First Shotgun for 3-gun

[bearsniper]

Shot my first 3-gun match last Saturday and now I'm hooked and looking to buy my first shotgun for 3-gun. I found a like new M1 super 90 with a 28" barrel and 11 round nordic mag extension for around $700. I don't have much experience in the sport, just wondering if this would be a good deal and if a 28" barrel would work for competition until I could find a shorter barrel.

[mscott]

Sounds like a fair deal to me. I wouldn't get too hung up on the barrel length. You could always have it shortened in the future. Do a little searching on this forum and you'll find a lot of good information.

[davidwiz]

That is a good price. Any decent gunsmith can cut the barrel down and thread it for choke tubes.

[bearsniper]

Ideally I would like to use the 28" for hunting, how hard would it be to find a shorter barrel, and what price range am I looking at? Also is a 28" legal for most non-open class competition? I don't really mind the longer sight plane if there isn't much disadvantage. Are the m1/m2 barrels interchangeable and does the whole crio thing really make much difference?

[Kyle O]

Check out FNH SLP. Pretty much set up for 3-gun already. Love mine.

Let us know.

[bigbrowndog]

Bear, your 28" barrel will be legal in most, if not all classes and matches. Stick with M1 barrels if your gun is an M1, the chokes will interchange that way, a spare barrel will set you back anywhere from 300.00 to 400.00 dollars.

It sounds a bit pricey but you can shoot what you have till you find another barrel or come up with the money.

trapr

[TROUTDIVER]

Not to steal the thread but I just bought a Rem 11-87 with a 28" barrel. What are the pros and cons of a longer/shorter barrel?

[kellyn]

They're aren't many pros to a longer barrel in the 3 gun world, unless it's some sort of sporting clays stage. But remember that Open class shooters do just fine with longer barrels. They're just a bit more difficult to manuever.

I would spend your $300-$400 on ammo and improve your shooting skills as opposed to getting a new barrel.

[jasonk_jasonk]

Check out FNH SLP. Pretty much set up for 3-gun already. Love mine.

Let us know.

I was wondering the same thing lately and settled on the FN SLP myself. They are a bugger to find these days so you'll have to be patient. Sadly, I'm not patient at all but did find a used one that cost me $1,000 shipped. Looks to be in excellent shape and I can't wait for it to get here so I can take my Dremel to it

Jasonk

[bearsniper]

Would it even be possible to cut a 28" barrel to 21 or 22 inches and rethread? How much would a gunsmith charge for something like that?

[RH45]

When 3-gun first started, most rules for limited/tactical class limited you to a 21", or 22" barrel, but, I think that most places dropped that rule.

I think that having a longer barrel actually gives you an advantage with the longer sighting plane. I have run in to a few stages over the years that catered to the shorter barrels by making you go down hallways, ect, where a shorter gun would have been a little handier.

Have you actually shot a Benelli yet? Although I think they are fine shotguns, and are light enough to hold up with one hand if you load with "weak" hand, I prefer the softer recoil of the Remingtons, or, at least my bad shoulder does.

P.S. depending on where you shoot, and their rules, you may have to plug the gun so it only holds a max of 9 rounds, or, you may want to pick up a +8 extension tube if the rules say that you only are limited to 9 rounds at the start signal.

[TROUTDIVER]

I 've got two prices, $125 with tubes and $75 no tubes. I think I'll run with the long barrel for awhile just to see how it works.

[Nalapombu]

As for shortening the Benelli barrel, I did a bit of research on it a month or so ago.

I am kinda in the same boat, I have a M1 S90 with the 24 inch barrel that I would like to shorten to 21 inches. The first thing I thought of was having it shortened. I called and emailed a few shotgun 'smiths including the MASTER SMITH Benny Hill. To sum it up, you are looking at probably $200 MINIMUM to shorten the barrel on the M1 and get it set up for use. That doesn't include choke tubes. Mr. Hill told me that the Benelli barrels can't be simply shortened and re-threaded to use the factory tubes, the walls of the barrel are too thin. They can be re-threaded for tubes, but they are special THIN WALL tubes. Naturally this adds money to the job. Another thing is the vent rib. I got the idea that it wouldn't be blended and tapered like it is on a factory barrel if you have it cut. It would be cut back to the nearest rib support. Now that might not matter to you, but it does to me. I want mine to look good too. To get it cut and re-threaded with the thin wall tubes it would probably be in the neighborhood of $250 or so. I don't know how the vent rib would look either.

Option #2. Benelli doesn't make barrels for the M1 anymore. The barrels for the M2 will fit though. There are 21 inch M2 barrels available with choke tubes. A new or GOOD USED M2 12 gauge barrel will cost you anywhere from $400 to $450, depending on who you are buying from. You can sell your barrel and put about $100 with it and get a 21 inch barrel and you're set right? NOPE!! If you get one of the M2 barrels for your M1 your front forearm won't fit anymore. You have to buy one of the M2 forearms and they sell NEW for about $150 or so. I don't know what a USED one would sell for. So if you go that route you are looking at about $250 or so, give or take for a new M2 21 inch barrel and forearm, if you sell your barrel to offset the cost. Straight up buying the stuff puts you at about $600.

Option #3. You can sell your newly acquired M1 with the 28inch barrel and put the money towards a NEW or used M2 with a 21 inch barrel. This would probably run you anywhere from $300 to $450 depending on what kind of deal you could find the M2 for.

Option #4. You can keep your 28 inch barrel and shoot it for a while until you find a 21 inch M1 barrel and then buy, trade or sell your barrel for it. Here again the cost outlay is going to be about $400 for a straight up M1 21 inch barrel, naturally less if you sell yours or trade it.

So that's what I have found out in looking into the exact same thing you are talking about. I am still looking. I am going to try and find a 21 inch M1 barrel and if and when I do, I am going to sell my 24 inch barrel and buy it. Who knows how long it'll take.

Good Luck.

BD

Edited May 9, 2009 by Nalapombu

[bearsniper]

I really apreciate all the help, just want to make sure I find out what I'm looking at cost wise before I pull the trigger. I may just use my super black eagle until I can find exactly what I want

[CraigS.]

Unless you have to have a M1 , a new M2 with 21" barrel runs around $1100

to me It would be a good excuse to buy a new shotgun.

Craig