I know that there is the affordable Nova Pump, but I thought there was a semi-auto that was $500 or so, at least I think I heard of something like that.

Am I just talking 'cause I had a dream about it or something?

Yeah it's called a Stoeger 2000.

Tom

If it is called a "Stoeger", it is not a Benelli.

youngguns

If you watch the auction sites and shop around, there are some "deals" to be had on good, clean, used Benellis. My son bought a camo SBE for $750 (retails for around $1400+/-) off Gunbroker. I have seen a M1 Super 90 for as low as $599 not to long ago. Keep your eyes open, and one might jump out at you.

Franchi

Actually, Stoeger is owned by Benelli and yes they use the same inertia system found in Benelli's higher priced models. Stoeger is to Benelli like Tikka is to Sako. My brother-in-law owns a Benelli and I own a Stoeger. The only difference I can see is the stock design. As for function of the gun it's great.

Benelli is made in Italy, Stoeger is made in Turkey or Hungary, there is one reason of the price difference.

The Franchi 1-12 is a close copy, and they are $599 new.

The parts are of lower quality and the emblem. That is about it. I use my shotguns and wouldn't feel good about dragging an over $1k gun across the grass, dirt and rocks.

I've had guys who shoot bennelli's shoot my gun and said they can't tell the difference.

Tom

To each his own. I USE my Benelli and would not think twice about taking it anywhere (it has probably already been there at least once already). I used to subscribe to the same school of thought but have come to realize that guns are nothing more than tools made to be used (but not abused).

My uncle has a Charles Daly, and it works good, since it's very versatile, he uses it on turkey, ducks, and upland. Only problem I have is that I bonk myself in the nose when I shoot it if I'm not careful, actually, when I shot my turkey, that happened, but I didn't notice, I just thought, "Hey, that's one way to knock snot out of your nose!"

Is the Stoeger 2000 versatile? If so, I might just get one in black synthetic, so that it camos enough for hunting turkey, and it looks stylish enough for upland.