Im thinking about sending my SBE II to RR for the forcing cone, T-2, and for him to pattern it. I seen there is currently a post about RR making modifications on a fella's SBE II and he seemed to have liked it. Anyone else have any thoughts on RR modded guns?? Just trying to get some thoughts/opinions before I actually make my decision. Thanks!
Any modifications are fun to do but are they worth the money spent ?
Like rifles and pistols , there's a reason for mods with greater performance .......but......on Shotguns , not really !
Mods for shooting steel shot , we are very limited as to any gain . Increasing forcing cones , you gain a little ,
Over-bore barrel , you gain a little more . Extended chokes ( lengthening the taper with longer parallel section ) it has
shown it to be better .
Other than these mods , which really don't mean squat , it's gun fit and the ability of the shooter to shoot it straight ,with
a load that patterns good at the yardage he/her most likely shoots their birds !
Trigger Time......is the best Mod you can have , to make you gun shoot better !
I have the Performance shop SBE II and it could be better than the regular version but I did not shoot it before It was modified so I can not tell. It does hold better patterns with the RR Chokes than my 26" but not as good as my 24" with Briley Trulock chokes. I do not like the extended bolt handle at all it is just too long more like it belongs on a clays range and not in a blind. And the carrier release "oversize" button is not as nice as the Briley or other after market versions you can install yourself. Do I like it? YES but would I pay to have it done? NO. I would just go with the extended chokes and if you want a larger bolt release install it yourself.
Now one thing they do and it makes a big difference is the trigger job. You can tell a big difference between the trigger on the PS version when compared to my others. I am probably going to send in my trigger groups to RR and have them tuned for my other guns. not at all necessary but after shooting the PS the others just feel heavy.
Benelli's are notorious for having horrible triggers. To compare, pull a Beretta 390 trigger, then try a stock SBE.
I watched the video of Roberts extending the forcing cone on a SBE and it appeared he was doing it freehand with a t-handle instead of placing it in a jig and having the cutting tool precisely lined up with the bore.
I have never tried a 390 but I hear they are popular for clays shooters and have nice triggers. The 400 trigger feels the same as my Benellis and so does the Extrema (spelling?). I am just accustomed to target triggers and I have fine tuned all of my rifles and pistols but I have never tried a trigger job on a benelli, YET :lol3: I might have to buy a spare trigger group to practice on.
I'm the one on the other post who had their SBEII worked on by Rob Roberts.
A couple of thoughts:
I thought Briley and Trulock were 2 different companies. Trulock makes chokes for Benelli and Briley makes chokes in Houston.
As I get to Houston about once a month, I bought the Briley beefier bolt handle out of convenience. It operates like it should, especially with gloves.
I had RR install the carrier release lever and love it. I can now push it in with my pinky and it closes. The Briley version cannot be installed without doing some milling, so I would not characterize it as "do it yourself."
I'm the one on the other post who had their SBEII worked on by Rob Roberts.
A couple of thoughts:
I thought Briley and Trulock were 2 different companies. Trulock makes chokes for Benelli and Briley makes chokes in Houston.
As I get to Houston about once a month, I bought the Briley beefier bolt handle out of convenience. It operates like it should, especially with gloves.
I had RR install the carrier release lever and love it. I can now push it in with my pinky and it closes. The Briley version cannot be installed without doing some milling, so I would not characterize it as "do it yourself."
Briley and trulock are 2 different companies. I use both as I have one gun that patterns better with trulock chokes and one that is better with a Briley Goose choke.
In Mi a lot of the season can be with gloves on but I find that the standard bolt handle is plenty long enough for operation with gloved hands but I seldom have to operate the bolt with while hunting. The action it is open when taken out of the case and does not need to be opened again until unloading after the hunt. Just preference I would think.
The Briley release can be easily installed with a file if you mark it up and take your time fitting as you go. I like this one http://tarantacticalinnovations.com...id=297&zenid=8c0c05c98fc4a5fe64b31854b09c8e19 and have installed a few of them. The first one I purchased I had issues with as the package came with absolutely no instructions therefore no indication of drill size or tap size to use for the provided screw. I complained quite a bit and they sent me the information but I hope they include this information in the package by now
I have found that with the RR, Briley and TTI I get debris under them occasionally from walking in high weeds that get caught behind them. Has not caused an issue yet as while reloading the gun I always notice it and remove anything caught there before releasing the bolt.
Overall I think the RR package is nice if you do not want to do it yourself. I spoke with them about back boring the barrel and was told it is not necessary and that it removes the chrome lining from the bore which is not redone. I like the hard chrome lined barrel myself so I will not be having any of my Benellis back bored
Back-boring OR Over-boring seems to be the way of the future....shooting steel shot !
With non/tox laws coming down the pike in just about every State , National refuge ......this is ONE improvement manufactures
are giving us , as it's been proven a larger bore diameter shoots steel shot better , I guess ? I know mine do !
Bolt Handles , like bolt closers are for race guns . If you are in a race to finish the day sooner , you're there for the wrong
reason , maybe ? Like Clothing and other marketing items that catch your eye , that don't improve your success in the field ,
these modifications can be dangerous , garbage collectors , finger smashing , accidental dis-charging ( when the safety is left
off ) expensive alterations , a good hunter doesn't need , IMHO ! :lol3:
My Mossberg 935 12 gage is not backbored but has a 10 gage barrel. It will cycle my 2 3/4 reloads if they are going 1550 fps or faster. Also my 3 inexpensive Escorts have chrome lined barrels. Ned
Yes the Briley and TTI both have to be drilled and tapped. That is the easy part but the Briley requires the Benelli button to be filed flat on 2 sides.
I am from Arkansas, have been in the shop a few times. Not impressed. The claims he makes for forcing cone work amounts to "sales puffing". Get a mid range exteded Calson Waterfowl choke and save some money. As for patterning, if you don't do your own using several different loads, you will learn nothing useful.
hang on guys !!! my RR SBE 2 patterns better then 90% with black cloud 4s at 35yards with T1 its going to be hard to find that around in any store :thumbsup:
hang on guys !!! my RR SBE 2 patterns better then 90% with black cloud 4s at 35yards with T1 its going to be hard to find that around in any store :thumbsup:
I would rather be able to put my 75 % pattern on my birds than have a 95 % pattern on paper ! :lol3: :yes:
Practice and you'll be able to , too ! :thumbsup: With none of the after-market gadgets , kool-aid crap ! :lol3: :lol3:
Do we really think with the Engineering the Big 3 B's have , that better performance can be had with Mods some outfit
that ,really doesn't have the testing equipment to know whether it's better or not ( without damaging the gun ) ???
Sure after market choke designs have proven to be better ( with steel shot ) but Most ALL of the other MODS , you think
you need are already designed into these B Guns .
Just a tip........Buy more shells and practice.......you'll be money ahead ! Successfully :yes: :lol3: :lol3:
I sent my (second, first one sunk) A400 xtreme off to Rob Roberts earlier this week for the whole shabang. Cones, trigger group, action polish/rework, sight bead, bolt handle, carrier release, t3 tube, and I am very excited to see what he comes back with. Some guys like to tinker and mod things to try and get the best performance out of your equipment and I don't see anything wrong with that. I got a great deal on the gun used and bought it off a gentleman on this forum, so I used the money I saved to mod the gun and I'm still under the price of a new gun. I've spoke with Rob, another gentleman at the shop, and a lady in the office, and all of the communication and customer service has been excellent. They received my gun yesterday and feel like they'll be able to have it shipped Monday or Tuesday of next week. Awesome turnaround time right before the season starts back up.
The A400 is a great gun, but that's not to say it can't be made better.
Has anyone else had the Rob Roberts treatment done to their A400's? From what I hear the guns really like the T3 and hevi metal 3" 2's or plain old federal blue box. They said they have great performance with any of the federal ammo.
I'll post some pattern numbers once I get it back if anyone is interested.
I sent my (second, first one sunk) A400 xtreme off to Rob Roberts earlier this week for the whole shabang. Cones, trigger group, action polish/rework, sight bead, bolt handle, carrier release, t3 tube, and I am very excited to see what he comes back with. Some guys like to tinker and mod things to try and get the best performance out of your equipment and I don't see anything wrong with that. I got a great deal on the gun used and bought it off a gentleman on this forum, so I used the money I saved to mod the gun and I'm still under the price of a new gun. I've spoke with Rob, another gentleman at the shop, and a lady in the office, and all of the communication and customer service has been excellent. They received my gun yesterday and feel like they'll be able to have it shipped Monday or Tuesday of next week. Awesome turnaround time right before the season starts back up.
The A400 is a great gun, but that's not to say it can't be made better.
Has anyone else had the Rob Roberts treatment done to their A400's? From what I hear the guns really like the T3 and hevi metal 3" 2's or plain old federal blue box. They said they have great performance with any of the federal ammo.
I'll post some pattern numbers once I get it back if anyone is interested.
Love what they did with the gun, I haven't patterned it as ever day off I've had I've hunted. I've really liked the t2, and it feels like a wand. Doesn't tear them up in close with hevi metal 3's and still wet rags them out far. I'll throw the t3 in this morning and mess around with it and see how I like it.
As we wait for ALL these patterns to prove these modifications are worthy of your after-tax dollars , it would be fun
to understand what really is being done that other gun manufactures aren't already doing ? :huh:
hey there big guy 3200... why don't you share with us your..... gun... chokes.. shells.. so we will know if something we see is a gimmick or a sales pitch :bow:
hey there big guy 3200... why don't you share with us your..... gun... chokes.. shells.. so we will know if something we see is a gimmick or a sales pitch :bow:
Well little fella ( :lol3: ) , I do have and shoot both standard off the shelf shotguns along with some modified ones too !
fixed choked barrels that have been re-choked to handle different sizes of steel shot along with forcing-cones extended
out to 4'' . I do know , there isn't a choke constriction that will handle ALL Sizes of shot ....both Lead or Non Tox ! It takes
pattern board work to find this out , while bore size ( for each gauge ) does make a difference to how it patterns !
I reload the very best for my guns !
Now with a New 400 , what do you expect to gain with all these mods ? I do see trigger work is needed . :yes:
a 400 not my cup of tea ...... not a beretta fan.... but if I had one I would have to find something to make it better...cone.... chokes.... whatever ..... :lol:
Oh that's right , you shoot a spaghetti gun ! Even the newer ones built ,they have back-bored barrels , somewhere around
.732 or so I think . The older SBE's and SBE ll's do need some improvements that are offered these days but from what I read they
have killed plenty of Waterfowl before the change of the design ?
Just so you understand where I'm coming from , most ALL Modern Shotguns already have these updated features to shoot
steel shot ! So , if , whoever thinks they need to spend money to improve the guns ability ( over their own ) would be better
off using the same dollars and cents on the patterning board and at the clay range , which would be of more benefit for the
dollars spent , otherwise YOU'RE just drinking the KOOL-AID ! :lol3: :lol3: :yes:
I see both sides of this issue.
I like to do things that I think will "improve" my guns.
I also know I can't buy increased skill, and writing a check to have someone modify my gun will not improve my wingshooting skills. I shoot 5-stand and sporting and skeet and a little trap all spring and summer to stay sharp for the hunting season. That is what makes my success, not putting a blue-anodized do-dad on my gun. I know that.
~14 seasons ago, made a call to Seminole Gunworks in Florida to inquire about forcing cone work and/or overboring the barrel on my SBE. Was told that (for steel shot) it would not produce any relevant improvement. Just for kicks & grins, called a season later, spoke with a different individual, received the same information.
RR's chokes may produce workable patterns with a particular gun/choke/load as with many other aftermarket tubes.
IMO, the other stuff is probably more cosmetic than structural and renders more of a placebo effect for the shooter.
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