Having Berettas for a long time now as I started with trading for 2 SA one with a Square release button and the other a round one both were called AL 2's with fixed tight full chokes in their 30" barrels . They were killing machines and long range clay target breaking wonders . I traded one for a Win mod 25 and the other for a Sako L57 in 243 . Then I kinda got away from Semi Auto's as pumps were my actions of choice , until O/U's got my attention . The only Beretta I had then was a 302 20 ga until I traded for the Teckny Sporting with with the 30" ramped up rib , Still have that Clay Buster ! Haven't had a bit of trouble with either so in recent days my interest in a Multi Target has been on the lookout !
Well, the goose pond has ice over it and the season appears to over. I decided to NOT buy a different gun and shot my Benelli M1 using 2 3/4" #2's....."lefty". After practicing the mount often and shooting some, the first few shots were not that uncomfortable. The plan was to simply take my older retriever and see what transpires and I was not planning on hunting a lot (just going and having a little success was the goal). In addition, my younger retriever needed to make her first goose retrieves. The blind was moved to the south shoreline making for easier and shorter than 30 yard shots and having the morning sunrise from behind. By the time season opened both shoulders were worse......but adrenaline is cool. Scouting revealed two things. First, the harvested bean field was not attracting many geese and secondly and the warm weather had kept them on the river and grass grazing. The following journal entries sum up the experimental season of shooting "lefty". My geese total was not large....but the results were more than rewarding. https://www.kwicklabsii.com/pounce-gigi-s-oct--20-journal-.html https://www.kwicklabsii.com/pounce-gigi-s-nov-20-journal.html The highlight was shooting a triple with a $100 reward, double banded old goose. note: photos are in the two links above. Next year will be better - corn in the field and confidence/experience shooting "lefty".
I'm a lil fella and have found I can shoot a 12 gauge beretta all day with reasonable 2.75 inch loads like winchester experts. Might help
Good gun weight(think 8 lbs.) and gas operation are the best recoil reducers you.ll find. Another little trick is to put a limbsaver recoil pad on that M1 and add some frontal weight via recoil reducer/counterweight in place of existing mag cap. Heavier gas gun will still shoot softer but its a quick and easy fix for your existing m1. Lightweight Benelli,s do kick w/heavy loads, even in 20 gauge. My personal M2 12 i,ve got weighted to 8.5 lbs and with limbsaver pads installed its pretty soft shooting compared to a standard M2. My Browning Gold 12 w/limbsaver pad kicks a lot less shooting same shells. Its a gas gun weighted to 8.5 lbs.
I’m hip, I’ve had 2 operations on my right shoulder (torn tendons & rotator cuff) from Dirt Bike crashes. I really loved the simplicity of my SBE, but now shoot a Browning Silver gas gun. It’s much better on “felt” recoil. OT they “feel” similar, but the Browning is a bit longer in the LOP dept.
They sell recoil reducers I believe at about 6 oz. that simply replace your existing mag cap. I found this wasn,t quite enough frontal weight for me . I took a 2 shot mag extension and poured it full of melted lead. Worked perfect and greatly added to ease of swing thru with my M2. If you follow that route you,ll need to drill thru extension and insert a brass pin thru sidewall and lightly peen on both sides. If not lead will eventually try to walk back compressing your mag spring retainer a little each shot. That extra weight up front really helps mitigate recoil.
I have a bad shoulder too. I waent to a 3 inch model 12 with 2-3/4" reloads. Light hand loads of ITX 10 or bismuth helped me and were effectve on all geese within 40 or so yards. Whichever path you choose, I wish you the very best. Dan
