Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 SBE3 impressions and shooting high issues

pinkmoon

pinkmoon

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
59   0   0
Location
Fredericton , New Brunswick
I thought i would share my view on the SBE3 in case others were considering this gun as their new waterfowl companion. The first thing i had to consider when thinking of purchasing this gun was the price. Most places in Canada list the SBE3 at around $2500 or more which for me is a big investment in a shotgun. Given that the SBE platform has been around a long time and has a proven reputation helped ease my anxiety of spending this much on a waterfowl gun. After searching around some of the CGN sponser web pages I located an SBE3 for $2250. My 12 gauge is my go to gun for 90% of the hunting / shooting activities that I do so I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a SBE3.

Prior to making the purchase I encountered a lot of posts and reviews claiming that the SBE3 shoots high. Other then this common complaint the gun seems to get good reviews. After I received the gun I took it out to the range to pattern it . I wanted to see if it did indeed pattern high or if folks were blowing things out of proportion with how these guns patterned. That day I took my SBE3 and my SX3 to the range and my friend had his SBE@ with him as well. My winchester patterned well just as it always had in the past. My SBE3 was barley on paper at 20 meters and was patterning about 10-12 inches high. I was not impressed at all with this result. We were shooting from a rest as well as in a standing unsupported position. Shot after shot and at various distances this gun was hitting very high in reference to my point of aim. My friend who shoots the SBE2 even attempted a few rounds and he also hit high.

I had read reviews that claimed this problem could be corrected by using a larger front bead. The one that comes on the gun is very small. Aware of this I brought along a magnetic stick on trueglow bead to test needed. With the larger trueglow bead the poi was much better but still had 100% of the shot above my POI.

When i got home I researched the topic a bit more and found out that others had to use the largest truglow bead called a " fat bead" in order to get their gun to shoot POI.
I contacted Stoeger Canada and asked them what their opinion was and what bead I should consider . They said they would send me a free large bead to try out. Given my improved results with the medium sized magnetic truglow I am optimistic that the large bead benelli sent me should work.

Other then the POI issues I really like the "new" features of this gun. It shoulders well for me , the trigger guard is large enough for my thick fingers ( SX3 was small for me with gloves) even when gloved and they finally addressed the benilli click...which was not really that much of an issue to begin with.

I thought i would offer my initial review as well as my experience with the shooting high issue for others who might be considering this gun.

Overall I am happy with the SBE3 and will post an update with some pics of how it patterns with the new bead on Monday.

u2JWNuP.png
[/IMG]

y9B2l7S.png
[/IMG]

kJof0TS.jpg
[/IMG]
 
pinkmoon said:
True. But since my SBE3 will be on a turkey hunt in May and will also be used for rabbit , grouse and crow it will be nice not to have to shoot a foot under the rabbit or turkey if I wish to hit them.
Click to expand...

Better to sell the SBE3,and replace it with a SBE2 that shoots where it is supposed to.
 
It does.
I have it shimmed to my liking. This is one of the first things I do when I get a new shotgun. As a left eye dominant right handed shooter with big cheeks I almost never run a neutral stock setup.

The gun fits me well and when I shoulder it everything lines up as it should.

If you Google SBE3 issues or SBE 3 shooting high you will get a feeling of how prevalent this SBE3 issue is.

I am heading to the Fredericton trap and skeet club tomorrow and plan to bring the SBE3 along to pattern it and shoot a round of trap with it.

I will post my findings.
 
I have read a lot about this issue with the SBE3, it’s a well known issue. To bad it seems like a nice shotgun otherwise. I have noticed a few of these used for sale in like new condition, I think this explains why.
 
fishslinger said:
I have read a lot about this issue with the SBE3, it’s a well known issue. To bad it seems like a nice shotgun otherwise. I have noticed a few of these used for sale in like new condition, I think this explains why.
Click to expand...

I am surprised that the gun was released for sale with this issue.
 
Stubblejumper I am a bit surprised as well. In fact even though I had read about the shooting high issues I did not really believe it. Although I do get out to the skeet club for some sporting clays trap and skeet I am far from a shotgun expert. I treat the clay games as a way to have some fun and get ready for the hunting season.
I do enjoy playing with different choke and load combinations and getting out to pattern my guns. This is the first time I have had a shotgun with such a high point of impact.
Some of the reviews I have read have people claiming that you just need to learn to float the target or get use to the gun.
Given my upcoming turkey hunt and my fondness of rabbit hunting I am hoping I can get this gun to shoot a bit closer to point of aim / point if impact.

Thus begins my trial and error approach. I am no gun fit expert but the fit seems to be adequate.

As I mentioned most of our patterning was done from a rest.. and with three guns and two shooters this was the only gun with a 100 / 0 pattern spread with a MPI about 10 inches high.

I am interested to here yours and others with gun fit experiance thoughts on this.

Randy Wakeman has made some videos o the SBE3 shootung high issues but I'm not convinced with some of his reasoning o what creates the problem.
 
pinkmoon said:
Stubblejumper I am a bit surprised as well. In fact even though I had read about the shooting high issues I did not really believe it. Although I do get out to the skeet club for some sporting clays trap and skeet I am far from a shotgun expert. I treat the clay games as a way to have some fun and get ready for the hunting season.
I do enjoy playing with different choke and load combinations and getting out to pattern my guns. This is the first time I have had a shotgun with such a high point of impact.
Some of the reviews I have read have people claiming that you just need to learn to float the target or get use to the gun.
Given my upcoming turkey hunt and my fondness of rabbit hunting I am hoping I can get this gun to shoot a bit closer to point of aim / point if impact.

Thus begins my trial and error approach. I am no gun fit expert but the fit seems to be adequate.

As I mentioned most of our patterning was done from a rest.. and with three guns and two shooters this was the only gun with a 100 / 0 pattern spread with a MPI about 10 inches high.

I am interested to here yours and others with gun fit experiance thoughts on this.

Randy Wakeman has made some videos o the SBE3 shootung high issues but I'm not convinced with some of his reasoning o what creates the problem.
Click to expand...

If you are looking parallel to the rib to see the target, and the gun shoots that high, the problem has to be the rib dimensions. The gun may appear to be properly fitted if you shoulder the gun and you are looking parallel to the rib, and the rib is centered left to right, but the gun obviously isn't shooting where you are looking. I don't try and compensate for a shotgun that doesn't shoot where I am looking, either the gun shoots where I am looking, or it can easily be made to shoot where I want it to, or I get rid of the gun.
 
Benelli definitely missed the boat on this. "Gen 1" SBE3's will likely be all over the secondary market before long.

The "fat bead" fix is great for a stationary or horizontal targets, but may not help with flying targets.

Better off to buy a good used or even new SBE2 and save yourself several hundred dollars until Benelli fixes this issue.

IMO the SBE1 is probably the best SBE Benelli has made.
 
Update from todays 4 rounds of skeet I shot with the SBE3

Had the gun out at the club today and I shot 4 rounds of skeet with it and no trap. The gun cycled the challenger 3 #8 shells with no issues and I made out alright with the gun / large bead combination. I was happy with the results at the skeet range.
Tomorrow I will head out to pattern it at 20 , 30 and 40 yards with the longbeard turkey choke and see if there is an improvement over the first attempt at patterning turkey loads.
I have heard great reviews on the original SBE 1 but have never shot one. Often new and improved is not the case. The SX3 has treated me very well over the years but the new SX4 is not something I would choose to own. The old xtreama 2 that I owned was another gun that I do not really think should have been replaced / updated as It was a great waterfowl gun.
 
Turkey pattern update 26/02/2018.

Had the gun back out to pattern turkey loads with larger bead We shot at 20 meters and 40 meters. The gun worked well on the skeet range the day prior and I wanted to see how the guns Point of aim was with the larger bead. I shot off a rest as well as in the standing unsupported position. The larger bead seemed to help but the poi was still high. Last week the gun was hitting 10-12 inches high with the factory small bead. Today the POI was still high but it was an improvement over the small bead.

5rGzkIN.jpg
[/IMG]

g5ou4hd.jpg
[/IMG]

vNWSeF4.jpg
[/IMG]
 
Looks like it throws a nice pattern with that choke. But if that pattern isnt where you looking when shooting on the wing, or if it shoots high at stationary targets, I wouldnt be holding onto that gun for very long.

I think a slight bend in the barrel is needed to truely correct the problem. Im not a fan of this bigger bead business...I’d much rather go opposite and go with a smaller bead. Or better yet, no bead at all.
 
I own Benelli Cordoba and love this gun. The porting holes are near the muzzle and allow propellant gases to release slightly early in turn draining some of its energy, so when the gas cycles back to push the bolt to the rear (recoil), it won’t be as bad.
 
With the bead moved to a larger size and using the 65mm drop shim (C) I am now shooting a 70/30 pattern which is workable for me. I actually like this pattern on the trap and skeet range and I am finally confident in its ability to put down a turkey at 40 meters . It was a bit frustrating trying to get the POI to shoot where I was aiming but it has also proven to be informative. Because this gun was patterning so high initially I got the chance to pattern many chokes and load combinations. I tried three different cast and drop combinations as well as swapping out 2 different beads. For a while I thought I might not find a workable solution to the shooting high issue. I now know for certain what ammo , cast and drop work for waterfowl , clays and turkey.
 
pinkmoon said:
With the bead moved to a larger size and using the 65mm drop shim (C) I am now shooting a 70/30 pattern which is workable for me. I actually like this pattern on the trap and skeet range and I am finally confident in its ability to put down a turkey at 40 meters . It was a bit frustrating trying to get the POI to shoot where I was aiming but it has also proven to be informative. Because this gun was patterning so high initially I got the chance to pattern many chokes and load combinations. I tried three different cast and drop combinations as well as swapping out 2 different beads. For a while I thought I might not find a workable solution to the shooting high issue. I now know for certain what ammo , cast and drop work for waterfowl , clays and turkey.
Click to expand...

So without using the bead to aim, how do you see this pattern when shooting trap and skeet?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom