over you decoy spread. The only problem is that you will here all that goose cackling in your head for the rest of the day. ;D
Steve

[doug]

beretta extrema 2 the best shot gun made on the planet, ;D

[jeremylong]

Oh come on where are the Browning A-5 fans? ;D

[12ptdroptine]

I have a Benelli M2 that I love..However it is a safe queen so far..I like the recoil of it with the 12ga..i am recoil sissified and the bouncy recoil from this gun sure isnt bad... I was set on a SBE but for my need's the saoel person told me to think about the m2 really hard..I bought it.

[KerryB]

Mar 5, 2009 22:12:14 GMT -5 jeremylong said:

Oh come on where are the Browning A-5 fans? ;D

A brand new Browning A5 Light 12 was one of the first guns i bought as a kid after a bunch of mowing jobs (early 70's). I still have it along with the original box and owners manual and wouldn't trade it for anything. It sure isn't an SBE though! ;D

[jeremylong]

KerryB - Thats pretty cool. Honestly, I dont know much about auto's. Probably because I have not ever got serious about duck/goose hunting. Bow hunting / coonhunting wear me down during the same time of the year as bird season. Most of my goose hunting has been over the dam style of my lake. I have owned a couple of A-5's as I got hooked on the historical side.

[wilmsmeyer]

It's such a shame that ducks and geese taste like liver no matter how I've ate them. But they are fun to shoot and play tricks on....and watch dogs carry them.

[jims]

wilmsmeyer: I have found that wood ducks taste better than most ducks and much better IMO than geese. We have alot of woodies in this area, maybe less there or have you tried them?

[fishhawk]

Dans, I don,t think you need to spend the extra $ on the kick off stock on the extrema if they can still be bought without. Mine doesn't have it and 3.5's are no problem. I love mine, the recoil happens very fast but mild. The recoil is way less than the benelli. This gun took about 100 rounds before it would cycle light 2.75's. It also came out of the box very dry, mine was in need of lube before shooting. The bolt latching system is different than some others which makes unloading the magazine different than my remington that I"ve had forever. I like my extrema so much I bought an al391 20ga for doves and rabbits.

[yankee]

i own a SBE II when it reaches the ripe ole age of 30yrs old, like my 870 has and it has given me no troubles, then maybe i can praise it, but i highly doubt a gun i paid close to 1500.00 for will go 30yrs with no troubles, don'r get me wrong i enjoy my SBE II but to ask what guns are better, i'll choose my 870, just because aint nothin gone wrong with it in 30yrs

[olsmokey]

Have 3 A-5's 28'' full, 26''mod, and slug barrel. All Lt. 12's with Quick load feature. Have a couple Rem. 870's and 1100 but always seem to grab an A-5 when going hunting. They just seem to point so natural for me.

[nitro1947]

all my friends who shoot ducks and geese give me there recipes for best meals and I told them that if you used all that stuff to make them taste good . you could prolly make a tennis shoe taste just as good

[fowlplay]

Give me a goose or a puddle duck to eat any day. The problem that most people have is that they over cook the duck. If you cook waterfowl well done than it is going to taste like liver.

All you got to do is pluck the feathers, wipe his butt and throw on the plate. ;D Tanning the outside of the meat is optional.
Steve

[wilmsmeyer]

Where do you live Fowlplay? Come next fall, I may have an extraordinary sized package to send you. If it stays frozen, it may not bleed all over the delivery man.

We give away 95% of the duck and goose kill. 2 years ago...300+ geese and a fair amount of ducks. This past year under 150 geese and very few ducks. Seasons and weather didn't collide in our favor.

We've made goose jerky, goose snack stix, goose roll ups, butterflied grilled duck breasts, ground goose and pork burger and who knows what else. Really really really have tried to like it...tried so many recipes from people who make it. We are good cooks too.

LIVER!!! I'm convinced that bird that flies 1000's of miles a year just to migrate are nothing more then a tough muscle.

So why hunt them? It's so much fun...a reason to get some good guys together....watch dogs be dogs. Keeping numbers in check is a coincidental benefit.

Dry Ice and a BIG box.....You in?

[fowlplay]

Wilmsmeyer,

That is a very kind offer you made. Unfortunately I will have to decline because of lack of freezer space. I have two freezers that I fill each season with ducks, geese, and venison.

I will admit there are some birds that are not very good table fare like shovelers, mergansers, and most sea ducks. I still can't think of too many better tasting birds than a Mallard, Woody, Black, or a nice Canadian Goose for supper. Have you ever tried smoked Mallard marinated and orange sauce?
I do enjoy hunting waterfowl and training and working labs. But IMO I would not hunt them if I did not enjoy eating them. That is just me. I have a son that loves deer hunting but will not eat them. Go figure.
Steve

[wilmsmeyer]

I have had the orange glazed duck in a testaurant. It was OK...and farm raised I think.

I will bring this up at the next duck cleaning party. I should have mentioned that one of our guys has eaten (and loves) a tractor trailer load of waterfowl and loves every way. He's 50% of the 95%. ;D ;D

My theory is that anytime I have to go through hoops and loops to get something to taste good it's probably because it doesn't taste good.

Hail to Black Cloud!