Here's my concern on beretta. Had an older al390 silver mallard and it was unreliable. Would not cycle lighter loads consistently. Don't know if they fixed the issue with newer guns or not.

Thought about that too. Gonna need a bigger safe anyways.

I have shot a Benelli before as well as a Beretta and ended up buying the Beretta mainly due to price. I think either would make a fine gun for most folks.

The inertia gun is probably easier to clean, the gas gun probably has less felt recoil. I'd say pick the one that fits you best.

Wait... after all that talk about a pretty gun, you bought the Beretta?

I've mentioned that your issue was specific to your gun, and isn't representative of the brand as a whole. gas operated guns will always be more reliable with light loads than inertia designs who rely on the recoil to cycle.

+1.

Your issue was a one off. Did you send it in for warranty work and get it fixed? I bet not. You stand a much greater chance of getting a Benelli that doesn't cycle light loads well than you do with a Beretta.

No company is perfect, you can get a dud with any of them. It is how a company addresses an issue that is important. The first Weatherby shotgun I bought was for my daughter. There was an issue with the shell lifter and it would not cycle. Placed a call to Weatherby midmorning. Within a few minutes I was Emailed a shipping label. Early in the afternoon UPS picked up the trigger group. Seven days later a new trigger group arrived and the shotgun functioned flawlessly.

When a situation like that occurs and the Manufacturer handles the situation correctly, they wind up with a more loyal, satisfied customer than if there had never been a problem. I've purchased three Weatherby shotguns since.

I bought it used so there was no warranty to work with. Sent it to a gunsmith and he rebuilt the gun and still had issues from there. Paid him more to do what he did than I bought the gun for.