Shot Gun for 3-Gun

[Bryan 45]

It amazes me that this topic comes up twice a week, and each time it still gets 20 replies!

I have nothing to add to this discussion.

Edited August 16, 2010 by Bryan 45

[ajg308]

My vote is for the Winchester or FNH gun. That said, the Benelli is fine as well.

The trouble with Benellis, IMO, is the controls. I have been an RO at the Ironman since 2002. I have seen a ton of shooters come through stages at that match and others I attend as a shooter. When in in the heat of battle the shooters, almost every one of them, run the gun dry, have a malf, something. There is a TON of time lost with shooters messing with those controls to get the gun to go bang. This seems to affect shooters at all levels. Just my observations over the years.

Edited August 16, 2010 by ajg308

[mike_pinto]

It amazes me that this topic comes up twice a week, and each time it still gets 20 replied!

I have nothing to add to this discussion.

Er, uh..... I think you just did!

[bigbrowndog]

I agree AJG, lack of how your gun works definitely seems to be a trait that solely belongs to Benelli owners. i've seen the actual photos and video of those people stumbling thru immediate action drills.

Trapr

[kurtm]

Brian 45, I think I know why these topics always generate a bunch of replies.

First no-one makes a good 3-gun shotgun, all of them will leave you behind at times, whether due to parts breaking, bad ammo, bad spring confuguration...etc.

Next almost all the pistols and rifles we use run and run...it doesn't matter the brand, S_I,s Glocks, XDs, Sigs, FNs etc...all work, not much to talk about there. Most all the rifles we use work, DPMS, Colt, J.P., LWC, Fire-Bird...etc., once again not much to talk about.

Third Shotgun as a stand alone, match gun is almost non- existent in the U.S., so people don't have the time behind them to throughly know their systems inside and out, and it is the firearm least practiced with, and least customised for what we use them for. Think of all the AR builders and Pistol builders and then the maybe 5 shotgun builders.

With all this in mind, personal opinions on what is good and not good hing on less than 1000 rounds of experience, and the frustration of a gun that doesn't run....for what ever reason...will cloud perceptions for a long time, and frustration leads to LOTS OF POSTS!!!

[Jadeslade]

Light strikes with a Benelli are always caused by the bolt not being fully closed either due to a dry cam pin, dirty chamber locking recesses, bolt hesitating due to an improperly tuned welded lifter, or a worn out carrier bouncing out of battery

This here is a golden nugget of Benelli info. True, simple stuff.

PS I need to get a manual Benelli. because I want a carrier dog. Best named shotgun part.

[WINGMEN10]

I know a Really Nice Benelli Setup!!

NO Issues and Comes Ready to Run..

Thanks

T-VS

[benny hill]

They say imatation is the greatest form of flattery.

[Charles Bond]

With all this in mind, personal opinions on what is good and not good hing on less than 1000 rounds of experience, and the frustration of a gun that doesn't run....for what ever reason...will cloud perceptions for a long time, and frustration leads to LOTS OF POSTS!!!

Gee Kurt. I wonder if the same is true of sexual frustration??

I do not know anyone who has posted on the subject lately that has less than 1000 rounds through a shotgun. But the bottom line is if you pay someone to do work to make a shotgun competition ready and it fails or does not run as well as one that comes unaltered out of the box, "frustration" and posting it here is the natural result is it not?

[Chuck Anderson]

I've had good luck and bad with Benelli's over the years. Some ran great with full power ammo but nothing ran with anything I wanted to use for competition. That is until I picked up a Benny tuned M1Super90. That little sucker chews up everything. I'm still sticking with my Browning though since I'm too dumb to count to 9.

As far as spending money on a competition gun from a gunsmith and expecting to run, you're totally right Charles, you should. However if you're gonna spend money with a smith because he knows what he's doing, respect that knowledge. Don't go adding widgets that the smith has no control over and expecting everything will be fine. That's why you pay the guy the big bucks in the first place. That's like bitching because you bought a 4K open gun from someone, then changed out the extractor to an AFTEC without fitting it and all of the sudden it doesn't work.

[Charles Bond]

As far as spending money on a competition gun from a gunsmith and expecting to run, you're totally right Charles, you should. However if you're gonna spend money with a smith because he knows what he's doing, respect that knowledge. Don't go adding widgets that the smith has no control over and expecting everything will be fine. That's why you pay the guy the big bucks in the first place. That's like bitching because you bought a 4K open gun from someone, then changed out the extractor to an AFTEC without fitting it and all of the sudden it doesn't work.

And Chuck you and I agree. But if you get to a match and the gun you paid for does not work, would you not give it to someone to see if they could locate and cure the problem?

I shot myself in the foot at the Pan Am by changing my slugs on the LaRue stage with only limited experience with the new slug and zeroed the stage. That was not the fault of my smith and made me feel like the most stupid of shooters. But if a shooter comes to the line with a weapon that is configurated in the method it came from the smith and the shooter is using the ammo the smith recommended, and the gun fails and fails repeatedly, and it fails no matter whether the shooter in question tries or someone else, and none of the parts are broken, the shooter has more than "frustration".

[Chuck Anderson]

I must be missing something. Are you and Kurt talking about the same gun/guy? Because it sounds like Kurt said he swapped carriers on the gun after it came from the Smith. I don't care if you're using the gun and ammo the smith recommended. If you swap parts, don't expect it to run. I trust Kurt's knowledge. If he said the gun had a carrier that didn't come from Benny, I know he knows the difference.

If this isn't the case I'd still be looking at what the shooter did to screw the gun up. Whether improper maintanence, lack of lube, improper assembly or what. I have a very hard time believing that Benny's modifications are the root of the problem on that one. There are a couple, two or three, shooters out there that do well enough with his guns that blaming the lightened carrier for the problem is a bit shortsighted.

[bigbrowndog]

charles, even a gun that is unaltered after returning from a gunsmith can and will fail, there are many reasons for this, none of which are under the gunsmith's control, or are his or her fault.

maintenance

shooters posture upon firing

ammunition condition

position of gun upon firing

gun does not fit shooter

a part breakage

these are the few that I could come up with quickly.

if the gun worked unaltered why was it altered??????????????

Trapr

Edited August 16, 2010 by bigbrowndog

[Charles Bond]

Chuck/Trapr

All that has to happen here is for the two guns to go back to the shop from which they came and be repaired. But if they are repaired and still do not run and 3 other smiths point to the manner in which the bolt is cut as the problem, what should the smith who cut the bolt do?

Chrles

[bigbrowndog]

if the bolt was cut at the request of the customer, and it was done in the same manner that all the others that do work was cut. then the 3 smiths that point to it as the reason for its failure could be wrong, especially if they have no experience with that type of modification. if it was cut improperly by the smith and it is proven to be such then i would agree that repair would be in order. however many customers ask for modifications to be made to their guns without fully understanding the effect or ramifications of the modification, and many times a miscommunication can exist between the customer and the smith. i had it happen to me on a very expensive african rifle, i thought I was quite clear on what I wanted done, when the rifle arrived I was surprised to say the least, but could easily understand the interpretation that was given. and agreed that the cost to repair the rifle was mine alone. So who is at fault the customer or the smith, who gave the instructions and who heard them, communication requires not only a sender and receiver but understanding as well. too often we think we understand, but in reality we stopped listening once we thought we understood.

trapr

[Chuck Anderson]

Then lets leave it to the guys with the guns that don't work to bitch. I'm not hearing that. What I'm hearing is one guy saying he heard from some other guys that a gun didn't work. Then some other guys with a vested interest in blaming someone elses work blamed the most popular Benelli gunsmith in 3 Gun. No one has backed up this claim. No one has posted a picture as to what is wrong. No one has said, here is my gun, this is what is wrong with it. I'm sure if these mysterious guys that somehow managed to get Benny guns that don't run send them back to Benny he'll take care of it. Until then saying that his modification causes the guns to not work is flat incorrect.

[benny hill]

I talked with charles's daughter on the phone the nite after the gun malfunctioned & she said the gun ran fine for about 500 rds but the lifter was biteing her thumb & the weapon was changed before the match & gave problems after that. I will make the gun good if returned.

[Charles Bond]

I talked with charles's daughter on the phone the nite after the gun malfunctioned & she said the gun ran fine for about 500 rds but the lifter was biteing her thumb & the weapon was changed before the match & gave problems after that. I will make the gun good if returned.

Ah Benny I do not know who you talked to but I do not think it was my 11 year old daugther who to date has only used a 410. But if it was who I think it was, I would be glad to adopt her but I know it would be over her Dad's dead body.

[abn-rgr]

I have two "Benny" M1's. I have the second one as a back up. To this date, I have only had to use it in a match once (due to my poor maint habits). It does get loaned out at matches an awful lot. FYI, I also run the cheap wally World value pack Federal ammo through it and havent seen a problem there yet either.

[benny hill]

The lady I talked to was useing the gun I shipped she said. I took it that she was your daughter. She said she was 15 I think. From what I hear, she is going to be GREAT.

[benny hill]

This is my last post on this, it's a dead matter.

[HS101]

Benny,

The fact that you care to follow up, post etc... is / should be enough of a testament to your commitment to you work... If / when I make the Benelli switch, I know who will be getting my money.

[drftorres]

Saiga

[Hamma Slamma]

Hi, I'm so happy I found this forum, because I've been hunting out this answer for a couple weeks and haven't found any information nearly as good as what I have seen thus far in this forum. So it's been asked and answered obviously numerous times in this forum... Which shotgun for 3gun? I am a novice shooter, haven't owned a shot gun yet and am going to start doing some local 3 guns for the fun of it. If I get good at it I make step it up.

I want to buy a shot gun, and only buy it once. I have made the mitake of buying the cheap gun first and then buying an upgrade in the past. I have learned from my mistakes and am lookign for a solid shot gun for production type shooting since I don't have the funds to compete with the big bank accounts and big modifications of the open division.

I've pretty much made up my mind on the FN SLP, but since there are several of them, it leads me to another question... since I have never shot 3 gun I'm not really sure what's most important. I'm kind of thinking of the SLP tactical with 22" barrel. http://www.fnhusa.com/le/products/firearms/item.asp?fid=FNF005&gid=FNG002&mid=FNM0131&item=3088929150 I hope the link works. 3088929150 Gas operated 12 Ga. 22" 43" 7 lbs. 14 oz. 8 + 1 chamber Standard Invector choke ...

Then that brings me to another question. If I get serious and start shooting in matches that have real rules would this gun prevent me from shooting in production, since it's a little stepped up? Like I said, I am a novice. It seems like FN markets their Mark I as the preferred gun for compitition. I'm thinking a longer barrel is better, but thinking a shorter barrel may point easier. 22" seems perfect, right in the middle.

Thanks in advance for the help, I am happy as heck I found this forum. Oh and BTW, sorry for beating up a dead horse.

Edited September 30, 2010 by Hamma Slamma

[Kyle O]

Hi, I'm so happy I found this forum, because I've been hunting out this answer for a couple weeks and haven't found any information nearly as good as what I have seen thus far in this forum. So it's been asked and answered obviously numerous times in this forum... Which shotgun for 3gun? I am a novice shooter, haven't owned a shot gun yet and am going to start doing some local 3 guns for the fun of it. If I get good at it I make step it up.

I want to buy a shot gun, and only buy it once. I have made the mitake of buying the cheap gun first and then buying an upgrade in the past. I have learned from my mistakes and am lookign for a solid shot gun for production type shooting since I don't have the funds to compete with the big bank accounts and big modifications of the open division.

I've pretty much made up my mind on the FN SLP, but since there are several of them, it leads me to another question... since I have never shot 3 gun I'm not really sure what's most important. I'm kind of thinking of the SLP tactical with 22" barrel. http://www.fnhusa.com/le/products/firearms/item.asp?fid=FNF005&gid=FNG002&mid=FNM0131&item=3088929150 I hope the link works. 3088929150 Gas operated 12 Ga. 22" 43" 7 lbs. 14 oz. 8 + 1 chamber Standard Invector choke ...

Then that brings me to another question. If I get serious and start shooting in matches that have real rules would this gun prevent me from shooting in production, since it's a little stepped up? Like I said, I am a novice. It seems like FN markets their Mark I as the preferred gun for compitition. I'm thinking a longer barrel is better, but thinking a shorter barrel may point easier. 22" seems perfect, right in the middle.

Thanks in advance for the help, I am happy as heck I found this forum. Oh and BTW, sorry for beating up a dead horse.

Welcome to the forums Slamma.

You'll find almost any answer about competition shooting there is, here. A really great place this forum is.

To answer your question, I had the same question a couple of years ago, and got the SLP, and I am still running it today. I think it is quality. In fact, I just added a nordic components +2 tube extension tonight.

Only other things I did was get some tall sights 1/4" rise, nordic extended bolt handle, I opened up the loading port some, and cut off those 2 sharp fingers on the shell lifter.