I own many shotguns but never really had one that I can use for anything and everything. For this reason, I wanted a new shotgun that could handle anything and everything I threw at it and use it from landing geese to running cottontails.
Two Years of R & D
The bug hit me about 2 years ago when fired three quick rounds from my uncle's brand new Benelli Montefeltro during a dove hunt. I was amazed with the style and performance of his gun and knew at that point, a Benelli was in my future. For the next two years, I spent hours upon hours reading all I could about automatic shotguns. NWTF, Realtree, Primos, ShotgunWorld, BenelliUSA, DuckHuntinChat, GooseHuntingChat, all have forums I visited regularly to find what people were saying about the new autoloaders on the market. A decision was made very quickly to obtain a Benelli. I understand other companies make very nice automatic shotguns: I have two 1100's that have served me well and are 25 years old. But, I wanted something different, something synthetic and something light in weight, Benelli fit the profile. I tried on the new Beretta Extrema II and it didn't fit me well and I didn't like the long forearm. The Beretta Urika was okay and I actually liked it better than the Extrema, but I was looking more into 3.5's. The Browning Gold's just didn't feel right either. And I already had Remington auto's.
3 vs. 3.5
This debate is as common as pumps against autoloaders. The 3 inch shell can pack a serious punch with a full 2 oz. of shot, but the 3.5 packs even more. I've used both in the past and I'm really not partial to a certain one. But, it was put to me like this: "The 3.5 inch shotgun is like a 4WD truck, you won't use the 4WD everyday but it is nice to have when you
want to use it." Honestly this makes since, and, all of my trucks in the past have been 4WD. So, I know I will use the 3.5 inch shells every now and then, mostly for turkey and occasionally geese. Everything else I hunt will be fine with 3 and 2.75 inch shells.
Order UP!
I orded a Benelli SBEII Synthetic ComforTech with a 24 inch barrel (Benelli Item #: 10026). I decided to go with all black instead of camo for a few reasons: 1) I like black. 2) I do like the camo, but I know the camo will chip. 3) The camo pattern will become obsolete whereas black is always "in-style". Nothing against the camo shotgun owners, to each their own. I also took some time to decide what length barrel I would like. After picking up a few Benellis at the gun shop, I was hooked on the 24 inch. Turkey is my passion, and the 24 inch fits perfect. Also, I am used to shooting a 26 inch Remington 1100 for waterfowl. The overall length of the 24 inch Benelli is the same as the 26 inch Remington, so the Benelli felt quite natural. Some will say you should have at least a 26 or 28 inch barrel for waterfowl but I am a firm believer in shooting what you are comfortable with. I know guys that routinely take down many ducks and geese every year with 21 inch 11-87's and 870's. They may be louder in the blinds but kill just as good as the 28's. Knowing I was gonna drop over $1000 for a scattergun, I was diligent in finding the best price. Around here SBEII's all black can be as high as $1500 after tax. I was able to purchase mine through my local gun dealer for $1275 out the door. He didn't have any in stock so he had to order it. The Benelli arrived via UPS at his shop in three days, coming from Maryland.
The Package
Right off, I was surprised to know that Benelli ships the gun in its own carrying case. I guess I should expect that if I am paying over a grand for a shotgun! But, the case is nice idea. The gun breaks down to fit in a nice molded plastic case that is really compact. 5 choke tubes are provided that are cryogenically treated to match up with the cryogenically treated barrel. These choke tubes are longer than normal tubes as well. Provided was Cylinder, Improved Cylinder, Modified, Improved Modified, and Full. The Full and the Improved Modified are marked not for steel shot whereas the other three can be used for steel. Another thing that I thought very useful was the chokes have notches on the top representing what choke they are. So, there would be no need to remove the choke tube from the barrel to determine what tube was in the gun. My Remingtons are not like this. A nifty choke tube wrench was provided that has a thread cleaner on one end and wrench on the other. A shim kit was provided to adjust the drop and cast on the stock. A bottle of oil and manuals/warranty info was in the case as well.
The Benelli Super Black Eagle II
This gun seems like it was made for me. I have no need to utilize the shim kit for the stock. It pulls up perfect and both beads on the rib line up perfectly straight. To be a 3.5 inch hand canon, the gun is surprisingly light, weighing in at 7.1 pounds. This is a huge difference for me since I was coming from an over 8 pound 1100. The finish on the gun is nice. The receiver is anodized aluminum and seems to be very durable. The barrels matte finish doesn't exactly match up perfectly to the receiver, but it looks fine anyway. Another thing that I enjoy is the very slender forearm. There are no moving parts on the magazine tube, so there is no reason to have a big bulky forearm. Actually, the mag tube reminded me of my 870's, kinda weird for me to see an automatic with nothing on the mag tube. The forearm and the stock have AirTouch technology that is nothing more than tiny dimples in the synthetic material. It does feel good though, I am sure it will have a better grip with gloves on. The stock on this gun has ComforTech which is an integrated recoil technology built into the stock which is supposed to reduce recoil 48% and muzzle climb by 15%. The butt pad and the cheek pad feel squishy but not as much as LimbSaver products I think. Seems the Benelli engineers were really thinking on the recoil pad making it specifically for a right handed shooter. Meaning, the pad is angled to contour the shoulder pocket: the right side of the pad has more surface area than the left. The 24 inch barrel has a chrome lined bore and supposed to have a more consistent pattern due to the cryogenics. It has a ventilated rib with a small red fiber optic sight and a steel middle bead. Some think the front sight on Benellis are too small. For me, I think it is perfect. I don't really pay attention to the bead when I wing shoot AND the beads are small enough to where they won't cover up a turkey head either. The barrel has part of the receiver built on it. So, when you take the barrel off, you are removing the top half of the receiver. This yields extremely easy cleaning but a high price for replacement barrels. Also, the receiver is drilled and tapped and has plastic inserts in the screw holes. A sling swivel stud is on the magazine cap and a sling hole is molded into the stock. The trigger...oh the classic SBEII trigger! I honestly think it is fine. Really, fine enough for a shotgun. The trigger itself feels much better to me than Remingtons meaning it is curved a little more on the edges, rounded off more, more smooth. Remingtons to me feel like they have sharp rough edges. Now, I do think there is more travel with the Benelli trigger over the Remington, but that is something I will just have to get use it. Overall, the trigger is fine and I see no need for any alterations to it. The safety....oh the classic SBEII safety. Again, I think the safety is fine. It is a little tougher than other shotguns I have used, but honestly I noticed a huge difference in the "stiffness" after working the safety back and forth for a few minutes. I think in time, just like every other part on a shotgun, it will loosen up some and not be a tight as day 1 from the factory.
Field Testing
I was itching to shoot my new Benelli, but inclement weather was keeping me indoors. Finally the weather broke and I gathered my shooting gear. First thing I tried was a Remington Game Loads 3 ¼ dram 1 1oz. 7 ½ shot. Pulled the trigger, gun went bang, and the action cycled flawlessly supplying me with another round that I squeezed off rather quickly. I was impressed. I went on to fire two boxes of this load and the SBEII functioned perfect. Not a single hiccup. Now on to the turkey loads. I had a few 3 inch loads left over from last year from patterning so I decided to see how they did in my Benelli with the Primos Jelly Head .660 choke. All shots were at 40 yards and scored on how many pellets hit inside a pre-drawn 10 inch circle on a homemade turkey target. The Remington Premier HeviShot #5 had only 77 pellets, the Winchester Supreme HV #6 had 65 pellets, and the Federal Mag Shock had 92 pellets. Then I pulled out the $6 shell: yep, the Nitro H51013 4x5x7 Hevi Shot. Amazing, nothing but amazing. The Nitro’s hit just a fuzz lower than I aimed. If I lowered the ten inch circle about 1 inch on the target (or raised my point of aim), I put 245 pellets inside the 10 inch circle at 40 yards. I would have shot it more, but I need to save them for longbeards instead of paper punching. This is one amazing combo. Many go for the Rhino choke tube with Nitro ammo but I decided to give the Jelly Head .660 a try after reading many positive reviews. Looks like it will do just fine. I also patterned a duck round I use: Winchester Xpert High Velocity Steel Shot 3 inch, 1550 fps, 1 1/8 oz. #4 shot. I screwed in my Improved Cylinder choke tube and shot a 22x28 white poster board at 30 yards. To my surprise, I was able to put 185 pellets in an even, consistent pattern. That’ll work for me! I’ll pattern more waterfowl loads later this summer. Now to the recoil. Well, it is an automatic but it operates on inertia instead of gas so I was expecting a little more punch. My gas guns do feel great but I have never been one to make quick judgments on recoil. Besides, it is a 12 gauge shotgun, it’s gonna kick! Honestly, after much shooting, the SBEII did feel like it kicked less than my 870 SuperMagnum. And, I think the recoil is a little more than my 1100. Though some might think the ComforTech system on the new Benelli’s is hype or a marketing scheme, it worked for me. The recoil felt like it was managed very well and my shoulder was fine after a day of shooting light loads, hunting loads, turkey loads, and waterfowl loads. Since the gun cycles light loads fine, September dove season should be a blast!
In a nutshell
Benelli equals quality to me. I have wanted a Benelli for a long time. I know sometimes Benelli owners get categorized as being a member of an elitist group thinking a good ole 870, 835 or whatever is not worthy of taking to field. They are worthy and Remington sells a metric ton of 870's ever year. I decided to get a gun that I can throw in 2.75 inch shells and dove hunt with, 3 inch shells and duck hunt with, and 3.5 inch shells and turkey hunt with. Can other guns do this? Sure they can. Do you need a $1500 shotgun to do this? Nope, but I decided to do it anyway and I have ZERO regrets. Here is the funny thing, I have a Remington 700 BDL Custom Deluxe .270 with a Leupold scope that almost hits the $1000 mark. Is this crazy? Will my $275 Marlin .30-30 kill a deer? Sure, but there is nothing like a good lined up centerfire that can easily shoot 300 yards. Yet, people look at the deer rifle as accepted and the $1000 shotgun being overkill. This is the same with bow hunters. A new bow and all the goodies can very easily go over $1000. It is just personal preference people. So just buy what you want and use it. I really enjoy my new Benelli and wish I had gotten it years ago. It is a marvelous firearm and should last me a lifetime. When I go into the field, you can guarantee my Benelli will be with me.
A few pics........
Case, chokes, choke wrench, oil, shims, and manuals
Benelli SBEII
Crio Barrel
Crio Chokes: Full, Improved Modified, Modified, Improved Cylinder, Cylinder, and Primos Jelly Head .660
Front Fiber Optic Sight
Steel Mid Bead
Nitro H51013 4x5x7 HeviShot - 245 pellets at 40 yards.
Winchster Xpert HV #4 @ 30 yards w/ Improved Cylinder choke - 185 pellets on poster board
