waterfowl gun

W

wendell avery

Active member
Looking for suggestions for semi auto waterfowl gun. Purchased a mossberg 935 last year & very dissapointed. Never cycles 2 3/4", and often doesn't cycle 3", even when CLEAN. Prefer a semi for 3 1/2".
 
I am very happy shooting the Winchester Super X-3, light weight, shoots all loads up to 3.5 inch and fits great.
Mike
 
BENELLI (super black eagle 2) They are expensive but well worth the money. I shoot all 3 size shells & never had a problem even in cold temps.
 
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Hard to beat the Beretta Xtrema II - it's expensive, but worth it! I've enjoyed 8 years of dependable action out of my Xtrema I and am looking to upgrade to the Xtrema II. Just waiting for my 11 year old to get big enough to justify buying "him" an Xtrema II. That's how I'm going to sell it to my wife.

The Benelli SBE 2 is a good gun as well, but the prior SBE's have a reputation for the "Benelli Click" which happens if you don't get the bolt closed on the action all the way and the gun doesn't fire when you pull the trigger. Somewhat operator error problem, but it happens quite easily. Good luck on the search and sorry you bought a Mossberg. I've not heard many good things about that brand of gun nor the Winchester SX-3. I've seen problems first hand with both brands.
 
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Wendell,

I shoot a Benelli "original " Super Black Eagle. I tried the new SBE II and the Beretta Xtrema II, but nothing fits me better than the SBE I. I have well over 5000 rounds thru mine and it's never malfunctioned once. The Xtrema and the SBE II are great guns though.

Hope that helps,

Todd
 
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I agree with sean it almost impossible to beat the [font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]performance of the Beretta Xtrema II it is expensive like he said but it is well worth the money its fun to shoot and light and doesn't kick and has never jammed one on me no matter what size shells. I also use it for dove it is just a great all around gun. [/font]
 
I second what Mike said. I have a Winchester Super X-3 and have had absolutely no problems with it. Easy to clean and simple to take apart. Have thousands of rounds through it and have no complaints. L
 
Man, its tough to be oler than dirt. I've been shooting the same LH Remington 1100 3" mag 30" full for 40 years. An incredible gun. Last season something finally broke on it. A small piece of Stamped metal on the slide , that I believe is a buffer for the bolt. It fatigued and just broke. The gun still worked but not properly. So I went to the gun cabinet and picked out my back up gun a LH Remington 1100 3" Mag 30" full that I got from Phil Eager whose on this site. It worked like a dream. THANKS PHIL. If you can find an old one I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.
 
The very best semiauto waterfowl gun is a good man on an 870. Seriously I have no experience with a self loader. Good luck on your search for one that always works. If you find one don't forget to post, we are all about sharing info.
 
To each his own on gun preferances and if it ain't broke, don't fix it by all means. Nostalgia has a value that can't be counted. But, the present day semi-autos offer so much: choke tubes to cover all target options, 3 1/2" magazines (kind of the law of diminishing returns, IMHO, but great for honkers and gobblers), steel shot capable, fully camo'd (huge benefit for gobblers and waterfowl), and amazing recoil reduction technology. Sure you can get by with anything, but you certainly don't have to with the options available on the market these days.
 
Not being a big fan of 3.5" loads, I will reccomend a Berretta 390, or whatever version of the 390 they are making now.
I bought the plain black synthetic 390 from Walmart back in 2003. $529.00 back then.
Best money I've ever spent on anything duck hunting related.
I've probably put around 1,500+ shells through it under all sorts of conditions & it has never failed me.
 
Wendell, invite me out that way if you want to play with an early SBE 1, dating back to 96/97 when H&K was importing them. It's my primary waterfowl gun and as you saw, I hunt it in Salt as well as sweet water, snow, rain & even sandy conditions, temperatures down below zero F. It has not been perfect by any stretch of imagination. I shoot cheap shells and when too much crud builds up in the action she starts to baulk. The early design ejector failed and even more serious, the guide pin that rotates the bolt failed. The ejector was redesigned on the later SBE1s and I assume is in the 2s. She's had over a thousand rounds of 3.5" shells through her, even more 3" shells and loads of trap shells. All function fine the vast majority of time. However never smack the butt stock cause she can and will drop out of battery for the big CLICK. And not to start a fight but anyone who has either a pump or semi auto that has never had a function issue obviously doesn't hunt the conditions my Benelli has been subjected to.

Scott
 
benelli i have used my sbe very hard shoots 2-3/4 all day long and 3-1/2s also. used it as a orr and broke ice with it. once it got knock over broad in mud i took it apart used river water 2 clean it put it together and hunted the rest of day. i also have a m-2 i use alot also
 
Looking for suggestions for semi auto waterfowl gun. Purchased a mossberg 935 last year & very dissapointed. Never cycles 2 3/4", and often doesn't cycle 3", even when CLEAN. Prefer a semi for 3 1/2".
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I don't think they are supposed to cycle 2 3/4"ers.
 
I had a Super Black Eagle, very reliable, but I didn't like, couldn't shoot it well, switched over a 390 and loved it, now have a 391 and both are great guns.

My 390 spent a winter underwater, as a test, I made sure the barrel was clean and shot a round of skeet with it, no jams, barrel needs to be re-blued but over all still looks good.
 
My son has a 935 and it shoots and cycles everything.It does have to be cleaned good and the 2 3/4 loads must be 3 dram
 
I had a Super Black Eagle, very reliable, but I didn't like, couldn't shoot it well, switched over a 390 and loved it, now have a 391 and both are great guns.

My 390 spent a winter underwater, as a test, I made sure the barrel was clean and shot a round of skeet with it, no jams, barrel needs to be re-blued but over all still looks good.
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Andrew, Just curious, What were you testing for?

Todd
 
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