I have inertia guns......looking for a gas operated

Trying to get some info on some guns. What are the pros and cons of the Beretta A350, Winchester SX3 and the Remington Versa Max? Which is the most reliable....which is the softest recoil.....which is easiest to clean...is there one that doesn't operate well in freezing temps...etc.
Thanks

My buddy has a Versamax. Very little recoil but has given him a few problems also. He's switching to a Benelli if that tells you anything......

A300 has been flawless for 3 seasons thus far. Recoil is very manageable and take down is simple. Handles very well for me.

I don't know about al those but my Maxus does everything I want, easily.

I would recommend the Beretta A400 with Kick Off

I do not think you will find a softer shooting 12 gauge and last time I checked it was the lightest and fastest cycling 12 gauge. Takes me same amount of time to clean my gas and inertia guns.

Beretta A400 Xtreme all the way. Softer shooting than A350 and will handle dove loads much better.

I sold my Benelli and got me a Beretta A400 Extreme. Copuldn't be happier. Benelli makes a good gun but inertia guns can be finicky with certain shooters...like mine was.

I’ve had a SBE2 and a A400 Xtreme, I kept the A400 because of how soft it shoots, in my opinion. The only benefit of the SBE2 over the A400 is that it’s lighter and easy to carry on long walk ins. Both excellent guns, though.

can you elaborate on finicky with certain shooters?

MAXUS without a doubt. I bought my Maxus when they first came out, and I've never had it fail me. I've shot every kind of shell you can think of through it. It's been on countless duck, goose, spring conservation snow goose, dove, and sporting clays shoots. It recoils so light that even my wife likes to shoot it. It all comes down to feel for what you are wanting. I chose the Maxus based on how it fit me. It'll handle anything you can put it through. It's very easy to clean/disassemble. I do know that the Berettas are heavier feeling for some. You can't go wrong with Browning or Beretta. I believe once you shoot a Maxus you'll fall in love. That's what happened to all of my buddies once they shot mine. I hope this helps in your search.

I have a SX3 and have zero complaints about the gun!! Has worked flawless for the last 5 years!

With some research you can find plenty of shooters that have had problems with inertia operated guns. With my situation, the testing, different shooters with my gun, some who shoot the same gun(SBE2) different loads etc, my benelli just would not shoot duck loads with me. Black cloud was the only shell that would cycles thru my Benelli with me shooting it. It never would jam with dove loads though. Just duck loads. I held that sumbitch EVERY possible way with several shell brands....jam jam jam. I actually shot it thru 3 duck seasons before I had enough of it....each year trying different loads. grips figuring it was me. Only after I let others shoot it I figured out it was the gun. Some shooters it would not jam on...plenty others it did what it did to me...jam up.

I shoot Browning shotguns because they fit me best off the shelf. Have 12 ga Silver in synthetic that I use for waterfowl and 20 ga Gold Field Grade I use for dove and the occasional upland hunt. I will use the 12 ga for dove in certain situations such as rainy weather or if I’m after highflying WW dove.

The 20 ga has had a lot of use and barely a scratch on it. The 12 ga silver has taken a beating over the last 10 seasons but is still reliable.

Did you feel it was a drawback with the Maxus that you couldn't add an extended magazine tube for the conservation snow goose?

I am shooting a Beretta A300 and love the thing shoot well with low recoil. There is one downside however,after 3 years of hunting hard with it, the gun still does not like to shoot anything lighter then 1 1/8 oz. This really isn’t a deal breaker to me seeing that I rarely shoot loads that light. Other than that great gun

if the guns are not held tight to the shoulder they can experience mis-loading usually due to the gun not fully cycling properly.

I have several older Berettas that never let me down. 1972 AL2 12 gauge (although the loading is a little awkward, it's never failed). Also a 302 and 303 80's and 90's shotguns, all very reliable! I covet the A400 and even the A300 just to see what they will do, but too much tradition and I'm not convinced i'll get even one more bird shooting them!

Beretta A400 XCEL!

I have a Maxus for sale in the classified, just fyi.

No, I did not feel that is was a drawback not being able to have a mag extension. All the conservation hunts that I've been on their wasn't a reason to shoot a mag extension. We had guys with Benellis that would hold I believe 11 shells. They said they would do a quick mag dump on the first volley of birds for the fun of it and they would be done with that mess. After, the hunt I asked them on each volley of birds on average how many shells would they shoot, and they said on average they would shoot 5-6 shells.

Interesting, never heard of that nor seen it in all of my years running Benelli's.

When I graduated from pump to semi-auto some many years ago, I immediately went with Beretta as it was a long time dream to have one. Back then I didn't know the importance of shotgun fit and how vital that is. I shot a cheaper semi-auto and eventually bought an A400 Extreme when they were first introduced. It was a great gun and served me well, but I will admit it did not seem to fit me great even after making the shim adjustments. I also found that it had to be cleaned fairly regularly, or I would experience failure to feed, especially in colder weather where the bolt wouldn't close all the way. This happened on a few hunts and frustrated me while my buddies with Benelli's weren't having issues. After shouldering an SBE2 and liking the feel, I ended up buying one, as it fit me better and the inertia system didn't seem to be bothered by the colder weather. I now own and SBE2 in 28" and SBE3 in 26" and don't think I'll look back. I've sold my A400 (to family) only because I couldn't justify having 2 SBE's plus an A400 (I like 2 guns when I travel for guided hunts, as it's good to have a backup). That said, the A400 is truly is a great gun, and I do miss the kick off system, especially on 3.5" when goose hunting! I do still love Beretta and have one of their O/U's for sporting clays, but for waterfowl I've committed to intertia system, however that's just a preference of mine. Gas guns are great guns, you just have to clean them. Keep in mind Benelli is owned by Beretta, so they aren't as much of competitors as folks think.

Most importantly, I recommend finding a gun that fits you best and points where you point when you shoulder it. Best of luck!

Look up my past threads. I have some about my Benelli experience. After posting those I have had a handful of guys on this forum pm me about them having the same issues as I was having. At the end of the day I think all 3 "B" gun makers make excellent shotguns. But even with that all three are going to make a few lemons. I think I may of had one. Hell I almost got me another SBE2 figuring what in the hell are the chances of getting 2 lemons in a row. I loved the fit of that Benelli....maybe a bit better than my Beretta. I just know that now I have true Semi and not a single shot.

Maxus all the way.

Gas operated, cycles extremely fast, slim like the Benelli's

I prefer gas operated because the gun doesn't rely on the shooters shoulder to cycle the round.

Good point never thought about that, could explain why some shooters have issues with inertia guns. I been shooting an SBE2 since 2008, never had an issue with it and I have shot 1 oz loads to 3.5 inch loads. I only clean it once a year before dove season, I completely abuse this gun, I don't even use a case during hunting season. This year, it got mud in it and started jamming, so I cleaned it in the lake, worked great after that.

i really like my Browning Maxus. i've had no issues with any shells or any field conditions. i can tell when it needs a cleaning because of an increase in recoil. I clean it and back to new.

I held the benelli so tight I thought I would peel the paint off it....and every other way you could hold it. My hunting buddy shoots a SBE2 and his gun never jams and he never cleans it also. My gun jammed on him also.

this, oh did I say this....

A400

The guys at Cabelas tried to sell me a Winchester SX4. They seemed to think it was the greatest shotgun ever made and it was pretty nice. I had already made up my mind to buy something else but if I hadn't, I probably would have bought one. At the time, I thought it was too new and a bit of a risk but after reading this thread, it seems that every gun is a risk.

Absolutely correct. With inertia guns you are part of the action. I have both gas and inertia and like both. I use inertia for ducks because it is the one that is camo and use gas for everything else.

I put same amount of effort in to both when it comes to cleaning. Neither my gas or inertia are difficult to break down and clean but I imagine there are some that are.

Because you are OCD. I’m ADD, so I would put least amount of effort into both.

I have a left hand Remington Versamax 28" black synthetic that has never jammed in my 1st year with it. I followed break in procedure that I do with all new guns. I clean all the shipping junk off inside and out. Recoat with teflon oil. Then shoot a box of high brass lead shells thru it, clean it again and all shells cycle fine after that. Did that with a Benelli M2 that was one of the best guns I ever owned. Today I bought a Benelli SBE II new in left hand camo with a 26" barrel. When it gets here I will do the same. Didn't need the Benelli but I wanted it. Bought the shorter barrel for the sandhill hunts in the future and who knows.... maybe a duck hunt some day. I'll need some of you old pros to put me on the X though.

I own SBEII A300 A400 versamax and old 391

A 400 by far most reliable by far. Don’t look anywhere else. Dropped it totally underwater in the mud 3x this season. Wiped it down last time- forgot to first 2x. Still had tons of moisture in it. Flawless action.

Don’t even consider anything else. Shot 1.5 flats this year and about 1 flat last year-600 rounds or so with zero cycling issues. Rarely clean it.

For someone that don't know how to turn a wrench you sure are a tool

LOL

That sux, don’t they have a warrentee to cover that? You should have been able to return it.

I could but in the middle of this season I had enough and didn't want to ship it so I got me an A400. My son will use my benelli for dove this year...never jams on dove loads.

I would send it back this offseason, you pay that much money for a gun. I would call them and tell them your story, especially the part about buying A400 and messing up your hunting season. If they are worth their salt, they will take care of it, send you UPS label to print off and ship back to them...

I agree with Guy. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, BDB, I’ve just never heard of something like that happening (with you vs different shooters). Interesting. I would definitely get in touch with Binelli and see if they’ll make it right. It definitely sounds like a lemon.

Did you clean your gun before you shot it the first time?

I bought my SBE about 15 years ago. The dealer told me to do 2 things.

1. Clean it before I fired the first shell through it
2. Shoot about 50 rounds of 3" duck loads before attempting dove loads.

He claimed the guns came with some type of protective coating on it that needed to be removed before shooting. If I didnt remove it and it heated up from shooting it would be nearly impossible to remove later.

I dont know how true that is, but I know Ive cleaned every semi auto Ive ever bought prior to shooting them the first time and have never had a jammer.

With all that said, dont buy a Beretta Outlander.

Exactly!

There is a nice owners manuel that comes with these guns....nothing mentioned about those procedures you just wrote about. If true thats back on Benelli. But I'm good now...that A400 kicks arse!

[/quote]

From the SBEII Manual
"WARNING: due to precision machine toler- ances on your shotgun, some breaking-in period may be required before your new gun works perfectly with light target loads. If you experience any initial functioning problems, we recommended firing three or four boxes of standard hunting loads to allow for this break-in period"

Seems to me they give a warning in line with what was said. As for cleaning before initial use, you should make it a standard practice to clean ANY gun before you operate it for the first time.

Seems like I also remember reading that it is shipped with a pretecive oil that needs to be removed. Been 10 years though, but all this sounds familiar.

I have an uncle with 4 sons and another uncle with 2 sons. One year for Christmas they bought all 6 boys a new Browning Gold semi-auto.

4 of my cousins hunted a lot and shot them straight out of the box. All had issues down the road, they performed find the intial hunt or two.

I told them what I was told and when my other 2 cousins showed up to the hunting lease, they cleaned their guns prior to shooting. They never had an issue.


So its up to you. You can follow the manual exactly as written, or listen to others that have past experience with these situations. Its completely up to you.

I was told the residue hardens into a tar or resin like substance and is extremely difficult to remove once hardens. Gun dealer I bought gun from offered to clean it for me for $20, said if I fired 1 shell through it he would charge me $50.

From those moments on, I'd rather take the extra precaution and give my gun a quick cleaning with a good solvent. It takes 5 minutes. 4 semi-autos later, it seems to work.

Your gun, your choice.

Guns are sometimes coated with Cosmoline which is a rust inhibitor, that is probably what the dealer was referring to.

You seem frustrated. Fear not he made the correct decision, he bought a Beretta.

Nope, my guns perform flawlessly.

Between my son and I, we have Remingtons, a Benelli, a Berreta, and Brownings.


The Beretta Outlander is my only regret. Difficult to reassemble for my son, and it kicks both shells out the tube everytime he unloads at the end of a hunt. He shoots it extremely well though and doesn't have that issue when shooting.

I didn’t mention this because it seemed BDB would’ve read the manual and really tried to give the gun every chance and tested it thoroughly. I honestly thought he got a lemon.

I have a Stoeger and the manual gives a similar warning and advice.

Your joking right? What was described in my quote with what you just reprinted from the Manuel are NOTHING alike. It even states "standard" loads. I cleaned the gun then proceeded to shoot 8 limits plus all the misses of dove my first season. So I would imagine I broke the gun in lol. In case you missed it, dove loads never jammed in my benelli...just duck loads which is [censored] backwards to the norm.

No, I wasn't joking. Their recommendation of 4 to 5 boxes was actually more than his suggestion of 50 rounds, assuming you are using a standard 25 shell box (4x25=200)

Since Dove loads are light loads and they are essentially the equivalent of light target loads. The intended use of the gun is waterfowl generally speaking, so when they refer to breaking in with "standard hunting loads" my presumption would be to use standard high brass waterfowl loads, not light dove loads. I would even bet you could find similar verbiage in the A400 manual.

I used nothing but Remington heavy dove loads...1 1/8 once. I wouldn't call that a light load. Its not a heavy load either. Seems 'standard' to me. I got the gun in august and started with dove and went to duck. Cleaning and then running the amount of shells thru it that I did....it should not have had the issues it did.

I believe 1 1/8 ounce loads are the lightest Benelli says the SBE II will cycle, even after a proper break in, so that wouldn’t be the load I’d choose to break it in with.

The point of breaking it in is to run heavy (not what you’d call a light load, but a heavy, probably 3.5” load) through it so that it will cycle the dove loads. It’s an inertia gun, so it needs the energy to cycle.

I did go to publik skool, but 4x25=200?

You sir are correct.

Sounds like his problem has nothing to do with not cleaning before he shot it or not breaking it in. Either case would give more issues with lighter loads.

Sure sounds like something isnt quite right with the gun.

Never seen that one before.

(Not in anyway saying I dot believe you)

Was it several brands of heavier loads?
Was it only 3" + shells hanging up? What about high brass 2 3/4"?