Breaking in SBE II and what to shoot Questions
 

Well I will breaking in my SBE II the week after Christmas and wanted to hear what you all recommended. I also am new to duck hunting and really do not know what shot/choke to use for what. I know that I will need to pattern the shotgun but wanted to hear from some of you that have an SBE II on what shells you have found patterns well in your gun and with what choke. Sorry for all the questions but I have always been a rifle hunter so getting into hunting with a shotgun is a little confusing to me.
Thanks for any and all advice,
Tuck

Shoot some heavy loads (I used/patterned turkey loads) to break-in your SBE II, so it can then cycle the lightest loads well.

Additionally, I shot a box of high brass 7 1/2's and never had a issue shooting the lightest loads on the skeet range.

Buy only extended chokes, so that you can change them without a choke wench.

http://www.trulockchokes.com/cgi-bin/eShop/index.cgi

Shoot heavy loads to start with and bring a friend so they can help enjoy the pleasure. Turkey Mags are usually a good starting point, I used Nitro Mags last time.

You shot / choke combo really depends on your setup for shooting ducks. I usually shoot about 25 yards with a Mod over decoys, but I have other places where I drop a full in to get the range.

Sheridan hit the nail on the head the trulock chokes are awesome.

Great advice so far. However, I never needed a break in period. Mine shot the lightest loads from the very begining with zero problems. Good luck with your new gun!!

go with a patternmaster

There's no real "breaking in period" needed. Take it out and shoot some rounds of clays with trap loads, just to get used to and comfortable operating and shooting it.
For ducks early season I might shoot #2's fast steel and improved cylinder choke over decoys. Later season and bigger ducks I go to #1 or even BBs fast steel for mallards/pintails (bigger full plummed ducks) and usually modified choke. 3" loads for ducks.
Geese I always shoot BBs fast steel and 3 or 3.5" loads. BBs do the job in fast steel out to 45 yds in my experience breaking wings and penatrating to the vitals. Any bigger than BBs and the goose down with ball up and get stuck in the breasts, unless you happen to break wings or hit heads.

I shoot 3 to 3 1/4 dram equivalent traps loads in my SBE II and M1 Super 90 without any problems. I think Benelli does recommend a minimum 3 dram load for say trap loads. For any other types of hunting loads, (e.g. waterfowl, upland game) these will consistently cycle very well. I almost never have a shell fail to cycle regardless. An occasional drop or 2 of good oil on the bolt, bolt slides and bolt head will keep this operating well, even with extended hunting trips. (As Phil R. Duck Commander says, "boom, boom, boom!") Saving the thorough cleaning for when I get home.

Just don't underestimate your factory tubes. Before buying aftermarkets, one of your IC/M/IM chokes will probably give you good results. It's fairly standard to shoot a 4x4' piece of paper and draw a 30" circle around the densest portion of the pattern and then determine your pattern percentages and also consider the even-ness of the pattern.

You will have to choose your shells for the game and ranges you're experiencing. F shot may fatally penetrate a goose further than BBs, but at those extended ranges the pattern density also goes down and you would just be playing luck trying to get one of your 50 pellets to hit. For all of my duck hunting, cheap 2 3/4 or 3" 3s can handle it all. I'm usually not shooting further than 30 some yards, so I still have plenty of juice to put down a duck while also having enough pellets to make it easier to get a good dose on the duck.

For geese, I usually hunt at longer ranges. Big geese are usually harder to take down than a mallard, so that there means I want a larger pellet, plus the fact the ranges are further (you can relate this to rifles in that the larger the pellet, the greater the mass, sectional density, and ballistic coefficient so the lower the velocity loss and therefore the further you shoot the greater and greater the energy advantage). Larger pellets mean fewer, so I take advantage of running 3.5" shells to put more of the odds in my favor. In my case it's worth the small cost increase to run them. I usually opt BB or BBB, and I'm willing to sacrifice some velocity for payload. Again this is to suit my hunting. If I'm decoying to 20 or 30yds I'd be all over 3" 2s. One shell that has my interest is the Hevi-Metal. Using these increases your pellet count 20%, but the drawback is about a buck a shot (and I just ordered a case of 3.5" bbs for $140 shipped). Same cost as Black Cloud, which, after using, doesn't seem to be worth the cost increase. Maybe hevi-metal would be worth the dough.

I don't really care for hevi-shot, remington hd, or other 12g/cc density shot. In fact I wouldn't use any expensive steel or high density shot unless 40yds was a close shot. The performance vs cost just isn't there. They're a high density nontox shot, meaning you can use smaller shot to get the same penetration as larger steel shot at a distance. Although the pellet count is increased by using the smaller shot, the difference is not that stellar and the cost does not justify it IMO. If I was to pay the price for a high-density shot, it would be Federal Heavyweight (15g/cc). You can use way smaller shot and get way higher pellet counts and still get the penetration of the largest steel shot, which really puts the odds in your favor. Once again, cost is a factor, running over $4 a shot regular price but it can be bought for $1.60-$1.80/shot.

Just some things to consider. In a nutshell, smaller shot and less of it for closer range and smaller birds, larger shot and more of it for larger birds and longer ranges. High density is a waste of money excepting long range shooting with federal heavyweight 6s.

With mine I like using the Improved Cylinder factory choke over decoys while duck hutning. And do like the others told you. Pattern that gun - it is easy to change the drop of the stock if you need to as I did. All I did was turn over that oval metal plate found inside the stock once I took off the recoil pad. That was just the right touch to bring my pattern to where I needed it.

And I shoo the cheapest steel rounds I can and even though it is a 3.5" I shoo tnothing but 3 inch.

But do Pattern..

JW

FYI : from SBE II manual


WARNING:
on your shotgun, some breaking-in
period may be required before your new gun
works perfectly with light target loads. If you
experience any initial functioning problems,
we recommended firing three or four boxes
of standard hunting loads to allow for this
break-in period.



Allow me to repeat;

Shoot some heavy loads (I used/patterned turkey loads) to break-in your SBE II, so it can then cycle the lightest loads well.