December 11, 2007 at 4:01pm
I got a Benelli Nova 3 1/2" 12 gauge pump shotgun with camo pattern in 2001. I got it for Christmas as a gift.(more like a curse in the end though.)
Before I start venting my frustration about my Benelli Nova know this; I clean my guns after every use. I wipe the outside of the gun thoroughly, removing all dirt and debris. I take the trigger mechanism out and spray out with WD-40 all of the unburnt powder, I also clean all the moving mechanisms thoroughly. I lubricate with 3 in 1 oil. I run a bore cleaner through the barrel of the gun to remove all the debris through it..........etc.... Point being, I take care of my gun's. My Benelli got a lot of TLC.
10-11 months after getting my gun I started having a misfire. It wasn't bad at first, maybe one misfire in 20 shots. After shooting another 200-300 rounds it went to about 1 in 3 was a misfire. I started to look at the misfired shells and there would be little indentions on the primer, but they were just slight indentions. I couldn't understand what could be wrong with an almost brand new gun! Well,I boxed the benelli back up, right in middle of hunting season and sent it back to benelli. About 6 weeks later I got the gun back. The firing pin spring was faulty, causing the firing pin not to hit the primer hard enough for ignition. This was causing the misfire. Okay, that's fine. Shouldn't have another problem right?........Wrong
This past hunting season the Benelli had a catastrophic meltdown. Early in the season I started having problems where my gun wouldn't grab a shell from the magazine and place it in the chamber when I pumped the gun. Now, for anybody who shoots a pump, you know that you don't have time to physically check in between shots that a shell has gone from the magazine to the chamber. Not only does it destroy your rythm, but it causes you to take your eye off the target. That doesn't jive well when you're shooting at critters that are flying 30-50 mph.
The next progression in the meltdown of the Benelli was the shell not getting pushed far enough in the chamber to get ignited. I would press the trigger to shoot, and the trigger wouldn't even depress. When this would happen I would try to disengage the pump and then try to reengage to get the shell far enough in the chamber for igntion. Unfortunately, when I would do this,another shell would come out of the magazine and try to go into the chamber with the other shell. 2 shells in the chamber at the same time was the worst!!! The only way to get rid of the jam was to try to pry one of the shells out with a knife or other flat bladed tool.
I gave up on my Benelli when I made a duck and goose hunting trip to White Lake, and on the first shot of the morning my trigger mechanism just fell out of the gun. after the very first shot of the morning the trigger mechanism retainer pins just sheared apart, so there was nothing to hold the trigger mechanism in place. The rest of the hunt at White Lake went something like this: Load shell in Chamber, shoot, look for trigger mechanism around blind, resituate trigger mechanism, load shell in chamber,shoot, look for trigger mechanism in the bottom of blind. Repeat procedure. repeat procedure. I was Irate.
The day after the White Lake hunt I went out and bought a Remington 870 3 1/2" pump Camo Pattern. I won't be looking to buy a Nova.
I know that there are some that have probably had a lot of good experiences with Benelli Nova's, but I thought you should hear my story.
Happy Hunting.
