I apologise, gentlemen, for asking about a semi-auto in here, but on other boards there seems to be a constant presence of "sponsored" people who push you heavily in one direction and stifle any factual conversations.

I have several Benellis, and looking for a gas operated semi for the softer shooing and ability to cycle lighter clay loads. My most important criterion is reliability. I want it to discharge every time I pull the trigger as long as I keep it reasonably clean. Looking for top quality and money is not an issue.

Would appreciate any first hand experiences or recommendations.

Regards.

'Old Reliable' Remington 1100. I've never found auto loaders to be very reliable if you don't spend half of your waking hours cleaning them. I'd rather have a pump for ultimate reliability and they don't require endless hours of cleaning time.

Doubles aside, I prefer Pumps too. Auto, Sporting clays courses, Beretta is the most often seen. My old 391has never failed, I clean it, no more than any other gun.

Boats

Beretta, without any doubt.

SRH

The Remington 1100 is popular for a reason: They work, point, and shoot well.
Yes, you have to clean them; but it isn't that hard.
You can buy a used one for a fairly reasonable price. I would recommend one that uses choke tubes. It seems to me, a person starts out with "full," and then with some experience, ends up shooting a more open choke.
Sam Ogle, Lincoln, NE

I wanted a mudder for my duck hunting and I've been impressed with Remington's new V3. The first time out with no "break-in" it cycled everything perfectly from 3" steel all the way down to some very light 3/4 oz powderpuffs. Recoil is very light. The gas system is different as the valves are located in the chamber area and the number in valves in action are dependent on the length of the shell. The gasses are much hotter right there, so they basically blow clean on each shot. It's not as refined at the $1200+ gas guns, but for my down and dirty duck hunting it hits all the right buttons. It's new, so I can't say any more than I have, but I think the design is clever and it has the potential to be a good one.

A good friend and doubles enthusiast purchased a Benelli Cordoba for a South American high volume dove shooting trip. He sold it upon his return. However, aesthetics aside he said it shouldered and shot well, over several thousand very stiff rounds (he had to use locally supplied ammo) it never once jammed. While he appreciated the soft recoil, particularly with the ammo he used and shooting volume, he felt that it was one of the ugliest guns he'd ever owned.

Steve

Sounds like I had the only Remington 1100 Lemon ever made. Kudos on the Beretta, however. The kid, now a man, still shoots it after 35 years. Gil

I have been shooting the Beretta A400 Xcel Sporting for the past four years without a single FTF. However, I do clean the gun after every outing. It is Beretta's dedicated clays gun and worth a look.

Remington 1100, clean it and it will work.

I second the A 400....

Thank you all very much. I'll begin researching based on your suggestions and see how it goes. Appreciate the help.

P.S. That Cordoba is indeed hideous!!

Winchester Super X-1, just do your research.

Browning Maxus, or Winchester SX3. They are essentially the same gun and I have shot the Maxus for 10 years, no problems whatsoever. My friend recently bought the SX3 and I hit everything I aimed at with that gun. Remington 1100s are good guns, but they have been surpassed by newer technology.

Definitely SX1 every thing from 2 1/2 lite to 3 1/2 mag. without a problem In six years. The 31/2 are brutal and un necessary.

I have had or have the Beretta 391 Urika Gold, Urika 2, Browning Maxus Sporting and Browning Silver Hunter. All are great guns so it just comes down to the best fit.

A lot of people want a "Do All" semi-automatic, I like guns, so I just buy another one when needed. I would select the semi that fits what you want to shoot with it and not worry about "fringe" things that it can't do.

The Beretta A400 is worth the extra money. Great design, well executed. Very soft shooting, very very reliable.
JR

My 391 is old and used as a loaner, wet weather, when I don't want to risk my 682 O/U or Doubles. Cycles anything even my 7/8 oz reloads. Never missed a beat.

If I was going to shoot serious Clays with a Auto would go for one of the new
A 400's. Although for about half the money look at the A300 Outlanders. Price point guns which I understand are built on old 391 tooling in the US, My son has one and no complaints.

Ability to adjust the stock, LOP drop and cast is a big plus with Beretta. Others may have this feature, I don't know.

Boats

I have had little experience with semis - primarily my son's Benelli Montefeltro (inertia), which is a decent gun. I just bought a Fabarm XLR5 Waterfowl and have been impressed with the gun - it handles much better than I would have expected, shoots where I look, handles a wide range of loads without adjustment, and seems to require very little attention if you are not inclined to give it any. Plus it is backed by Caesar Guerini's customer service, which is topnotch, should that become necessary.

Worth a look, IMHO.

Phil Bourjaily has a fine article on shotgun selections and various price ranges for the newer stuff on today's market in the Sept/Oct DU magazine. He also does a homage to us old farts, with the Model 12 and the Remington 31- He is a bit off whack in recommending the HE Super Fox- 12 and 20, scarce, expensive and not for steel shot loads. He left out the great Model 1897 Winchester however- still a solid performer for us oldsters..

Remington 1187 has been my auto for years never had any issues, also own a 391 Beretta as my goose gun same, no jams or issues.

We are blessed today with a number of great autoloaders at all price points. The crucible of shotgun performance is South American volume dove shooting. About the only gas autoloader you will see there is a Beretta. A Beretta A400 would definitely be my first, second and third choice.
Jeff

I own three 1100s, a Super X2 and a Beretta 390. I shot one 1100 literally to pieces. Magazine tube came out of the receiver, twice. So, I've had my share of trigger time with them. The SuperX2 is a good gun, but heavy. Very fast cycling. The 390 would be my choice if I could only have one shotgun and it had to be a semi. Deadly reliable in terrible conditions, and very lenient about cleanliness of the gas system. IMO, it's ten times the gun a 1100 is, twice the gun a SuperX2 is.

SRH

Huh? I recall a time at my club, perhaps mid 1980s to mid 1990s when a few of the sports were buying these, using them until the guts puked on the ground (not a long time, actually) and sending away for some kit to replace all the guts with stainless steel parts. Reliability was spotty on the converted guns, at best.

The sports all seem to be dead, now. I don't see any SX1s at the club anymore.

They sure seemed heavy to me, at the time. I couldn't visualize a week of hunting with one, then, or now.

Indulge me. What research are you talking about?

Best,
Ted

There are a few things in life I loathe more than cleaning firearms, and on top of that I am a mechanical moron. And, all that being said, I shoot a Beretta 391 in competition. My 391 formerly resided with a highly ranked sporting clays shooter so it already had a lot of rounds when I bought it. Since then, I've registered 20,000 targets and shot twice that or more through it without a problem. I take it to a gunsmith once a year to have it cleaned. This year I did change out all the springs and replaced the firing pin - after all the rounds, pretty minor service. I'd certainly recommend a 391 (or a 390 or 400 Beretta) very highly.

Do not buy a gun from Cole! I paid $2600. for a Berretta A400 which came with only two choke tubes and a damaged rear comb adjustment screw.

I called them re the choke tubes and was told they did not have any. I was so mad that I gave the gun away.

Dan Crowley

Dan, I'm pretty close to Florida. If you decide to give any more of them away, I'd be glad to help you out there...Geo

Dang, Dan, $2600 for an A400?
JR

...and if you ever get pissed at Boss & Co. give me a shout.


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Fack Brussels.

Depends which set of compromises you want to deal with.

In general, the Beretta 391 is very close to a general purpose shotgun. I've no experience with the 400 series guns, so I can't comment but the 391 is an excellent platform and 'bent carrier syndrome' can be dealt with by swapping out the carrier assembly with the 390 version from Cole's. I've done that with two of them, and they both run 100% now.

I have a 20 gauge Cordoba and just to stir the pot I can't see what the gun looks like from my vantage point when shooting it. It's the softest 20ga I've ever used, has a decent trigger, and I'd buy another if this one went missing.

The current Remington products are simply not competitive. I have a few of the old 70's and 80's 1100's that see limited use, but that is such an old and dated design I can hardly recommend it in the world of modern Italian automatics. The current 1100 .410 does not last 50 shells before it breaks the part on the action bar where the bolt rides. Sintered parts have replaced the old 'more expensive' stuff that actually worked. Remington cannot fix those guns.

The 'Optima' 391s by the way, if a wood stock, are all bored with a hole to accept a 7 oz recoil reducer in the stock. There are many different weights available for the magazine cap too. You can add weight to this lightweight aluminum frame gun if you so wish and make it as heavy and dead handling as a K-80. They don't recoil much when the weight gets north of 9 pounds!

Good luck. Autos are fun. Just a different aspect of the hobby.

Jam-O-Matics are fine but this is the absolute best repeater on the planet being built today. You don't have to stay up all night cleaning it, you don't have to baby it, you don't have to hope and pray it doesn't jam in extreme cold weather and it will shoot any ammo you put in it.

http://ithacagun.com/28gauge.php

What he said, my duck gun is made in Ohio. I will change out the AAA wood with Grade A before the season starts, for clays might as well have a good looking gun:


Not too long ago it was common knowledge in these parts that anything other than a Benelli in the duck blind eventually became a single shot. The Beretta 391 and now X400 have changed that.

I have a Benelli Ultralight for upland and a Benelli Sport original with HK in red letters on the side for clays. I shoot the 30" Supersport extremely well as do many people. The Cordoba is the hunting version of it. If the Cordoba wasn't ported I'd likely own one of those too no matter how ugly it may appear. Heck the Benelli Vinci makes the Cordoba look sexy LOL. But nothing wrong with the Beretta SA guns either.

Beautiful Ithaca M37!!

buy american steel.

an old winchester model 50.

My sentiment is with bobski. During my semi-auto madness before I went back exclusively to doubles, I owned Model 50, 1100 and Breda 12 and 20 ga. All performed flawlessly, Bredas particularly in competitions and afield. I haven't heard Breda mentioned in 30-35 years.

Those Bredas are sharp. Imma gonna gettta one a those.


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Balance and Proportion are boring.

Careful there lonesome. You're treading dangerously close to talking about double guns.

Why would you not pursue your rights as a customer? You could have contacted your credit card issuer and forced a charge back

every breda i owned kicked like a mule.