Benelli supernova anyone?

[trubkir17]

I love mine.

I have shot target loads, 2 3/4" waterfowl loads, 3" waterfowl and Turkey loads and 3 1/2" waterfowl loads. My gun patterns all of those loads consistently. Of all those loads, the Turkey loads gave me a bloody nose when I was patterning the gun for a Turkey hunt in Alberta. Hunted snow geese in Outlook, SK one spring. I blew through half a case of 3 1/2" #2 loads and my shoulder wasn't marked up as much as my brother's shoulder who was shooting a Browning Maxus with 3" shells. I have a 28" barrel and I am on the lookout for a 24" or 26" barrel. I think that would make the gun quicker in my laydown.

 

[GUNNNN]

Supposedly with a 10ga turkey load, the recoil is equivalent to a 500NE. I have a bps 10 and had to know what it was like with a turkey load, that's a whole new level of recoil.

I had one of each in the browning bps 10ga and 3.5" 12 ga the 12 ga was lighter they were both bad but 12ga just plain hurt to shoot. I found a friend that had a 3" 870 that wanted to trade and I jumped at it, and knock on wood it has never failed to bring a turkey home when called on, it patterns lots better with 3" shells than the bps did with 3.5" shells

 

[GSRetrievers]

I had one of each in the browning bps 10ga and 3.5" 12 ga the 12 ga was lighter they were both bad but 12ga just plain hurt to shoot. I found a friend that had a 3" 870 that wanted to trade and I jumped at it, and knock on wood it has never failed to bring a turkey home when called on, it patterns lots better with 3" shells than the bps did with 3.5" shells

My brother had the bps 12. I will say, that 10 is a waterfowl killing machine. The nice thing about the bps is bottom eject but we have been hunting when the safety would freeze up being on top of the receiver

 

[skipglo]

I've never had like a serious modern waterfowl shotgun and am in the market for something not too pricey (under 1000) but not the absolute cheapest junk possible (those Turkish made guns that go by about half a dozen brands, the mossberg mavericks, etc).

I've been handling a few different ones at my work and actually have been coming to think I'm gonna pull the trigger on the 3.5 inch chamber benelli supernova. It seems to have a lot going for it and feels comfortable and natural to shoulder and cycle for me. I appreciate the extra large trigger guard as well.

Any reason I shouldn't?

There are alot of Quality Turkish shotguns Cal...about 90% of ALL SEMI-AUTOS are made in Turkey under dozens of Brand Names. You need keep in mind...that Guns were being made in Europe and Asia about 500 years before North America was discovered ....you can save a pile of money and have a piece for piece identical gun.

 

[L2land]

Oh I hear ya. I do certainly plan to shoot "Normal" shells too. But it's nice to have the option to shoot anything, so I want the 3.5 chamber.

You mention recoil….i read a funny article a while back that determined that a typical pump action 12 guage shooting the heaviest 3.5 inch turkey loads delivers more foot pounds of felt recoil WITH a much faster recoil impulse velocity than a typical weight safari bolt rifle in .458 win mag with 500 grain bullets.

The takeaway: turkey hunters are a curious lot. They endure more punishment to hunt a bird that isn't even that good at flying than they'd endure to hunt the biggest land animal on this planet

See if you can go put your hands on a Franchi Affinity 3.5. It's a budget Benelli and would run anything you feed it with much less recoil than a pump. They can be had for around $1000 and more bells and whistles for a couple hundred more.I have not shot one but I own a montefeltro which has been very reliable and soft shooting but it is not my waterfowl gun. Just throwing an idea out there for you. That's where I'd start if I was looking for a new duck gun. Personally, I don't do 3.5s. I've only shot them through pumps when I was younger and that was enough to turn me off. maybe through an auto they'd be tolerable!

 

[comfisherman]

I started shooting 3 and 1/2 when I was 12, when the shotgun was darn near as tall as me... actually might have been taller come to think of it. Didn't realize they were so crushing for everyone...

I started with an 835, pointed slow with the heavy barrel but was a deadly shotgun for me. Left it up north and ended up with a super nova and an 870 express super mag in the same winter. It was my obsessive phase before coyotes so was hunting waterfowl like they had personally offended me. Noticed pretty quick the nova never grew on me, by year two it was the loaner gun never taken over the 870. Owned it for 10 years and never could warm to it, it always worked but for some reason it always felt out of proportion. Eventually it got gifted to a young man in the family who needed a shotgun and he's been happy with it. I'm now squarely in the super black eagle camp but still have the 870 and 835.

 

[Calvin45]

There are alot of Quality Turkish shotguns Cal...about 90% of ALL SEMI-AUTOS are made in Turkey under dozens of Brand Names. You need keep in mind...that Guns were being made in Europe and Asia about 500 years before North America was discovered ....you can save a pile of money and have a piece for piece identical gun.

For sure I'm not saying every shotgun from turkey is junk! Just that mine were

 

[birddog 68]

Stoeger makes a affordable 3.5 for probably close to the price of the super nova.

 

[quigley257]

I'll play devils advocate here. I own and use one of the Turkish Benelli clones. It is absolutely fantastic. I was able to pick it up for $320 shipped at the time. It is a Girsan MC312 and it shoots everything from 1oz dove loads through 3.5" turkey loads flawlessly. I've never owned a softer shooting 12ga. They can still be had for reasonable prices although Girsan has been enforcing MAP pricing recently. On sale right now at Simmons for only $299 with free shipping. https://www.simmonssportinggoods.com/eaa-390145/

 

[trubkir17]

I will say that I went to the store to buy a Winchester SX4 or SXP. I handled a couple different guns in each of the aforementioned models and I just couldn't get a good feel. When I picked up the Supernova it felt like a million bucks.
This goes back to my days of trying every hockey stick in the rack to find the right one.

 

[Reelamin]

It kicks like a mule with a 3.5" in it compared to something like a sbe (I know that's over your 1000$ budget, but just an example against an inertia gun). I think it kicks more than my 3.5" o/u

^^^This^^^ Because they are super light and plastic stocked. Not fun at all even with 3". I prefer a heavier wood stocked pump for 3" or more. Remington (pre-2000's), Winchester, Mossberg, etc.

 

[Calvin45]

^^^This^^^ Because they are super light and plastic stocked. Not fun at all even with 3". I prefer a heavier wood stocked pump for 3" or more. Remington (pre-2000's), Winchester, Mossberg, etc.

A fair point to consider no doubt and I'll bear it mind!

Funny thing is another thing I liked about the benelli was the weight…it's definitely heavier by a good bit than the synthetic Winchester sxp and mossberg 835 3.5" pump guns I handled. The stoeger p350 (I think) has a bit of heft but I actually used to have one and sold it because it just felt…wrong if that makes sense. Just wasn't right for me and my proportions or something. I'm 5'11", built fairly broad shouldered, and have a little bit shorter stockier arms in proportion to my height compared to average (if trying to find formal attire that fits well is any indicator haha - either too long in the sleeves if it's comfortable around my chest and neck or just right in the sleeves but too tight around my upper body) It's kind of funny, I have short arms for my height and my wife has long arms for her height. I'm 5 foot 11 and she's 5 foot 6 and when reaching up over our heads my hands only reach about 1 inch or so higher than hers.

 

[Quintus]

I would second the Franchi as a good option and the Winchester SX4 as a very good option. I have run an SX4 for the past 3 years shooting 1 1/8 grouse loads, 3" and some 3.5" waterfowl and turkey loads from nice fall days in the 60s to my gun froze to the bottom of the boat and I have yet to have a malfunction. It is very fast, has a great oversized buttons for safe and bolt release, easy to tear down and clean, and has great finish options. The 3.5" is still in your budget too. Pretty easy to find them in most finishes for hi 8s low 9s$$

 

[L2land]

A fair point to consider no doubt and I'll bear it mind!

Funny thing is another thing I liked about the benelli was the weight…it's definitely heavier by a good bit than the synthetic Winchester sxp and mossberg 835 3.5" pump guns I handled. The stoeger p350 (I think) has a bit of heft but I actually used to have one and sold it because it just felt…wrong if that makes sense. Just wasn't right for me and my proportions or something. I'm 5'11", built fairly broad shouldered, and have a little bit shorter stockier arms in proportion to my height compared to average (if trying to find formal attire that fits well is any indicator haha - either too long in the sleeves if it's comfortable around my chest and neck or just right in the sleeves but too tight around my upper body) It's kind of funny, I have short arms for my height and my wife has long arms for her height. I'm 5 foot 11 and she's 5 foot 6 and when reaching up over our heads my hands only reach about 1 inch or so higher than hers.

Fit is super important on a shotgun. Some come with shim kits for stock adjustments and can have different LOP adjustments.