I agree with all of that. I'm a die-hard goose-hunter and will pop the occasional duck, and have loved my Cordoba for the past three years, great gun. My main hunting buddy has an SBE2.....the only difference I can see between his gun and mine besides the stock (his is a beautiful wood, mine is one of those plastic recoil-reducing stocks) is that his takes 3.5" shells and mine only 3". Mine might be a little lighter too, but not enough to really notice. But I agree, if something happened to my gun I'd promptly replace it with a SBE2, no doubt about it.

I've owned an M-1100 and a Beretta 391, and shot rented Super X-1's at a range. All worked well. The Winchester is long discontinued, and fewer gunsmiths will know it well.

If I was buying a new gun, it's be the Beretta, prob. in 20 ga.
Had I not had to sell my 391 while out of work, I'd still have it.

But a good used M-1100 is your best value. Just maintain it well, and know how to buy used shotguns.

My new M-870 Wingmaster (not Express) has jammed some. I think it may need to have the chamber polished. Remington QC seems in the toliet lately.

It is significant that the Argentine lodges where men shoot more doves in a day than most of us do all season recommend the Beretta M- 391. But no one there has any wild women with machetes trying to cut through the alloy receivers! (Read this thread; you'll find a man who had that issue in the Phillipines.)


The other gun used a lot in Argentine shoots is the Benelli, but I don't like its looks.

Remington tends to keep its good guns in production a long time. Beretta changes a lot. That should be considered.

T-Star

I remember a number of years ago reading a write-up of the tactical version of the Winchester SX-1, I think it was called the "Practical". The writer was very enthusiastic about it and I considered getting one, but never was able to find one locally and it wasn't long after that they were discontinued.

Quite recently I saw a tactical 12 gauge made by FN. I handled one and thought it looked pretty nice, but it seemed heavy and a little clunky to me, and also had a buckhorn style open rifle sight rather than a ghost-ring/peep which I prefer. When I handled the Benelli M2 it seemed lighter and better handling to me, and had a ghost-ring. The Benelli, with the rebate and discount, was also a little less $. Those things decided it. But I'd be interested in hearing from someone who has an FN and has used it.

You really can't go wrong with a Beretta 390 or a Benelli inertia action ...........these are the two most reliable, easy to clean and maintain semi-auto shotguns available IMO.

I like the gas operated Beretta 390's myself because the recoil is a little lighter than the Benelli's. But both are excellent shotguns. I have two 390's (12ga & 20ga) and in the past have owned Remington 1100's and Brownings.......the 390's are the better guns.

Don

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Can't go wrong with a Browning A-5. Extremely reliable and lots of class.