I will admit that a 12 ga. is a better "all-around" do-everything gauge. Some of the Beretta semi-auto's I've hefted are nice and light. I have a pair of 11-87's and they are NOT bird guns. They are cumbersome and ill-balanced in my opinion. They are okay on a skeet field or trap field, and fine in a duck blind or in a pocket of woods adjacent to a field crow hunting, but the 11-87 is not a grouse gun.
I have thought about getting a Beretta semi-auto for a while now. I have a Browning gas auto (B2000) that's light but I don't use it much, and 20 & 16 ga. A5's which are light and I like toting them. Maybe I will look into one someday. Thanks