Benelli and Browning shotguns

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nmbighorn

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I have pump shotguns, but looking at buying a semiauto.

Narrowed it down to Bennelli and Browing A5

I have heard the Browning has some issues feeding and ejecting shells.

Anyone have either of these two and can offer suggestions, pros and cons?
 
The browning A5 is the biggest pile of **** shotgun you could ever buy.
Dig deep on reviews 90% of them are very negative and most of them are the same complaints I have with it.
That bullshit browning is spewing of how it will fire through hell and Highwater and that you can shoot hundreds of rounds through it before needing to clean it, is nothing but pure bullshit. I have a few of the older A5’s and those are very dependable, only problem I have with them is they are about as heavy as a boat anchor.
But I promise you the new A5 is garbage.
From day one I couldn’t get more than two shots off before it would jam.
I sent it back to the factory for repairs. They kept it for six weeks before I got it back, and I was lucky if I could get one shot off before it jammed. Send it back again they kept it for over two months and the same thing, I never once was able to get more than two shots out of it before it jammed.
When I bought mine, they guaranteed they would buy the gun back if I was not 100% satisfied, which is complete bullshit! They came up with every excuse in the book not too back up their guarantee.

I ended up buying a Benelli Ethos.
That is the best shotgun I have ever used, and I’ve used everyone out there.
I Chukar hunt a minimum of 60 days a year a
In every kind of weather, cold temps mud and dust you can imagine, and the Ethos has never failed me not one single time and I’m certain I have fired at least 2000 rounds through it. I clean it up and wipe it down a couple of times a year and only break it down and clean it real good after season closes.

 
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My Son Used His Binelli Before He Bought His Browning!

He Does Like His Browning:

Browning Maxus II Wicked Wing Max-7 12ga 28” NEW 3.5" 011747204 - Semi Auto Shotguns at GunBroker.com : 1006057403

Buy Browning Maxus II Wicked Wing Max-7 12ga 28” NEW 3.5" 011747204: GunBroker is the largest seller of Semi Auto Shotguns Shotguns Guns & Firearms All: 1006057403
www.gunbroker.com

I'm Not Much Of A Browning Fan Myself!

Hey muk?

I've Got A Browning A-Bort I'd Throw In Your Pile Of JUNK Brownings!:D
 
I will throw in a vote for Benelli, that is all I have been shooting for twenty years and they have been great. I do not have any experience with Browning so they may be great as well?

Mark,
 
I really wanted the browning A5 but had heard some of the negative reviews and didn't want to spend that much on a gun that had bad reviews. I bought the SX4 and it's been a great gun, no issues at all. I bought my son the Beretta A300 and that thing has been a lemon. It's been back to the dealer twice and will jam if its not kept very clean.
 
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elkassassin said:
My Son Used His Binelli Before He Bought His Browning!

He Does Like His Browning:

Browning Maxus II Wicked Wing Max-7 12ga 28” NEW 3.5" 011747204 - Semi Auto Shotguns at GunBroker.com : 1006057403

Buy Browning Maxus II Wicked Wing Max-7 12ga 28” NEW 3.5" 011747204: GunBroker is the largest seller of Semi Auto Shotguns Shotguns Guns & Firearms All: 1006057403
www.gunbroker.com

I'm Not Much Of A Browning Fan Myself!

Hey muk?

I've Got A Browning A-Bort I'd Throw In Your Pile Of JUNK Brownings!:D
Click to expand...
“A-bort” lmfao!

Thanks Bess, but I think I better pass on the offer.
 
I have a browning silver that I have had for at least, or close to, 15 years. Best shotgun I have owned. I have bought a few different guns over the years for my sons. We just bought a SX4 for one after issues with a mossberg. The SX4 is a sweet gun and I dont think you can go wrong with that.
 
I would choose the Benelli over the Browning because I’m a left handed shooter and they offer those in that configuration. The other choice of autoloaders for me might be the Beretta A 400.
 
I’ve had 3 Belgium made Browning Auto-5 for a long time. Got one of the newer A5 about 6 years ago. Never used it much but noticed it shot low. So after 5 years owning it, I sent it in to Browning. They replaced the barrel for minimal service charge. Shoots perfect now.
 
I own a Browning and Benelli and like both of them. My Benelli started jamming and the bolt would not fully close at times.(GRRRRR). I found a gun shop here in Denver that said this was common problem but easily fixed,,,I was doubtful, They cleaned up the slide by machining it and I have not had a problem for 6-7 years.
 
I have several Benelli's and the Montefeltro 20ga I've used the most looks like it's been drug behind a pickup after 25 years of chukar hunting. thousands of rounds and zero problems.

Benelli is a better gun than the A5 and it weighs less, since they're both recoil operated you won't notice much difference there. recoil is the only place the gas operated guns have any advantage on the Benelli.

The other nice thing is on a Benelli there's a little easy modification you can do to get a shell under the bolt, so you can have 4 rounds in it with the plug in place. not that I would ever do that of course. ha ha.
 
I'm so old-school that I use a few Browning B-80's (Beretta patent) from the mid 80's.
I dipped one in corn field camo and it has the 3" barrel on it and I best not say how many ducks and geese it's brought down over the years.

Zeke
 
No Sense In Posting That!

But Can You Tell Us What It's Record Is For One Day?:D

Zeke said:
I'm so old-school that I use a few Browning B-80's (Beretta patent) from the mid 80's.
I dipped one in corn field camo and it has the 3" barrel on it and I best not say how many ducks and geese it's brought down over the years.

Zeke
Click to expand...
 
elkassassin said:
No Sense In Posting That!

But Can You Tell Us What It's Record Is For One Day?:D
Click to expand...
Bess,

Let's just say it's had more than a few "limit" days on ducks and geese especially way back then. I even managed a few limit days recently on ducks in Nebraska and geese in Colorado.
I used to hunt the Basin all the time but getting on the places to hunt has become difficult nowadays.
I hunted geese with a group of guys a couple years ago and they all felt bad for me with my little 3" gun/ammo.... right up until the shooting started. haha. The snows were dropping like flies in Arkansas!

Zeke
 
You Ever Had A Creel Check?:D

Zeke said:
Bess,

Let's just say it's had more than a few "limit" days on ducks and geese especially way back then. I even managed a few limit days recently on ducks in Nebraska and geese in Colorado.
I used to hunt the Basin all the time but getting on the places to hunt has become difficult nowadays.
I hunted geese with a group of guys a couple years ago and they all felt bad for me with my little 3" gun/ammo.... right up until the shooting started. haha. The snows were dropping like flies in Arkansas!

Zeke
Click to expand...
 
elkassassin said:
You Ever Had A Creel Check?:D
Click to expand...
Yes and it's always been spot-on!

Story time:
My wife and I went duck hunting on Jan 1st, years ago, back when you needed a new license at the first of every year.
We shot and shot and ended up with a generous limit of greenheads (out your way-ish) and trudged back to the truck to find the warden waiting (drooling).
He was visibly disappointed that our limits were spot-on and that we had all the appropriate licenses.
I may or may not have given him a little crap before we produced our new licenses.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Zeke
 
I have A Benelli Montefeltro (I like the look and feel of wood stocks) I have been duck hunting with for ten years no issues. Easy cleaning at the end of a long day hunting is a big plus.
 
You Know I Was Only RAZZIN You Zeke!

You Must Know A Secret When It Comes to Cooking Them Damn Things & Making Them Edible?

Zeke said:
Yes and it's always been spot-on!

Story time:
My wife and I went duck hunting on Jan 1st, years ago, back when you needed a new license at the first of every year.
We shot and shot and ended up with a generous limit of greenheads (out your way-ish) and trudged back to the truck to find the warden waiting (drooling).
He was visibly disappointed that our limits were spot-on and that we had all the appropriate licenses.
I may or may not have given him a little crap before we produced our new licenses.:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Zeke
Click to expand...
 
Mooretitan said:
No help but my 1100 has seen 30 years of use and not sure how years my grandpa had it before me

Take five minutes to wipe it down before a hunt and I am good to go
Click to expand...
I agree with everything you wrote.
I have several 1100's most of them are from my Grandpa's.
Only thing I have against em now is their weight. That wasn't a problem 10 years ago but I sure ain't getting any younger or stronger and that extra pound or 2 makes a huge difference wandering around all day in the hills.
 
When Me & My Friends Were Younger We Took A High Dollar BERRETA Silver Pigeon Trap Grade Single Shot & Made A SAWED-OFF Out Of It!

Shoulda Had Our Asses Kicked For That Stunt!

We Were Young & Our Attitude Was:Who The Hell Would Want A Single Shot Piece Of Junk Like That?

The Barrel Had To Be Nearly 3' Long Before We Gave It A Hair-Cut!

It Was COOL When We Got Done Though!

We'd Buy The Lightest Skeet Loads We Could Buy & Break It Out When We Were Out Shooting Skeet With Our Bird Throwers!

Me & My Friend Would Shoot It First With The Light Loads & Everybody That Ever Seen It Wanted To Shoot It!

We'd Tell Them You Better Be Hanging On To It!

The Attitude Was Usually:

Well Hell We Just Seen You Shoot It!

Then We'd Slip A 3" MAGNUM In!:D

Bloodied A Few Lips A Few Times!:D

We Did Keep It To A Legal Length!

But I Think We De-Valued It A Bit!:D
 
I have the Benelli SBE3 and my son has a slightly older A5. Seems like the Benelli cycles more reliably, but not so much with 3.5” shells. I gave up on 3.5” shells for a number of reasons, but I think my son still uses 3.5” shells in the A5. The A5 doesn’t cycle cheap trap loads. These are both nice guns, but they need to be clean.
 
20240118_114743.jpg
 
When We Were younger We Used To Go Shoot A Little Trap In Vernal!

A Local/Farmer That Showed Up Once In A While With An Old Beat Up 870 Smooth Barrel/No Rib Put The Hurt On Most Shooters!

I Remember A Cocky Guy From The City Showing Up With A TOP END Trap Gun & He Started Laughing At The Farmer With The Ole 870!

Didn't Take Long For The Farmer To Shut Him Up!
 
I’d love to find another old (70’s) wingmaster w/o the rib.
Just cover em with the barrel…dead goose.
 
I've had a super black eagle 3 for about 5 years now. Great gun and light weight. I've put it through significant abuse. It does shoot high as designed and some guys don't like that. The only time I've had it fail to cycle is with cheap target loads when it was dirty. It has never failed to cycle 2 3/4" and 3" game loads. I've shot less than 50 3 1/2" shells and none of them have failed to cycle. If I clean it, I can shoot several boxes target loads through it without any concerns. Cleaned it after every trip and I doubt it would ever fail to cycle.
 
Bux n Dux said:
I’ve shot benellis for years. Keep her clean or they are jammin SOBs.

I’d personally save half your money and buy an SX4. I’ve absolutely loved mine since the SBEII got worn out.
Click to expand...
I did this exact thing! I’ve used brownings and a benelli my whole life. I went out to Nebraska last year and goose hunted for three days. My guide shot this gun and that is what he recommended. He told me he had never had an issue and he is constantly hunting with it.

So far it’s been great and plus, it was much less than the browning and benelli autos that I was looking at.
 
I have a Benelli Black eagle, I have been shooting it for about 25 years or so, maybe 30? Some cheap shells have jammed in it but I think it was just one type, other than that, there are no issues,
 
New a-5 owner here. Sweet sixteen lightning model. I drooled and saved for a few years to get it. Picked it up just in time for the dove opener this last fall. Right out of the box it had a broken extractor. I called browning and they overnighted a whole new bolt assembly. When the gun went bang the doves fell out of the sky at a shell/ bird ratio far above my lifetime average. I also had to manually cycle it plenty of times to get second or third shots off. Pretty disappointing. I did a half assed roadside cleaning on it right out of the box so I’m hoping before next season a proper cleaning and maybe a box or to of pheasant loads breaks it in.
 
Hnttillmt said:
New a-5 owner here. Sweet sixteen lightning model. I drooled and saved for a few years to get it. Picked it up just in time for the dove opener this last fall. Right out of the box it had a broken extractor. I called browning and they overnighted a whole new bolt assembly. When the gun went bang the doves fell out of the sky at a shell/ bird ratio far above my lifetime average. I also had to manually cycle it plenty of times to get second or third shots off. Pretty disappointing. I did a half assed roadside cleaning on it right out of the box so I’m hoping before next season a proper cleaning and maybe a box or to of pheasant loads breaks it in.
Click to expand...

I learned from my good hunting buddy to tear apart and clean that new gun from top to bottom from the packing grease. The SX4 we just bought was FILLED with it everywhere. And many dont realize it, bu clean the trigger assembly too. I usually clean my gun after every hunt, depending on weather or shots fired. Wet weather, it gets cleaned. No shots to 5 or so, No clean. 10+ shots gets cleaned.
 
I have a Benelli M2 and a Browning A5. The M2 is an absolute work horse and will cycle what ever I throw at it. I don’t need to clean it after each hunt, but I do anyway. The A5 on the other hand doesn’t cycle 1 oz dove loads consistently and I thoroughly clean the A5 after each hunt. It does fine with duck loads.
 
I have a Benelli SBE that has been flawless for 25 plus years and thousands of rounds. If you can decoy birds at all then the 3.5 inch shells are pointless.

My son has a Beretta Outlander A 300 that has also been flawless for 9 or 10 seasons and again thousands of rounds.

I have been shooting a weatherby sa-08 20 ga. for the last 5 years and it has been great as well.

No experience with Browning but haven't heard good things about the new A5.

We hunt in nasty conditions for semiautomatics and have very few issues just a quick wipe own a little blow out with air hose and keep the oil on the dry side. Salt marsh and sand and more rain in a season than most will encounter in 10. We almost never freeze so don't have that to contend with.
 
hook1969 said:
I really wanted the browning A5 but had heard some of the negative reviews and didn't want to spend that much on a gun that had bad reviews. I bought the SX4 and it's been a great gun, no issues at all. I bought my son the Beretta A300 and that thing has been a lemon. It's been back to the dealer twice and will jam if its not kept very clean.
Click to expand...
I'm curious what problems you're son has had with the A300. Not doubting you at all but the 2 I have personally been around have been flawless and are somewhat abused...haha. I have read on other forums kudos from tons of users and only a couple bad reviews.

Main reason I ask is I'm in the market for another 20 ga. and it's on the short list.
 
huntindad4 said:
I'm curious what problems you're son has had with the A300. Not doubting you at all but the 2 I have personally been around have been flawless and are somewhat abused...haha. I have read on other forums kudos from tons of users and only a couple bad reviews.

Main reason I ask is I'm in the market for another 20 ga. and it's on the short list.
Click to expand...
The second time my son took it out hunting a part inside broke and we sent it back to the dealer. After a few months it came back but my son was not able to use it because he was on a mission. I took it out and made sure it worked and it seemed fine. By the time he got back I had failed to clean it properly and there had been some moisture in it causing some parts to fail. So I take the blame for the second time but the first time it was still new and it failed. Now it works ok but it has to be kept very clean.

also, I jinxed myself when I said I never have problems with my SX4. My last time out duck hunting it didn't cycle shells very well. So I took it apart and cleaned it, it wasn't very dirty but hopefully I fixed any issues. I have shot 100's if not 1000's through this gun. However I should know better than to brag about something, it always comes back to bite me in the butt!
I really think we just got a lemon from the start with his gun.
 
You can't go wrong with Benelli! I've Put thousands of rounds through my SBE and never had any issues. I have bought others just to try something different and always go back. If it ain't broke don't fix it!
 
My suggestion is to go shoot the guns you are looking at. I wanted a SBE2 back in the day and when I finally shot one of my buddies, I really didn't like the way the inertia drive action felt. I also didn't like when you set the gun down on the butt end with a some force the bolt would open just a fraction and then not shoot because it was not seated. After shooting a SX3 I loved the way it felt, the way it fit my personal shooting position, how it tracked and on top of that it has never had an issue shooting the cheapest Walmart Winchester 100 pk 2 3/4 field loads to 3.5" magnum turkey loads. I also was curious if a light field load would cycle a 3.5 shell in and it had no problem with that either. I want to get a SX4 just cause of the small change in the stock but at this point can't justify it. My bro has a SX2 and it does have trouble with light loads. I believe they changed the spring in the SX3 to handle it. Like any gun, regular cleaning will always help things work as they should. Bottom line, shoot what fits you and shoots the way you want it to shoot. To this day borrowing a SBE3 and shooting it still feels weird to me compared to my SX3.
 

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