I even tried to tell her I wanted to buy her a new shotgun didnt fly when she saw the price tag. Perhaps because of the well-known reputation of Benelli as the maker of fine semiautomatics, even a casual observer will notice the new Model 828U almost appears to have been constructed with some semiautomatic parts or features. I bought a Guerini instead with a kinetic balancer and love it. The pen is a nice size, and has a nice weight. Seems like a solid gun if you need a field O/U. Removing two more screws frees it for access to a nut on a stock bolt that fixes one of two metal drop plates. The silver receiver model, well it was not pleasant for me to shoot, and I've owned a few Benelli s/a's with no issues. You know, the funny thing is that I've probably spent hundreds of hours reading these forums over the last few years. I have good things to say about all of them. True to Vignarolis characterizations, the 828U proved to be a very dependable gun and ejection of spent hulls was in fact very energetic. Everyone who shot the gun had positive things to say about its neutral balance, ease of pointing and light weight. I bought an 828U Sport May 2019 - 30" tubes, travelled some distance to buy one with a decent bit of wood - some of them look like they have stocks made from reclaimed pallets. Benelli 828U Steel Specifications Chamber: 12- and 20-gauge (2 3/4- and 3-inch) Barrel Length: 26, 28, 30 in. 10701 12 Gauge, $2,500 GUN TESTS GRADE: C Although Benelli has a reputation for producing high-quality semiautomatic shotguns, we found the company's new over/under was lacking in both appearance and performance. I would have it. A colleague of mine had one of the sporting versions. I showed my wife, asked her which one she likes better, she said the silver receiverfunny how when I told her it was $500 more, she changed her mind to the black one. Further isolating the fore-end and barrels from the receiver are what Benelli refers to as impulse activated ejectors. YMMV. This, despite its low build cost, means that the 828U is a product condemned to please no one. I have only seen one of the sporting versions in use in the area I shoot. You could do most of this research yourself. Benelli 828u is an interesting pen because its cheap and has a lot of features. Re: street price. My Browning Citori White Lighting 16 ga. feels just as good in my hands and about the same weight. And they only weigh about 6.5 lbs. Hello I purchased a 828U several months ago in 12 gauge, and have had nothing but problems. The pen is very comfortable to write with, and is the perfect size for comfortable writing. The 828U opened and closed smoothly and felt solid at lockup. As noted earlier, this is the latest version of a long line of Browning over-and-unders that have found favor with the shooting public. Elsewhere, we thought the stock, forearm, and barrel finish on the Benelli seemed to closely resemble the features of a semiautomatic, rather than exhibiting the typical look and style of an over-and-under in its price range. A. . The gun's main appeal is the weight, and it is light. The sporting model is almost $4000. A 60/40 pattern is 3 inches high, a 70/30 pattern is 6 inches high at 40 yards. Again, unlike shotguns of old, which required fitting by an expert and labor-intensive, permanent changes to the stock, the Benelli system is relatively simple to customize by the end user simply by referring to a fitting table in the owners manual. The design provides steel-on-steel lockup that fully contains the forces of firing. I had the opportunity to shoot a guys Benelli 828 12 ga. at some clays yesterday. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. The Benelli 828U differs from its' break-open brethren in several ways. The 828U is a lightweight gunimportant for a long session of upland hunting in which it is likely to be carried much more of the time than it is shotbut it is the distribution of the weight that is key. My friend that I go to S.D. The chambers are then machined directly into the monobloc to ensure precise chamber alignment and finish. She praised the guns appearance, calling it nice and light and adding that it balanced and came to the face well. A forum community dedicated to Shotgun owners and enthusiasts including the Remington, Beretta, and Mossberg shotguns brands. Poor gun fit increases felt recoil, and insufficient drop is the main culprit, but the 828's three-tiered shim system lets you go from 42.5mm to 65mm of drop in 2.5mm increments until you get the perfect fit. A replaceable, solid carbon-fiber vented sighting rib measuring 0.280" wide is topped with an 0.078" red fiber-optic pipe set about 1" back from the muzzle. The Fora platform includes forum software by XenForo. The company made its humble start in 1963in Gussago, Italywhen Giuseppe Pietta made a commitment to produce guns as authentic and true-to-original as possible. Very nice gun and I liked the slim profile, but didn't impress me enough that I would buy one. I just really like it. I have only seen one in the wild as well, a guy had one last year at a local shoot, 30 inch tubes, and black reciever, totally different looking gun in person then in videos and internet pictures etc. I had really good luck with it. I don't particularly care for the looks but I'm old school. On this Benelli O/U attempt, first thing I noticed was the triggers. Benelli Armi SpA of Urbino, Italy, is a relative newcomer to the gun business, having emerged in 1967 from its parent motorcycle manufacturing concern with an idea for a new type of shotgun action. Lithe, purposeful and menacing in black, the 828U Sport looks like it's spoiling for a fight straight out of the box. The stock A subject close to my heart, and one I can grasp more easily than the benefits of a replaceable breech face, is gun fit. I feel like when I looked at them the longest I could find was a 28, 26" and 28" I believe in the 828uthe field gun. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. 31,328 views Sep 10, 2020 460 Dislike Share Save Go Shooting 15.5K subscribers Subscribe Russell and Lauryn Mark review the new Benelli 828u Sport, a firearm that breaks many of the traditional. Though I wouldnt recommend it, I would love to see how it works with the other benelli pens. 712 shot shells at a range of 30 yards, we found the Modified choke in the top barrel produced a 57-43 percent pattern (57 percent above the center and 43 percent below) and the Improved Cylinder choke in the bottom barrel produced a 62-38 percent pattern. I dont have one, but have fondled one a few times at the local shop. The swing was beautiful but the recoil destroyed me. My daughter can't move the safety lever and it takes me some good pushing. That makes two 828u's in almost the same number of weeks with the same issues. Consider that we started from white paper. The length of pull was 14.75 inches. Benellis Over/Under Shotgun Cant Beat Browning, Low profile silver nitride, with roll engraving, Grade II/III checkered walnut, gloss oil finish. The internal recoil system did nothing for me, although I have had 4 shoulder surgeries. The surprising part, though, was how nonintrusively it had done so. It is no stretch to suggest that the new gun offers appealing aesthetics, innovative engineering, precise manufacturing, intuitive handling and satisfying shootability. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. It is designed to provide a stronger, tighter seal, but to our eyes, it looks like something that could be found in a semiautomatic shotgun. 4 nickel-plated lead shot at 1485 f.p.s.not a particularly mild load for a 12 gauge weighing only 6 lbs., 9 ozs. Internally, the Browning has a mechanical trigger system, back-bored barrels with lengthened forcing cones, and the Invector-DS internal choke tube system, with Improved Cylinder, Modified, and Full tubes included with the Field model, the same features introduced when the original Model 725 hit the market. The Benelli didn't fill me with the same inspiration. In a classic example of premature innovation, we found the new Benelli 828U simply did not function, feel, or perform as well as a veteran Browning Citori 725 when fired head to head. You should make sure the barrel lug is seating firmly on the pivot pin before closing. When you are in a hurry, it is easy to forget to hold the pencil, or not to look at your phone. Both versions have sold very poorly and have had issues. Benelli has very little experience with over/unders. Benelli is the only shotgun I shoot. People are not being rude, but they are probably of the opinion that casting rose petals on a pile of dooty will not improve the stench. It handled very well on the clay-target course, excelled on the patterning board, and helps a shooter look sharp to his compatriots while serving as a solid shooting tool. Im hoping that my new pen is just like that. On another thread someone mentioned that street price for a new 828U Sport was already in the $3300 range. Only broken it down 2-3 times. Most dont have pattern tests. Click to reveal When I first got the firearm it became stuck in the "cracked open" position not able to come apart or even be closed. I think the Sporting version does have an all steel receiver. If you're only going to drag it out for upland a dozen hunts a year or less I think one could justify it. Not a single hiccup. It's your money - your decision, asking strangers won't really help you decide- good luck. Download the appropriate manual for your Benelli shotgun or rifle. A guy at a field trial I was at a year ago had one and I really liked it. I can keep both pens in one pocket and write with the one that is bigger and easier to reach. Also, for the $$, there's a lot of quality gun options competing with it. Firearm Discussion and Resources from AR-15, AK-47, Handguns and more! Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a28dd07b9c52d16 67.205.62.133 I flew to another city and had to break down for checked bag as my case cannot fit it assembled. I know the guy that bought it but in the year of Covid I haven't had an opportunity to ask him about it. Benelli 828U Black Anodized & Blued 12 Gauge 3in Over Under Shotgun - 28in - A shotgun that feels and shoots like a Benelli from the moment you pick it up to the moment you break it open. After all, its corporate parent since 2000, Beretta, had been in the gun business 441 years longer and, during that time, had managed to turn out more than a few fine side-by-sides and over-unders. In addition, such guns were usually made with steel receivers that bore the stresses of firing, meaning that their bolting and hinge mechanisms had to be made to account for wear that occurs after repeated use. I am not asking for opinions on this gun, though of course I respect any opinions that are posted here. A lip at the guards front engages a groove in front of the receiver well, and a spring-loaded plunger at the housings rear locks the unit in place. While pump-action and semiautomatic shotguns are the overwhelming favorite field guns throughout the shooting community, over/unders are the kings of clay-target shooters. Manuals. Should not take a lot of force to snap closed. One of our test-team members scrounged up a heavier load (a 1-ounce, 1,230 feet per second shell) that did eject from the bottom barrel. A few media representatives were let in on the then-secret project during a mid-year 2013 trip to Italy, where they were asked to contribute ideas about what a new and different Benelli should be. Good to see an honest and thorough review too many around that arent. When I tried an 828U for real the felt-recoil was more than I'd want on a 100 target round - even on 24grm shells . The fore-end iron attaches in such a way that the fore-end itself is nothing more than a cosmetic cover. Time will tell. It was in the shop more than on the range. Thanks Sera- I appreciate the opinion. As to the stock, Vignaroli said, The grip shape and wrist have been developed through studies of different hands and gloves to ensure a better fit and better approach to the trigger. A replaceable polymer cheekpiece allows for changes in comb height, and the Progressive Comfort recoil-mitigation system inside the buttstocka series of interlocking polymer tines that flex to soften the guns movement into the shooters shoulderis capped with a soft rubber recoil pad radiused at the heel to encourage snag-free mounting of the gun. I tried the 828U a couple months ago. At first glance, there are only minor differences in the appearance between this field model and its sporting-clays cousin introduced about five years ago. I am not aware of any of my hunting buddies (who never shoot clays) buying or using an 828. Make one with a steel receiver, adjustable rib 30" and 32" barrels, improve the trigger a little bit, and get rid the funky comb and people would be breaking down their door to buy one. One was NRA Publications Editorial Director John Zent, an experienced upland hunter and clays shot. Says they are LH in 12 gauge, but should give you a feel for the gun and you can order what you want then. I do, but no such luck, nothing on the website as in stock anyways, I'll call to double check. The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time. The Fire-Lite mechanical triggers in the Model 725 are both smooth and crisp, going the extra step to help a shooter stay on target when touching off a shot. The 828 is a design that had serious potential, but is extremely lacking in configuration and execution. The 828U differs in a couple of important respects. One can speculate that the only 20 shotguns Benelli ever made that shoot to point of aim at 40 yards were sent to me, but the chances of that are slim to none, and Slim just left town. Title. (20-gauge) They definitely arent like a browning or beretta which I really want to like but never feel right to me. Beretta A400 Xcel "Black" Cole Special - Beretta A400 Xcel 20 Gauge - Beretta A400 28 Gauge -. We were particularly impressed with the pattern spread, finding a very solid and uniform distribution of hits. I did get an exceptional deal on it. Maybe one of those that you either love it or hate it. One of the problems with using it is that I cant write without it, and it is really tough to write without it. While we had no problems working the system, our experience leads us to believe that over time, and after extensive use in the field and on the range, we worry that there may be issues that develop with the mechanism. When I picked up the 828u it felt very similar to me, probably the first o/u that I really liked the feel of. & hasn't had any problems with it that I know of. The Benelli 828U is a major disappointment and an outright embarrassment. I've seen/read a LOT more dissatisfied comments and very few positive ones. That's the extent of my dealings with one. That truism may be one of the reasons why the release of a first-ever over/under produced by veteran semiautomatic manufacturer Benelli was greeted with such fanfare. The matte-blued barrels and receiver helped reduce glare and seemed to be of high quality. It seems like the 828U Sport is a better gun than the original/field model 828U, certainly so for clay shooting. I dont try and go fast and never use anything force, more just move the parts. JavaScript is disabled. When the new Benelli Model 828U was introduced, devoted fans of Benelli semiautomatics rushed to get more information. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. A carbon-fibre rib sits atop the 30in barrels, and a unique, patented steel locking system has been developed by Benelli's engineers to reduce wear and tear on the action. Results with the Improved Cylinder choke were substantially worse. I took "that" gun back to Scheels and showed them the issue and they like me knowing the issues I have had with the two different guns couldn't believe it either. This new field model patterned well, broke targets well, and looked good while doing its job. In late 2017 I was shooting a round of skeet with my .410 winchester 101 and one of the gentlemen in my squad asked if he could try my .410 as he had never shot one. so sure no problem. in front of their join at the monobloc to a point 2" from the muzzle. Ive been using this pen for several months now (since November or so). It is released by pressing a button at its front. It was the worst over under I've ever shot. I actually bought one for my daughter, she probably shot 100 rounds through it on the Skeet field, it was too light for her, odd, she is a whopping 110 lbs., she ended up liking my old 325 the best, that is what she is shooting. We should note that the version of the Benelli made available to us was a 26-inch-barrel anodized-aluminum receiver model, while the Browning provided featured 28-inch barrels and a silver nitrite receiver. Bought one in 26"its 1" shorter than my SP1 was in 28", due to the longer action on the 828. These old-fashioned scatterguns are often viewed as traditional and many believe they simply can't compare to modern semi-auto or pump-action models. Maybe it's just me but I'm not a fan of field O/U's with aluminum receivers. Zent, reflecting on those early discussions about the 828U in Italy, said of the gun that he was finally able to hold and shoot, I think what we see now is very close to what was on the drawing board then. Over on Shotgun World in I love my Benelli, there have been some problems reported about the 828 U trigger assembly dropping out, ejector problems and problems with the breech lock popping open. To consistently break targets, particularly those with any distance on them, we had to hold high and right, not the accepted and typical practice of shooting where you look. I do not recall the barrel length of this 828, it is at her place. The floating breech block us intriguing, as are the re-designed ejectors. It fit me very well (needed to switch to a lower drop shim). Nice guns. As far as technology is concerned, the Benelli 828U Shotgun stands out from the crowd with the help of next generation of recoil reduction and progressive comfort; custom fit with the QuadraFit Buttstock and Custom Fit Stock that is adjustable drop and cast; and Crio system for more uniform pattern. I have shot one and it's definitely no slouch but after years of growing up on Bronwing SO's and now Beretta 68x guns I just can't get with it, it's just too "different" for me to get comfortable with. We made allowances in our testing for the slightly better handling characteristics that are generally attributed to longer barrels and a heavier gun, ensuring these factors did not influence our evaluation. Recently, in a move unexpected by nearly everyone, Benelli created an all-new, lightweight over-underthe 828Uand, with it, an opportunity to capitalize on its reputation among brand loyalists, waterfowlers and shotgunners in general. Texas. Matine1 - I have the same issue on an 828U. Doubles are supposed to find their appeal in durability and simplicity. And just for the record my go to gun is a SBE. Ive made several small changes to my pen, and these were done using a pen for a few minutes, and then a few minutes of practice until I got the pen ready to use it. Head to the range this week with American Rifleman staff as they discuss a trim little repeater from Savage Arms that comes chambered for the .22 WMR cartridge. We have patterned several Browning shotguns featuring the Invector DS (Double Seal) chokes and found the tubes seem to pattern very well. Vignaroli used the term global comfort to describe the 828Us combination of weight, balance and ergonomics. Culminating in the 1993 introduction of the Super Black Eagle, one of the first semi-automatics capable of firing 2", 3" and 3" shells, the Inertia Drive system proved reliable to a fault throughout two-and-a-half decades of service in a series of models. That the 828U breaks with the tradition of previous over-under shotguns and with all other guns that have come from its family before it is without question. I like the unusual appearance, most people don't. ozs. Kind of a unique looking gun. They made it so Benelli fanboys could have Benelli O/U. I bought one about 3 years ago. My understanding is that there is a major difference in handling and recoil between the 828U and the 828U sport. Realize, too, that this was legitimate wild-bird hunting among wide-open crop fields and across rolling terrain that was as natural as pheasant habitat gets. The benelli 828u pen is a small, high quality, battery operated pen. But its also true that the 828U upholds at least one traditionthat of being a uniquely innovative and distinctive firearm bearing the now-famous marque of a motorcycle-turned-gunmaker named Benelli. For our firing tests, we set up at the patterning range where we quickly discovered that the Crio Flush Fit chokes (Cylinder, Improved Cylinder, Modified, Improved Modified and Full) included with the package were not a match for the Browning. It's the OU that folks love to hate, I guess it bucks traditional builds and some folks just aren't receptive to that. They usually have a couple under glass for sale. Your Worst Nightmare About benelli 828u problems Come to Life - Skeet Action Shooting Your Worst Nightmare About benelli 828u problems Come to Life If you take a look at some of the videos that I have been sharing on YouTube, you will see that people are not always sure what they are doing. The stocks exhibit figure and also have fish scale checkering in panels on the fore-end and pistol grip. I don't think he wants to scratch it! A replaceable, solid carbon-fiber vented sighting rib measuring 0.280" wide is topped with an 0.078" red fiber-optic pipe set about 1" back from the muzzle. I have been wanting to buy some benelli pens for a while now, so Im glad I bought it at a discounted price. 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Over on Shotgun World in I love my Benelli, there have been some problems reported about the 828 U trigger assembly dropping out, ejector problems and problems with the breech lock popping open. Turning the lever to open the gun cams the bolt out of engagement with the monobloc, while at the same time uses a lever tipped with a roller bearing to press rearward on the chrome-plated wedge mentioned above, cocking the strikers. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. An included tool allows easy removal of the module from the gun. We pitted the Benelli 828U, retailing for $2,500, against the Browning 725, retailing for $2,470, both at the clay-target range and on the patterning board to see if the new smokepole performed as advertised against a proven product sitting in the rack beside it. The modified choke in the top barrel produced a 39-61 percent pattern, with 306 hits (46 percent) in the 20-inch circle around the center. The breech block interfaces with recesses and lugs within the receiver and monoblock on closing of the action. If you take a look at some of the videos that I have been sharing on YouTube, you will see that people are not always sure what they are doing. I spend a lot of time at gun clubs and I have seen only one and it had 28 inch bbls. Defiantly not my favorite sporting gun but it wasn't designed for that. At this point, its worth noting that the 828U was designed for easy access to its breech. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. He eventually gave up on it and moved on to a more reliable gun. Realize, too, that this was legitimate wild-bird hunting among wide-open crop fields and across rolling terrain that was as natural as pheasant habitat gets. It was the only one I could ever have made that I could put my finger on. Poor patterns, weak target hits, and uninspiring features all contributed to our low grade for this shooting tool. AgainI shot a very limited number of times. To minimize this, the 828U cheekpiece has a replaceable Air Foam pad that cushions your face. But 30" in the 828u Sport (target gun). Posts: 2,178. Note the texture in the solid carbon-fiber rib and the recesses for the barrel locking pins that keep the action closed. But it pointed well, swung nicely without being too whippy or too sluggish.