Question for 3-gun benelli shooters

[ambluemax]

This is a shotgun question, but I mean it in the context of competition so I'll post it here.

I recently took the plunge into 3-gun (thanks to my IDPA/USPSA friends we talked me into it). At my first match something came up that suprised me. This was from a group of guys who are serious competitors at the club level in our area (not national tour pros though). I know one of them is at least master if not grand master in USPSA and a 5 gun master in IDPA, the others were expert level IDPA guys. I'm not implying that being a high ranked comeptitor makes one a gun-god, just trying to illustrate that these guys know what they are doing and are trying to win (not just getting away from their wifes for a few hours).

What suprised me was that this group of 3 guys I was BSing with said that none of them had EVER cleaned their Benelli's. The consensus was that the tube extensions made them a pain to field strip, so they just slapped them together out of the box, fed them shells and pulled the trigger (and had been doing so for years). No wipe downs, not one drop of oil, and they talked about it like this was common.

It struck me as odd that guys competiting on that level with premium grade equipment like they run would take a gamble like not maintaining they shotgun. Certainly they can't be running their AR's like that (though I didn't ask). I know I don't take any chances with my gear- its all in top notch shape and lubed up when I step into the shooting box.

So I'm curious if it truely is common for competitiors using benellis to run their guns in this manner. I expect this kind of treatment from glock shooters...but if I had a $1500+ shotgun, I know I'd show it some love at least every once in awhile if not for sure before every match.

[NewbieDave]

This is just my opinion... but I don't clean my Benelli much either. I wouldn't say I don't clean it at all... cause I do wipe it down. Full cleaning of the inside... I'll only do that after several range session.

The reason for me is that it just doesn't get that dirty. With the Benelli system, it's not gas... so nothing really gets vented back into the system. So nothing get's that dirty in there. I'll occasionally spray the inside with WD40 to flush the inside a little, but it's a PITA to get the bolt out to clean the full system... so I don't. But that's just me.

That being say... I can see why some of these guys don't clean the inside. BUT, I'm sure they spray it with something to flush the inside once in a while... just not a full break-down and scrub.


~dpc

[TomMcC]

Yep, don't clean mine much either, for the reasons stated. They don't get that dirty. I bore snake it, wipe the area inside the ejection port with a paper towel, wipe the outside and on match day put a little oil on the bolt rails. I don't clean my AR but every 5th match or so.

[latewatch]

Don't feel the need to "clean" mine much either. If it doesn't get muddy, wet I typically just wipe it down. Occasionally I will spray the inside with some gun scrubber and re-oil it but other then that I just run it. I've owned my M1 S90 since about 1992-1993 and it's worked ever since.

[sff70]

Lubed is more important than "clean".

(as filthy 14 has proved so well)

Top competitors use the Benellis because they can run dirty.

Mine certainly does (I am NOT a top competitor).

That said, if you spend a bunch of money to attend a major match, you don't want to lose because something didn't work.

[Jesse Tischauser]

The be Inertia Driven Benellis ability to run dirty is what makes it so popular in 3 gun and other high use platforms. However that doesn't mean I dont clean mine. If you spend $1000's on match fees, flights, fuel, lodging, etc and a dirty benelli or dirty glock or whatever causes you to have to rack the slide one or two extra times its not worth it. That 2-3 seconds it takes to clear a dirty gun malfunction can mean the difference between top 3 and top 10 at the big matches.

I always clean before a major and them go shoot 10-50 to function check. Local matches I'll clean every 500-800 rounds.

[Cold]

If you spend $1000's on match fees, flights, fuel, lodging, etc and a dirty benelli or dirty glock or whatever causes you to have to rack the slide one or two extra times its not worth it. That 2-3 seconds it takes to clear a dirty gun malfunction can mean the difference between top 3 and top 10 at the big matches.

I always clean before a major and them go shoot 10-50 to function check. Local matches I'll clean every 500-800 rounds.

Agreed 100%.

[shootist~]

Pull it down once or twice per year for a full cleaning (or after shooting in a dust storm, rain storm etc.) After a match a wipe down plus a little Rem Oil in the chamber area plus on the bolt and rat tail (incl a wipe down of those areas) - and it's GTG.

Worked just fine for my M1S90 when I did 3G fairly seriously. These are not Remingtons!

Full detail cleaning before a "big" shoot? Sure, if the round count justifies.

[HK_Shooter_03]

At the same time, never shoot a major match with a clean gun.

If I have to travel more than an hour to get to a match, all three guns have 10 rounds worth of fouling on them before I fire my first shot.

[ambluemax]

I'll piggy back my question then with: is this the main reason benellis are so popular in 3-gun or do the have some other favorable characteristics too?

Personally I'll be running a browning gold in the near future that I bought years ago and have now recently modified for 3gun. For the longest time I have hated benellis, and berreta's for that matter, because the manual of arms was so complicated. My browning is still the softest recoiling shotgun I've ever shot. If I were going to buy today it would be a benelli because benelli actually makes a decent fully left handed autoloader now which nobody really did when I bought my browning. But with a fully functional browning the purchase is hard to justify.

I ran a remington tactical in my first 3gun that I borrowed from a friend to try the game. Fun to shoot, but I couldn't be bothered to own a remington.