[00bullitt]

I went ahead and broke down and got an SX3 after having such awesome success with the FN. It was well worth the splurge. It is a full pound lighter than the FN and just plain looks good and feels good. Oh yeah.....and it shoots just as nice. My Benelli M1 with Nordic +5 tube weighs 7.3# and the SX3 with the Nordic +5 tube weighs in at 7.05#. The FN the way it ships is 8.05#. The shortes barrel available on the SX3 is 26". It will go out after the FNH match to be chopped to 22". Then it will be complete.
I milled out the load ports on both and did some relief on the handguards and they load like a dream. And thanks to the guys at Nordic for putting their new 12ga. follower in the shooters bags at the KY multigun match. The SX3 now has their new follower. I also milled a 10/22 sight into the rib of the SX3 for those precise slug shots and use the TruGlo universal fiber optic bead with .060" red fiber. Makes for a very precise sight picture when the rear leaf is flipped up and also fast for birds when its down. The FN got the Briley bolt handle since Nordics was not out at the time but the SX3 has the Nordic piece. I like them both.
I didn't think the day would come but the Benelli is sold and gone. I'm gonna miss her. Nahhh....not really.
In the pics the FN is on top and the SX3 is below it.

This post has been edited by 00bullitt: 24 May 2009 - 11:03 AM

[ken hebert]

Damn nice!

[SPR1]

Has the FN been totally reliable? Did you tweak anything internal? I am really interested in getting one of these.

[M'Lady]

The SX3 looks really nice. Which model is that? Is it the Gray Shadow? The receiver does not look completely black?

Are there any other benefits other than lighter weight?

This post has been edited by M'Lady: 24 May 2009 - 02:42 PM

[00bullitt]

The FN has been very reliable. Its also not finnicky on what kind of ammo it will run like the Benelli was. I have not done anything to the internals of the FN or the SX3. The FN and the SX3 both run the light target and handicapped loads without a problem. My Benelli would hardly cycle those rounds. It took 1 1/8 ounce 3 1/8 Dram stuff to make the Benelli run without fail. The FN has run with 2 1/2 dram stuff without a problem.

The SX3 is finished in a gunmetal grey finish and the receiver is accented with red pinstripes. It looks very sharp. The composite furniture is Duratouch and has a sticky rubbery feel.

It is just the composite model. I believe the Grey Shadow comes with nice wood furniture.

The benefit of having a gas gun that weighs less than a Benelli and is not ammo sensitive like the Benelli carries a lot of wight with me. The SX3 just points and balances extremely well.

The FN is very front heavy. The 22" SLP barrel is very heavy due to its straight profile and heavy cantilever mount. The receiver on the SLP is steel as opposed the aluminum receiver of the SX3. The 26" vent rib barrel of the SX3 feels like a feather. All in all the SX3 feels like a feather compared to the SLP but it does come at quite a bit more expense.

[shooter steve]

Have you done a side by side recoil test with them? I'm just wondering if the lighter weight lends itself to a little more recoil. I have a 1100CM, and the FN SLP, and in side by side tests, the CM is softer to shoot for sure, but it has been less reliable, and you know these guns gotta run for us. I didn't weigh either gun, so I don't know if that played into my results. I did my testing on a plate rack, and with a timer. Like I said, just curious if you could feel a difference. I know that during a match with the adrenaline flowing, we don't percieve the recoil as much, but it is still there and may affect our shot to shot recovery if you are shooting at targets that are close together, like the plate rack, or a stack of poppers or something. Nice blasters, I hope you get to enjoy them!

[want2race]

Can you post a pic of the rear sight you did?

[00bullitt]

want2race, on May 24 2009, 07:51 PM, said:

Can you post a pic of the rear sight you did?

The gun on the top is the FN SLP,the one in the middle is the SX3 and the one below is my Benelli M1S90.

[00bullitt]

shooter steve, on May 24 2009, 07:27 PM, said:

Have you done a side by side recoil test with them? I'm just wondering if the lighter weight lends itself to a little more recoil. I have a 1100CM, and the FN SLP, and in side by side tests, the CM is softer to shoot for sure, but it has been less reliable, and you know these guns gotta run for us. I didn't weigh either gun, so I don't know if that played into my results. I did my testing on a plate rack, and with a timer. Like I said, just curious if you could feel a difference. I know that during a match with the adrenaline flowing, we don't percieve the recoil as much, but it is still there and may affect our shot to shot recovery if you are shooting at targets that are close together, like the plate rack, or a stack of poppers or something. Nice blasters, I hope you get to enjoy them!

Recoil between the SLP and the SX3 is slightly different. The SX3 is a slight bit snappier than the SLP. I assume its do in part to the pound difference in weight. They are both very noticeably softer in recoil than the Benelli M1 or M2 shooting the same loads. The SX3 is very nice shooting with the Winchester and Remington Handicap light target loads.

[HSMITH]

Preach it brother, same song I have been singing for a LONG time. The Benelli shotgun is the most overrated gun I have ever seen.

[NovaShooter]

Tod,

AMEN to that!!! I love my 22" SLP and I never drank the Benelli Kool-Aid (Probably because I could only afford one shotgun )

Now we just have to convince "Big Dumb" AKA Lund and Mig of this!!

Get Em Good!

Jayson

[want2race]

I won't join the "this vs that" arguement (other than my SLP refused to run field loads...lol), but thanks for the sight pics! I was just discussing doing this.

[00bullitt]

My gun has not had any problems actually shooting the "field" loads but the crimp on some of them have been sharp and snagged a bit going into the tube when weak hand loading. My only real complaint is that some shells with sharp crimps load in the tube a bit rougher than others. Mostly the Federal stuff is what I have noticed to be more problematic.

This post has been edited by 00bullitt: 25 May 2009 - 10:27 AM

[shooter steve]

Just be careful when doing the weak hand reloads. The round will kind of get hung up on the crimp, or where the plastic joins the metal. You push a little harder, and the round pops into the tube, and your thumb will pop in behind it... You know what comes next....

[SPR1]

As soon as I sell my Benelli M2, I am going to get one of these.

[00bullitt]

I weighed the barrels this evening on the two. The 26" SX3 barrel weighs in at 35.8oz and the 22" FN barrel weighs 44.9oz

I will have a 26" vent rib FN barrel in a few weeks that I have been waiting for. I hope that barrel is in line with the weight of the SX3.

It really makes the SLP point and balance better. The way the SLP is....it feels very front heavy.

[cpty1]

Shot the SX3 today and while the gun did definitely cycle faster than my Benelli, I'm not sure it shot any softer. The recoil impulse was sharper and quicker; definitely different. The SX3 didn't strike me (no pun intended) as softer shooting though, with the same loads. The advantage might be the ability to run lighter powered ammo reliably. As an open shooter and not as proficient at weak hand loading as most, I can say the SX3 doesn't seem to load as easy as the M2. That might be remedied with some spring tweaking and polishing of the internals on the SX3. Am hoping the SX3 isn't as sensitive to mag tube spring tension as the M2.

[kurtm]

Well as I see all of you guys jumping off the "Spagetti cart" I need a good old M1 or M2 for a friend in Norway so if you have a nice one in the $700-$800 range let me know! "KurtMarinara"

[cpty1]

"Man cannot live by spaghetti alone....."

[davidwiz]

On the M1S90, is the rear sight in the vent rib? How did you secure the sights to the rib?

[benny hill]

After all the hoopa it is still a GAS gun with lots of moving parts to break. I know, I know, it never breaks.

[P.E. Kelley]

I find it interesting to see the NOW great interest in a platform that was introduced (in print) by a 3 gunner to 3 gunners in 2001!

 Speed_Shotgun.pdf (612.12K)
Number of downloads: 182

What may be more interesting is the author prefers (when he shoots a self-loader) one of two M2 Benelli's!

Speed is cool but reliability is #1!

Patrick E. Kelley

[00bullitt]

davidwiz, on May 26 2009, 04:45 PM, said:

On the M1S90, is the rear sight in the vent rib? How did you secure the sights to the rib?

By milling in a 3/8" dovetail

[00bullitt]

benny hill, on May 26 2009, 05:19 PM, said:

After all the hoopa it is still a GAS gun with lots of moving parts to break. I know, I know, it never breaks.

It can't run any worse than my Benelli did. Ol Nelli had the ability to act like an old stubborn woman on the rag on occasion with no explanation.

[smokshwn]

P.E. Kelley, on May 26 2009, 05:36 PM, said:

I find it interesting to see the NOW great interest in a platform that was introduced (in print) by a 3 gunner to 3 gunners in 2001!

Speed_Shotgun.pdf

What may be more interesting is the author prefers (when he shoots a self-loader) one of two M2 Benelli's!

Speed is cool but reliability is #1!

Patrick E. Kelley

Pat,

That article is exactly what prompted me into picking up my first SX2....still shoot one in limited. I would shoot one in open too except no magwell help with the sticks is available. So in open I am forced to chew the linguini