Finally looking to get a new shotgun (for both clays and dove) and I did some searching around here and found some recos for Benellis (inertia) and of course Berettas and the old standard Remington 11-87s (gas).

You guys have opinions on these in terms of longevity and maintenance? I'd like to spend under $1K for my gun and get something that will take a light beating in the field and lots of clay shooting as well. I was leaning towards the 11-87 as I have an older Remington 1300 20ga that I love, but now this whole gas vs. inertia has got me thinking if I might not like a Benelli M2 or something. Is the whole O-ring thing and the gas system really much more maintenance than the intertia system? Any opinions are welcome, thanks!

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[This message has been edited by Echoes97 (edited 8/5/2009 11:07a).]

Beretta AL391 Urika 2 in synthetic. Thank me later.

Beretta Xtrema 2

remington 870.

I don't know that I'll ever have a need to shoot 3 1/2" shells, as I mostly do dove hunting. Isn't that the main difference between the Urika and the Xtrema?

Love the 870, just looking to get a semi-auto this time around.

Us And Them - The Pink Floyd Experience
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Any of the Berettas or Benellis in that range suit you perfectly. The Benelli inertia system runs a heck of a lot cleaner. My dad has an M2 he hasn't cleaned in about 4 years and it performs flawlessly.

Saw this one on THF

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/945389/an/0/page/0#Post945389

Listen to Sloan.

I've got a Remington 1100 that's gas, and a SBEII that's inertia. Both are great guns, but the inertia system of the Benelli definitly requires less tlc. You can break the gun down in a matter of seconds and have cleaned and put back together lickity split.

The 1100 takes more work to clean, but I would much rather shoot skeet with it than the SBE with the inertia system.

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There's my issue right there. I've seen WAY too many inertia driven guns fail to cycle 2 3/4" low power shells. If you're waterfowl hunting with it, awesome, get an inertia driven.

If you're hunting dove, quail and shooting some clays with it? ...well, you do what you want, but I'll never own an inertia driven shotgun.

I will readily admit it's a bias, but it's my bias. I hate inertia driven guns.

Franchi I-12

FWIW i have never seen my old mans m2 fail to cycle anything. He dove hunts with it and shoots remington sure shot mostly and ive seen it shoot rio flawlessly as well. My al391 urika has never failed to cycle either. If you have a preference go with it if not you just cant go wrong either way imo.

I can't comment on inertia guns, because of the fact that I've never shot one, although people RAVE about the AL391. I can, however, tell you about my experience with my 11-87 Premier, which I have endorsed here before. I've hunted this gun for the last 8 years, every year. I bought the gun in college when I worked at Wal-Mart with my 10% employee discount. I wound up paying $530 for it and I love this shotgun. I'm a moderate bird hunter.. I put about a case of Remington dove loads through it last year and had 1 stovepipe. I didn't clean the gun until the end of the season. The shotgun cycles the lighter SuperSpeeds pretty well, although I do tend to have more ejection failures with those than with the heavier Remingtons.

You can't go wrong with this gun. Tried and true American classic.

Used/owned both did shoot 1 or 2 cases of shells each year. Gas operated is the only one to own. So much easier on your body and adds to enjoyment.

Just get whichever B-gun [Browning, Benelli,or Beretta] that fits you best (swing all 3) and buy all three. One at at time.

Gas operation hands down better.

gas operated

more weight then inertia, less perceived recoil than inertia ,if your gas seal goes out you have a single shot

inertia

lighter, simpler , if it gums up you can break it down in the field clean it and you are good to go again. but if you get a benelli w/ comfortec it should help on perceived recoil.
if you are shooting birds and having fun you wont feel it