I have been hunting pheasants for two years now, and I am thinking of upgrading from my 12ga pump to an auto. The two guns that I have in mind are the Benelli SBE and the Beretta 391. What are the pros and cons of these two guns? Any others that I should maybe consider as well?

Save a little money and take a look at the Franchi variomax 912. Same Family, same great gun!!!!

j

J
How long have you had your Franchi? How much do they typically go for?
obby1

i would go with a benelli simply because of its inertia recoil system, ie less working parts equals better longevity. i considered the franchi before i bought my sbe and in my opinion the benelli is of superior craftsmanship, althought the franchi is a nice gun.

the only problem i have incurred with my sbe is it doesnt like to cycle light 2 3/4 loads.

I've had mine for not quite two years! I really enjoy it. From what I remember I paid Mid 700's for it. The MSRP on mine with the Realtree camo is $885, if I recall correctly. Check out the website, all prices are listed under specifications. It was on sale at the time. They were trying to get rid of some inventory.

Last season I got to use it quite a bit. I picked up duck hunting with it, and I also did some pheasant hunting. Shot a TON of rounds out of it. Never jammed once, and too a little guilt...I never cleaned the thing until January. All I ever did was wipe it down if it got wet. Worked wonders. I also hunted deer with it, shooting slugs from it...no riffled barrel. I really enjoy it. I'm not going to say it's better or worse than a benelli or Baretta, I just think it's worth a look!

www.franchiusa.com

hope I helped.

Jay

[Deleted by Admins]

Really? I haven't had even a hiccup with mine. Shoots everything I've put in it with no problems at all.

[Deleted by Admins]

Owning both...I prefer the beretta in the auto.

Lots of guys around here duck hunt with benellis and berettas. The only way the benelli guys can get their SBE's to go BOOM more than once is by putting a surecycle system in them. Just too finicky in a wet, muddy duck blind for me. Reminds me of a Jaguar...when they run right they're hard to beat but they hardly ever run right!!!

Do yourself a favor and go with the beretta!

I can't recommend the SBE for upland. 2 3/4" shells are king here so, why buy a gun that will more than likely have problems cycling them? If you must have a Benelli look at the M1 or better yet the Montefeltro. Which Beretta 391 are you asking about? AL391 (Tenkey or Urika) or A391 (Xtrema)? Again, I won't recommend any 3 1/2" gun (Xtrema) for upland. The AL391, M1, and Monte are close in weight, performance, and cost. Of these three I would go with the Monte. It's slightly lighter and much thinner than the other two.
Others worth consideration are the Browning "Fusion and Evolve". Both are very light and extremely reliable. Both are gas operated and have a lot of features.
Franchi also has two models that are very good for upland. The AL 48 and 612/620. The 612 is a 12 gauge and the 620 is a 20 gauge. They are almost as light as the Brownings but cost $200.00-$300.00 less. The AL 48 is all I use for pheasants. It's very light and slim. It handels more like an over/under than a semi-auto. They are not made in 12 gauge anymore but can be found as left overs in shops. They can also be found on the used market and even sometimes NIB.