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Phil Bourjaily's 10 Best Cheap Shotguns for Turkeys

Online Editors — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:32:18 -0400

Petzal's Best Rifles, Ammo, Glass and Deals from SHOT

Online Editors — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:48:40 -0400

From the pages of Field & Stream

In a year that was otherwise economically putrid, the 2012 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show was booming. Attendance last January in Las Vegas was so heavy that there were some aisles you could not walk through, and there was lots of great new stuff to drool over. Let’s get to it.

Thompson/Center Rifles

So radical is the Dimension that T/C doesn’t even call it a rifle; they’ve labeled it an Interchangeable Bolt-Action Platform. Whatever it is, it allows you to swap bolts, magazines, and barrels (including heavy barrels) in calibers from .204 Ruger to .300 Win. Mag. I’ve shot it and hunted with it, and it works. The price for the rifle is $600. Each additional barrel is $199, and a new bolt (if required) is $49. tcarms.com

Ruger

A completely new gun, the American Rifle is based on a piston-style bolt with a non-rotary extractor. Its synthetic stock has integral aluminum bedding blocks. The trigger is two-stage and adjustable, and the magazine is detachable. Right now it comes in .243, .308, .270, and .30/06. It weighs only 61⁄4 pounds and retails for $449. ruger.com

Forbes Rifles

If you’ve lusted for a rifle made by New Ultra Light Arms but could not hack the $3,500-plus price, lament no more. Forbes Rifles is a brand-new company that’s building the Model 24B, a semicustom version of the NULA, for $1,500. Melvin Forbes makes the stocks, Forbes Rifles does the receivers, Timney supplies the triggers, and E.R. Shaw turns out the barrels. It weighs 51⁄4 pounds and comes in .270 and .30/06. I took a close look at the 24B, and I can’t tell it from a NULA. forbesriflellc.com

Montana Rifle Co.

Montana’s new gun is the DGR, which stands for Dangerous Game Rifle, and it’s a heavy, super-reliable, no-frills bolt action that will allow you to mess with death in the long grass. This is a stopping rifle done right. You can get it in chamberings that include the horrifying .505 Gibbs, the cataclysmic .460 Weatherby, and the ever-so-pleasant-by-comparison .416 Rigby. In blue steel it’s $2,399; add $100 for stainless. For what you get, that’s a bargain. montanarifleco.com

Savage

Most women’s rifles are men’s rifles with an inch hacked off the stock, but the Savage Model 11 Lady Hunter is truly designed for female shooters. The walnut stock is shorter and the comb is much higher than standard because women have longer necks than men. Savage has also slimmed the pistol grip and fore-end and lessened the front-end weight. Calibers range from .223 to .30/06. It comes in long- and short-action versions, for $819. savagearms.com

Winchester

Even though the Model 71 lever action was built for only a comparatively short time and only for one cartridge—the .348 Winchester—it earned a lasting place in the hearts of hunters. The 71 is a supremely effective rifle—fast-handling, fast-shooting, dead reliable, and powerful. This year it’s back in Standard ($1,470) and Deluxe ($1,660) grades, and it’s just as great as ever. The one weak point is its buckhorn rear sight. Ignore the silly thing and get a good rear peep sight. winchesterguns.com

Norma

This Swedish ammo maker has been in the U.S. for a long time, but in a small way. Now it intends to be a major factor in the market, which is fine with me. I’ve been using the company’s loaded ammo, brass, and powder for years, and all are of the highest quality. Norma will be offering reloading components and ammunition in all sorts of calibers including metrics and British loadings. norma.cc/en

Meopta

Reinhard Seipp, Meopta’s chief operating officer, says, “We’re not very good at publicizing ourselves, but we’re very good at making things.” Meopta is a Czech company that’s been in the optics business for 79 years and turns out riflescopes, binoculars, and spotting scopes of truly top quality and at very reasonable prices. I am in possession of a MeoStar R1 3–10x50mm, a 30mm-tube model that is a paragon of perfection and carries a real-world price tag of only $600–$650.

Kenny Jarrett, who is as fussy about scopes as any human being I know, told me, “If you can’t afford a [here he named a very famous high-priced scope], get a Meopta.” If that’s not a solid-gold endorsement, it will do until the solid-gold endorsement comes along. meoptasportsoptics.com

Carl Zeiss

Your binocular is your most important piece of hunting equipment, and a fine binocular is worth whatever you pay for it many times over. Unless you’re some kind of witless savage, you hardly need me to rave over Zeiss glasses, so I’ll simply state that the company’s new Conquest HD binoculars come in 8x42 and 10x42, are the absolute state of the art, and do not sell for $2,700, or $2,950, or $3,028.31. The real-world price is under $1,000 for either one. They are also covered by Zeiss’s new unconditional repair policy, which means that if they break, or you break them in the line of duty, Zeiss fixes them for free, period, no questions asked. www.zeiss.com/sports

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

Petzal's Best Rifles, Ammo, Glass and Deals from SHOT

Online Editors — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:48:40 -0400

From the pages of Field & Stream

Ruger

Forbes Rifles

Norma

Meopta

Carl Zeiss

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

What Makes a Shotgun a Classic?

Online Editors — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:39:46 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

We are filming my parts of Gun Nuts, Season III, even now. One of the segments we’ll be doing again this year is reader questions. I asked for them a while ago and have picked some to answer on the show.

Here’s one that unfortunately didn’t make the cut for the camera, but I thought it would make a great discussion starter. I’m taking the liberty of posting it here. Thanks to frequent contributor Tom-Tom:

“Phil, in your opinion, what characteristics does it take to make a shotgun “A Classic”? Many of today’s models seem to be the “New and improved” version while others are still made virtually the same as they were many years ago. Is there a common denominator across pumps, side by sides, over/unders, autos and single shots?”

The dictionary definition of “classic” reads: “Judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.”

By that standard, the Remington 1100, which turns 50 next year, was not only revolutionary when it was introduced, it remains a great gun today and is as good an example of “classic” as any.

A gun doesn’t have to be made by the millions to qualify, either. Consider another Remington, the Model 32. An innovative and very strong O/U, it was introduced during the Great Depression and did not sell well. However, the Germans recognized its excellence and bought the design. It was made first as the Kreighoff K-32 and today as the K-80. Its reputation as one of the great target guns validates the Remington 32’s claim to classic status.

It’s also possible for a gun to become an instant classic. Benelli’s 6-pound, 12 gauge UltraLight semiauto was introduced in 2008. In its narrow niche --semiautos for upland brush hunting -- it has already established itself as the best ever (better than the Winchester 59, the Franchi 48 AL, the Browning Sweet 16 and even my favorite, the Browning Double Automatic). It is definitely “new and improved,” useing modern materials like a carbon fiber rib to save weight and a dipped, enhanced woodgrain finish. Performance-wise, however, it’s a classic. It carries easily, points perfectly, kicks less than it ought to, always works, and it already has won a devoted following.

That’s not an answer, but I hope just the beginning of a discussion of what is --and isn’t -- a classic shotgun. Give us your examples of classics and overrated classics, and please back up your choices.

Good Shotguns: Winchester Super X3

Sarah Smith — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:41:56 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

It has taken a while, but Winchester’s Super X3 semiauto has danced its way into my heart. I was a fan of the hefty, retro-styled X2. When Winchester lightened it, gave it a makeover (an ugly makeover IMO) and called it the X3, I was underwhelmed.

I was also wrong. The X3 is a winner.

The particular model of Super X3 that changed my mind is the Sporting Clays version. Winchester sent me one on loan to review a year ago for Best of the Best for 2011. It was high school trap season at the time and I gave it to a girl on our team who was struggling. Her scores went from single digits to low 20s. Since then I have used it as a loaner for several kids and everybody who picks up the X3 shoots it well.

Its magic lies in the combination of length (30-inch barrel) and light weight (7 pounds, 4 ounces thanks to an alloy receiver and magazine tube). The stock dimensions of 1 ¾-inches at the comb and 2 inches at the heel seem to suit everyone who tries it. The X3 gas system reduces recoil extremely well. A long, light gun that doesn’t kick is just easy to shoot. The X3 is also a snap to clean, and those of us in the left-handed minority appreciate how readily the safety button switches over.

While the Sporting Clays version is a very nice gun, it should be for a list price of $1,699. Fortunately this year Winchester introduced a couple of no-frills field versions of the X3, including the Black Shadow which sells for $999 in a 20 gauge and $1,069 in 3 ½-inch 12.

Gun Reviews: All About Non-Disclosure

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:00:22 -0400

by David E. Petzal

In addition to it being Field & Stream policy, here’s why I don’t disclose the names of companies whose stuff gives me trouble.

First, when it comes to equipment of all sorts, I’m a Jonah. I’ve had so much different stuff fail, at all price levels, over so many years, that I have to admit I’m cursed and accept the fact. A small example:

The late George Herron, who is now in the Knifemakers’ Guild Hall of Fame and who was as careful a craftsman as ever stepped up to a grinder, made 2,000 knives over a 30-year career. Of that number, the edges failed on two. Guess who got one of them.

Second, because of the nature of the Internet, whatever you write is bound to be distorted and go ricocheting around cyberspace where it will live forever. Thus, if I wrote that so-and-so’s MSR failed to extract and that I had to pull out a live round with a pliers, in two days I would read that the rifle had blown up and that I was carried from the range minus my left eye and brains leaking from a quarter-sized hole in my skull. You have to be aware that you can do a lot of unintended damage to companies’ reputations if you’re not careful.

Third is the acceptance of the fact that with guns, as with anything else, you have to live with a certain degree of imperfection. Take, for example, Perazzi springs. Perazzi, in some of its shotguns, uses flat springs instead of coil springs to power the hammers. The advantage to the flat spring is, it gives faster lock time than the coil, and unlike the coil, which loses strength over the years, the flat spring maintains its punch right up until the day it breaks.

This is the point at which you leap to your feet and bellow: “You mean I’m paying $11,000 [which is around what they cost] for a trap gun and the springs are going to break? Are you crazy?”

Well, yes, and so are a great many other shooters who use Perazzis and swear by them. Because spring breakage is a possibility, many Perazzi shooters, myself included, carry a spare trigger group, which can be changed in seconds, and/or spare springs and the little lever that you use to install them. I have two Perazzis. One is a sporting clays gun that I bought used in the early 90s. It had already seen a pretty fair amount of use and broke a spring after a couple of years in my hands. The other is a trap gun that I got new in 1985, have shot the daylights out of it, and nothing has ever broken.

If, when you put a Perazzi away you uncock it (and do this correctly) and don’t slam the trigger assembly back into the gun when you take it out (This can create stress risers in the springs.) the odds are you’ll go a long, long time before a spring breaks. If it ever does. So, if I have an extractor malfunction in an MSR, I won’t call down public curses on the company that made the rifle. I’ll send it back, and get it fixed, and find out what went wrong, and let it go at that. I have no doubt that after the extractor is cured, it will turn out to be a terrific rifle.

The Gun Nut Nation Survey 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:42:59 -0400

Sound off, Gun Nuts. Tell us what you love about today’s rifles and shotguns. Tell us what you hate most about the perception of gun owners in the media. Tell us about your hopes and fears concerning a certain election this November. Tell us about what makes you a Gun Nut in the following survey—a collection of questions about the politics, economics, and state of Gun Nut Nation. The results will be published in the July 2012 issue of Field & Stream. Thank you for participating.

A Call for Shotgun Questions

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:04:19 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

Season III of “The Gun Nuts” is in production. As you can see from the video, on one episode our intrepid traveling host/reporter Eddie Nickens goes deep inside the Remington factory to learn its innermost secrets. Can Eddie hit the 200 yard target without glancing a few shots off the tunnel walls? Tune in to find out. It is going to be a fun season.

We will be introducing some new segments and bringing back some favorites, including reader questions. Once again I need you to send me your shotgun questions.

Those readers whose questions I answer on the air will again receive the extremely spiffy and hard to come by Gun Nuts hats Eddie, Dave and I wear on the show. Winning questions will be those that:

a.) I know the answer to
b.) Make for good TV

Let’s have them, and thanks in advance for helping out with Season III.

45 Essential Gear Items Used on the ATV Canol Trail Adventure

Online Editors — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:58:54 -0400

Nine-hundred miles east of Anchorage, the World War II-era Canol Trail winds through the McKenzie Mountains of Canada's Northwest Territories and into some of the most wild landscape in North America. This defunct oil pipeline, turned dirt road, turned over-grown and washed away wilderness trail snakes from the Yukon border to the rich oil fields of Norman Wells. It's considered by many to be the most remote trail in the world.

Last year F&S Adventurer Jim Baird and Video Editor Mike Shea set off to ride the trail by ATV without helicopter or plane support. Others have completed Canol on ATV beginning to end, but none have done it without fuel and food drops along the way. Attempting this self-sustained adventure, Jim and Mike leaned hard on their ATVs, their gear, and most importantly, themselves.

This is the the gear they rode, carried and relied upon out in the bush.

Check out the video series documenting the Canol Trail ATV Adventure here!

The Best Shotguns of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:56:43 -0500

Connecticut Shotgun: Quality Firearms Made in the U.S.

Online Editors — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:22:54 -0500

Here are three of Connecticut Shotgun's latest models, including a sporting clays model, packed with custom features. Act fast because they're offering special introductory rates for certain shotguns.

Stag Arms 3G AR Rifle: Built for 3-Gun Competitions

Online Editors — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:24:46 -0500

The Stag Arms 3G was designed with 3-Gun competitors in mind. Stag Arms offers both right and left handed versions so everyone can join in this growing sport.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 3

Online Editors — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:48:52 -0500

Dave Petzal on SHOT Show 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:27:48 -0500

by David E. Petzal

In a wretched economic year, the pants-wetters, doomsayers, and purveyors of pessimism would be confounded by the life and vitality in the shooting industry. This year in Las Vegas, an estimated 60,000 people (all in the gun biz), many of whom look like Larry the Cable Guy, crowded into a maze of under-ventilated halls to ogle, grope and buy. Guns. What did you think I was talking about?

The most densely crowded venues were dedicated to the wonderful worlds of the paramilitary and law enforcement. Apparently there is an insatiable need for the equipment used in shooting, clubbing, and gassing people. There are suits of full body armor the like of which has not been seen since the Battle of Agincourt. There are all-black deathmobiles, equipped with lethal gear of all sorts. I’m told that Cop World constitutes fully one-third of the SHOT Show. How shooting and suppressing the citizenry ties into Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade is more than I can comprehend, but there it is.

There is also a very notable shortage of Booth Babes. In past years, you could hardly turn a corner without seeing some inadequately clothed young mammal who would cause you to stop dead in your tracks and give thanks to the forces of evolution. Damned if I know what happened to them.

And there are some very good new guns, and not only that, affordable new guns. There is the Ruger American Rifle, and a radical new rifle from Thompson Center, and a second-generation Weatherby Vanguard, and a semi-custom version of the New Ultra Light Arms guns (for less than half their price), a great lady’s rifle from Savage and on and on. You will be reading all about them in the posts and photo galleries to come.

Zeiss is coming out with new scopes and binoculars, plus what I believe is a unique no-questions-asked repair policy. Leupold has a powerful new Gold Ring Spotting Scope, and if you have not heard of an optics company called Meopta, trust me, you’re going to.

As life as we know it draws to a close, it’s perhaps fitting that this is one of the best SHOT Shows I’ve seen, but it sure would be nice, if we make it to 2013, to see the Booth Babes come back.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 2

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:34:22 -0500

First Look: The New Mossberg FLEX Modular Shotgun Platform

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:54:07 -0500

The Mossberg FLEX modular platform is the shotgun world's answer to the easy interchangeablity of the AR rifle platform. Without tools, you can literally convert a black pistol grip home defense shotgun with a railed tactical forend into a camo hunting gun in less than a minute. Check out this video to see how the whole thing works.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day I

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:48:40 -0500

Beretta A400 Xtreme Unico Features Breakdown

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:48:35 -0500

John Snow breaks down the features of the Beretta A400 XTREME Unico semi-auto shotgun.

Browning A5 12-Gauge Autoloader

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:03:11 -0500

Browning's humpback was a favorite among waterfowlers and upland bird hunters and the company is bringing it back to life in 2012 with it's new A5. The gun is a sweet shooter and comes in three finish options: walnut, black synthetic and camo synthetic.

More on Long Range Shooting

Sarah Smith — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:30:40 -0500

by David E. Petzal

Back in April, 2011, I became a probationary member of the Scarborough Fish & Game Association in Scarborough, Maine. The name notwithstanding, SF&G is a shooting club, and a very large, very active one at that. They stage just about every kind of rifle, shotgun, handgun and archery event you can think of, and there is a dedicated range for cops to practice shooting people (so if you have any wants and warrants outstanding, stay away).

Among their assets is a beautiful range with shooting points from 100 to 600 yards, but since the Association’s official religion is safety, they do not let anyone use that range until they’re vetted. You qualify there or you stick to the 100-yard ranges; SF&G does not want any bullets sailing over the backstop. If you raise your muzzle above the level of the backstop you get a warning. If you do it again you are requested to leave.

The 600-yard hopefuls are split into two squads; one pulls targets while the other shoots, and then they switch. You can use any rifle you choose, any scope, or iron sights, and since this is a qualification and not a competition, you can use a bipod or sandbags or a mechanical rest.

All the shooting is done from prone. You start at 100 yards to check your zero, then you move back to 200 and fire five shots for record. All five have to be on target or you go home. The highest possible score is 50. Then you move back to 600 and get to fire a few sighters, after which you make whatever corrections you need and shoot five shots for record. Same rules—every bullet has to score or you get to slink off.

There are half a dozen coaches, all experienced over-the-course competitors to whom this is old stuff. They score you, and will give you advice if you ask for it, but otherwise they leave you on your own because they want to see if you have the knowledge and equipment to get the job done.

For my trial by fire I used a Shaw Mark VII .30/06 with a Bushnell Elite 6500 scope with a mil-dot reticle. Ammo was handloads—155-grain Berger VLD bullets at 2,840 fps. I also used a short Harris bipod. The only question in my military mind was which dot to use to get in the black at 600 yards. Through a mixture of Euclidian geometry, trigonometry, basic physics, consultation with ballistic tables, The Book of Kjells, prayer, fasting, and a whiny call to Kenny Jarrett, I determined that the fourth dot down would get me into the promised land, or at least my bullet would go there.

We had a beautiful calm morning with only a 2 mph breeze, and my first shot went into the eight ring at 2 o’clock. I needed to come left half the width of the eight ring, so I put in enough clicks to do that, and then I had to come down about six inches, so I did that. The next shot was a 10, so it was time to shoot for record.

I ended up with a 45x50—two 10s, a 9, and two 8s. This was good enough to qualify, but in competition it would get you looks of pity and contempt. The guy for whom I was pulling the target shot 50x50-4X, which means he put four out of 5 shots in 6 inches at six football fields. I wish I had the chance to find out what he was shooting, but was able to learn only that it was one of the 6.5s.

A final note: The shooter to my left, who was using an AR, asked me what that huge cartridge was in my ammo block. “A .30/06,” I said, and smiled, because when the old ’06 qualifies as a huge cartridge, we’ve come a long, long way.

Jingle Bells With a 1911

Sarah Smith — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:48:01 -0500

Happy Holidays from the Gun Nuts!

When Good Guns Happen to Stupid People

Sarah Smith — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:37:46 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Spend enough time surfing the internet and you will see horrible sights. This video is one.

During last week’s discussion of the Benelli Montefeltro, the Winchester Model 50’s name came up. Thinking it would be interesting to write about the Model 50*, I went looking on Youtube in search of a video illustrating the gun’s unique action. Unfortunately, the video here is what I found instead. It’s probably better that some readers (Tom from Cody, I’m thinking of you) don’t watch this at all. This is a gun project so horribly wrong-headed I almost didn’t get through to the end of the clip myself.

The guy who posted this says someone gave him this Model 50 as a gift and, since he “doesn’t hunt yet” he modified it to use as a tactical gun, until he could afford “a proper tactical shotgun” such as an 870 or Mossberg 590. All he has done is wreck a neat old hunting gun in the name of having a stopgap tactical gun. And, for the price of the sights, heat shield and shell holder, he could have paid for about half of an 870 Express while keeping his Model 50 intact. Someday, if he does take up hunting, he finally will realize what he has done.

*The Model 50 is an interesting gun, made in the 1950s and early 1960s with an inertia system that featured the floating chamber developed by David “Carbine” Williams that actually moved almost a tenth of an inch under recoil. (The first guns could be fired without a barrel attached, causing concern at the federal law enforcement level. Winchester modified the gun so it could not shoot without a barrel attached). Winchester made both a steel and an alloy “Featherlight” receiver version, and the gun formed the basis for the great and weird steel and fiberglass-barreled Model 59. Winchester made a couple hundred thousand of them, and while the gun wasn’t a huge success, Model 50s still show up regularly in used gun racks which is a testament to their durability.

If Pheasant Hunting Was My Job

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:17:29 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Fortunately, I hunt pheasants for fun and can shoot them with whatever gun I please. And, just as fortunately, market hunting for pheasants is illegal. However, if hunting pheasants was my job and I was paid by the head of roosters I killed:

a.) I would be going broke this year in Iowa.

b.) I would put aside my double guns and shoot my Benelli Montefeltro.

The Benelli is such a perfect ringneck gun. Sometimes I wish I didn't own it because there is no good reason to take any of my other guns pheasant hunting as long as I have it.*

Consider:

It is a 12 gauge. 16s are nearly the equal of 12s and 20s are surprisingly effective, but the 12 gauge outperforms the 16 and 20 with lead, and beats them by a wide margin with steel. 12 gauge ammo costs less and is available everywhere.

It is a semiautomatic. While it is true I can only remember killing one bird with a third shot in 30 years of pheasant hunting, it’s also true that when I hunt with a semiauto, the gun is never empty and broken open for reloading at exactly the time another bird flushes as it is with O/Us and my double.

It is light. Although my Benelli is a 12 with a 28-inch barrel it weighs only 6 pounds, 13 ounces – less than many 20 gauges on the market. It’s light enough to be easy to carry all day, but it has enough weight forward that it moves smoothly to the target. The light weight combined with 12 gauge semiauto firepower is what makes it perfect for pheasant hunting.

It is an inertia gun. Not only are inertia guns reliable, they have no bulky rings or pistons or any other gas system parts up front, just the magazine tube. As a result they have very slender forearms, making them sit low in your front hand and point naturally.

It reduces recoil somewhat. I definitely notice the Benelli kicks less than a double gun on those rare occasions I shoot heavy, high velocity (1500 fps) pheasant loads.

As a side benefit, it’s a handsome gun, too, and mine came with very nice wood. That matters, because even if I hunted pheasants for a living, I would still want to look good on the job.

*Second choice might be a worn-slick 870 Wingmaster from the late 70s or early 80s when they really knew how to make them. I’d want one with a fixed choke barrel, as those tend to have thinner barrel walls and be lighter and livelier guns than the new 870s.

The Top 5 Softest Kicking Semi-Auto Shotguns

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:18:03 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Whenever I post about semiauto shotguns, the subject of recoil reduction and which gun shoots the softest comes up.

Strictly speaking, semiautos don’t reduce recoil. Recoil is a function of the weight of the ejecta (shot, wad and powder) weight, the velocity of the ejecta and the weight of the gun. You can reduce recoil by shooting a heavier gun, or choosing lighter shot charges and/or lower velocity ammunition.

However, semiautos reduce felt recoil (aka “kick”) by spreading the recoil impulse out over a longer period of time. Generally speaking, gas operated semiautos offer the most recoil reduction although not all reduce felt recoil equally. Here’s my list of the softest shooters. Your shoulder may disagree with mine. For instance, I shoot Beretta 391s a lot and like them, but I don’t think they reduce recoil as much as do other gas guns. I also think Benelli’s inertia guns get a bad rap for recoil and aren’t that painful to shoot unless you insist on firing 3 ½-inch shells out of them at which point they hurt, because they are light guns. Anyway, here are my picks:

Honorable Mention: Benelli M4 Not a sporting gun, Benelli’s gas operated combat shotgun is very soft kicking. I have only fired one once but when I did I emptied an extended magazine-full of high velocity buckshot and was surprised how little it kicked and how easy it was to keep on target.

5. Winchester Super X2: the whole Browning and Winchester Gold/Silver/Maxus/Super X2/Super X3 family are almost as soft-shooting as Remington 1100/11-87s. The X2 always felt the mildest to me because it weighed more than any of the others.

4. Beretta A400: With the optional Kick-Off recoil reduction system, the A400 (especially the heavier Extreme waterfowl gun) comes close to being the softest shooter. Without Kick-Off, no so much.

3. Remington 1100/11-87: The 1100/11-87 series are heavy guns with a gas system that reduces recoil noticeably more than almost any other. The 1100 is the original soft-shooting gas gun. Almost 50 years after its introduction it’s still among the most pleasant of semiautos to shoot.

2. (tie) 10 Gauge Gas Guns: The Browning Gold 10 and Remington SP 10 weigh 10-11 ½ recoil-soaking pounds, feature gas operation, and don’t hurt in the least to shoot. Pull the trigger, and you feel a gentle but powerful push, as if a giant has laid a finger on your shoulder while asking you to take a step backward. When my younger son was 12 I let him shoot a bunch of clays with an SP 10 and hunting loads. He giggled at the way the targets disintegrated but the gun didn’t hurt.

And the winner is:

1.Remington Versa Max: perhaps because it is a heavier (near eight pounds) gun, and because its gas ports are located in the chamber (the system is inspired by Benelli’s M4, see above) where they bleed off a lot of expanding gases quickly, and because it has a very thick recoil pad on the butt and in the comb, the Versa Max is the softest-shooting semiauto I have ever tried. It’s a homely gun, but its powers of felt recoil reduction are astonishing.

First Look: Beretta A400 Xtreme Waterfowl Shotgun

Sarah Smith — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:15:31 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

If you can accept the fact that shotguns built by robots (not craftsmen) can have stocks made of plastic and rubber (not walnut) and be “decorated” with camo, (not engraving) and still cost upward of $1500, then we undeniably live in the Best of Times for semiautomatic shotguns. The Browning Maxus, the Benelli Super Black Eagle, the Winchester Super X3, the Remington Versa Max and the Beretta A400 all cycle a wider variety of loads more reliably and with less cleaning than any semiautos that have ever come before.

Until now, Beretta’s 3-½-inch 12 gauge A400 was available only in a walnut and blued model with a sea green receiver. Now it comes in a camo waterfowl version. I had a chance to shoot one at targets and take it hunting last week. It is one terrific hunting gun. Like the Original Recipe A400, the camo version ($1,700) is an extremely shootable, reliable and easy-cleaning shotgun. My beloved 391 (the A400’s predecessor) seems boring and obsolete by comparison.

Besides the Realtree finish, the new version has some other differences from the wood stocked A400. It weighs about 7-¾ pounds, 12-14 ounces more than the wood version. I like waterfowl guns that weigh closer to 8 pounds than slightly under 7 (for a little extra recoil reduction and smooth swinging) so I am fine with the extra weight.

The Kick-Off recoil reducing system has been changed. It is still a hydraulic dampener that compresses under recoil. Now, however, it has been relocated from the butt to the middle of the stock (you can see the rubber insert in the stock) so when reducer compresses, you don’t feel the comb move under your cheek. I shot the A400 with Kick-Off one morning and my 391 the next, and you could definitely tell a big difference in felt recoil.

This A400 Waterfowl’s coolest innovation is a gimmick, but a great gimmick. Its magazine cap removes like no other. Give it about a quarter turn and it pops off. It’s one of those features where you just like to say “Hey, watch this,” and show your friends how easily you can take off and replace your magazine cap.

The waterfowl gun also has Beretta’s Aqua rustproof coating, first seen on the Beretta Xtrema semi-auto. When Aqua initially came out, I mixed up a bucket of very salty water and slopped it all over an old blued junk barrel and an Aqua treated barrel. In the course of a morning the blue barrel rusted badly and the Aqua barrel didn't rust at all. Salt water hunters take note.

The A400 Waterfowl is a formidable duck gun with a formidable price tag. If the idea of plunking down that much money for a gun will drag you through the mud doesn’t faze you, the A400 Waterfowl is what you want.