semi-auto

[cervusman]

Years ago I had a Remington 1100 skeet and I wore it out with 1000s of shots. Between my wife and I we have a 12b 1187, a 20b 1100 with a skeet barrel and game barrel and a 1100 410 skeet. You could say we love them 

[Whitebridges]

[steve s×s]

On 13/01/2020 at 10:18, Scully said:

I have a Benelli Super 90 which I sometimes take for a bit play on the clays. I really like it and am considering having it chopped from 28” to 24”. It’s money I’ll never see back, but I like the idea of a shorter auto after using mates 24” AL391 Light. 
Have had no luck sourcing a shorter barrel for the Benelli in the UK. 
 

I agree scully, not as refined as a 90 but my Hatsan with 24" barrel is very usable imo, spent years with 28" then 26" on various semis and pumps each to there own

[Taileron]

20 hours ago, Farmboy91 said:

Thank you for the detailed response, much appreciated 👍.

I did look at maxus's too a while ago, I quite liked the idea of the fast loading system but I had seen that got some bad reviews. 

Did you have to run your affinity's in at all?

Hi,

The instructions are a bit sketchy to be honest but i was given advice to run it in with some heavy loads. I did this on one and the other two just used power red, 7.5, 27g. They apparently give 1500fps and have proven to be good, the one i ran in with heavy loads was one one which was returned for a refund, read into that as you will. The maxus speed load function is indeed excellent, but the other issues i encountered did not make up for it IMO. If i were to buy another Maxus it would be the basic wood/laminate version as the extra money for the higher end versions i dont feel represents value as apart from very minor internal differences (jewelling on the side of the bolt), nicer wood and engraving they are identical.

Best of luck with the search👍

[Farmboy91]

3 hours ago, Taileron said:

Hi,

The instructions are a bit sketchy to be honest but i was given advice to run it in with some heavy loads. I did this on one and the other two just used power red, 7.5, 27g. They apparently give 1500fps and have proven to be good, the one i ran in with heavy loads was one one which was returned for a refund, read into that as you will. The maxus speed load function is indeed excellent, but the other issues i encountered did not make up for it IMO. If i were to buy another Maxus it would be the basic wood/laminate version as the extra money for the higher end versions i dont feel represents value as apart from very minor internal differences (jewelling on the side of the bolt), nicer wood and engraving they are identical.

Best of luck with the search👍 

Thanks again for the info 👍 think I'll stick with the affinity and as soon as I've saved my pennies up I'll be putting the order in haha.

[Demonic69]

I shot a Benelli Vinci for a while for PSG. Was an incredible gun and I'd have another in a heartbeat, I wish I'd kept it and converted it to S2 (didn't know I'd be back shooting at the time). Outperformed most M2s over 1000s of carts and only suffered one mis-fire when firing from the hip and not giving it a solid backing for the recoil. It's light, even with 10 in and the recoil wasn't an issue at all. Cycled everything I threw at it!

I'd give any with the same inertia system a go now, possibly a Montefeltro if I could find one cheap enough.

[stu64]

love my hatsan but my benelli is so reliable and easy to clean compared to a gas operated gun. £400 would get you a used benelli or franchi affinity which is inertia I think.

https://www.guntrader.uk/guns/shotguns/benelli/semi-auto/12-gauge/premium-plus-191018133804012

[Lloyd90]

On 12/01/2020 at 16:44, welshwanderer said:

whats the best semi-auto to buy for clays, my budget is 400 pounds. thanks

I've a Remington 11-87 for sale if your after a great gun, £375. I'm in Bristol. 

[gemini52]

On 12/01/2020 at 17:13, Gordon R said:

I've owned most autos, but Remington 1100s were the best handling. Duncan Lawton won two World FITASC Championships with one - no other auto has equalled that.

I  have owned two remi 1100s great guns, the down side the cost of spares, one the link broke that was about 25 quid and i am going back some 15 years,the second one the stud that alines the barrel broke off so sold it to a mate for pigion shooting,lost count of the amount of semi,s i have owned over the years,i have a sx3 sporter at the mo its brilliant it comes with adjustable comb full set of long chokes, never failed to cycle any cartridge,i liked the remi but they do have the down sides.

[udderlyoffroad]

I realise I’m probably a little late to the party on this one, but the info might be useful for someone other than the OP.

I have a second generation Hatsan Escort, and whilst it’s fine cycling my preferred clay cartridge – Hull Comp X 28g, it does have a tendency to produce quite high felt recoil with these cartridges – and they normally have a reputation for being soft.  With heavier game loads, it’s fine, even a 30g 6.  I assume Newton’s third law is coming into play here.  I.e. within the gas-driven cycling system, the lighter loads don’t produce the equal and opposite reaction within the required parameters. Though the carts still cycles, it appears to kick more.

Conversely, when I started clay shooting, the instructor used a Beretta A400 with the same carts, a combination deliberately chosen in order to minimise felt recoil for beginners.  But of course that’s a £1200 gun not a £250 one

Do the inertia-driven guns at the lower end of the market (Franchis/cheaper Benellis) suffer from this too?

[steve_b_wales]

On 12/01/2020 at 16:56, spurs 14 said:

Personally , I’d go for a new hatsan escort , early ones were knocked by a lot of people but for a good few years now they have been reliable ,synthetic or wood , choice of calibre , comes with full set of chokes and I think it’s a three year warranty 

 I’ve had one for years , love it  great pigeon gun can go out in all weathers and not have to worry about it 

fit is the most important thing and to help these come with shims to alter both cast and length 

you could have a hunt round the dealers for s/h it really is a personal choice whatever you like the look of and fits you 

As above. Earlier models were 'not good' to say the least. I have a FAC (8 shot) model and it's superb. Never let me down. Just keep it clean and use the correct length cartridges.

On 12/01/2020 at 18:05, welshwanderer said:

ive owned a hatson it wouldnt cycle the lighter cartidges, even after changing the o ring

Length of cartridge is more critical that weight. Mine will cycle any weight from 24gr upwards.

[Taileron]

2 hours ago, udderlyoffroad said:

Do the inertia-driven guns at the lower end of the market (Franchis/cheaper Benellis) suffer from this too?

In a word, yes. I have had the good fortune to shoot a Córdoba and an affinity back to back and the felt recoil was more on my affinity but it does not have the comfortech stock which the benelli did so I put it down to that. The difference was marginal IMO. On the same day I shot a supernova with some heavy loads which gave me a right whack, even with the comfortech, but that was nothing compared to the 10g we also had a go with, now that’s a mans gun.

[captainhastings]

Loving my hatsan now I have got used to it. Only complaint is the camo colour lol

[Guest cookoff013]

those premium plus / economy benelli are the old sl80 designs. 

i have a montefeltro nice.

 

[udderlyoffroad]

On 16/01/2020 at 21:16, captainhastings said:

Loving my hatsan now I have got used to it. Only complaint is the camo colour lol

I like it too, but I’m not using it at clay grounds as the OP asked.  For wondering around a perm on a late afternoon seeing if you can bag whatever’s in season it does the job, and actually points pretty well compared to some much more expensive guns out there. 

Actually the higher felt recoil with clay loads was something my missus complained about.  I hadn’t noticed in particular until she mentioned it, hence me asking about the more budget-friendly inertia guns.  Will try and have a go on a Franchi.