Arriving at a shooting range near Eufaula, Alabama I felt a strong pull towards the skeet range and had a desire to try some of the new generation of wing shooting shotguns. The urge was too hard to resist and I was soon amazed at the Benelli and Franchi shotguns. I’d heard about the Benelli Vinci when it came out a few years ago and even sold my brother and nephew on the lightweight shotguns. They’d downed many doves and turkeys with theirs but I wondered if these would live up to the hype.

    Soon I would try out these modern day wonders, but would they measure up to the old faithful Remington and Browning shotguns I’d hunted with since my youth? My attention centered first on a 12 gauge Franchi Intensity shotgun in camo pattern.

    “Pull” sounded the command as I shouldered the Franchi, swung a tad past the clay bird and squeezed the trigger. An instant later the clay pigeon disintegrated with a load of shot striking home. Two more birds were released and two more were crushed just as quickly.

    This Franchi was everything I’d heard and more. The shotgun was light, and fit me to a T as I shouldered it and quickly got on target and burned up some birds. I couldn’t believe a shotgun could fit me so well. All I had to do was shoulder the Franchi, pick up the target, swing through and pull the trigger and I’d bust another bird.

    Can’t be that easy can it? But yes it was, almost everything that was sent up was nailed with only one shot. The Franchi was light enough for a woman, but powerful enough for a man to use, and that’s my kind of gun. There was no down side to the Franchi on this day. It did everything I asked it to do and I busted many birds and it didn’t kick an ounce.

    Unbelievable is about the only word I could think of to describe it. I can only imagine what it will do with ducks and gobblers.

    “Mike, I see a lot of the Turkish made guns out on our sporting clay range and I can tell you that they’re not reliable,” said Ken Kercheval. “Sometimes they fire and sometimes they don’t and you just never know what will happen.”

    You definitely get what you pay for and the modern day Benelli and Franchi shotguns take the cake.

    Next I picked up a 20 gauge Benelli Cordoba shotgun and it fit me perfectly as well. Though it took me a couple birds to get used to the 20 gauge, I was busting them really quickly. And on a couple occasions when I wasn’t concentrating and missed the first shot, it was money in the bank as I swung through with a follow up shot and crushed the high flying bird.

    One more semi auto garnered my attention and I quickly found myself shouldering a Benelli Ethos and it was a dream as well. As the attendant released three birds in rapid fire succession I burned up all three and fell in love with this shotgun as well. It was beautiful, smooth, easy to shoulder and it was right on the money.

    Yes, many of the cheaper shotguns look good but many are not reliable and they’re prone to misfire or fail. Not so with the Benelli and Franchi shotguns. If you’re looking for a shotgun that’s light, easy to handle, and has limited recoil then you should consider a Benelli or Franchi, they’re just that good. Check them out at your nearest sporting goods store and you’ll be busting doves, ducks and gobblers before you know it!

    Contact  Mike Giles at 601-917-3898 or e-mail him at mikegiles18@comcast.net