ok-finally a range report for y'all-took my benny open 930 out and spent 4 hours with it this morning.
first task was zeroing slugs. once i got them zeroed at 50 yds, i tried to determine which slugs it liked. i shot fiocchi low recoil, remington managed recoil, win lite, federal truball low recoil. YMMV, but this 930 liked the fiocchi and the remington. the POA changed dramatically with the federal, and the groups opened up. also tried some full power remington sluggers. i don't advise those. painful to shoot and not very accurate. tested using IC and modified chokes, with consistent results. ended up with sub 3" 4 shot group at 50 yds and called it good. i'll be buying lots of fiocchi.
on to some birdshot. pattern test with the optics sighted at 50 yds was fine-plenty of coverage. i fed it walmart remington and federal bulk pack stuff, remington STS, winchester AA and some estate stuff i had lying around. cycles just fine with 2 3/4 dr 1 oz light stuff as well. also fed it some high base 6's and it ate everything i fed it.
my first impression is this (and this is coming from shooting an open 1100 for 20+ years):
i like the 930-it's nice and light. it points well, loads like a dream, functioned flawlessly with everything i shot. it cycles very fast. if you were one of the lucky ones to outrun a benelli, good luck doing it with the 930. it is faster than the 1100, but, and this is the only thing i don't like...it bucks more than an 1100. maybe because the gun is lighter, or maybe the porting on my 1100 is more efficient, but the two guns are different in feel when shooting slugs or for that matter, just 3 dram birdshot. the 930 barks more, period. not quite like a benelli, but close. the 1100 is still a softer shooting gun.
couple things to improve on. the forend sux. it's mushy in that you can squeeze the rear part of the forend and it actually moves upward. almost like it's not fit well. i've looked at the inside of the forend and cannot figure out why there is so much slack there. hopefully the aftermarket stock guys will fix this issue. i've seen on other reviews that this problem exists will a lot of 930's. the stock itself could also be made a bit thinner where your strong hand grabs it. much fatter than i prefer. the porting is somewhat cheesy and i'm not sure it's doing much where the holes are located.
i'll let you know more after i get a few cases of shells thru mine, but for now, it's a winner.