YIKES.... Have you seen the new....

Steve McCullough

Steve McCullough

Active member
Benelli Vinci??????????

I was up in St. Louis last week, and stopped at Cabelas. They had one on display and had a chance to get my paws on it. I've been reading about this gun for several months, and had a lot of high expectations.

I am very impressed with the engineering. I definitely like the concept of the spring behind the bolt, and nothing in the stock. I like the idea of disassembly; kinda neat the 3 pieces.

BUT.... It looks like a Storm Trooper lost his laser blaster... Not a very aesthetically pleasing gun. Very "clunky" forearm. Also short stock/length of pull. I have long arms, so it doesn't fit well for me.

I think Benelli is onto something with the concept, but they have to go back to the drawing board. For the price and what you get for the money, I don't think it is going to fly.

I am not affilitated with the company. I own Benellis and Berettas, but wanted to get some feedback from others who might have looked at one.

Best,
Steve
 
You are right Steve. Looks like it came right out of "Starship Troopers". The Benelli folks are making some pretty stong claims for the gun. I was interested to see that they are the "softest kicking shotguns in the world". I really like the three module design and spring behind the bolt.

I have never shot a beretta extrema but understand they are soft kicking guns. I hope someone on the site gets to test fire one of the Vinci's and lets us know how it shoots etc. Softest kicking gun in the world is a pretty strong statement for any company to make and the only benelli (older one)I ever shot was anything but soft kicking. It handled well enough and cycled beautifully but it did smack your shoulder smartly.

I say that as one being used to the soft push of an 11-87.

Looks like they are onto something but it sure ain't cheap.

Best,
Harry
 
Looked at and handled one this weekend with the sales rep there.

Overall, neat ideas to it but they didnt catch me.

Styling is kind of weird but it's a duck un so I dont care. Stock is short but with a couple of
layers I think I would be ok. Three piece concept good, makes for easy breakdown and clean.

Here's what I HATED.....the position of the safety. I dont have real small hands but I had
to twist my wrist around the grip and stretch my index finger out to put the TIP of my finger
on the safety. I cant shoot with gloves but I think the shrouding of the safety would interfere
for those that do.

The kick? The rep quoted me 6 1/4lbs overall weight. Hold on tight boys and girls.
Maybe the ComfortTech will take the sting out, but I would sure want to shoot it first.
 
Regarding Drake clothing. If you haven't gone to the Benelli website, do so. Check out the WAY OVER DONE promo. It's like a Guy Ritchie mini-film for BMW but way gayer. I actually went there a while back to find the customer service number and accidentally ran into this gratuitous expensive production. I guess if you charge ridiculous prices for a gun you can afford to waste tons of money on advertising.

My question is this...when will the Benelli aura wear out? Not one or two, but every single guy I know that has an SBE II has the bolt back off about 1 out of 5 times when they go to shoot (I know, I know, its never happened to you!). Answer: buy a new spring from Wolff! Easy enough right? They're like $12 when you can find them. Or, drop a couple hundy into a Sure Cycle. Well how about the manufacturer that just gave you a rectal hemorhage just goes ahead and puts one in for you!!! How bout that idea, EH!!

The guns are made of cheap plastic and alloys that are molded during production. I'd love to go and see the process of how they are manufactured...I'll bet they whip them out in a matter of minutes. If they were the same price as say an 11-87 I wouldn't be dissin on them so much but MY GOD IN HEAVEN they are WAY OVERPRICED!!!! I'd love to see the wholesale margins....I'll bet its sick!

They got way off the track in recent years and sold a bazillion guns. I know legions of younger hunters that consider anything else "junk". Even my M1 that I bought used last year from Hank Yorke gets laughed at. One guy that was a US Marine and knows everything about guns told me the M1 was a cheap knock off of a real Benelli. I showed him that HK and Benelli were stamped into the reciever and he went,"oh".

Go to Cabela's and see the Benelli American. That's a waterfowl gun if you ask me. No frills, no BS, a proven action in a gun that you can drag through the garden and barnyard and it'll work. Almost as reliable as an 870...that's a waterfowling piece.

Sorry, just a little rant there.
 
Jay,

I have to admit I have never heard the name Benelli American before today and just went on a search mission trying to find one. Finally saw one on Gun Broker and realized it's just a camoed M2.

Before you even mention Benelli and an 1187 in the same breath...........have you looked in an 1187 lately? My GF has one (she bought it before we met) and I stripped it yesterday to find the cause of failure to eject. What a POS. 90% of the parts inside are raw castings with very little machining period. Those who have had them in my area universally refer to them as "clubs". IMO Remington is making shotguns these days for a price point - the bottom price point. The only Remington shotgun I have and the last one I will ever own is a 1100-28, hasn't worked through a hunting trip yet - even a three day hunt. Something always goes wrong. As soon as I get the replacement parts in it, it's out the door.

Certainly Benelli is doing the same thing with price points and because of their history can get top dollar. Certainly Beretta is using Benelli as a specific price point entry. Just as their Stoger and Franchi brands are also at price points. Pricing is based on what the market will bear and not always about value.
 
about the 1187, the newer 870 expresses are nothimg but rough cast parts....feels like its full of sand...BRAND NEW!! heck, even the benelli nova deserves better than to be compared to the new remington stuff.
 
Is it an M2 or an M1? It looks more like an M1 to me...no comfort tech stock which is fine with me.

Yes, I've heard nothing but horror stories regarding Remington in recent years. You are way better off tracking down a used one for sure. There are ton of them out there. I haven't had a new Remington since the mid-eighties. It's sad to me that they have become a WalMart gun. I've never been a big fan of the 11-87 due to reliability issues and I've called them clubs but my normal line is,"it ain't fit for a boat anchor". The point of my rant was if the Benelli was priced a little more realistically I'd be much less inclined to bash them.

There simply is no excuse for shody machining these days and fact is you'd almost have to try to do it since most of the CNC and finishing manufacturing techniques are so perfect now. But, I simply cannot accept that idea that a gun like the SBE II costs more than $100 dollars to make. I'll bet its cheaper actually. The stock alone would be ultra, dirt cheap. Does anybody know where those are made? I'm betting Asia and I'm bettin' they are made by a company that also molds toys. We're talking dollars here...maybe six of them or so.

I realize that you go into business to make money. Obviously Remington has chosen the wrong route by making shit guns they can sell for a few hundred bucks. On the other hand Benelli exempliflies American excess and I'm not sure the brand will last through these challenging economic times. Hummer didn't.
 
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/04/02/benelli-vinci-shotgun/

Interesting comments....read at the bottom.
 
If they were the same price as say an 11-87 I wouldn't be dissin on them so much but MY GOD IN HEAVEN they are WAY OVERPRICED!!!! I'd love to see the wholesale margins....I'll bet its sick!
Click to expand...
Have you ever noticed they are the same price where ever you go? Maybe you have seen one sit on a gun rack for a year or more but the salesman won't try to wheel and deal on it, wonder why? B&B is very strict about sticking to their suggested price, like you will never sale another one of their products if they find out you sold one for less then MSRP. Ever notice how they are one of the few guns that sells for close to MSRP? They know they are the hot gun right now and they can force the gunshops into meeting their demands or they won't let them buy wholesale. A few years ago I heard a gun shop owner talk about why he didn't carry any new B guns. He wanted to set his price and they wouldn't let him do that. He had to sell them at the same price as the big mega sporting goods store down the street. He could not compete with them on that type of sale. He also felt like they were over priced and that he felt bad marking them up as much as they made him. It made no sense for him to carry them when he needed to draw people in with prices instead of a flashy store. I also think he might have gotten caught selling some as 'used demos' to get by their rules and was a little bitter. I think most of their newer guns look like european designer crap. I thought the nova was bad but this takes the prize. But I bet sales go well once the economy starts to swing up a little... in a couple years... maybe... Tim
 
The only B gun I own is a Bernadelli. Dads old grouse gun. I don't think they make them anymore.
For ducks, 870.
No problems here.

Bill Stahl
 
Pete, I handled one of each 28, 20, 16 and 12 couple weeks ago, they look nice, but I didn't like the heaviness of the guns for each gauge. Just didn't handle well for a $3-5000 gun to me. I also was not impressed with the fit and finish for that price range either. But they do have a lot of happy customers, so to each their own.

bill
 
That bernardelli is a good gun, up to the early nineties that was one of the best quality guns for the money. Then they sent all the machinery to Turkey and assembled the guns in Italy so they can still stamp "Italy" on the guns. They are still imported by a small dealer in CA, but becuase of the lower quality they are not in demand. I love to find a matching 12ga to go with my 20, you can still find good used guns at pretty good prices.
 
Interesting comments Bill. Though I like the 'looks' of the RBL line I had a chance to handle a couple at Pheasant Fest in Madison last spring and thought the same thing. Nice gun........but.

For a 28 ga. I still haven't found a twin barrel that looks or handles as nice as my Rizzini O/U. Wish they made one in a SxS..........Though an AyA is pretty sweet also.
 
Hey Bill S from Annapolis- Thanks for the update on Bernadelli. I've been wondering what happened to them. I've got a couple 20sxs's my father had.
In the late 90's I found a 12o/u that I use duck hunting sometimes. You can see the difference in workmanship for sure.

Bill S from Wilmington NY
 
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