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When most duck hunters take into consideration Italian semi-auto shotguns, they assume Benelli or Beretta. Truthful sufficient, these two gunmakers have produced superlative waterfowling shotguns for a few years they usually personal the highest finish of the market. However there’s one other Italian-made semi-auto to contemplate — the Breda B3.5SM.
I obtained my fingers on the hefty, inertia-driven B3.5SM this summer season and I hunted with it by most of my duck season. As I burned by field after field, I started to love the shotgun increasingly. By the top of my season, I’m now able to declare it as a real contender to the Benelli Tremendous Black Eagle 3.
And in case you’re a type of duck hunters who most well-liked the unique Tremendous Black Eagle of the early 90s to the trendy model, then you definately’re going to like this Breda shotgun.
Right here’s how the Breda B3.5SM carried out within the subject and on the vary — and why it’s develop into one in every of my favourite duck weapons.
- Gauge: 12
- Motion: Semi-auto, inertia-driven
- Capability: 4+1
- Chamber: 3.5 inches
- Weight: 7.37 kilos (measured)
- Set off weight: 5.25 kilos
- Barrel Size: 28 inches (examined), 30 inches
- Total Size: 49.25 inches
- LOP: 14.25 inches
- Sight: Crimson bar
- Barrel End: Black cerakote
- Inventory End: Black (examined), Mossy Oak Bottomland, Realtree Max7
- Made in Italy
- Value: $2,100
Key Options
- Snug, grippy inventory
- Dependable motion with rotating bolt head
- Drilled barrel
- 5 Included flush chokes: F, IM, M, IC, C (Crio Plus Appropriate)
Overview Highlights
- Shot spectacular 50/50 patterns (50 p.c of pellets hit above level of goal, 50 p.c hit under)
- Wonderful subject efficiency
- Minimal malfunctions whereas looking
The Breda Backstory
Breda (pronounced “bree – da”) just isn’t well-known within the U.S. however it’s a noteworthy firm in semi-auto shotgun historical past and within the European wingshooting world. Breda is presently importing shotguns to the U.S. by Banshee Manufacturers (the identical of us who work with Retay to import their Turkish-made shotguns).
Breda obtained its begin as an Italian locomotive producer within the Eighties. Quick ahead about 100 years and Breda purchased a portion of Benelli Armi SPA (Beretta bought a portion as nicely). By the early Nineties Individuals started seeing Benelli-made Tremendous Black Eagles and M1 Tremendous 90s seem in duck blinds. These weapons had been initially imported by Heckler and Koch, and duck hunters cherished them.
In 2000, Breda restructured and offered its share of Benelli to Bretta. Nevertheless Breda retained the manufacturing rights to each the unique SBE and M1 Tremendous 90, in line with Christian Useful, chief government for Banshee Manufacturers.
“Our B3.5SM is actually a refined model of the unique SBE from the HK-imported Nineties fashions,” says Useful.
A Dependable, Inertia-Pushed Semi-Auto
The B3.5SM works on the identical inertia-driven motion that powers the SBE 3. This motion was developed by Italian engineer Bruno Civolani in 1967 and has lengthy been a favourite amongst American waterfowlers.
The motion capabilities through the use of recoil from the shell at the side of the mass of the bolt to compress a strong spring, which then cycles the motion, tossing the spent hull and loading a brand new shell. Because the bolthead strikes into battery, it rotates and locks into place.
The final consensus about inertia weapons right now is that they’re lighter, slimmer, and cleaner operating than gas-operated semi-autos. On the draw back they often have harsher recoil and may be finicky in the event that they get soiled or moist in frigid circumstances. In my expertise, Benelli shotguns have lived as much as these perceptions. However would the Breda B3.5SM?
Searching With the Breda B3.5SM
At first look, the B3.5SM is unremarkable. It’s a black, synthetic-stocked gun with outsized controls (which nearly all duck weapons have nowadays). Once I shot clays with the gun I observed that it felt a bit heavy, which I favored. It helped the gun swing properly and diminished a few of the recoil. At 7.37 kilos, the B3.5SM is sort of a half-pound heavier than the SBE 3.
I instantly favored the texture and grippiness of the inventory, which has a rubbery, soft-touch end. Plus, I shot the gun naturally, so I made a decision to take it out for opening day of the Wisconsin duck season. Searching was gradual that opening morning, however I did kill a pair teal over the decoys and I made one heroic crossing shot on a distant wooden duck. That was sufficient for me to maintain the B3.5SM in my rotation.
I proceeded to hunt with the shotgun in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The extra I shot it, the extra I favored it. Once I subject check shotguns, I hunt onerous with them and don’t clear them. I run every gun till it begins to jam — and with semi-autos I’ve discovered that they are going to all fail ultimately.
By mid-season I had run a number of hundred rounds by the gun and dropped it within the mud no less than twice earlier than I lastly obtained a a primary failure — the bolthead had not rotated all the way in which into battery and the gun went “click on” as a substitute of “increase.” After that hunt I cleaned the gun and resumed killing geese. Then on the ultimate hunt of the season I obtained my second malfunction — the gun fired the primary spherical however didn’t cycle the second.
In my expertise, two malfunctions over the course of an extended duck season of onerous looking, with just one cleansing, is fairly rattling good efficiency from an inertia gun.
Most significantly, I found that the B3.5SM is an absolute duck hammer. Loaded up with Hevi Shot Hevi XII, 3-inch, No. 6 masses, I killed geese close to and much with all of it season lengthy.
There was the excessive flock of teal in North Dakota the place I referred to as “kill’em in case you can,” and when my buddies chickened out on the shot, I popped out of the blind and dropped a drake greenwing from the heavens. There was the double on crossing goldeneys at dawn in South Dakota. There was that cautious greenhead in Wisconsin that simply wouldn’t commit, however folded on his third go anyway.
I’m certain that I missed some geese with the B3.5SM over the course of the season, however I can’t appear to recall any of these photographs now.
Patterning the Breda B3.5SM
I’m sure that my good experiences within the subject have quite a bit to do with how the gun patterns. Regardless that “3.5SM” describes the three.5-inch “Tremendous Magnum” chamber, I used 3-inch masses for looking and testing. In my expertise (and people of different skilled shooters) 3.5-inch masses sometimes don’t sample nicely out of a 12 gauge. They merely generate extra recoil with out placing any extra pellets on course.
So I shot the B3.5SM on paper at 40 yards with two primary 3-inch metal masses: Federal Pace Shok No. 2 with a 1 ¼ ounce payload; and Remington Nitro Metal No. 2 with a 1 ¼ ounce payload. Utilizing the Modified choke that got here with the gun, I shot 4 patterns with every load and averaged them.
Common Pellet Strikes in a 30-Inch Circle
- Federal Pace Shok: 127
- Remington Nitro-Metal: 130
For context, that is phenomenal efficiency. Below the identical taking pictures protocol with the identical ammo, my SBE 3 averaged 107 pellet strikes with the Federal load and 117 pellets with the Remington load. Of all one of the best duck looking shotguns we’ve examined, I’d put the Breda up in opposition to any of them when it comes to sample efficiency.
Drilled Barrel
Breda attributes these nice patterns to their drilled barrels. The corporate makes use of a drilling course of for producing barrels (versus chilly hammer forging).
“A deep-bore-drilled course of includes taking a tube of bar inventory, minimize to the specified size of the ultimate barrel, putting the bar inventory in a lathe and manually drilling out the barrel from the middle and contouring and profile the barrel with lathe cutters,” says Rus Hinkle, a service lead for Breda and Retay. “This leaves the bar inventory in its unique, homogenous type because it was solid or cast from the manufacturing facility.”
Having a extra homogenous, constant barrel contributes to raised patterns general, says Hinkle. “With particular regards to shotguns, the extra uniform the vibrations of the barrel [as the shot is fired] correlate to much less destabilization of the pellets as they exit the muzzle.”
I can’t say for sure if Breda’s rationalization for the sample efficiency of this gun is legit or not. However I do know for certain that the B3.5SM shoots killer patterns. Additionally, earlier this 12 months I reviewed the Retay Gordion Turkey, which makes use of a barrel constructed from the identical course of and that gun shot distinctive patterns as nicely.
50/50 Patterns
It’s additionally essential to notice that the Breda shot simply the place I pointed it. It produced constant, 50/50 patterns that means that about 50 p.c of the pellets hit above my aimpoint and 50 p.c hit under the aimpoint. That is simply what you need from a looking shotgun. It’s additionally noteworthy that many Benelli semi-auto shotguns are likely to sample excessive (typically as excessive as 90/10). This may be improved with shimming, however many hunters don’t take the time to mess with their shim kits.
Breda B3.5SM vs Benelli SBE 3
I’ve already began evaluating the B3.5SM to the SBE 3 so we would as nicely go all the way in which now. Each are premium shotguns that work off the identical motion. The bolts from the weapons are practically an identical.
One noticeable distinction between the 2 weapons is the profile of the rib. In relation to the receiver, the B3.5SM has a really low rib. So when wanting down the gun along with your head tight on the inventory, you’ll see that the rib kind of disappears under the bead. The SBE 3 then again has a excessive rib that raises nicely above the receiver.
Past that, the flamboyant model of the SBE 3 has extra options, together with a recoil discount system, a carbon-fiber rib, and the sturdy BE.ST coating. It’s considerably lighter, sleeker, and has superior match and end. All these bells and whistles will price you although, because the top-end SBE 3 runs $2,499.
The B3.5SM is rougher across the edges. On my gun there’s a noticeable hole between the inventory and the rear of the rubber cheek pad. The outsized bolt-release button has a little bit of wiggle to it. The crossbolt security is just too small and unrefined.
However, the B3.5SM throws higher patterns and shoots straighter — no less than for me. If I needed to choose one in every of these shotguns for a high-noon duel with a greenhead, I’d go along with the B3.5SM with out considering twice.
Breda B3.5SM Availability
My most severe criticism of the B3.5SM is you can’t simply stroll into any massive gun store and purchase one. In response to the corporate web site, there have been solely 75 of those weapons allotted to the U.S. market this 12 months. And in 2025 there will likely be “restricted portions of the B3.5SM by choose sellers,” says Useful. If you wish to examine one out, you’ll find Breda sellers close to you on the corporate’s web site.
Remaining Ideas on the B3.5SM
The B3.5SM actually is a throwback to the unique SBE. It may not be probably the most elegant inertia-driven gun in the marketplace, and for $2,100 I can see how some hunters would count on extra when it comes to aesthetics, match, and end. However, hoo boy, this child shoots. I might fortunately commerce seems for the type of patterning and subject efficiency that the B3.5SM delivers.
I do know that there are some diehard waterfowlers on the market who would fairly surrender their duck canine than their SBE 3. However for the oldsters who need wonderful 50/50 sample efficiency out of the field, Breda’s B3.5SM is price an in depth look—assuming you’ll find one.
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