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Really new shotgun introductions at SHOT Present have at all times been a boom-or-bust proposition, with new weapons in all places one 12 months and scarcely a semi-auto the following. At SHOT Present 2024, firms appear to be responding to buyer suggestions with more and more area of interest merchandise. Thus far noteworthy shotgun introductions embody enjoyable subgauges for sporting clays, light-weight upland weapons, optic-ready autoloaders for waterfowlers, and a centuries-old firm’s first crack at a snow goose gun. Listed below are the brand new shotguns of SHOT Present 2024 which have caught my eye, in no explicit order.
Stevens 555 Sporting
Highlights
- Gauge: 12, 20, .410
- Barrel size: 30- and 28-inch ported barrels (20 gauge and .410, respectively)
- Inventory: Turkish walnut
- Receiver: Light-weight aluminum alloy
- Extractors: Guide
- Adjustable cheek piece
- Sights: Fiber-optic, mid-bead
- Choke tubes: 5 included
- MSRP: $989
Savage launched the Stevens 555 Sporting in 12 gauge final 12 months, and now the corporate is including a 20 gauge and .410 bore. I shot clays with the .410 and located it onerous to overlook, partially as a result of the little gun was so nimble. The Stevens 555 Sporting has an adjustable cheek piece and is out there in a compact mannequin for smaller-frame and youthful shooters. Savage reps reported their prospects notably loved dove looking with this mannequin, which they credit score, partially, to the ported barrels taking the sting out of high-volume opening days. These Turkish-made over/unders ought to be obtainable on the finish of February.
Browning A5 Hunter 20
Highlights
- Gauge: 20
- Chamber: 3 inch
- Capability: 4
- Motion: Semi-automatic (inertia-driven)
- Weight: 5 kilos, 11 ounces
- Barrel size: 26- and 28-inch
- Inventory: Excessive-gloss Turkish walnut
- Receiver: Anodized black
- Choke tubes: 3 included; Invector-DS Flush system
- Smaller body dimension than the A5 12-gauge
- Made in Portugal
- MSRP: $1,980
After lugging my 12-gauge duck gun round all pheasant season, I discovered the brand new A5 Hunter in 20 gauge from Browning notably interesting. At beneath six kilos and with a body scaled-down from the bigger A5 gauges, the A5 Hunter 20 is actually useful. The mannequin I shot this week cycled goal masses with no hitch or any noticeable recoil, though I’ll be curious to see the way it handles heavier discipline masses. The 20 gauge has a high-gloss end on each the Turkish walnut and black anodized receiver. At almost $2,000 it’s not an affordable shotgun, however the value is probably going value it in case you’re one of many hunters who’s been ready years to get your arms on this subgauge.
Beretta A300 Ultima Snow Goose Arctic Fox
Highlights
- Gauge: 12
- Motion: Semi-automatic (gasoline)
- Sights: Fiber optic, receiver lower for a red-dot
- Particular gloved-finger groove lower within the receiver
- Pic rail for mounting a digicam
- Prolonged journal tube
- Weight: Not but obtainable
- MSRP: Estimated at $1,350
Though Beretta has beforehand supplied its A400 Xtreme Plus in a snow camo, this Snow Goose Arctic Fox is the Italian shotgun maker’s first true snow goose gun. Beretta selected the A300 Ultima platform for the job, a mannequin identified for its Kick-Off recoil discount system, outsized controls, and enlarged loading port. Aside from the apparent white end and prolonged journal tube, this shotgun is purpose-built with a specifically grooved grip for cumbersome gloved fingers, a Pic rail beneath the fore-end for mounting a digicam, and a receiver lower for an optic. Extra particulars are skinny because the gun is new for 2024, and it gained’t be prepared in time for this spring conservation order, both; Beretta expects it to be obtainable for order by mid-summer.
Beretta made further beauty updates to the A300 Ultima, together with an A300 Ultima Upland with an engraved receiver and bronze Cerakote end (not pictured). To satisfy the rising demand for solid-colored duck weapons, Beretta added two flat finishes for waterfowlers in Marsh (a coyote bronze) and Timber (which one Beretta rep known as grey, however seems virtually black).
Beretta Ultraleggero KO
Highlights
- Gauge: 12
- Recoil-reduction additions
- Shim package included
- Weight: Not but obtainable
- MSRP: Estimated about $3,000
In 2023 Beretta delivered on the eponymous promise of Ultraleggero (which suggests “ultralight” in Italian) with a trim 12-gauge designed for all-day upland looking. Our 2023 shotgun take a look at group panel was unanimous in our appreciation for its aesthetics and its innovation; Beretta managed to rigorously strip weight from its 690 motion with out hindering dealing with. These modifications got here at a price, nonetheless, because the recoil from the 6.4-pound 12-gauge made taking pictures even mild goal masses lower than nice.
That’s precisely why, says Beretta shotgun product supervisor Logan Killam, they launched the Ultraleggero KO for 2024. This model of the Ultraleggero is designed to honor the aim of the gun and preserve its light-weight profile, but in addition mitigate felt recoil. These wiggly traces snaking by way of the inventory are a part of the corporate’s Kick-Off system, which contains three shock absorbers contained in the inventory. Taking pictures editor John B. Snow spent a while taking pictures this gun on 5-stand this week and was impressed by how effectively the system appears to work.
Beretta took the Ultraleggero KO’s post-modern look a bit additional by incorporating a shim system; the concept, it appears, is {that a} correctly fitted gun ends in a smoother taking pictures expertise. That is, Killam confirmed, the primary time Beretta has ever shimmed one among its break-action shotguns.
The MSRP shouldn’t be but finalized however Killiam says prospects ought to count on to pay about $100 extra for the Ultraleggero KO than its predecessor; any weight achieve from the recoil changes is equally unavailable. You may actually argue the ultimate product detracts from the smooth black-velvet impact of the unique Ultraleggero, however it might not matter to loyal Beretta followers who need a light-weight pheasant gun with out the bruises to go together with it.
Benelli Montefeltro Extremely Mild
Highlights
- Blued barrel, anodized receiver
- A-grade satin walnut
- Weight: 6.3 kilos (12 gauge); 5.3 kilos (20 gauge)
- MSRP: $1,599
Talking of light-weight hen weapons, Benelli has launched the Montefeltro Extremely Mild by shaving the 6.6-pound Montefeltro down to six.3 kilos within the 12 gauge and simply 5.3 kilos within the 20 gauge. Benelli managed the load financial savings with a carbon-fiber rib, shortened journal tube, and by slicing the barrels from 28 inches to 26 inches (12 gauge), and 24 inches (20 gauge). Our testers loved taking pictures the Montefeltro at our shotgun take a look at this previous summer time, noting affordable recoil administration for the already light-weight 12-gauge. I’ll have an interest to shoot this up to date mannequin and see how a lot the load discount impacts the expertise.
Benelli has additionally introduced additions to its different fashionable shotgun traces, together with compact Tremendous Black Eagle 3 fashions designed for shooters with a shorter size of pull, in addition to a metal receiver within the firm’s 828U over/beneath to assist handle recoil.
Benelli Efficiency Store ETHOS Superior Impression (A.I.)
Highlights
- New contoured barrels reportedly improve shot velocity, power, and sample density
- The know-how is at present solely obtainable in Efficiency Store ETHOS fashions
- Solely obtainable in 12 gauge to begin
- Ought to arrive in shops in March or April
- MSRP: Beginning at $3,649 for the Cordoba
For 2024 Benelli is introducing a barrel innovation its calling Superior Impression know-how, or A.I., in choose ETHOS fashions. Whereas it feels like ChatGPT hijacked your autoloader, the identify really refers to a bore design that’s been almost a decade in improvement. New contours within the barrel bore complement an extra-long A.I. Crio choke tube to extend shot velocity and power. In testing, Benelli stories the A.I. contouring ends in a 4 p.c improve in velocity and a 6 p.c improve in power at one meter previous the muzzle. That sounds negligible, however at 65 yards, the shot velocity has elevated by 42 p.c and the power to 77 p.c. In different phrases, the farther the shot travels from a barrel with A.I., the quicker and tougher the shot hits in comparison with a normal barrel. Benelli additionally says the A.I. helps ship tighter and extra uniform shot columns. Between the choke tube and the barrel changes, the barrel diameter is bigger than most 12-gauge barrels; it appears nearer to a 10-gauge barrel.
“We’re beginning within the clays format due to the best way we noticed the efficiency of the space of shot strings holding collectively and performing in entice and skeet, however it’s ultimately going to roll out within the looking market,” says senior advertising supervisor Cristie Gates. “One purpose is to make common ammunition a lot more practical.”
Despite the fact that looking fashions have but to be launched, Gates stories that discipline testing the A.I. has been “phenomenal,” usually with pellets passing fully by way of birds with out tearing them up. The A.I. providing will initially be obtainable in 12 gauge in simply three Efficiency Store ETHOS fashions: the Supersport A.I. (pictured above; high), the Sport A.I. (center), and the Cordoba A.I. BE.S.T., with fashions turning into delivery this spring. Gates expects A.I. to develop into looking fashions in 2025, beginning with the remainder of the ETHOS household and in the end the Tremendous Black Eagle line. It’s not too far fetched to count on this innovation to ultimately grow to be customary on all of Benelli’s shotguns. Gates estimates the present A.I. fashions can be obtainable in March or April.
Mossberg 940 Professional Optic-Prepared Fashions
Highlights
- Gauge: 12
- Motion: Semi-automatic (gasoline)
- Receiver lower for Protect RMSc-pattern micro dot sights
- Obtainable in waterfowl, snow goose fashions
- Capability: 4+1; snow goose mannequin additionally obtainable in 12+1
- Turkey mannequin comes with a Holosun Micro-Dot Combo
- MSRP: Begins at $1,246
Mossberg has taken its 940 Professional, which was designed with enter from professional shooter Jerry Miculek for multi-gun competitors, and added optic-ready variations for duck and snow goose hunters. There’s additionally a mannequin for turkey hunters that features a Holosun red-dot already mounted to the pre-cut receiver. Our shotgun take a look at group gave combined opinions to the 940 Professional Discipline, a mannequin designed for wingshooting that we examined final summer time. Personally, I shot the 940 Professional Discipline effectively however different testers discovered it clunky; in the end all of us agreed the value felt steep for the efficiency. Nonetheless, these up to date configurations might ship higher outcomes for his or her area of interest prospects.
Spandau Arms S2
Highlights
- Gauge: 12
- Motion: Semi-automatic (inertia-driven)
- Entrance sight: Fiber optic
- Barrel size: 24 and 28 inches
- Weight: 6.2 kilos and 6.5 kilos
- MSRP: $400 (black); $500 (Realtree APX and MAX)
This Tennessee-based shotgun firm is a comparatively new division of SDS Imports, and we first received an opportunity to shoot one among its Turkish imports eventually 12 months’s SHOT Present: the Premiere Goal. After that $2,000-plus walnut over/beneath introduction, Spandau is widening its attraction with a price range semi-auto geared towards waterfowl and turkey hunters. The S2 is delivery in April, in line with senior product supervisor Geoff Jackson, so it ought to be obtainable in time for many turkey seasons.
Extra Shotgun Introductions
Remington 870 FieldMaster Artificial
Highlights
- Motion: Pump
- Inventory: Artificial
- Gauge: 12 and 20
- Chamber: 3 inches
- Capability: 3+1
- MSRP: Not but obtainable
RemArms shouldn’t be exhibiting at SHOT Present 2024, however the firm has introduced an replace to its fashionable pump. The corporate is now providing a Mannequin 870 FieldMaster in an artificial end, which ought to enhance the sturdiness of the already-versatile walnut-stocked mannequin that we awarded a Nice Purchase to in our pump shotgun take a look at final 12 months. You’ll be able to learn extra in regards to the FieldMaster line right here.
Weatherby 18i Restricted
Highlights
- Gauge: 12 and 20
- Motion: Semi-auto (inertia-driven)
- Inventory: Exhibiton-grade walnut, shim adjustable
- Full size ventilated high rib
- Sights: LPA Fiber
- Capability: 4+1
- Chamber: 3-inch
- 5 Crio-plus choke tubes
- Machined aluminum set off guard meeting
- pure gold inlay, nickel receiver
- MSRP: $3,099
Weatherby was additionally absent from SHOT Present, however the Wyoming-based firm acknowledged the season of recent gun introductions by including a high-end providing to its 18i lineup. As its identify signifies, the shotgun is a restricted version (although Weatherby didn’t point out what number of fashions it is going to be making) product of exhibition walnut and a brushed-nickel receiver with customized engraving and 24K gold inlays.
Learn Subsequent: Finest Shotguns of 2023, Examined and Reviewed
Keep tuned for updates to this story as we evaluation new merchandise. Within the meantime, try our different SHOT Present protection of new rifles, new handguns, and new knives.