Respectable for a 1st time on a SC course. I’ve only shot it 3 times. 79 was my first score using my wife’s 303 25+ years ago, on a course over by 9 Mile Falls. Not sure I’ve done any better since. I’d sooner shoot 27 yard handicap though.

ended up buying a Franchi Affinity 3 20 gauge a couple weeks ago..

first day i was livid, i think it cycled MAYBE 3 shells out of like 75, every other one was short thrown on the bolt (half way back)...

never owned an inertia gun before and it made me even more mad that it was happening...

the thing is super light, points light a lazer, swings great, and now, about 500 7/8ths shells and about 50 3 incher later, its broken in for the most part, out of 150 shells yesterday only 1 did it, and it was when i let a chick shoot it and she may have been holding it different and the bolt didnt get enough force...

but at first i was livid, it cost more than my Beretta (950 bucks), but i was intrigued by the 7 year warranty they offer (beretta and benelli are 3 year).. glad everything worked out..

we are gonna be hunting with Katies dad possibly again this year, were supposed to do a Columbia salmon/pheasant trip but he might not be able to get in to Canada to get the boat at the house in Campbell River, we will see...

will get the bird permit this year to chase grouse atleast, and maybe some pheasant down in the Skook site or whatever....

update on the clunkers..

Franchi doesnt care for the Winchester Uni bulk shells, i think its the ribbing being so miniscule on them compared to Estate or Remington or Federal shells... less ribs, equals more surface area touching metal, which could make it more difficult to eject with the 7/8th ounce loads... runs the other brands fine, and 1 oz when i can find them fine as well... still a good shooting gun tho, havent shot it in a little while, cleaned it a couple days ago and shot a round of trap with it yesterday, hit 24 so not too bad...

now on to the Beretta...

it has been the definition of reliable, completely astonished... people have asked how many rounds out of it i have, and i always say about 6-8k, well thats off... way off..

i try to shoot 600 rounds a week and i have had it about 30 weeks... well 600 times 30 is 18k shells, but there are a couple days i havent shot, or a couple that i shot 400 or 450 or whatever... 400 times 30 is 12k...

so legitamately i probably have 13-14.5k out of it so far, and there has only been 1 issue...

the Winchester Uni bulk ammo isnt the greatest, and there was 1 shell that had a bulge in it and it wouldnt fit into the barrel, i was shooting skeet, and click, nothing, bolt was only like 3/4 of the way closed... wad inside the shell was kicked sideways and had a bulge in the middle preventing it from going all the way in...

other than that, its ran like a swiss watch, dirty, rainy, hot, whatever, thing just keeps going...

ive seen 4 A400s have cycling issues with certain loads, the A300 cycles everything (i havent shot those gimmick mini shells however)...

thanks for the advice on the Beretta snit, love the thing, for the money, it cant be beat...

oh, and i after a only a few months of doing it, shot a 26/26 in skeet yesterday (hit 2 with 1 shell), followed it up with a 24/25, because i missed the last fvcking bird...

oh well, sh!t happens...

Have an acquaintance that waterfowl guided and also shot competitively some years back. He berated the Benelli autos because, IIRC, they had a roll pin or some such in the action that had a rather short life span and was prone to fail abruptly. This outcome was accelerated by 3 1/2" loads. The Beretta autos were his choice for function and perpetual longevity in less than favorable environments. YMMV....

Signed,
A pump and o/u fan.

i think the Franchi just doesnt like 7/8th WInchester loads, shoots others fine.. ill have to call them and see what they say..

they have a 7 year warranty, which is the reason i bought it, well that and i had tons of ammo here and needed another gun...

ive kinda been on the fence about purchasing an O/U, but i likely will...

likely will be a Beretta SP 1, with adjustable comb, Etchen has them for about 2400...

then i came across this one today, id really like to hold one, very interested in it honestly...

https://fnamerica.com/products/shotguns/fn-sc-1-overunder-blue/


i also came across a FABARM semi auto that has caught my attention, so i dont know what im going to do honestly..

not in a hurry, havent seen one of these in the wild, and finding a Silver Pigeon with adjustable stock in stores here is never going to happen... so i may have to blindly order which i dont really like to think about doing...

https://fabarmusa.com/l4s-sporting/

well, yesterday wasnt fun..

was shooting duck tower with my friend (the non olympian) and i had a FTE...

pulled the bolt back, and the empty was in there stacked on top of the other shell, basically it told me that the bolt didnt go back far enough to sling it out and tried to load another shell...

just figured it jammed...

put the other shell in, click, nothing... checked for a primer strike, and there wasnt one, which was odd, and i immediately thought i broke the firing pin maybe, or that something just didnt mesh right...

so i tried it again...

KABOOM

smoke came out the side, the bottom, and the area where the stock meets the reciever...

blew the shell completely apart, and fvcked my ears up pretty bad, they are still ringing and it sounds like im under water some times...






after that happened, the bolt wouldnt release with the button until i messed with it, and even now, the button seems stiff without the bolt even in the gun... so im sure there is more damage in there..

off to Beretta it goes, we shall see what happens...

sucks too, i got 2nd place in last months Sporting Clays shoot (hunter class), and fully expected to get 1st on the next one in 2 weeks, as i changed out my choke for one i thought i should have used, and missed a couple, should have kept the other one it.. i was only out of first by 1 bird..

looks like i will have to wait a couple months to try again..

oh sorry, that part, is the locking block, which prevents what happened from happening..

the ears sheered off..

That looks nasty !

Glad yer ok. So, does it go back to the maker for support?

yeah im gonna send it back to Beretta, at first they were just going to send me another locking block, but there is damage in there for sure, the button to release the bolt is stiff so i think something got bent or some sh!t, i cant tell...

my hearing is starting to come back tho, still ringing a little but better...

Don't think I have ever seen that happen like that before, hope you are wearing ear protection.

at that time i wasnt, stupidly, but that wont happen again...

i got frustrated last weekend shooting 5 stand with my 20 gauge, Winchester Universal shells are so inconsistant with manufacturing that the ones that arent ribbed enough, will not cycle sometimes in the Franchi, Federals it eats like candy, same with Fiocchi, and Remington, just not Winchester...

well i was doing great, and the fvckin thing jammed on me again and it pissed me off...

so i ended that problem once and for all..

i quit mid match, came home, dropped the stuff off, and drove to Sportco and bought a new gun...

been eyeing it for a few weeks, that and a Fabarm Axis RS12, loved the feel of it, but didnt like some of the reviews, and you cant go wrong with a Beretta 686 action..

so i bought a Silver Pigeon I Sporting, with 32 inch barrels...



so far i love it, just need to get used to it... ive only shot 3 rounds of trap, 2 rounds of skeet and 1 continental, but i did good, the 3 trap rounds are 23 23 and 24, continental was 21 (normal), and skeet i sh!t the bed the first round and shot an 18, then shot 24...

i also havent been shooting as much since ive been fishing, so i guess that practice does make one better..

ill be good to go for sporting clays in a couple weeks, and im counting on myself to pull out a win this go....

hopefully...

Bummer on your Beretta. I hope their CS treats you well. I haven't been pleased with their CS regarding a trigger issue with my Tikka, but that's off-topic.

Seldom do auto's hold up to the pounding that competition shotgun shooters provide (and expect) their tools to withstand; let alone with minimal servicing. Quality stack barreled guns do provide this. Nice choice in the Beretta.

I was in Argentina last week, and we shot Breda shotguns (20 ga) for doves (which appeared to be a Benelli clone). While I was impressed with the gun on my first day as there were no FTF's, on the 2nd and 3rd days there were WAY too many FTF's. The day I killed 1000; the first 2 hrs I was alternating between 2 of them as I was melting both of them down. Pieces/chunks of metal were falling out of the actions...but there's no telling how many hundreds of 1000's of rounds those guns have had ran through them? The guns were cleaned every evening by the bird boys, and I'd stop by the range room in the evening to assist (not needed though), but they had a well-established cleaning program. Both of my buddy's Breda's functioned fantastic though, so I figure I just had some bad luck with older guns.

yeah slamming 30+k shells through it in 14 months probably didnt help too much, is what it is...

the new one im really starting to like, everything is starting to settle in, just need to get some more chokes as i only have C IC, M, IM, and F, Briley has a 5 choke set on their website on sale for under 400, which i may grab soon, i like extended chokes a bit better personally...

this is it all together, next to my buddies (the non olympian) 9k dollar Ceasar Guerini... thats a tad out of my price range tho, but its a very very nice gun, and shoots like all hell...