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Recommendation for 20 gauge semi-auto

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Rakkin6

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Just looking for some input on those of you that may run a 20 gauge semi-auto. I plan on buying one before next season and just looking for some opinions. Some of the guns I have been considering so far are the Franchi Affinity 3, Stoeger M3020, Retay Masai Mara and Weatherby Element. I know it's not a semi-auto but the Savage 220 bolt action turkey has me intrigued also. I have the 212 slug gun and it's a tack driver, if there turkey guns shoot has good then it's worth a look. Thanks for any insight either positive or negative on these options. If you have any besides these to recommend please do. I am a Benelli fan but can't justify (to my wife lol) spending $3,000 on their M2 model. We both agreed no more major luxury item purchases like Louis Vuitton purses and outdoor gear for me until the economy settles down. I know that could be a few years but those items are wants not needs.
 
I have the Retay Masai Mara turkey in Bottomland. I also have that Stoeger 3020 , both are inertia driven , light and great shooting guns. This was my first year with the Retay and it was 3 for 3 for my son and I. We both really like the gun! Very compact with a 22 inch barrel ,drilled and tapped. The Stoeger is also a great shooting gun, the turkey version has a 24 inch barrel , drilled and tapped but has a front sight that I didn't like( can be fixed and didn't get in my way of Swampfox kingslayer). Most other 3020 are not drilled and tapped , have a 26 inch barrel, they may have a compact with 24. The Stoeger will be half the price. You couldn't go wrong with either way but I have to admit the Retay became both our favorite gun this season as nothing else left the safe. You have some great choices listed but I have never owned the other two. I held a Franchi in a store and it felt great! Good luck in your search!
 
I ended up with a tri star viper g2 turkey gun. I originally had my mind made up on the Franchi affinity 3 but this was sitting beside it and after reading reviews couldn't justify the extra $300 on the Franchi. I love it. I put a vortex venom 6 moa red dot on it. The factory choke and apex 8.5 tss pattern great. So great it would be hard pressed to find and aftermarket choke to get a better pattern. I did shoot #9's out of it and it was a more spread out pattern than my liking so got a an IC .555 to try out just haven't done it yet.

I held a Retay they had as well and just my own experience I didn't like the way it felt.
 

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I've been happy with my Weatherby 20 ga autoloader.
Not sure about all the specs, but it came as a dedicated turkey gun, all camo, optics ready.
Very lightweight with a Burris Fastfire sight on it.

Also, not sure exactly how the recoil "physics" works,
but with a 1 1/2 oz payload this little 20 ga
seems to have less felt recoil than my big heavy 12 ga autoloading turkey gun
with a 1 1/2 oz payload.
 
you can get an M2 non performance for WAY less then 3k. IMO the benelli M2 20 is the best semi auto 20 out there period. The soft touch on it is super nice and it just swings and shoots better then any other 20 I have ever felt.

having said that if price is still the issue then the others you mentioned are very nice guns and you would prob be happy with any of them. The stoeger are sweet guns and for the price are hard to beat, however the finish and machining on them is why they are at that price point (may not matter to you though). The retay are very good guns with a good following, some on here have said they can have some major POI issues and really they are pretty close the the price of a used M2.
 
REN said:
you can get an M2 non performance for WAY less then 3k. IMO the benelli M2 20 is the best semi auto 20 out there period. The soft touch on it is super nice and it just swings and shoots better then any other 20 I have ever felt.

having said that if price is still the issue then the others you mentioned are very nice guns and you would prob be happy with any of them. The stoeger are sweet guns and for the price are hard to beat, however the finish and machining on them is why they are at that price point (may not matter to you though). The retay are very good guns with a good following, some on here have said they can have some major POI issues and really they are pretty close the the price of a used M2.
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Thanks for the heads up I just went and checked out the M2 you recommended. At that price I may just have to take the wife on a weekend trip somewhere lol. At 26" I may send it off to William at Sumtoy and have him take a couple inches off the barrel though and have him make me a choke when he sends it back.
 
IF I was in the market for a 20 ga auto, the WBY Element would be one I'd want to put my hands on, especially for the price that Sportsman's Warehouse has em for right now.
 
Rakkin6 said:
Thanks for the heads up I just went and checked out the M2 you recommended. At that price I may just have to take the wife on a weekend trip somewhere lol. At 26" I may send it off to William at Sumtoy and have him take a couple inches off the barrel though and have him make me a choke when he sends it back.
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I have the 24" barrel and it patterns like a dream. At just 5.8lbs it's just a great gun that will last as long as you will.

I haven't held the new SBE 3 20 gauge but hear it's also very nice but obviously more expensive.

2C4A5871-179F-43DE-ACD3-B903E36F0D08.jpeg
 
Having said all that "fit" does make a difference. I have shot and/or owned all the ones listed on this page so far. The M2 fit me by far the best and I have never found another close to it that made me wish I had something else.

Benelli guns just fit me perfect. Love the slim forend and stock. Love how easy they are to clean and how reliable they are. You may feel different
 
I looked for a M2 and couldn't find one so ended up buying a Stoeger M3020. It's the turkey edition and was drilled and tapped but as deerfever mentioned the front site was a no go for me so I cut it off with a dremel as it's soldered on at the factory. Dumb design if you ask me. Anyway put a Burris FF3 on it and love it. Only got to go 3 mornings and 2 afternoons but didn't pull the trigger on a bird.
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With your recent post about rolling your own, keep in mind, the benelli, stoger, and franchi guns are finicky with roll crimp 3" loads
 
Rakkin6 said:
Thanks for the heads up I just went and checked out the M2 you recommended. At that price I may just have to take the wife on a weekend trip somewhere lol. At 26" I may send it off to William at Sumtoy and have him take a couple inches off the barrel though and have him make me a choke when he sends it back.
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I absolutely would not send it to William to have the barrel cut on the 20. He only does tru choke for 20. Send it to comp n choke he can do rem or winchoke.
 
I was in your same situation a few years ago. The Benelli M2 was my choice after years shooting a SBE. I could not justify spending that much. I ended up catching the Franchi Affinty 3 on sale and buying two (one for me one for my kid) for what a M2 cost. We have been very pleased with them.
 

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