Benelli M2 21" Field Model

[SinistralRifleman]

Any hints on where to find an M2 21" field model in stock anywhere? All the online vendors seem to be out. One local place has one, but I'd prefer to not need to pay $125 in sales tax.

Impact guns has the 24" field model...should I get that or will I be irritated with the longer barrel?

[abn-rgr]

I like the 24" personally. I think velocity shooter has the 21" in stock.

http://www.velocityshooter.com/product_info.php?cPath=101_104_144&products_id=344

Edited December 10, 2010 by abn-rgr

[SinistralRifleman]

I called Velocity shooter...unfortunately he is out of the standard ones and it will be March before he has more. They have the Salient modified ones, but that's out of my price range.

Apparently 3 gunners are the only people who like the 21" model, so its not as common as the tactical models or more specific hunting models.

Edited December 10, 2010 by SinistralRifleman

[Jadeslade]

I have a 21 and a 24. The 24 is great. You can order a 21 from your dealer-but expect a 6-18 month wait. Sometimes you can find one in camo.

[Bryan 45]

Russell, check your PM.

[boomfab]

Scottsdale Gun Club has them but you probably know that already.

[kampr]

Russell, you're more than welcome to try my 21" Salient tomorrow.

It shouldn't be a problem to find a 24" after the match, so you can test drive them side by side.

Might help you decide what you really want/need!

Dale

Edited December 11, 2010 by kampr

[WINGMEN10]

I like the 24" personally. I think velocity shooter has the 21" in stock.

http://www.velocityshooter.com/product_info.php?cPath=101_104_144&products_id=344

Sorry Guys!

Out of stock on the Stock M2 with the 21 inch vent ribbed barrel.

It is just not a big seller for Benelli and most people outside of this sport do not look for a 21 inch gun for bird hunting, etc.

I bought all of the ones that benelli had in stock for the rest of the year and the next batch is not expected until the 2nd qtr of next year.

Thanks

T-VS

[SinistralRifleman]

I handled some 21" and 24" guns at the Rio Salado Multigun match this past weekend. The 24" didn't seem too much longer, and met the right combination of availability and price for me. Hopefully it will show up at my dealer by the end of the week.

[1chota]

I handled some 21" and 24" guns at the Rio Salado Multigun match this past weekend. The 24" didn't seem too much longer, and met the right combination of availability and price for me. Hopefully it will show up at my dealer by the end of the week.

have you tried Gunbroker.com ?

[AlamoShooter]

I shoot the 24" from my start in 3 gun. the barrel does not hold me back on any stage no more than a combined total of 1 second for two years and more than 13 major matches.

If I only had one M2 I think I would want the 24" just to make it an all round gun.

How ever I do want my second M2 to be a 21' barrel just to make it fit in a bag easier

[mpeltier]

I shoot the 24" from my start in 3 gun. the barrel does not hold me back on any stage no more than a combined total of 1 second for two years and more than 13 major matches.

If I only had one M2 I think I would want the 24" just to make it an all round gun.

How ever I do want my second M2 to be a 21' barrel just to make it fit in a bag easier

Run it by me once slowly.....why is a 24" bbl more of an all around gun than a 21"? Everything else bieng equal?

Seems to me they would be pretty much the same. But I may not know much about shotguns.

[SinistralRifleman]

have you tried Gunbroker.com ?

I did...no luck. All super long camo hunting guns, or the tactical models.

Run it by me once slowly.....why is a 24" bbl more of an all around gun than a 21"? Everything else bieng equal?

Seems to me they would be pretty much the same. But I may not know much about shotguns.

I assume he means for bird hunting or sporting clays in addition to 3 gun use.

[prreed10]

If you are still looking, try Mack's Prarie Wings in Stuttgart, Arkansas. They are a big Benelli dealer. When I last called, they had Black M2's in 21" and 24" in stock. Call the store and not the catalogue number. I don't know if they ship though. They are about an hour from me so I was going to pick it up.

Edited December 14, 2010 by prreed10

[AlamoShooter]

I shoot the 24" from my start in 3 gun. the barrel does not hold me back on any stage no more than a combined total of 1 second for two years and more than 13 major matches.

If I only had one M2 I think I would want the 24" just to make it an all round gun.

How ever I do want my second M2 to be a 21' barrel just to make it fit in a bag easier

Run it by me once slowly.....why is a 24" bbl more of an all around gun than a 21"? Everything else bieng equal?

Seems to me they would be pretty much the same. But I may not know much about shotguns.

Well I have never owned a 21" gun sooo, that may tilt the kill. But I do have & spent some time, a lot of time with 30" guns and trying to teach flying clays to shooters with -short- barrels. When you give a struggling shooter on clays a longer gun it is much easier to for them to understand and hit targets that require follow-throw. Use a short gun on trap targets and crossers a longer barrel is 'help full' to keep the eye on the target and still get a target barrel reference. A longer barrel will be more forgiving of a correction in lead and line.

The short barrel is faster and works fine for the 'instinctive shooter. A great shooter can make any gun work for them. Every Great shotgun shooter I know will move to a longer barrel, But as it is said I don't much about 3 gun and I am a beginner by my learning curve. I think that having to struggle made me a better coach, for shooters that sauté my help.

I know with out a doubt that a new 3gun shooter will not give up any thing with a 24" barrel over a 21" 12% more sight line may help them too even on stationary targets.

I did help a forum member a four years back to shoot Sportsman's Team Challenge , some of the targets are fast , and part of the targets are thrown as surprise pairs. Scott had a 21" M1 and a 24" m1 that I "Thought" would not work. The 21" gun was given up on right away, and he used one of my 30" guns the first few hours of instruction and thin went back to his M1 with better understanding of flying target shooting. I don't think he ever got his 21" gun out again for STC.

Too many words to respond to your question Mark , but I hope that helps

Edited December 14, 2010 by AlamoShooter

[mpeltier]

I shoot the 24" from my start in 3 gun. the barrel does not hold me back on any stage no more than a combined total of 1 second for two years and more than 13 major matches.

If I only had one M2 I think I would want the 24" just to make it an all round gun.

How ever I do want my second M2 to be a 21' barrel just to make it fit in a bag easier

Run it by me once slowly.....why is a 24" bbl more of an all around gun than a 21"? Everything else bieng equal?

Seems to me they would be pretty much the same. But I may not know much about shotguns.

Well I have never owned a 21" gun sooo, that may tilt the kill. But I do have & spent some time, a lot of time with 30" guns and trying to teach flying clays to shooters with -short- barrels. When you give a struggling shooter on clays a longer gun it is much easier to for them to understand and hit targets that require follow-throw. Use a short gun on trap targets and crossers a longer barrel is 'help full' to keep the eye on the target and still get a target barrel reference. A longer barrel will be more forgiving of a correction in lead and line.

The short barrel is faster and works fine for the 'instinctive shooter. A great shooter can make any gun work for them. Every Great shotgun shooter I know will move to a longer barrel, But as it is said I don't much about 3 gun and I am a beginner by my learning curve. I think that having to struggle made me a better coach, for shooters that sauté my help.

I know with out a doubt that a new 3gun shooter will not give up any thing with a 24" barrel over a 21" 12% more sight line may help them too even on stationary targets.

I did help a forum member a four years back to shoot Sportsman's Team Challenge , some of the targets are fast , and part of the targets are thrown as surprise pairs. Scott had a 21" M1 and a 24" m1 that I "Thought" would not work. The 21" gun was given up on right away, and he used one of my 30" guns the first few hours of instruction and thin went back to his M1 with better understanding of flying target shooting. I don't think he ever got his 21" gun out again for STC.

Too many words to respond to your question Mark , but I hope that helps

Thanks Jamie, I guess that makes some sense. I actually learned as a kid with a 30" shotgun and been moving down in length ever scince. I am not a great shotguner by any means, but have not found a round of skeet/Trap to be a strugle with any length. Shot my very first sporting clays match last weekend with my 21" Benelli. The ones I missed I knew why imediately (almost always shot behind the bird) and am not sure a longer gun would have changed anything. It was all me just getting on it a split second too soon. Probably 3-gun habits getting the better of me, as a stationary target is a differant approach than a flyer thats way out there. (I also had the wrong choke with me but thats another matter alltogether). I am not familiar with STC shotgun requirements.

[slowsure]

I shoot the 24" from my start in 3 gun. the barrel does not hold me back on any stage no more than a combined total of 1 second for two years and more than 13 major matches.

If I only had one M2 I think I would want the 24" just to make it an all round gun.

How ever I do want my second M2 to be a 21' barrel just to make it fit in a bag easier

Run it by me once slowly.....why is a 24" bbl more of an all around gun than a 21"? Everything else bieng equal?

Seems to me they would be pretty much the same. But I may not know much about shotguns.

Well I have never owned a 21" gun sooo, that may tilt the kill. But I do have & spent some time, a lot of time with 30" guns and trying to teach flying clays to shooters with -short- barrels. When you give a struggling shooter on clays a longer gun it is much easier to for them to understand and hit targets that require follow-throw. Use a short gun on trap targets and crossers a longer barrel is 'help full' to keep the eye on the target and still get a target barrel reference. A longer barrel will be more forgiving of a correction in lead and line.

The short barrel is faster and works fine for the 'instinctive shooter. A great shooter can make any gun work for them. Every Great shotgun shooter I know will move to a longer barrel, But as it is said I don't much about 3 gun and I am a beginner by my learning curve. I think that having to struggle made me a better coach, for shooters that sauté my help.

I know with out a doubt that a new 3gun shooter will not give up any thing with a 24" barrel over a 21" 12% more sight line may help them too even on stationary targets.

I did help a forum member a four years back to shoot Sportsman's Team Challenge , some of the targets are fast , and part of the targets are thrown as surprise pairs. Scott had a 21" M1 and a 24" m1 that I "Thought" would not work. The 21" gun was given up on right away, and he used one of my 30" guns the first few hours of instruction and thin went back to his M1 with better understanding of flying target shooting. I don't think he ever got his 21" gun out again for STC.

Too many words to respond to your question Mark , but I hope that helps

A 30" shotgun would have needed a folding stock to get through the Ft.Benning stage 4 tunnel this year. I think 24" is about max I would be comfortable with on some of the confined stages that designers come up with.

Good luck with the Benelli Russell!

[Bryan 45]

I shoot the 24" from my start in 3 gun. the barrel does not hold me back on any stage no more than a combined total of 1 second for two years and more than 13 major matches.

If I only had one M2 I think I would want the 24" just to make it an all round gun.

How ever I do want my second M2 to be a 21' barrel just to make it fit in a bag easier

Run it by me once slowly.....why is a 24" bbl more of an all around gun than a 21"? Everything else bieng equal?

Seems to me they would be pretty much the same. But I may not know much about shotguns.

Well I have never owned a 21" gun sooo, that may tilt the kill. But I do have & spent some time, a lot of time with 30" guns and trying to teach flying clays to shooters with -short- barrels. When you give a struggling shooter on clays a longer gun it is much easier to for them to understand and hit targets that require follow-throw. Use a short gun on trap targets and crossers a longer barrel is 'help full' to keep the eye on the target and still get a target barrel reference. A longer barrel will be more forgiving of a correction in lead and line.

The short barrel is faster and works fine for the 'instinctive shooter. A great shooter can make any gun work for them. Every Great shotgun shooter I know will move to a longer barrel, But as it is said I don't much about 3 gun and I am a beginner by my learning curve. I think that having to struggle made me a better coach, for shooters that sauté my help.

I know with out a doubt that a new 3gun shooter will not give up any thing with a 24" barrel over a 21" 12% more sight line may help them too even on stationary targets.

I did help a forum member a four years back to shoot Sportsman's Team Challenge , some of the targets are fast , and part of the targets are thrown as surprise pairs. Scott had a 21" M1 and a 24" m1 that I "Thought" would not work. The 21" gun was given up on right away, and he used one of my 30" guns the first few hours of instruction and thin went back to his M1 with better understanding of flying target shooting. I don't think he ever got his 21" gun out again for STC.

Too many words to respond to your question Mark , but I hope that helps

A 30" shotgun would have needed a folding stock to get through the Ft.Benning stage 4 tunnel this year. I think 24" is about max I would be comfortable with on some of the confined stages that designers come up with.

Good luck with the Benelli Russell!

I did not feel hindered by the 24" tube on my Nova, but then my midget arms and legs compensated for some of the length of the shotgun.

The tunnel at BRM3G in '09 was a little tighter. And both of them make it a little hard to operate a pump gun!

Edited December 14, 2010 by Bryan 45

[Jesse Tischauser]

I have a 21" M2 and a 24" M1. The 21" feels lighter and faster. I am going to get an old M1 2 barrel cut down to 18-19 to see how that feels. I think I'm gonna like it.

[pjb45]

If you are still looking, try Los Ranchos Guns in Albuquerque.

BTW: I got my M1 21 from a gunshop in Hobbs New Mexico, about $400 dollars cheaper than in AZ.

Edited December 21, 2010 by pjb45

[HRider]

I shoot the 24" from my start in 3 gun. the barrel does not hold me back on any stage no more than a combined total of 1 second for two years and more than 13 major matches.

If I only had one M2 I think I would want the 24" just to make it an all round gun.

How ever I do want my second M2 to be a 21' barrel just to make it fit in a bag easier

Run it by me once slowly.....why is a 24" bbl more of an all around gun than a 21"? Everything else bieng equal?

Seems to me they would be pretty much the same. But I may not know much about shotguns.

Well I have never owned a 21" gun sooo, that may tilt the kill. But I do have & spent some time, a lot of time with 30" guns and trying to teach flying clays to shooters with -short- barrels. When you give a struggling shooter on clays a longer gun it is much easier to for them to understand and hit targets that require follow-throw. Use a short gun on trap targets and crossers a longer barrel is 'help full' to keep the eye on the target and still get a target barrel reference. A longer barrel will be more forgiving of a correction in lead and line.

The short barrel is faster and works fine for the 'instinctive shooter. A great shooter can make any gun work for them. Every Great shotgun shooter I know will move to a longer barrel, But as it is said I don't much about 3 gun and I am a beginner by my learning curve. I think that having to struggle made me a better coach, for shooters that sauté my help.

I know with out a doubt that a new 3gun shooter will not give up any thing with a 24" barrel over a 21" 12% more sight line may help them too even on stationary targets.

I did help a forum member a four years back to shoot Sportsman's Team Challenge , some of the targets are fast , and part of the targets are thrown as surprise pairs. Scott had a 21" M1 and a 24" m1 that I "Thought" would not work. The 21" gun was given up on right away, and he used one of my 30" guns the first few hours of instruction and thin went back to his M1 with better understanding of flying target shooting. I don't think he ever got his 21" gun out again for STC.

Too many words to respond to your question Mark , but I hope that helps

A 30" shotgun would have needed a folding stock to get through the Ft.Benning stage 4 tunnel this year. I think 24" is about max I would be comfortable with on some of the confined stages that designers come up with.

Good luck with the Benelli Russell!

I did not feel hindered by the 24" tube on my Nova, but then my midget arms and legs compensated for some of the length of the shotgun.

The tunnel at BRM3G in '09 was a little tighter. And both of them make it a little hard to operate a pump gun!

As I was crawling around in the tunnel with my 24" Nova, I was thinking "Man, I wish I had my 18" M1". I think having to operate a pump in those positions was far more of a hinderence than the 24" barrel was. My 18.5" M1 handles faster, but I have not found the 24" barrel on my Nova to be a problem, not even in the Midget house at Tapp's match.

Hurley

[SinistralRifleman]

Well here's what I ended up with:

24" Benelli M2 Field

Williams Fire Sights bolted on the vent rib

Nordic + 6 extension (holds 9+1). I'll just throw a plug in the end of the tube if I go to matches that allow 9 period rather than 9 at start.

[Perforator]

Scottsdale Gun Club has them but you probably know that already.

Not any more, I bought the last 21" today.

[Trail3]

Congrats on finding the 21" Benelli.

I'm still waiting on my Salient. Should be here next week.

[DMAC]

I've tried every place suggested on this thread and others and two on-line auction site with no luck. Any other suggestions for the M2 Field with 21" barrel.