Trying to pick a starting point for SBE2 Choke and Ammo from your experience

[lrb1200]

Hi to forum members!

    My first post,

    Thank you all in advance for your time and any knowledge / experience share.

    I have an unfired SBE2 that I just ordered a Fast Fire 3 for, I am looking for your input on what you found that works
    in your SBE2, and what didn't, and maybe why. In the combo of choke tube / ammo.

    I hope to see some commonality in your selection of tube / ammo, to give me a good direction of a starting point.

    The only place I have available to me to pattern check this gun is 45 miles from me, so it's kind of I have to dedicate the whole
    day to discover some learning, and I'm trying not to go down a path that does nothing but waste my time and gas.

    With life and work demands, putting aside a whole day can be a challenge all in itself.

    I am no stranger to hunting / shooting, but have little experience with turkeys, and at the end of the day, I would be remiss
    in my responsibility to the game to take a weapon to the field that I know is more likely to wound rather than kill that game.

   Any help is greatly appreciated.

   Thanks again,
                       Leonard

[USMC0331]

Try looking into the turkey gun patterns on this forum or put SBE II in the search and there should be plenty of info there.  Hope this helps you out some.

[allaboutshooting]

"... I have an unfired SBE2 that I just ordered a Fast Fire 3 for, I am looking for your input on what you found that works in your SBE2, and what didn't, and maybe why. In the combo of choke tube / ammo.
I hope to see some commonality in your selection of tube / ammo, to give me a good direction of a starting point.

The only place I have available to me to pattern check this gun is 45 miles from me, so it's kind of I have to dedicate the whole day to discover some learning, and I'm trying not to go down a path that does nothing but waste my time and gas..."

Hey Leonard,

First of all, congratulations on your first post. it's good to see you here. I know everyone will do their best to be of help to you wit your new gun. Speaking of guns, you have an excellent one in the SBEII. That gun shares the same bore as the original SBE, the Nova series and the Vinci shotguns, so what works in one those should also work quite well in your SBEII.

Even though your SBEII is new in the box, I recommend that you "deep clean" the bore. As you know, your gun has a chrome-lined bore and it can look shiny and clean, even though it has some "gunk" in it. Starting off clean is always a good idea and I thing that especially true with all Benelli shotguns. Here's a link to the deep cleaning process that use and recommend. http://allaboutshooting.com/article_info.php?articles_id=282

I have been shooting Benelli shotguns since 1991 when I bought my first SBE. I still own that gun along with a Nova and a Vinci with all the available barrel lengths. I've owned several SBEs, the SBEII and others. They've all been shooters, some just fit me better than others.

I believe that I've tried all the different commercially available chokes, Mobil & Crio, in these and my other Benelli shotguns. I've shot most if not all of the turkey loads that have been made available since the 1990s when so many loads were starting to be introduced. Some have come and gone and a couple of years ago, we saw the introduction of the WLB lead loads, that changed the thinking of many hunters.

I take very seriously the distance you'll need to travel and the time and money that requires. I'll try to be as concise as possible and share with you the best information that I have.

There are 2 shells that stand out over all the other commercially available turkey loads on the market today, the Heevi-Shot, Hevi-13 turkey loads and the Winchester Long Beard (WLB) turkey loads. Both are available with #6 shot and the Hevi-13s are available with #7 shot. Both are made in 3" and 3.5" lengths. Even though your SBEII has a 3.5" chamber, I recommend the 3" shells. They do all that's necessary, shoot as far as the 3.5" shells, have less recoil which allows you to get back on target for a second shot if necessary, reduce the possibility of your developing a flinch and cost somewhat less than 3.5" shells.

Some will argue that the Federal Heavyweight with #7 shot should be included and it is a good shell but that selection limits your choice of chokes since they are not compatible with some models and the other two, at least in my experience, are certainly equal to or superior to the Federal shells. Federal does make a "3rd Degree" shell which is a combination of lead and Heavyweight shot of different sizes, that's a good load but for the same reason, I'd recommend the others over it.

The H-13 or WLB shells will respond well to the same chokes in your gun, so the selection, again in my opinion, should be based upon what is available to you and how much you'd like to spend. The WLB shells are much less than 1/2 the price of the H-13s in most situations. I would recommend the 3" H-13 shell with 2 oz of #6 shot or the 3" WLB with 1 7/8 oz of #6 shot.

The chokes that are working best for me in my Benelli shotguns are the JEB's, the Wright's (very limited availability) and the SSX. There are many other brands and I'm sure you'll hear from the shooters of those chokes with their recommendations. I can only tell you what's worked best for me. I've evaluated chokes in these guns extensively with these and other shells and these are the ones that work well in many different temperatures and weather conditions.

The most important part of a turkey choke is its internal geometry. We tend to recommend chokes by their exit diameter and that's probably the easiest way to do it but that number is but one part of the design of a turkey choke. It's easy to say Benellis like "tight" exit diameter chokes and that can also be true but they can like more open chokes, depending upon the internals.

"...I would be remiss in my responsibility to the game to take a weapon to the field that I know is more likely to wound rather than kill that game..."

I applaud you for taking this so seriously. You are of course right on the mark and time spent at the range, another part of the hunting experience, will pay great dividends in addition to making you an ethical hunter.

This is already a very long follow-up to your original post, so I won't go into the methods I use for patterning here but will be pleased to share any of that information or anything else with you at your convenience.

Again, glad to have you here and look forward to hearing more from you.

Thanks,
Clark

[nyhunter]

i have had great luck with a Rob Roberts Final Strut choke, He specialize's in the SBE2. i have a .660 that shoots awesome . Benelli's can be finicky to pattern due to there small bore diameter but if you start with a good choke you'll save yourself a lot of time and money.

[TNReb]

I'll second the comment above about deep cleaning the bore first.

My friend has an SBE II that shoots extremely well with a Rob Roberts.

I bought a new SBE II this year and  his RR choke without cleaning my first. The pattern was MUCH worse than his.

I deep cleaned mine but haven't been back out to compare it yet.

[greentag]

i have a super black eagle 2 with a 24 inch barrel,mine shoots awesome with a rob roberts 655,and winchester longbeards 3 1/2" 6 shot.its the best pattern i found by far,but be warned at 25 yards and less it shoots really tight.but it would be a good combo especially if you go with the fast fire.i have one on mine and this is the first year i have ever used a red dot,so far i love it.good luck!

[PALongspur]

Mine likes a Rob Roberts .650 and HW 7s.

It also does well with Longbeard 5s and 6s.

[Gobble!]

Buy a quality shell. That's more important than the choke tube.
I recommend the HeviShot Hevi13 shells in either the 2oz or 2.25oz #7s.
If you have the budget you can't go wrong with Indian Creek, Rhino, Jebs, PureGold, or best hang for the buck a Primos Jelly Head.
I believe most choke manufacturers I listed will refund your money if your not happy so if you have the funds buy a couple and return the ones your not happy with.

[reynolds243]

in mine i have shot almost all that have been mentioned in this thread to compare with Magblends and Longboard 5 and 6.

The Rob Roberts 655 was the overall best and consistent in mine with magblends (220 at 40yds with 3" shells) and still shot the Long beard #5 very well to boot.

the Indian Creek was 2nd but i liked the shorter choke design on the RR better then the really long indian creek design.  I posted a bunch of them in the pattern thread but your welcome to PM me with any questions and id be happy to answer them or send you what all pictures i still have of patterns.

[Clay]

My own personal experience with my SBE 2 with a 26" barrel:  I've tried Hevishot mag blends, 6's, and 7's, Federal 3rd Degree, Winchester Extended Range, and Nitro Shell Company mag blends, as well as #7's all through a combination of Rob Roberts .640 and .655, Jelly Head .660, Indian Creek .665, Pure Gold .670, and Undertaker .680. 

The winners for me were the Nitro #7 and Hevishot #7 through the .640 and .655.  My personal choice currently is the Nitro #7's through the Rob Roberts .655.  I actually got a slightly larger pellet count from the #7's through the .640, but the .655 shot both 6's and 7's, while the .640 seemed to be too tight for 6's.

Good luck, and hope it helps!

[pdaugherty]

Much like other members I'd like to say congrats as well on your first post. I had an SBEII much like you until someone decided they liked it more than me and took it off my hands. Prior to that I had shot both the 3 in Mag-Blend and the strait #7 3 in Hevi13 out of my SBEII and the gun loved them both. The #7 Hevi13 had a much denser pattern and was the load I went with. If you're looking for a great pattern inside of 40yds I'd go with the #7s all day. Good luck and great hunting this turkey season.

[CrustyRusty]

Hevi choke and hevishot 6 or 7's will do everything needed at responsible ranges.  Winchester Longbeards 6's also do great with my sbe2 26".

[taylorjones20]

I have a SBEII with 28" barrel.  I shoot the Rob Roberts .660 and Magblends. 

Like most have already mentioned, Rob specializes in benelli.  You can call him and he can lead you in the right direction.  He knows his stuff.  I have had everything that he offers done to my SBEII and I absolutely love it!

[BINK McCARTY]

Congrats on a GREAT combo as I shoot the EXACT SAME THING!!!! Call Gobbler Guns (Rob Roberts)  he is indeed the man to advise you on Benelli combos as he is the one that does the turkey & waterfowl custom shop guns, he can be reached @ 877-251-9955.When you contact them if you have a shell in mind you want to shoot they can advise you as to the proper choke to use and if they still do it they MAY swap out chokes of different constrictions until you reach your desired result. My personal combo make-up consists of 2 different combos ....1) Final Strut (Roberts) .655 choke with H-13 Mag-Blend 3 1/2" - 2 1/4oz.  2) Final Strut (Roberts) .650 choke with H-13 straight #7 shot ....3 1/2" - 2 1/4oz. And I am foolin' around with the Federal Heavyweight #7 shot 3 1/2" - 1 7/8 oz. so far with a Final Strut .650 choke with good results. It was noted in an earlier post that the Federal load was best suited to be shot from a "non-ported" choke....YES,THIS IS CORRECT !!!!!! The Federal flight-control wad has petals that open from the rear and use the back pressure from the barrel to perform as designed.I can't speak for anyone else's reasoning,but I PREFER the Federal Heavyweight because it's 1/3 more dense than lead @ 15g/cc in weight compared to lead @ 11g /cc and also with the #7 shot you get more" bang for your buck" so to speak. I'll leave this thought with you about this shot...I blew completely thru 5/8" particle board @ 80yds. with the #7 shot,I'm not sure how much more penetration it would have gotten because I simply went no further. Also in the same post it was noted that 3" loads are all you need ....that too can POSSIBLY be correct,the ONLY way to know which load will perform best , (regardless of the shell length) is to try them out. There has been ALOT of good info here to consider.GOOD LUCK,AND HAPPY HUNTING!!!!!!

[OldSwamper]

Rob Roberts 655 and Long Beard 6s are my current set up.  It is 3 for 3 since I started using this gun.  It patterns nice at 40 yds, but you better be steady at 20.  for comfort, i also recommend a pistol grip.  i splurged on one and man does it hold better than a standard stock.  just my .02

I have killed more turkeys with standard shoulder stock, but the pistol grip just feels more steady when you are hunkered down against a tree.....but my SBEII is my dedicated turkey gun.  good luck