Beretta vs Benelli

C

Ctrout

New member
I've been considering a semiauto shotgun for a long time now and I think it comes down to either the Benelli Montefeltro or Beretta AL391 Urika. I have been told that the Benelli has trouble cycling with anything less than heavy, high base loads. The Beretta will allegedly function with any factory load. Can anybody confirm or refute these claims through experience?
 
I have a Beretta AL391. It eats everything from light target loads right up to heavy turkey loads. The Beretta is gas operated, and I beleive the Benelli is blow back. If so the Beretta would be softer shooting. The Monefeltro a good looking gun with a good rep, just don't have any experience with it. I duck hunt in some pretty nasty conditions and have never had a problem with the Beretta.
Byron /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I have the Beretta 390, most of my friends have the Benelli. Both are excellent shotguns. From what I have seen and expiereinced though I would still go with my choice of the Beretta. It will shoot everything from the feather lite loads to the heavies. Softer recoil. And it has a reputation for going thousands of rounds in the clay target games with out wearing out. I shoot a fair amount of clay birds myself and I have learned from this that while hunting may be hard on the exterior of a shotgun it is the clay bird games that really put a beating on a shotgun. The Beretta is probably the leader in durability.
The lucky thing you have going for you is you can't really make a bad choice with the two you are looking at. For some good info on shotguns go to the Shotgun Report web site and search their archives.
Good luck,
Tuco
 
I have a Benelli M1 Super 90, with 18' barrel with chokes. It's a true combat shotgun. Throws a load of 00 Buck into a 10" in circle at 30 yards real well. Will spit out 7 rounds right now. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Have a buddy who has owned a Benelli for years, forget the exact model, a field gun, has never cleaned the thing, and man it just keeps shooting and has never jammed. I think that would be a true test of durability.
 
I have a Beneli M1 super 90, I've shot heavy buckshot to light birdshot and never, never, has it failed to go boom. I coyote hunt, quail hunt, pheasant hunt, dove hunt, and shoot skeet with it. It always works but I talked my cousin into one, he bought the 3.5" model and it did not eject a light federal load once. So who knows. I drive a Chevy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Benelli's have an inertial recoil operating system. Which means, when the gun is brand new, the operating system may be stiff. I recommend shooting at least two boxes through of 3" magnums first in order to "break in" the operating system, otherwise, it may not cycle 2 3/4" light loads at first. I have a SBE, and as I've said before, will not own another shotgun unless it's a Benelli. I'm sure that the Beretta is a fine shotgun. You will never, under any circumstances; however, find a dissatisfied Benelli owner. Good luck.

Blake
 
I'll jump on the Benelli bandwagon. I own an M1S90 and am issued another M1. Both have been incrediable shooters, 100% reliable. The Beretta is an excellent shotgun, but it's not a Benelli!
 
Not exaclty on the same line, but I own a Benelli Nova and love it. Not a semi, but still a Benelli....so add another satisfied Benelli owner to the list.

Brad
 
We have two Benelli's in our family. The Super Black Eagle needs a 1 1/8, 3 dram load but it is designed to handle the 3 1/2 inch magnums. The Montefeltro has a 3 inch chamber and to my knowledge will handle the lightest load. The biggest advantage to Benelli is with the recoil operated system, the action stays cleaner, i.e. no gas ports, pistons, rings etc. Just mt opinion!!!
 
Many thanks to everyone who replied. Tuco, I went to shotgun report and found two similar and very informative comparisons of the very two guns I am considering. After much deliberation, I have settled on the Beretta. The deciding factors were recoil, price, and what I will use the gun for. I hunted birds for the first time a few days ago and plan on doing it as much as possible in the future. I have never hunted waterfowl and don't know if I ever will. I used to shoot trap every week and am getting back into it this summer. I took one final side-by-side look at both guns and the 30" Beretta was on sale for $729. None of the other barrel lengths were on sale, only the 30". Having stated that, and considering the aforementioned uses, what barrel length should I look at? (I understand that this is largely a matter of personal preference based on balance, swing smoothness, and other things). You have all been of such great help so far I thank you again (in advance this time).
 
I have a Benelli Montifeltro and wouldn't trade for it. It is lighter than the Berreta and to me has less recoil. It is a 3" 12ga. This gun will feed any ammo I put in it. Honestly you can't go wrong with either. I'd almost like to get a Berreta witha 24" barrel to run buckshot thru for calling. The Benelli has such beautiful wood in it I hate to trash it chasing yotes.
 
This is kind of one of them "Mercedes Benz v. BMW" issues, aint it? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Well, for what it's worth, I think you'd have a hard time going wrong with either of the guns you mentioned. Both are among the best auto's available, and will serve you well. I've heard of some guys with Benelli SBE's having to send them back, due to cycling issues, but all were easily resolved. Also, I believe Benelli reccomends you "break-in" (there's that phrase again... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ) their guns with a box or two of the high-brass stuff, before you start feeding it lighter loads.

I personally own a beautiful Beretta 391 Urika Gold and it has performed flawlessly, other than one incident involving a snowy cold pheasant hunt, sub-zero temps, an overly excited German Shorthair, and me carelessly placing the gun, with the action open, and a chamber and bore in need of a good cleaning, leaning against the side of a vehicle. Dog bumped gun, gun knocked over, ejection port side down into 3 inches of fresh, powdery snow, end result: snow packed into places on the gun it shouldn't ever be. Let's just say I ended up calling up one of my pumps from the bullpen, for the rest of the hunt. But I don't blame the gun for that
 
Who makes the rifled barrel for that Browning and how much does it cost? I know that Hastings makes the one for the Beretta. I had forgotten to mention that the availability of a rifled barrel was also a necessity.
 
In terms of jam-ups, stove pipes, and number of trips to the gunsmith or better yet back to the place you bought it, ...yep, Browning gold does beat 'em all, hands down! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Just kiddin' around... Everybody's got their favorite and everybody's got something that works for them, no harm meant. Just seemed like a the next words on Daisycutter's post should have been something about driving a Ford, or was it driving a Chevy over a Dodge, something like that...I can't remember... Has the SCOTUS heard Ford v. Chevy yet, and if so, who won? All I know for sure is my dad can beat up y'alls dad! :rolleyes: /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I held a Beretta Semi before I bought the Browning and wasn't impressed with the plastic trigger guard. Maybe it's a special composite material... but it looked and felt like plastic to me.

Also the fit and finish was poor. The trigger guard could be wiggled back and forth about .060"-.070". The finish on the barrel looked cheap too. The wood also looked cheap, however in fairness Beretta was a low end model.

The Browning I ordered and bought has beautiful fit and finish. It was $100 more than the Beretta ($599 vs. $699).

Also from hanging out posting ?'s on some trap/skeet/sporting clays websites and I determined the Browning to have less mechanical failures than the Beretta and Rem. 11-87. Benelli's and Win SX-2's were relatively new then and "nobody" had put 15K or 20K through one and reported which components and o-rings wore out.

My Browning has never once had any FTF or FTE with loads 1oz or heavier. It will routinely FTE with the girly-man 7/8oz shot shells, but I believe it's because the recoil system is designed to handle 3" mags and is too strong for the gimpy 7/8oz shells to cycle.

BTW... I can pee 10 feet. How about you?
 
Ctrout, Back to your question on barrel length. My favorite barrel length for mostly bird hunting is 26". To me the 30 incher would be a little long. Yes it can be done but more than a guy needs walking through heavy cover. I use a 26incher for everything from woodcock to coyotes & geese.

My semi auto is a Browning gold stalker 26", no complaints.
 
Daisycutter,

I'm not sure what Beretta, model, grade or otherwise you are basing you opinion on, but I find it slightly amazing that you would take what you observe from handling one Beretta and apply it to the thousands, if not millions of shotguns produced by Beretta. The term "anecdotle evidence" seems appropriate here. What I, you, or anyone else here "thinks" or "believes" can hardly be equated to anything close to being empirical. But as the good book says, "By their fruits, ye shall know them," or somehting to that effect. Hmmmm....must be all those folks using Beretta and Benelli autos in skeet, trap, and sporting clays competition, am and pro, weren't accutely aware enough to catch the obvious design flaws that are so rampant in their scatterguns. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Don't get me wrong, living near the hometown of good ol' John M. and the present day company headquarters, I know Brownings all too well. And they are quality guns, from their rifles, to their pistols to their shotguns. I never once in any seriousness, (note the /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif s and /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif s, as well as the phrase "just kiddin' around.") meant to suggest Brownings were inferior. I just prefer my 391 to the Gold, which again, is also a good gun. Nothing wrong with that, is there? Again, inda like debating whether Fords are better than Chevys, the answer to which is invariably WHO CARES?!

Well, gotta run...just got one of them stickers of a "Calvin-esque" boy releaving himself on a "Buckmark." Gotta clear off a spot next to my Hooker Headers sticker, on the '75 unregistered, illegal deathmobile with the 18" lift. Whata sweet ride... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif But, speakin of releaving one's self and it's measurements, is the standard to measure from the...ahhh, never mind...
 
Scattergunner-

If you thought or assumed you offended me in some way don't worry about it.

I'm okay, I'll live. When measuring the pee stream distance it's customary to measure from the tip of the organ to the longest distance achieved by the stream... not including splatter. This is what determines who wins the "Pissing Contest" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

That was my point.

Regarding the s-guns. At the time I was doing my research I noticed more controversy regarding the Beretta's and Rem's than the Browning. Possibly I was on a biased website.

Everyone posted their auto and what they thought of it... so did I.

I'm not gonna cry. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Here's my experience----

I had a Benelli Montefeltro 12ga--that I grew to dislike---it worked OK--I think it was more of a "fit" issue than anything else. Plus I didn't like how the action functioned---a gas gun will slam the bolt home hard like an AR or Mini-14 or Beretta while slow moving bolt of the recoil operated Benelli didn't inspire confidence---its just me---but I didn't like it.

I currently have 2 Berettas---a 12ga 391 and a 20ga 3901---both are perfect.

I also have 12ga Benelli NOVA that is a very good gun.

So I really don't have anything against Benelli---I just don't like the recoil action----although it seems to work too.
 
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