Semi auto choices

[Scully]

9 hours ago, jking said:

It's definitely very tempting! I keep moving further and further away from what I originally intended to spend, but I'd rather buy something that I'm happy with.

Seriously, the Franchi will not disappoint. Just get it bought and get out there and have fun. 👍

[holloway]

I bought an Affinity one for my fowling ,previously had several sx3s .well made light couldn't ask for a better semi ,I too like some nice wood but the synthetic is a practical tool for the job and would be hard to beat for the money.Also with steel you don't really need the 3 1/2 heavy loads .(in my opinion)

[Poor Shot]

Does one really need to use 3 1/2 cartridges for the average days wildfowling? Or even for taking on geese?

In the same boat as the OP albeit with a budget that sees me looking more at the Turkish and second hand end of the semi auto market.

[udderlyoffroad]

11 hours ago, jking said:

It's definitely very tempting! I keep moving further and further away from what I originally intended to spend, but I'd rather buy something that I'm happy with.

I bought a secondhand Montelfeltro for £550...It's great, incredibly light and cycles 28g clay loads reliably too.

Before then I had a secondhand Hatsan Escort which cost £150 - it's a cracking tool for the job, and I wasn't worried about it getting scratched or wet out roughshooting. Wouldn't always reliably cycle clay loads, and was obviously a bit more chunky than the Benelli so was a bit more of a lump to get swinging.

Am not a wildfowler so can't comment on the 3.5" question, but from the outside looking in, seems to me that you should be able to get most of the loads you want in 3" anyway.

[holloway]

1 hour ago, Poor Shot said:

Does one really need to use 3 1/2 cartridges for the average days wildfowling? Or even for taking on geese?

In the same boat as the OP albeit with a budget that sees me looking more at the Turkish and second hand end of the semi auto market.

Just remember with steel being lighter than lead you get more pellets  than the equivalent lead load, so as long as your velocity is fast enough to kill humanly at sensible ranges,your patterns should be more dense.I have never felt that I have needed more than 3inch  ever.

Having said that nothing wrong with maximising your efficiency with more pellets.

[cardigun]

Don't forget you will need to use larger pellets in steel to get the same weight. Ie. Use no.3 steel to replace No.5 lead. 

[Poor Shot]

2 hours ago, holloway said:

Just remember with steel being lighter than lead you get more pellets  than the equivalent lead load, so as long as your velocity is fast enough to kill humanly at sensible ranges,your patterns should be more dense.I have never felt that I have needed more than 3inch  ever.

Having said that nothing wrong with maximising your efficiency with more pellets.

Thanks.

The second hand market for 3 inch semi autos is a lot bigger than that for 3.5 inch. 

Just Cartridges has a good selection of loads in 3 inch that are suitable for use with geese.

I'll go with a 3 inch chambered gun.

[Lloyd90]

Not sure why you’d get a 3” rather than a 3 1/2” on purpose? 
 

The ability to use 3 1/2” shells should you so need is always there. 
 

My Maxus is 3 1/2” chamber and shoots 3”, 70mm and 65mm (30g 6’s) fine. 
 

I have some Hull Comp X 65mm carts that are notoriously soft shooting, I will give them a try in the Maxus. 
 

I reckon it might struggle with them, but I would expect that. 

[jking]

7 hours ago, Westley78 said:

I went for the Affinity One as the 3&3.5 hadn’t been released yet and like you i intend to use it mainly as a hide gun so I went for the synthetic stock as I hope this will be less susceptible to damage and would look better being all black as l knew I would have to have the extended pad.

Thanks Westley78 - yeah I was thinking the same

6 hours ago, Scully said:

Seriously, the Franchi will not disappoint. Just get it bought and get out there and have fun. 👍

Scully.....you started giving me ideas! I've got a very good deal on a brand new Benelli M2 and decided to go for that

6 hours ago, Scully said:

Seriously, the Franchi will not disappoint. Just get it bought and get out there and have fun. 👍

Scully.....you started giving me ideas! I've got a very good deal on a brand new Benelli M2 and decided to go for that

[udderlyoffroad]

1 hour ago, Lloyd90 said:

Not sure why you’d get a 3” rather than a 3 1/2” on purpose? 
 

The ability to use 3 1/2” shells should you so need is always there. 
 

My Maxus is 3 1/2” chamber and shoots 3”, 70mm and 65mm (30g 6’s) fine. 
 

I have some Hull Comp X 65mm carts that are notoriously soft shooting, I will give them a try in the Maxus. 
 

I reckon it might struggle with them, but I would expect that. 

You've more or less answered your own question Lloyd...The point is that a given model of semi in 3" will likely be less fussy about light loads than the same model in 3.5" - and there's a bigger choice of the former on the secondhand market. 

Speaking of the market, there appears to be more choices in 3" cartridges now, even for wildfowling purposes.

So, taking those two factors into account, the OP is likely better off looking for a 3" model on the secondhand market.

 

[Croohur]

1 hour ago, Lloyd90 said:

Not sure why you’d get a 3” rather than a 3 1/2” on purpose? 
 

The ability to use 3 1/2” shells should you so need is always there. 
 

My Maxus is 3 1/2” chamber and shoots 3”, 70mm and 65mm (30g 6’s) fine. 
 

I have some Hull Comp X 65mm carts that are notoriously soft shooting, I will give them a try in the Maxus. 
 

I reckon it might struggle with them, but I would expect that. 

I agree. I have a 3.5 Maxus. I consider it more as a 3 inch that will shoot everything down to 24g with some cartridges. But always nice to have the 3.5 option there, even if I don't see myself using it too much. Just adds a bit to its versatility. 

[holloway]

1 hour ago, udderlyoffroad said:

You've more or less answered your own question Lloyd...The point is that a given model of semi in 3" will likely be less fussy about light loads than the same model in 3.5" - and there's a bigger choice of the former on the secondhand market. 

Speaking of the market, there appears to be more choices in 3" cartridges now, even for wildfowling purposes.

So, taking those two factors into account, the OP is likely better off looking for a 3" model on the secondhand market.

 

Exactly, there is a reason why they aren't all made 3 1/2 inch .

[Scully]

4 hours ago, jking said:

Thanks Westley78 - yeah I was thinking the same

Scully.....you started giving me ideas! I've got a very good deal on a brand new Benelli M2 and decided to go for that

Scully.....you started giving me ideas! I've got a very good deal on a brand new Benelli M2 and decided to go for that

The M2 won’t disappoint either. 🙂

5 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

Not sure why you’d get a 3” rather than a 3 1/2” on purpose? 
 

The ability to use 3 1/2” shells should you so need is always there. 
 

My Maxus is 3 1/2” chamber and shoots 3”, 70mm and 65mm (30g 6’s) fine. 
 

I have some Hull Comp X 65mm carts that are notoriously soft shooting, I will give them a try in the Maxus. 
 

I reckon it might struggle with them, but I would expect that. 

With the added bonus you can maybe get three of the 65mm in the mag’ of a S2? 🙂

I know you can in the Browning Gold. 

[ninjaferret]

5 hours ago, jking said:

Thanks Westley78 - yeah I was thinking the same

Scully.....you started giving me ideas! I've got a very good deal on a brand new Benelli M2 and decided to go for that

Scully.....you started giving me ideas! I've got a very good deal on a brand new Benelli M2 and decided to go for that

Who said go for Benelli so many moons ago ? 

AND for what it's worth i had an old , old ,  Baikal 3.5" semi auto and it never missed a beat on any cartridge size, 3.5's for the ganders or little ones for clays.   

[jking]

42 minutes ago, ninjaferret said:

Who said go for Benelli so many moons ago ? 

AND for what it's worth i had an old , old ,  Baikal 3.5" semi auto and it never missed a beat on any cartridge size, 3.5's for the ganders or little ones for clays.   

Ahh yes it was you!! That got me starting to look at Benellis and couldn't look back

[Lloyd90]

7 hours ago, udderlyoffroad said:

You've more or less answered your own question Lloyd...The point is that a given model of semi in 3" will likely be less fussy about light loads than the same model in 3.5" - and there's a bigger choice of the former on the secondhand market. 

Speaking of the market, there appears to be more choices in 3" cartridges now, even for wildfowling purposes.

So, taking those two factors into account, the OP is likely better off looking for a 3" model on the secondhand market.

 

I think you’d struggle to find a Semi auto with a 3” chamber that would fire Hull Comp X 65mm carts reliably. 
 

Like I said they are notoriously soft shooting. My 3 1/2” cycled 65mm 30g 6’s no issues. 

3 hours ago, Scully said:

The M2 won’t disappoint either. 🙂

With the added bonus you can maybe get three of the 65mm in the mag’ of a S2? 🙂

I know you can in the Browning Gold. 

My mate had a couple of boxes of the old Gamebore clear pigeon 30g 6’s the other week, 65mm cart. 
 

As you say, you could theoretically fit 3 in the mag with 1 in the spout, if you were so inclined. 

[ninjaferret]

58 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

I think you’d struggle to find a Semi auto with a 3” chamber that would fire Hull Comp X 65mm carts reliably. 
 

Like I said they are notoriously soft shooting. My 3 1/2” cycled 65mm 30g 6’s no issues. 

My mate had a couple of boxes of the old Gamebore clear pigeon 30g 6’s the other week, 65mm cart. 
 

As you say, you could theoretically fit 3 in the mag with 1 in the spout, if you were so inclined. 

My benelli's fire everything you put through them ......

3 hours ago, jking said:

Ahh yes it was you!! That got me starting to look at Benellis and couldn't look back

I know i'm just AMAZING.....

[udderlyoffroad]

10 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

think you’d struggle to find a Semi auto with a 3” chamber that would fire Hull Comp X 65mm carts reliably. 

My Benelli will cycle them ok.  My Hatsan, not so much.  The rebranded Eleys Mendip Shooting ground makes you use are fine in the Hatsan, however.

Edited to add: in case anyone doesn't know, the Benelli is an inertia-driven mechanism, whereas the Hatstand is a gas operated.  As a rule, inertia-driven guns are less cartridge fussy.  Obviously there are exceptions to this, and for anyone who wants a basic gun, the newer Hatsans are cracking value for money.

Edited July 24, 2021 by udderlyoffroad

[gustav]

There's a nice looking S/H M1 super 90 on Guntrader for £575