If you take them apart you will see that the R-1 is a much better made gun. I have both and I like both but there is no comparison in fit and finish between the two, the Benelli takes it. However, both are shooters, my BAR is a 308 and my R1 is 300 Win mag and they both shoot very well. I haven't handloaded for either as I do my bolt guns, but they both shoot factory to about 1.5 MOA. Reliability has been excellent between the two, and very little maintenance is required but certainly necessary. I think you will find that most people prefer the level of service from Benelli/Beretta group over Browning, my experience would echo this. Get the one that fits you best, and for the price difference, you can get a nice Leupold to put on the top of the BAR for the price of the Benelli.
As a side note, the Shortrac's are the cheapest BAR's to date. Compare them to the Stalker model or the Safari and you will see what I mean. If you are getting the synthetic version look for the Lightweight Stalker, much much better. The internals will be the same but the stocks are totally different, Browning pretty much lowered the manufacturing costs with the Shortrac and Longtrac and increased profit margin with these rifles over their predecessors. Do yourself a favour, compare the Shortrac with the other models of BAR's, night and day. One of the guy's in my moose camp had a Shortrac for one hunt, and the recoil pad came off, and the inside of the buttstock was brutal, turns out the screw stripped the hole and it just came out. I like BAR's but wouldn't buy one of the of Shortrac or Longtrac, they are just cheapened to increase profit margin. Look for yourself and you will see,
Cheers,
Patrick
