Benelli M2 20 Gauge

Any of you guys use one for turkey hunting? I made the mistake of handling one today, now my SBE feels clunky. Hal has a 1 and 7/8 oz Tss load now in 20 gauge, so it would lose almost nothing in performance.

Ya'll and ya'lls 20's are gonna make me spend some more cash on turkey hunting.

I have shot skeet with a M2 20 and it is a sweet gun. It's a dream to shoot. I'll give you top dollar for that OU when you get it done and think you need a M2

I picked one up in Gander Mountain a couple years ago and did some serious lusting and coveting. I bet they'd be great for quail hunting but I'm resisting all the new turkey gun temptations. My 12ga M2 does just fine.

M2 20 is probably the finest 20 auto made, and a fine turkey gun.

I bought a used one off aldeer this past spring....bought a cheap turkey choke and cheap shells from Walmart and it still threw a pretty decent pattern at 30 yards. It feels really nice compared to my 12 ga...gonna try it out on some doves this year.

The Yildiz is a SXS, so you are out of luck on getting an OU from me. Besides, I've already promised my daughter it will part of her inheritance. I guess I could be a really good dad and go ahead and give it to her for Christmas; then I'd have to buy another gun for myself. I'm gonna figure out a way to talk myself into this.

I'm actually making some progress with the Yildiz, and I would be happy with it if I can get it to shoot straight. But the M2 became a backup plan today.

Thanks for all the replies.

Sounds like a great back up plan.

Didn't you recently note to me that you were a "poor" country preacher? Hasn't seemed to slow down your gun buying endeavors

I hate you brought it up... now I'm thinking I need to trade in my wifes 11-87 for a 20 ga M2... Hmmm both my wife and daughter can shoot it... Dang it man

>>>Didn't you recently note to me that you were a "poor" country preacher? Hasn't seemed to slow down your gun buying endeavors<<<

I got a feeling that 11 Mexicans are gonna cost a lot more than a gun.

You'll make enough money off me to buy the M2; go ahead and get it.

I have one that I patterned with a Pure Gold choke and Nitro #7's. Shoots a fabulous pattern at 40. Unfortunately, I haven't shot a bird with it yet. I got skunked this year.

I love the M2's and since I don't shoot 3 1/2's it would be just as good as the SBE, for me.

A guy I hunt with shoot a M2, rhino choke, and nitro's. It throws a pattern at 40yds and he has killed a many with that set up.

Sweetest shotgun on the market in my humble opinion. I say go for it!

lets talk about those 1 7/8 turkey loads Preacher
Ps, don't go with the 20g. Your poor 12 will never see the light of day again.

If you where getting one in a 20ga,what barrel length.24" or 26 ".

24" is what I'd get; its still about 45" long. I've shot doves with the SBE, which also has a 24" barrel and I hit better with it than I ever have with a Remington or Browning with 28" barrels. But I'm lucky to go on one dove shoot a year, so it would mainly be a turkey gun for me. I am trying hard to resist temptation. When I get gobbler's spraying bill, its probably gonna make me forget about spending any more money.

Changing the subject, I am still working on getting the Yildiz to shoot TSS to POA. I've never run into a gun like this - it will shoot any factory load to POA and center it perfectly with both barrels. It will shoot NO full-power tss load to POA; throws every one of them off to the side. It shoots beautiful patterns, but the right barrel shoots to the right and the left barrel shoots to the left. It doesn't matter if its a 1.25 oz load or a 1.75 oz load.

I've shot factory Win lead loads that were 1.25 oz and 1 and 5/16 and it centers them fine and throws great patterns - dead turkey with 20 gauge #5 at 30 yds with a mod choke. Then I bought some Hevishot #6 and couldn't believe how perfectly it centered them. And the modified choke put 95 hits in the 10" circle at 40 yards. I'm sure the turkey choke would kill one at 50, but haven't tried it yet. It would be a great little turkey gun shooting factory hevishot loads, but my pride won't let me use them - I'm a reloader now and it would be an embarrassment to have to use factory loads.

I've narrowed it down to either the powders I'm using, or the wads. And since I've tried 5 different powders, I'm really thinking its the wads. I've got 3 "wildcat" loads prepared and when I shoot them I ought to have some answers. This is pretty dangerous to shoot non-published loads, but I gotta know something and this is the only way to know.

edit - Fired the shells, and I survived, the gun survived, but my Chrony was killed. I shot it over the same setup I've used for years without a problem, but this time the muzzle blast killed it dead. I've never shot using a modified choke before; maybe that was the difference. No pellets in it; not sure what killed it. And all the test shells shot to the right, no matter the powder or the wad.

I am about ready to divorce the Yildiz; tired of fooling with it. But now I've got all these 20 gauge components and nothing to use them in. This gives me an idea.

You must never have run a small business With what little profit margin I have in spraying, paying overhead, gas, and splitting it with my partner, I'll be lucky to have enough to take my wife out for dinner, much less buy her a shotgun I am still, however, thinking she REALLY NEEDS a replacement shotgun If I can just find a job that makes enough to pay for it!!

You could always supplement your income giving turkey and quail seminars.

I'm thinking about getting a big magnet of some sort, finding and recycling all that TSS PCP has shot working with the Yildiz. I can supplement a M2 20ga I think off the resale of the TSS he has gone through

Your probably right.

I give several a year, trust me, there is no supplement to my income there!

You do need the shotgun, but I ain't buying the sob story about not making any money. You don't pay the Mexicans but a dollar a day.

>>>I'm thinking about getting a big magnet of some sort, finding and recycling all that TSS PCP has shot working with the Yildiz. I can supplement a M2 20ga I think off the resale of the TSS he has gone through <<<

You are welcome to come and get it. I've shot nearly 2 pounds this year, so that's $100 if you can recover it all. There is more from previous years too. I shoulda made a trap when I first started loading this stuff. But I am gonna quit testing it, and this time I really mean it.

Yeah right!

Wait till you see the bill and you will see how true my statement is You got it cheap!! You might even buy me a benelli or give me the Yildiz as a bonus!!

You got a far better chance of getting the Yildiz than a new Benelli. What say I give you the Yildiz and all the accessories and you take $1000 off the bill?

I've said this before, but if was me, I'd sight the left barrel in at 40 yds, and then load and choke the right barrel wide. My two main turkey guns require me to adjust my aim (I don't like dots and scopes yet), and it's never been an issue. You won't ever need the wide barrel unless you mess up and let him get too close anyway.

On the other hand, a M2 is mighty sweet...

I agree with Hal.

Get the benelli and have them both.

In the search for 300 count ten rings and 100 yard guns we tend to over complicate things.
When you have a 20 inch killing pattern a few inches isnt that bad. Kill em with the left barrel and scare em with the right.

Hal and n2deer, you guys are both no doubt right that I could get by with it that way. I shot some lead loads out of the IC choke today and it shows promise. I might work something out with it yet.

Just run some Federal Heavyweight 7's through that thing and forget the TSS on that gun. Tight choke it on one side and you'll have at least at 45 yard gun but probably 50 if you find the right choke. Leave the other side more open and you'll be in business. Those Federal 7's are bad news.

I believe that the 1.25 oz hevi would be good to 50 yards; those SumToy chokes throw amazing patterns. Any shotgun I buy in the future will have one of his chokes made for it. They are built like a tank and shoot the best patterns I've seen.

Jughead he wont tell anyone if he shoots a bird with a inferior factory load.

Pcp, im curious what hevi load did you try and what were the results?

Its a 1.25 oz #6 load. I just bought several different turkey loads to see if it would shoot them POA. I had a few minutes just before dark one day and shot one in the mod barrel and had 95 hits in the 10" at 40. Later I tried the extra full choke and it was much tighter than that, but I didn't bother to count cause it threw the pattern to the side. But it was tight enough at 40 that it would still be good at 50, assuming you could hit him.

Ok, I have some of those. That was why I asked.

Going to give them a try in the stoeger and 500.

Hey Troy, you have said your wife shoots a 20 gauge Baretta; please compare and contrast it to an M2? I've just come in to some money.

PCP, she never lets me shoot it!!!

I hazzard a guess that a M2 20 is the best 20 you can get for a turkey gun.....

Thanks, I kinda figured it was. Doesn't look like Beretta is making much effort to market a 20 gauge auto. Most models come in 12 gauge only.

I gotta decide to either buy the M2 or put some more money into the Yildiz. I thought I was in love with the Turkish girl, but the Italian girl has gotten into my head. I shoulda known better than to ever mess with foreigners; life was much simpler when I was strictly a Remington man.

ya know a nice lil straight stocked Parker in a 20ga would make a nice gun..... American made too....

sorry, ya avatar made me do it...

Now that you've handled that Italian gal, you might as well see what she does inside a 10" and 20" circle at 40 yds with the TSS....

2-3/4" shell


3" shell

Thanks Hal. but I've already been looking at those.

But actually, the Yildiz will shoot that well too, it just won't shoot straight. I think I'm gonna talk to Brileys some more about their eccentric chokes.

I didn't come into that much money.

Drill and tap each barrel and put a nice set of rifle sights on each one.

I knew a bank president that shot a nice old LC Smith 12 on turkeys, missed almost all of them He'd line up the bead with the breech end of each barrel, thereby shooting to the side every time.

I knew I shoulda padded it enough for one of my own

That's a thought Steve.

Just line up the bead with the breech end of the opposite barrel you're shooting.

You shoulda; too late now.

>>>That's a thought Steve.
Just line up the bead with the breech end of the opposite barrel you're shooting.<<<

I'm not sharp enough to handle all these aiming ideas you guys keep giving me; gotta keep it simple - aim and shoot. I can't think clearly with a big gobbler in front of me.

I'm gonna make one more attempt to fix the Yildiz, and if that doesn't work, I'll keep blasting them with the 3.5" gun. Of course, I may change my mind if I get another get look at an M2.

Just let it go and get the M2.

Now time to quote you.


LOL

Cruel! That's my little girl you are talking about.

I just thought it a good time to repeat you.

I wonder if all of us that want a M2 made a bulk order, if we could get a cut rate!!

I wish! I'm just curious about their stocks on them now. I know when I first starting fondling those little guns a few years ago, they had those rubberized stocks on them which were the icing on the cake of a fantastic weapon. The last couple I've picked up at the stores now have those slick, plastic stocks on them. Slick + narrow just don't seem to go together to me on a gun that is gonna rest on your knee for sometimes hours at a time. If I had my heart set on an M2 for turkey hunting only with the way things currently stand, I believe I would just buy a Franchi Affinity.

All this talk about handling stylish Turkish and Italian gals got me to thinking about a new love. So, I went and bought a homely Mexican-American sweetie the other day.

I've been using my son's 870 for my 20 gauge turkey gun the past few years, so I needed to get my own anyway. A young fellow that lives nearby bought his young wife a brand new Mossberg Maverick 88 (26" barrel), and before she even shot it, decided she didn't like it. So, he needed to sell it, and I caved and volunteered to take it off his hands.

I haven't shot it yet, but if she shoots anything like her Mossy 500 12 ga cousin I have, she'll put plenty of wild meat on the ground before she's done.

And I figure the $1000 I saved by going with the Mexican-American instead of the Italian will finance my TSS turkey shell needs for the next 30 seasons....

Congrats on the new gun, Hal! Show us a picture; I've got no idea what a Mexican Mossberg looks like. If she will work as hard as gobbler's Mexicans on his spray crew, you ought to be fine.

But you gotta be kidding on $1000 covering your tss needs for 30 seasons. One, maybe.

Well, I said "TSS turkey shell needs" for 30 seasons. But I'm not counting my play money for new loads, ducks, etc. I am not sure $1000 would cover me for one year if we counted all that....

Its not the ones that are shot at turkeys that cost so much.

So true indeed.

Here's my new Mexican-American sweetie.

Very nice, Hal, she's lovely!

Before anyone accuses me of lying, let me point out that "lovely" is a relative term. I use it often when my wife wants to know how an outfit looks.

That's funny!

She may be homely, but I won't mind using her to push an opening through the briars, or sliding her around on the ground while I'm crawling on hands and knees to get into position for a good set up.

I'm sure she has a good personality, and that's what is really important. Looks only go so far.

This gun is tormenting me again, I want one baaaaadddd. I have a NIB AR15 sitting here. Hmmmm, trade for one? Decisions, decisions.

how much for the AR?

See above post.

Haven't decided yet on cash price. Whatever market is when I decide to sell it.

Don't you need a Savage 17 hmr thumbhole BBL, laminate, NWTF edition a Browning BPS10 Stalker and a Mossberg 835 camo turkey stomper plus lots of ammp for each?

If you can take all that and make a Benelli M2 20 ga out of it, then Hell Yeah!.

I figure the guns alone are worth 400 bucks!

LOL, probably so.

I wish y'all would let this thread die. Every time I think I'm over wanting an M2 y'all rekindle this thread. I'm trying to find a franchi 20 to fondle

Just be glad you didn't buy a Yildiz SXS. My barrels have been at Brileys for 4 months now to have eccentric chokes made. They kept it 2 months the first time, but only one barrel shot to POA. I sent it back and they've had it another 2 months. I called a couple of weeks ago and demanded to speak to the guy that was actually doing the work. Lady asked me if I could speak Spanish, otherwise, no point trying.

That kinda explains why they made 3 chokes instead of 2, and all of them were mislabeled. I would guess that it would take extreme precision in your work to make an eccentric choke. If they can't label them properly, that really kills my confidence in them.

I shoulda stuck with Italian girls.

X2.Want a M2 bad.Should have never held one !

I have a like new Benelli M2...what are the AR details?

Anyone know where I might find a M2 in 12ga around Birmingham?

20 guage for turkeys???
Next, y'all will be talking how great ballistic tips are!

Well, I gave my homely Mexican-American gal away to my daughter and son-in-law for Christmas.

So, I guess I'll be shooting my little Eastern European beauty instead this year.

Vans in cullman had one in camo when i was there Monday.

Time for some gun porn. My 12ga is the top gun, the 20ga is gun on the bottom.

Try Simmons in Bessemer. They generally keep one in stock.

Mine came from Mark's.