I finally bit the bullet and bought a SBE a few years ago !! It is truely a workhorse of a shotgun and performs as well as everything I ever heard !
I have made some of my best shots on ducks with it and killed a turkey out in NM at 45 yards with it easily !!
I will say a couple of things :
One , is if you get one.......check the stock plates......they come with 3 and the "A" plates hit where your bead is.......the "B" plates hit right above the bead and the "C" plates hit a good bit above where the bead is !! I did not know this and mine came with the "C" plates installed and I shot over everything until I figured it out (was close to selling the gun) !! Since then I have ran across many other with the same problem and all of their guns have the "c" plates installed from the factory !! I have even heard of folks that sold them because of this issue and never knew how easy of a fix it is (even though it's in the owner's manual.......I didn't read it either......thank god for internet forums
) !!
Number 2.......I had a Benelli Nova pump which is less than half the price......isa little heavier.......I short shucked 3.5" out of it "a lot" but know people who don't do it.........but it shot just as good as my SBE if not better !! It is a great gun for the money and near bullet proof from my experience........but I wanted an auto and am extremely happy with my SBE 26" barrel......last shotgun I will probably ever buy !!
