$2,000 limit. I want a semi-auto 12g for duck and geese. What should I purchase?

Winchester SX3 or Browning Maxxus. Get synthetic. Pocket the ~$800 left over.

Browning A5 or Maxus, depending on if you want gas or inertia.

Take the rest of the money from budget and buy another gun and ammo.

I just got a Maxxus and love it. 7lbs and light recoil.

I have a Winchester X3 and a Super X4. my brother and brother in law both have the maxus. The Winchesters and brownings have been great, cycling any load every time. we won't shoot any other auto loader.

my brothers best friend converted to a Super X3 after taking his Beretta A400 pheasant hunting with us and missing out on the fun because his overpriced lamp pole wouldn't cycle. He is hooked on the SX3 as well.

SX3 on sale for 749.00. 200 hundred off

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/winchester-sx3-field-semi-auto-shotgun

SBE 3 and pocket a little bit of money for extras, or SBE 2 and pocket even more money.

+1 SBE 3

Winchester all the way. Awesome gun. Everyone that shoots mine loves it. That bass pro deal is awesome.

Beretta A400

Brother listen to me...
I've been a Beretta guy all my life. Grew up shooting tournaments with the AL390s, Urika's and Optima's

Became a waterfowler in college
Went into Champion 15 years ago to buy an Xtrema
but walked out with an SBE II

Now I've toted that thing from Chesapeake Bay to the Platte River in Nebraska, multiple trips to Stuttgart, the Gulf Coast, Louisiana etc.

Best duck gun I've ever had

I own 4 berettas, 2 o/u and 2 auto. I shoot at least 1 or 2 cases a month and have yet to have a single shell not cycle. They've been doing it for 500 years.

In a first last week my buddies Benneli super eagle 3 would not cycle the Italian target loads. (Clever or Bornaghi). Other buddies Ethos is a fine gun and I've never seen it not cycle. I really like that gun also. If he's reading this I'm sorry your dumb ass dropped it in the parking lot and gave it its first scratch.

I think you were the one that sold me on the SX3. I bought one a few years back now and love it. What did they do to upgrade the SX4?

x3 on the SBE II

Or get the SBE III for the improvements.

Franchi Intensity if you don't care about the name on the gun.

SBE 2/3 otherwise.

Another vote for the Browning A5. I've had one 3-4 year now and love it. Bought it because i couldn't stand the thought of my Betetta clays gun getting trashed out. It gets used hard in typical duck conditions - wet, sleet, ice, mud, etc. It's holding up great. I'm sentimental to the look of the humpback as my grandfather shot the old Brownings.

The other recs in this thread are all solid. Go handle a few, check the way the gun mounts to your shooting pose from the factory, and if getting a synthetic stock, try to get a version that comes w shims so you can adjust your drop and cant to fit you.

I see we have a lot of people that only like to buy cool shotguns and not use them... explains the benelli love.

In all seriousness, it's a Chevy (benelli) vs Ford (Beretta) vs Dodge (Winchester).

I personal prefer the gas autos because the recoil is better and they have been more reliable and less sensitive to ammo type. I don't have any problems shooting 3.5" shells out of the A400 with KO. My buddies with Benellis don't want anything to do with a 3.5" shell.

I'll also say that most of the guys I duck hunt with that bring a "backup gun" were Benelli owners...

A400 Xtreme Unico Max5 or SBE

I'd get an Ethos

Love my Maxus

mneisch said:

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I think you were the one that sold me on the SX3. I bought one a few years back now and love it. What did they do to upgrade the SX4?

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The SX4 was the Guns and Ammo shotgun of the year for 2017, and rightly so. Mechanically, it is the same as the SX3 because you can't improve on perfection.

The changes are all in how it handles. They shaved a few ounces off the total weight and moved the point of balance out an inch or two. What you really notice is the narrower stock, narrower wrist, and a reshaped foreend thst seems to rest deeper in my hand. To make it easier to operate with gloves, they gave it a bigger safety, bigger bolt release, bigger bolt handle, and bigger trigger guard.

I stand a shade under 5'10" so i don't have long arms and big hands. At first i wasn't sure if i liked how it handled, but after a couple of rounds of clays it felt pretty natural. I have hunted with the SX3 exclusively for 10 years and was accustomed to how it felt. Once i got used to it, my hands seem to fit better on the SX4 because of the narrower stock and wrist. The SX3 feels fatter in my hands. Love them both though. There is no better autoloading shotgun than the Winchester/Browning.

I paid $100 less for my SX4 in 2017 than i did for my SX3 in 2007

Just to be different,

Fabarms LS4

i'll throw in that I have been super pleased with my Benelli M2 field. Mine is in 20 gauge and my dad has the 12 in a L.H. version. and to ttha_aggie_09's comment, i haven't had issues with mine that would require a backup gun.

The only time i have ever had any issue at all I was shooting hand loads and hadn't cleaned the gun in longer than i am comfortable admitting. even then, to get it back to working fine, all it took was a field strip, wipe down all parts with one of those silicone infused gun cloths, put it back together and spray in a mist of gun oil.

I could see how people might like it being slimmed down. I have rather large hands so the SX3 fits me perfectly, but the forearm is on the large side compared to my other shotguns. It's been absolutely flawless though in the years I have owned it and probably one of my best firearm purchases. I upgraded from a Stoeger that was always giving me trouble.

agfan2013 said:

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SBE 3 and pocket a little bit of money for extras, or SBE 2 and pocket even more money.

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EOT

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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I see we have a lot of people that only like to buy cool shotguns and not use them... explains the benelli love.

In all seriousness, it's a Chevy (benelli) vs Ford (Beretta) vs Dodge (Winchester).

I personal prefer the gas autos because the recoil is better and they have been more reliable and less sensitive to ammo type. I don't have any problems shooting 3.5" shells out of the A400 with KO. My buddies with Benellis don't want anything to do with a 3.5" shell.

I'll also say that most of the guys I duck hunt with that bring a "backup gun" were Benelli owners...

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That is BS. Benelli is definitely a Ford not a Chevy!

ttha_aggie_09 said:

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My buddies with Benellis don't want anything to do with a 3.5" shell.

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No one should have anything to do with a 3.5" shell

I went back and forth for MONTHS on a new semi for ducks/geese. Ended up with the A5 wicked wing... and I'm REALLY happy with it. Everyone wants to hold it when I take it out of the case.

http://www.browning.com/products/firearms/shotguns/a5/current-production/a5-wicked-wing-mossy-oak-shadow-grass-blades.html

I've never had a performance problem with my Benelli M2.
It's been in -26 degrees while duck hunting in northern Montana and ran flawlessly while other gas guns were gumming up and failing.
I've shot thousands of cheap, light target loads without a hick up.

Also the new browning A5 is identical to Benelli just in a different wrapper. Take them apart and you will see they are the same internally.

Am I the only one who wishes they would offer these shotguns with a synthetic stock in an olive drab or sand color? The all-black I feel can stand out in certain situations & the all camo models to me are just visually unappealing.

Apache said:

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Am I the only one who wishes they would offer these shotguns with a synthetic stock in an olive drab or sand color? The all-black I feel can stand out in certain situations & the all camo models to me are just visually unappealing.

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A400 with Gore Optifade (waterfowl optifade) is sexy! They didn't have one available when I bought so mine is Max-4...

I've got a NIB A300 Outlander Max5 that I'd sell ya, and you can spend a whole lot of that $2k on shells.

I took it in lieu of rent payment from a buddy, but I have no need for another 12ga duck gun.

Another vote for the Beretta A400.