After selling a kidney to pay for it, I bought a Benelli Super Black Eagle II at Bass Pro Shop today. I thought I wanted to buy a Browning Maxus until I put the two next to each other. The action on the Benelli is much better (to me) than the Browning. The wife like the Benelli better, so I ended up with it. 26" barrel. Pics tomorrow hopefully.
way to go! I don't think you'll be disappointed. I own an original SBE, and would rather shoot it than any other shotgun. Inertia action is best! turkey, waterfowl, upland. Just don't shoot too light of a load in 2 3/4. I think 1 1/4 oz. is as low as mine likes.
You got the exact gun I wanted. I had to get a 28" because that's all they offer in a lefty camo version. You will love that gun. Mine has killed a bunch of waterfowl, upland birds and even coyote. It's drastically lighter than anything I've ever encountered in the gas gun world and a pleasure to carry all day.
Allow me to offer one quick and easy piece of maintenance advice they do not offer in the manual. I still can't figure out why they don't mention this since it's critical to trouble-free operation given that powder, dust and field residue like cattail "fur" inevitably find their way into the works. At any rate, once a year, typically after the season is done, remove the stock from the gun. Place the gun in a vice with a towel wrapped around it to protect the action. Added for empashis: do not over-tighten the vice as you could bend the bolt raceways inward near the charging handle slot using too much compression; all you're trying to achieve with the vice is preventing action from spinning. Unscrew the nut at the end of inertial spring tube with a fairly long adjustable crescent wrench. Do so carefully and with eye protection since the spring in there is under some compression. Simply remove the spring and the recoil piston that are in there, and clean them with any powder solvent of choice. Using a rolled up paper towel or clean rag, do the same the to inertial tube itself and very lightly lubricate the spring. If you're going to hunt in extreme cold, a dry lube may be a better choice since standard oil can thicken and make for a sluggish return to battery. Replace the pieces and you're ready for next season. The handful of action issues I've heard about Benelli guns have always come from people who don't know this piece of info and have never cleaned this area of the gun.
I don't know about the old ones, but I've never had issues with the light stuff. I shoot cheap target loads from wally world all day with it. Last year, I put a 7-round mag extension on mine for snow goose season. Just for kicks, I loaded it up with 2+3/4" steel #2 loads, and pulled the trigger as fast as I could to see if it could handle light loads on a fast cycle. It never had an issue.Originally Posted by U T
Last edited by Six-Gun; 02-25-2013 at 02:53 PM.
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
Congratulations. I love my benelli SBE2 and you will also. I have a few shotguns but rarely take anything with me but the benelli! The SBE2 is 1 1/8 oz load minimum.
It's crazy you say this. I've had my SBE2 for 2 years now. I was at the skeet range with a buddy last weekend and it was 15 degrees shooting light loads (1-1/8 oz). Every other shot was not cycling correctly. After some reading online I realized it was my exactly that. Heated up the spring housing nut and pulled the spring couldn't believe the amount of residue build up inside the recoil spring tube. Thanks for the tip for everyone and also think it should be in the owners manual.
Good to know Sixgun, thanks. Congrats WorldT, I was not impressed with Benelli until I won a Montefeltro and shot it for a season of sporting clays, my scores improved. My 1100 shoots softer to me, but more cleaning for them and a little fussier with ammo and my 1100 has sat for a couple years now.
Don't forget to have your wife do a few shoot off the porch drills with it.
Thanks. It's funny because what you said was the exact symptom that got me to ask around about a similar issue: a day at the skeet range. I thought that the gun just didn't like those particular cheapie Walmart loads when I was starting to see cycling problems. Then, I started having problems with the duck loads I normally use not ejecting fully and stovepiping. I had not opened the gun up in the aforementioned manner in nearly two season at this point and was starting to worry that something more serious was going on. Then I read around and found that some folks on other gun boards said that the procedure I mentioned above was the key to preventing the cycling issues. When I pulled out that spring it was immediately obvious where my problems resided. One easy cleaning and all issues were resolved.
Yes, the SBE II (and my old M2) is inertial and by that virtue alone requires less maintenance than a gas system, but that are not maintenance-free. Clean that tube once a year - or sooner if cycling problems show up sooner due to exceptionally heavy use - and you're golden. Benelli really needs to make this standard reading in their owner's manual.
Last things to note: I highly suggest not using heat to remove the nut unless it's absolutely necessary. Some models, like mine, feature a plastic locknut in there that is sure to melt and burn up (with a lot of smoke, I might add) if you put a torch to it. I know because I did this to my old M2 and she smoked like an old locomotive within seconds of the heat hitting it. At the end of the day, it didn't seem to degrade the recoil tube nut's ability to stay tight, but I was pissed that I cooked it. A firm grip from the bench vice and a good-sized crescent wrench should do the job without the need to potentially damage the locknut. I also added a point in my previous post that it's vitally important not to crank the hell out of the vice when you put the action in it. You only need enough force to keep it still to loosen the retaining nut on the intertial spring tube. Excessive tightening could permanently bend and damage the action.
Last edited by Six-Gun; 02-25-2013 at 07:13 PM.
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
Six-Gun - You are right about the problem with the recoil spring in the stock!!! I had problems with both my benelli's at the same time, back in 2002 with my SBE and my 20 ga. Montifeltro. Back then Benelli service said for me not to take apart because, (if I remember correctly) the nut was epoxied or glued in, can't remember exactly what they used, and that they would need to disassemble. He said that once they repair, they would not epoxy, so I could take them both apart myself to clean it. The SBE was seized up due to large amounts of rust, so they installed a new recoil tube and spring. I address the fact back then, that there was no mention in the manuals for maintenance/cleaning/lubricating the recoil spring area. It was nice for them to send it back to me without being expoxied in, but they should have done something regarding this. I'm mean seriously, they've known about this problem for over 11 years and still nothing in the manual regarding this area of the gun?
The guns were 6 years old at the time, and they did it all for free!
I also checked my ammo, and mine will shoot 1 1/8 oz loads no problem
Last edited by U T; 02-25-2013 at 11:33 AM.
U T -
I agree. That detail you wrote about the epoxy is the only thing I can figure for why they don't advertise this cleaning operation: some of the older guns use epoxy instead of the user-serviceable plastic locknut. They may think that someone is going to go nuts with a wrench on an epoxied bolt that simply won't free up and damage the gun in the process. Other than that, I can't make any sense out of not providing instructions on cleaning that tube, especially with the newer guns. Not cleaning there for multiple seasons is the equivalent of running a car on the same crankcase full of oil for several years until it seizes. Yet many of us and a lot of their other customers, it seems, were doing just that purely out of ignorance.
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
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