Benelli Legacy

[bshefa]

I currently own a Browning Silver and am considering a new field shotgun... I am very interested in the Benelli Legacy in 12 g. Does anyone own one? Any opinions?

[lambertsteeth]

I don't own a legacy, but do have a couple of Benelli autos.
They are fantastic guns for reliability. Many thousands of rounds through mine, without a problem. Easier to clean than a gas gun. More expensive, but definitely worth it.
Many of my sporting clays buddies have gone to the Benellis over gas guns, because they are just less headaches.

[Rugerismisticness]

Your about to hear from a lot of people that they kick a ton and just aren't worth it. This is not true; with the proper stock shims put in place and the proper length of pull, the recoil is less than a 391. I put a wolff +25% recoil spring in mine along with a briley 8oz wieght, both of which technically hinder reliability. Both of them, an m2 montefeltro and a Cordoba, are 100% reliable with 1oz 1100fps loads. They are very reliable guns that can take the punishment of not being cleaned. The lug system for the benellis are stronger than the remingtons and berettas, they also don't wear as fast (remember that remington sells several plus size lugs for their 1100 and 870s) as the cam design. I like the legacy, but I chose the Cordoba over it because of price, the synthetic stock, the comfortech system (yes it works, not a gimmick, I can collapse the chevrons with my hand) and the barrel porting (this was my first ported gun, and comparing it to the legacy barrel on my monte, the porting does reduce muzzle climb). Also, the wood doesn't mind being in the rain so much as it is water proofed, but it is more likely to crack than any synthetic stock. Just something to think about.

[RUT]

The Legacy is basically a Sport ll with some window dressing. I have two Sport lls (12 & 20) and they have become my primary clay guns. The just "keep on tickin", and are a breeze to clean. It's all personal preference, but no gas guns for me. ;)

[dalecooper51]

I had a Benelli Black Eagle Competition imported by HK for a couple years which later turned into the Legacy. I never had a lick of trouble with it and it could go a while without cleaning. I think the most I put through it without any cleaning was about 2k rounds. It got to the point where it was disgusting enough that I didn't want to touch it and had to clean it. I really liked the two piece receiver.

I found the front end a bit light and whippy. I had to add a magazine cap weight to it and also some weight to the stock. This negated the 7lb carry weight but made it more shoot-able to me. For a field gun, it was fine, but I like to shoot lighter loads on the skeet field. It would not reliably cycle my 3/4 oz loads and was only marginal with my 7/8 oz loads as they didn't have enough oompf. The felt recoil was definitely more then a gas gun.

This is just my opinion, but I am not a fan of the recoil guns. I would much rather have a gas gun even if it is a bit heavier to tote around.

[BigJimP]

The Browning silver series is a good field grade shotgun / what model of the silver series do you have ?

What is it that the Silver series won't do ...that you want the Benelli to do ?

( not that a guy shouldn't buy another shotgun ) ...

[Slugo]

it would definitely be a Benelli. I'm a Browning diehard through and through, but, the Benelli is just the best of the lot IMHO. I can see a 20 gauge walnut shod SuperSport in my collection some day...

[RUT]

>>I can see a 20 gauge walnut shod SuperSport in my collection some day... <<

If it's a Supersport it won't be walnut shod. ;)

[lambertsteeth]

Others have commented on the Benellis having alot of recoil. I definitely think they recoil differently than a Beretta. I don't think they recoil more. When I tried the Benelli, after shooting a 391 for years, I noticed a distinct difference. The sight picture, sound, and feel are VERY different. I honestly don't think Benellis kick more, though.
To be fair, I am a big guy, so recoil is an afterthought to me.

[1rsnider]

I have a 12 ga. Montefeltro and my brother has a Legacy and we both love ours. The action is smooth and never jams and it has a great feel to them. They are owned by Beretta and I understand the Berreta has the same mechanism in some of their guns, so you might want to check both.

Can't go wrong with the Benelli.

[BigJimP]

No, Beretta does not have an Inertia gun ..../ although Benelli is a subsidiary of Beretta - all of Beretta's semi-autos are gas operated.

Beretta owns other subsidiaries - and some of them make Inertia guns as well - like Stoeger...but the Stoeger Inertia systems are not identical to Benelli's systems.

I hear the same claim a lot - that other divisions of Beretta use the same Benelli systems ---and the models that I have looked at closely - while they are similar - they are different. Stoeger has had a number of quality, cycling issues in their semi-autos / and Benelli has not had many issues. Its my opinion that the Benelli systems are superior to other Inertia systems.

The Benelli Super Sport models - are all carbon fibre stocks / no wood stocks in the Benelli Super Sport models.