Best all-around semi-auto for sporting
- Thread starter Squadron303
- Start date
That`s good to know. I have at the gunsmith getting ready for 3 gun. I was also wanting to use it for Sporting Clays...
sixgunner357
Member
I'll throw in another vote for the Beretta. I bought my A400 Xcel in the spring and can't complain. It has the bronze receiver and the shell counter, which I have no issue with. The only reason I got the Beretta over the Benelli is the way it felt when I shouldered it.
I have owned both the Benelli super sport and the Beretta AL391 Urika 2 and the Benelli was softer to shoot with far less felt recoil than the Beretta. I too expected the opposite because of hearsay. Not only did the super sport never malfunction it was a lot easier to clean when I decided to do it out of guilt not necessity. When the Beretta malfunctions you know it's cleaning time although it didn't need it very often it was a lot more work than the Benelli. So don't shy away from inertia because of recoil in my case it simply wasn't true.
I am in the same boat, not sure why people have issues with this gun, my versa max just crushes targets, very soft on the shoulder ,and it eats any shell you feed it ..
I did a direct comparison between my 391 and a Cordoba (same gun as the Super Sport) when I was thinking about buying one. I reached the same conclusion that the recoil on the 391 was very slightly softer. Maybe gun fit, stance or hold had something to do with his perception that the 391 kicked more?
Ultimately I didn't buy the Benelli but the reason wasn't felt recoil.
My experience has been that the better the guns fits the shooter the less perceived recoil is felt. My current O/U seems to recoil far less than a friends old Franchi that doesn't fit me at all. I have tried most of the current crop of semi-auto's and if I was buying another one it would be the Beretta A400. They seem to work with any load and I've yet to see one malfunction. I'm also partial to the Remington 1100 platform. I know there's a lot of people who have had reliability issues with them but the two I have, one in 12 and one in 20, have never given me the slightest bit of trouble in about 15K (other than changing the O-ring as required but that's routine maintenance)!
Has anyone tried the relatively new Winchester SX 3 Ultimate Sporting ? It looks good to me with oil finished walnut and adjustable comb for those of us who normally need a little stock adjustment. From what I see in my Sporting Clay travels, Beretta is by far, the most popular semi being used. Is anyone aware of why this"new" Winchester would not be just as good a choice ? For me, the Winchester"s ported barrel and fiber optic "pipe" bead are negatives, but those two issues would have nothing to do with reliability.
One of the guys at the club has one and he let me shoot a station with it. Seemed a touch muzzle heavy and the trigger was not great but it was 100 per cent reliable when I shot it and he didn't have any issues through a 100 round sporting clays course. The chambers are 2-3/4" only which would deter me because my semis do double duty as waterfowl guns and the 3" chamber is nice to have.
From what I've seen the Winchester is within $200 of the Beretta A400 and in that price range I'd prefer the A400.
Thank you Claybuster. It does seem that the Beretta 400 is by far the most popular choice among the semi auto Clays shooters. It is just that the oil finished real walnut and adjustable comb seem like great features that the Beretta does not have......The adjustable comb alone is such an attractive feature that I am surprised that I am not seeing more of them out at Sporting Clays events.
I've owned four shotguns with adjustable combs and have mixed feelings about them. While I can see the merits I prefer the stock shim system available in the A400 and other guns. They aren't a deal maker or breaker for me. FWIW, I have an adjustable stock on my primary clay gun. When the gun was purchased two years ago a quick trip the patterning board showed the shot went precisely where I wanted and the stock has never been adjusted.
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