SX3?

[audleon]

Just wondering if there was any specific reason the SX3 doesn't get used more for 3-gun. I'm shopping around and I was thinking of going with the SX3. I've seen one or two getting used, but are there any specific reasons why I should NOT get the SX3?

Thanks

[carharttfarmer]

probable dont see many because they cost more than a slp and most sporting good stores only carry the 28inch model

but they sure are nice light too winchester lists a shot show special model 26incher thats listed at 6lbs 12 oz

i say if ya got the cash go for it

[Vespid_Wasp]

Just wondering if there was any specific reason the SX3 doesn't get used more for 3-gun. I'm shopping around and I was thinking of going with the SX3. I've seen one or two getting used, but are there any specific reasons why I should NOT get the SX3?

Thanks

The SX3 would be a great choice for 3-gun.

[audleon]

Makes me feel much better before purchasing one of these. Thanks!

[Airedale]

I have one for waterfowl hunting and really like it.

I would recommend watching some of the waterfowl forums for a used one. They (like most duck guns) are over priced. You may luck in to one from a motivated seller for $800-900.

Dave

[00bullitt]

I've been running one that I built for the past 2 years. I have no desire for a Benelli after owning and shooting this one.

[steviesterno]

I'm running an SX2 to pretty good effect, but don't have a million rounds through it yet. I picked up a "used" 3.5" model that was most likely never fired. It runs light loads like a champ, and with a nordic tube and bolt extension. I am 9+1 and good to run!

Paid only $600 for the gun with at least one choke tube, too.

Can't beat that price! It was cheaper than just replacing the barrel on my old 1100 (since they wanted like 280 for the barrel, and i got $300) in trade.

[poortrader]

I shoot a SX3 for 3-gun. The gun was slightly more expensive than the Benelli and there are not as many aftermarket parts for the SX3. I have kept my gun factory except for the magazine extension tube. I really don't see any need to change the gun. The gun cycles fast, really fast with very little recoil.

I also love the expression that a 12-gauge shotgun will knock your butt down, but you should see me unload 9 rounds in a couple of seconds. A lot of the time, I don't hit anything so I should slow down, but it's a blast....I have no regrets on spending the extra money on the SX3.

[tavman]

I shoot a SX3 for 3-gun. The gun was slightly more expensive than the Benelli and there are not as many aftermarket parts for the SX3. I have kept my gun factory except for the magazine extension tube. I really don't see any need to change the gun. The gun cycles fast, really fast with very little recoil.

I also love the expression that a 12-gauge shotgun will knock your butt down, but you should see me unload 9 rounds in a couple of seconds. A lot of the time, I don't hit anything so I should slow down, but it's a blast....I have no regrets on spending the extra money on the SX3.

What length barrel are you running on your SX3 for 3 gun. I ready to buy one and i'm not sure if I should order a shorter barrel or cut it down??

Thanks

[Braxton1]

I shoot a SX3 for 3-gun. The gun was slightly more expensive than the Benelli and there are not as many aftermarket parts for the SX3. I have kept my gun factory except for the magazine extension tube. I really don't see any need to change the gun. The gun cycles fast, really fast with very little recoil.

I also love the expression that a 12-gauge shotgun will knock your butt down, but you should see me unload 9 rounds in a couple of seconds. A lot of the time, I don't hit anything so I should slow down, but it's a blast....I have no regrets on spending the extra money on the SX3.

What length barrel are you running on your SX3 for 3 gun. I ready to buy one and i'm not sure if I should order a shorter barrel or cut it down??

Thanks

As I understand it, there's only one guy out there who is advertising that he can cut down an SX3 barrel and re-choke it.

The SX3 barrel has a .742 bore, as opposed to the nominal 12 gauge of .726-728. That requires special tooling to re-install the Invector PLUS choke tubes and not everyone has that reamer and tap.

If you PM 00Bullitt, he can tell you who did his. The name just escapes me now.

[glockeyed]

I shoot a SX3 for 3-gun. The gun was slightly more expensive than the Benelli and there are not as many aftermarket parts for the SX3. I have kept my gun factory except for the magazine extension tube. I really don't see any need to change the gun. The gun cycles fast, really fast with very little recoil.

I also love the expression that a 12-gauge shotgun will knock your butt down, but you should see me unload 9 rounds in a couple of seconds. A lot of the time, I don't hit anything so I should slow down, but it's a blast....I have no regrets on spending the extra money on the SX3.

What length barrel are you running on your SX3 for 3 gun. I ready to buy one and i'm not sure if I should order a shorter barrel or cut it down??

Thanks

As I understand it, there's only one guy out there who is advertising that he can cut down an SX3 barrel and re-choke it.

The SX3 barrel has a .742 bore, as opposed to the nominal 12 gauge of .726-728. That requires special tooling to re-install the Invector PLUS choke tubes and not everyone has that reamer and tap.

If you PM 00Bullitt, he can tell you who did his. The name just escapes me now.

is this only an issue if you want to continue using inv+ chokes? im on the hunt to get my SX3 shortened, and most place mention a min outer diameter.

[nheiny13]

The problem with cutting down the SX3 barrel is that it is backbored which means the bore is slightly oversized. So 4" back from the muzzle the barrel tapers down which is not wide enough to rethread for invector plus chokes and because the barrel is backbored many standard chokes won't work either. Briley told me that they would have to use one of their proprietary chokes which would be expensive. When 00bullitt cut down his SX3 they had to swell the new muzzle to accept invector plus chokes and cost approximately $280 and that place had bad customer service and I believe that they are now out of business. (00bullitt you can correct me if I'm wrong)

I contacted Poly Choke who cut off the cantilever and front sight on my SLP and added a vent rib to it. It turned out perfect.

Go here to see a pic

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=127048&st=0&p=1435265&hl=vent%20rib%20slp&fromsearch=1entry1435265

[glockeyed]

honestly i don't really care whos choke i get.

[ziebart]

I use a 26" SX3 but I'm just a noob. I got it because it can handle any 12 gauge shell from the 1oz bulk pack to the heavy 3.5" loads. it is stupid accurate with slugs so I am not messing with the barrel. Maybe later if I have a match where the long barrel holds me back I will look at buying a shorter barrel. Right now my biggest problem is forgetting targets and no amount of go fast gear will fix that.

[59Bassman]

My new 26" synthetic SX3 is being delivered today. My first non-Beretta shotgun in about 10 years.

[Suff]

My new 26" synthetic SX3 is being delivered today. My first non-Beretta shotgun in about 10 years.

You going to have that thing ready to go by next weekend?

[59Bassman]

My new 26" synthetic SX3 is being delivered today. My first non-Beretta shotgun in about 10 years.

You going to have that thing ready to go by next weekend?

That's the intent. It'll depend on how well it functions out of the box, and whether or not I can find a recoil pad/spacer combo in my parts box to work. I handled one at Bass Pro, and it was pretty short. I'm used to a shotgun about 2" longer than the stock length. Should be easy to fix, though.

[59Bassman]

Update-

Picked up my 26" SX3 today, and immediately took it to the range. I cleaned off the packing grease, lubed it with Super Slick, assembled it, added the spacers to the stock (oh yeah, this thing needs to be longer) and dragged a bag of various shells out to try.

I knew - knew I tell you - that there was no way that it would cycle my standard 1 oz sporting clays loads until after I'd put a few hundred heavy shells through it. But before I started shooting the 3 1/4 dram dove loads I had for it, I decided to put a couple of my standard clays loads through it - one at a time, as I knew they wouldn't eject.

First shell ejected fine, broke the target. So I loaded one in the chamber and one in the mag. I'll be dipped - it cycled. So I tried loading 3 shells. Bang - bang - bang. The gun proceeded to cycle about 75 of my light target loads without a hitch. After the first 25 I took the plug out and screwed on my new Briley mag tube. It does hold 8, and it worked just fine. 9 rounds out of the gun in a very short period of time.

I tried slugs as well. Full-power Remington slugs are about 3" to the left at 25 yards through the Mod choke. Managed recoil Remington slugs are about 1.5" to the left. I can deal with that.

Recoil was great (it's a gas gun), and it cycled everything I put through it. The choke tubes back out a bit, but a thin coat of nail polish will cure that. I tried taking the front bead off to install my normal Hiviz comp sight, and ended up having to drill out the old bead. I also added a Briley bolt handle, which I'm not completely sold on yet. Tomorrow will be trying to fit the stock to me and taking it out to shoot some skeet. I'll take the mag tube extension off lest I cause a stroke and two heart attacks in the old boys on the skeet fields.

[ziebart]

Meh I shoot skeet with the tube on mine. Kind of makes it like an over under.

[Sean Gaines]

Update-

Picked up my 26" SX3 today, and immediately took it to the range. I cleaned off the packing grease, lubed it with Super Slick, assembled it, added the spacers to the stock (oh yeah, this thing needs to be longer) and dragged a bag of various shells out to try.

I knew - knew I tell you - that there was no way that it would cycle my standard 1 oz sporting clays loads until after I'd put a few hundred heavy shells through it. But before I started shooting the 3 1/4 dram dove loads I had for it, I decided to put a couple of my standard clays loads through it - one at a time, as I knew they wouldn't eject.

First shell ejected fine, broke the target. So I loaded one in the chamber and one in the mag. I'll be dipped - it cycled. So I tried loading 3 shells. Bang - bang - bang. The gun proceeded to cycle about 75 of my light target loads without a hitch. After the first 25 I took the plug out and screwed on my new Briley mag tube. It does hold 8, and it worked just fine. 9 rounds out of the gun in a very short period of time.

I tried slugs as well. Full-power Remington slugs are about 3" to the left at 25 yards through the Mod choke. Managed recoil Remington slugs are about 1.5" to the left. I can deal with that.

Recoil was great (it's a gas gun), and it cycled everything I put through it. The choke tubes back out a bit, but a thin coat of nail polish will cure that. I tried taking the front bead off to install my normal Hiviz comp sight, and ended up having to drill out the old bead. I also added a Briley bolt handle, which I'm not completely sold on yet. Tomorrow will be trying to fit the stock to me and taking it out to shoot some skeet. I'll take the mag tube extension off lest I cause a stroke and two heart attacks in the old boys on the skeet fields.

As far as the chokes backing out, what you ought to do is put some grease on them before you put into the barrel. It will keep moisture from getting in between the choke and the barrel. you will be amazed at how many barrels, briley gets in because the choke has been rusted/welded to the barrel. As far as the bolt handle, what are you not sold on? do you have the 2 peice, or the solid bolt handle?

[59Bassman]

As far as the chokes backing out, what you ought to do is put some grease on them before you put into the barrel. It will keep moisture from getting in between the choke and the barrel. you will be amazed at how many barrels, briley gets in because the choke has been rusted/welded to the barrel. As far as the bolt handle, what are you not sold on? do you have the 2 peice, or the solid bolt handle?

Sean-

I always carry a small tube of grease for choke tube threads - I didn't mention that in the first post, but I always grease them. When I was shooting my old 425 a lot, it wasn't uncommon for the choke to loosen after a couple dozen rounds, even greased. If you just put a dab of clear nail polish on the threads, let it dry completely, and then screw the chokes in, it can help a bunch with that issue. I don't know that I'll do that with the factory chokes, as I'm most likely going to get aftermarkets for it. For what it's worth, my barrel is a consistent .744 as deep as my bore gauge will reach. My IC is a true IC at .010 constriction, however the Mod is closer to Light Mod at .016. I'm not unhappy with that, LMod is my go-to choke for most things.

On the bolt handle, I got the two piece. I think I figured out what the issue was this morning. On the two piece, if you push it in all the way, the handle gets too close to the bolt, which drops it below the level of the receiver - the gun won't cycle. You have to pull the handle out a smidge to another stop to get it to work. What I now understand after messing with it is that pushing the handle in all the way pushes the handle past the detent. That slight pull out of the bolt is actually seating the handle in the proper position.

I'm about to take it to the skeet range (with the extension tube - HAW), so if the Briley handle still cycles with my target loads, it stays. I like the larger profile for grabbing it quickly.

The only real hiccup so far was the front bead. I took it off to put on my normal HiViz Comp Sight. Ended up breaking off the slots on the original screw and drilling out the old one. It came out without buggering the threads, but I am guessing that the original screw holding the bead in has some serious Loc-Tite on it. It would have been worth heating up before I took a screwdriver to it.

Edited October 8, 2011 by 59Bassman

[Sean Gaines]

As far as the chokes backing out, what you ought to do is put some grease on them before you put into the barrel. It will keep moisture from getting in between the choke and the barrel. you will be amazed at how many barrels, briley gets in because the choke has been rusted/welded to the barrel. As far as the bolt handle, what are you not sold on? do you have the 2 peice, or the solid bolt handle?

On the bolt handle, I got the two piece. I think I figured out what the issue was this morning. On the two piece, if you push it in all the way, the handle gets too close to the bolt, which drops it below the level of the receiver - the gun won't cycle. You have to pull the handle out a smidge to another stop to get it to work. What I now understand after messing with it is that pushing the handle in all the way pushes the handle past the detent. That slight pull out of the bolt is actually seating the handle in the proper position.

They had this issue with the original Benelli bolt handles, and they have since aleaviated that problem. I have never heard of it on the sx3, I have one myself and I have plenty of clearance. I must say I am very pleased with the way my sx3 shoots.