Benelli Cordoba or Super Black Eagle 2 What to Buy

Benelli Cordoba or Super Black Eagle 2 What to buy

  • Benelli Cordoba

    Votes: 12 26.7%

  • Super Black Eagle 2

    Votes: 33 73.3%
  • Total voters
    45
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TeCHNiQue

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Benelli Cordoba or Super Black Eagle 2 This is my first gun and i want to do it right and i know i want a Benelli. I will be useing this gun for Goose and Duck and the odd slug also for some skeet but am planing to buy a 2nd 12g for just skeet. also if you could point me in the right way for a competition skeet gun.Thanks for the help.
 
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The main advantages of the SBE 2 are that it takes 3-1/2" shells and isn't ported. However because it is set up for 3-1/2" it does not always function with light target loads.

The Benelli Cordoba is mechanically the same as the Super Sport but with a different finish. The Cordoba I played with for a few weekends fed everything put into it including my somewhat fast 7/8 ounce handloads.

The downside to the Cordoba is the barrel porting. It's not welcome in a duckblind. Other than that I liked the Cordoba a great deal and came close to buying one but I use a Beretta 391 for targets and waterfowl and prefer it to the Benelli.

If you can live without 3-1/2" shells you might consider the Benelli M2. Same action as the Cordoba, no porting and it's less expensive.
 
I own a Super Black eagle II. It is a usable gun for trap and skeet. It helps me prepare for goose hunting so I like it rather than an over under trap and skeet specific gun.

Mine cycles very light ( one ounceor 1 1/8 Oz) trap loads flawlessly. I have never ever had a single failure to cycle a light load ever in 2 years of shooting it. I have seen several people with other semi autos have such a problem. One of the "old smart guys" at the range once spied my SBE II and asked me to run some light loads through it. They were giving another person trouble. Mine cycled them fine. He said "Yeah the Benelli cycles best of all the semi autos, just wanted to make sure it was not something wrong with the batch of shells". ( The club had just bought a tractor trailer load of them :))
I thought about the cordoba initially but purchased the SBE II and have been verry happy with it. It is an expensive gun but money well spent in my humble opinion.
 
The 3" chambered Cordoba was basically designed as a Dove Gun for high volume shooting, such as is practiced in Argentina, Uruguay, etc. ... and it can, and does, double duty as a target gun for some, although the similar "Super Sport" model is more specifically designed for that purpose.

The 3-1/2" chambered SBE II is an out & out Waterfowler. As many won't cycle light target loads - as will.

As to a "competition" Skeet gun, the autoloader corner right now is pretty much dominated by Beretta, with the over & unders primarily being Beretta & Browning at the lower end, with Beretta, Kreighoff, Perazzi & Kolar being the upper-end.
 
I have been seeing the SBE 2 more and more on on sporting and skeet fields and would say that not being able to function on light loads is very rare. If you are a hunter, it is the best choice of the two for a dual purpose gun. I have a ported benelli and really like it, but I do not think the porting makes much of a difference.
 
mogul_pro said:
Have never had this problem...
Click to expand...

I've had the SBEII for 2 seasons now and I shoot sporting clays with it out at Galt and have been using lighter loads with no issues, though I haven't tried anything under 1 ounce yet. I also took the time to break mine in by running heavy loads through the gun to wear in the action.

No problems yet with cycling the lighter stuff
 
Perhaps it's the definition of "light." Benelli recommends nothing lighter than 3 dram 1-1/8 loads for their guns which are among the heavier target loads.

The Cordoba I was playing with shot my 7/8 ounce reloads but didn't shoot another guy's. Mine are a little hotter at 1,300 fps. I've seen SBE's not work reliably with one ounce loads at 1,250 fps.

As much as I admire the Benelli's ruggedness and simplicity if the desire is to shoot a wide range of loads I believe the Beretta 391 is preferable. Mine will shoot 3" mags all the way down to the Winchester Low Recoil Low Noise. Winchester doesn't recommend that load for autos yet it works in my 391.
 
Claybuster said:
As much as I admire the Benelli's ruggedness and simplicity if the desire is to shoot a wide range of loads I believe the Beretta 391 is preferable. Mine will shoot 3" mags all the way down to the Winchester Low Recoil Low Noise. Winchester doesn't recommend that load for autos yet it works in my 391.
Click to expand...

Ahhh I see. Nothing wrong with a little bias opinion. ;) (jokes).
 
Most of the SBEs I have seen on the sporting ranges, are being used with light loads. either 1 1/8 or 1 oz. Most do not carry a large percentage of 3 dram and over. I sold one to a relative I often shoot with. He has tried all my light loads including a 7/8 oz 1200+ and kent international 24 gram. Not a hicup. He normally shoots 2 3/4 dram super targets loads. I have a benelli target gun and it shoots everything I put in it. But I expect that from a target gun. One thing is for sure. Any benelli ever made is easier to keep clean than a beretta auto.
 
B or SBE

Both great guns. Problem with many malfunctions in Semi's in clays games is that shooters will go out and spend $2000 for a gun and then take it to the range and shoot crap promo ammo with it. Buy premium ammo and you shouldn't have problems.
Getting back on subject --- Buy the gun that fits you best -- if the gun doesn't fit you properly, you will never shoot it well unless you have it adjusted to you.
Cheers/luck!
 
A semi set up for 3.5" shells requires a longer travel distance before the returning shell is ejected than one set up for 3" shells, I believe. I would venture a guess that is part of the reason for the SBE2 occasionally not ejecting light target loads. Last Fall I bought a Extrema2 and had trouble with target loads, (it was great for hunting loads)..therefore sold it as soon as the problem presented itself. I have no use for a gun that fails me.

I have 3 Benelli semi's, with no ejection problems. I think part of their success is that they are designed for 3" shells.

Because I don't feel I will be using 3.5" shells, I would choose the Cordoba over the SBE2, unless I planned to sell the SBE in the near future. It would probably have a greater market, including the fact that it is less expensive than a Cordoba.

Grouser is right about fit...and the Benelli has shims and different size recoil pads to make a good fit highly probable.

Finally, the Cordoba could be used for skeet and ducks. If you need the odd 3.5" event, a Benelli Supernova would be an economical and quality choice, in my opinion.
 
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Personally, I wouldn't buy either of them. I have shot both guns and dislike both of them.

I'd buy a Beretta AL391 Urika... I've you've got a hard-on for 3.5" shells, get the Xtrema version... Both are awesome guns, and from my experience more reliable and handle nicer than the Benellis.
 
I have a 391 in 3 inch and a benelli in 3 inch. As far as being reliable, both digest whatever I put in them. They are both different to handle, with the benelli feeling more lively but that is not alway nicer. As far as the xtrema version, I find it has the same handling characteristics of a mag 10 and the only use I would have for it is the dedicated digestion of large quantities of 3 1/2 shells which would not happen too often for me. The fact that the xtrema is able to cycle with lighter loads is not much of a sell for me. I can't imagine carrying that much clunkiness around a skeet or sporting field or hunting huns or sharpies with it.
 
Are you sold on a semil? I have the benelli nova and love it. it is designed well and with the recoil compensator in the stock is just awesome. I use it for water fowl to a bear gun (with a shorter barrel and the barrel extension) it shoots 3.5" slugs and cost under a grand.

cheers.
 
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