From J.P. Sauer & Sohn . . .
J.P. Sauer & Sohn, Germany’s oldest manufacturer of hunting firearms, is pleased to introduce the new line of SL5 Waterfowl shotguns. Available in three models – Fred Bear Old School Camo, Fred Bear Old School Camo stock and forearm with brown Cerakote barrel and action, and Black Synthetic – these 12-gauge, semi-auto shotguns are rugged, reliable, and accurate in the most extreme hunting conditions. All are available in 3.5” models, which can accommodate 2 ¾”, 3” or 3.5” shotshells. Capacity is 3+1. The Black Synthetic model is also available in a 3” chambering.
Inertia-driven like the SL5 Turkey gun, the smooth-cycling SL5 Waterfowl shotgun requires fewer parts than a gas-driven gun and minimal cleaning – ideal traits for a duck and goose gun that is exposed to the elements. All SL5 3.5” models have an oversized extended bolt handle and release button making it easy to work with gloves on in frigid temperatures and are available in three barrel lengths – 26-inch, 28-inch, or 30-inch. The barrels are chrome lined with a stepped rib for precise alignment. The receiver is made with a steel upper for strength and durability, and the lower is aluminum for improved balance and reduced weight.
“We are excited to introduce these new, high-performance SL5 Waterfowl shotguns,” said Jason Evans, CEO, Blaser Group. “They are designed to withstand the brutal elements waterfowl hunters experience throughout the season, year after year, and the Fred Bear Old School Camo pattern is a true classic that is popular with many hunters of all ages. We’ve had a lot of requests for this pattern and are happy to finally meet the demand.”
All SL5 Waterfowl shotguns feature sling attachments, a Cervellati recoil pad, rubber comb, and a red single-bead LPA front fiber-optic sight for fast and accurate target acquisition.
Made in Italy and backed by a 10-year factory warranty, the SL5 Waterfowl shotguns weigh 7.5 lbs and come standard with five Benelli Crio Plus-style extended choke tubes – Cylinder, Improved Cylinder, Modified, Improved Modified, and Full.
MSRP:
Black Synthetic $1,579.00
Fred Bear Old School Camo $1,679.00
Fred Bear Old School Camo / Brown Cerakote $1,779.00
For more information on the SL5 Waterfowl shotguns, visit: JPSauer-USA.com.
I have a Benelli m2. It’s my hunting gun. Inertia driven works. Everything from real light to real heavy loads go without a hitch. Cleaning is fairly quick and easy.
For decades I hunted with Mossbergs, Remingtons, Winchesters, Ithaca’s just to name a few.
Make mine a Benelli now.
I carry a Benelli Montefeltro. I’m wondering what the JP Sauer offers that’s different.
These are made in Italy. I’m betting they’re just rebranded Benelli’s. I had a Beretta Pintail that was actually made in Spain.
Although the inertia system has a lot going for it in terms of less parts to break and more reliability it comes with a price because life is always a double edged sword. In other words the inertia gun, even the short recoil ones, have more kick than the gas operated guns which also tend to be a bit heavier too which besides the gas operation damping recoil have more weight which also dampens recoil. More weight also contributes to more successful follow through on crossing shots which is the primary reason many people fail to hit what they are shooting at as they often shoot behind the target.
Having said all that I have for the past decade been hunting with a long recoil Browning Sweet 16 A5 auto. Yes it kicks like hell but it is one of the few autoloaders that I can reach the safety to always flick it off in time for the shot. And contrary to many recoil operated guns they are “not” always more reliable than my Remington 1100’s. Each has their reliability issues although both guns have far fewer breakage than most other autoloaders out there on the market both in the past and in the present.
Even famous name brand guns often have reliability issues. I once was considering buying a Beretta Autoloader. I asked a fellow shooter at the skeet range if I could take a look at his Beretta. He, without my even my asking took it apart as we stood there talking. I looked down into the gun and much to my surprise told the owner that his op-rod had broken. He laughed and said, yes that happens all the time, I have a whole draw full of broken op-rods at home but I like the Beretta nevertheless. That ended instantly my desire to own that particular model of Beretta shotgun.
Mossberg autoloaders have had reliability issues as well in contrast to their super reliable pump gun the Model 500 that has been in production since the last ice age and for good reason as it has a safety on the tang, is light in weight with its aluminum receiver, double extractors and op rods and plasticky trigger guard and it seldom breaks any parts. Of course redneck morons always manage to annihilate and break off the ears on the plasticky trigger guard when they try and reassemble the gun. They are about as mechanically inclined as Putin’s army.
Of course my favorite gun is the Browning Citori over under. Its elegance and its fit and finish have enabled me to score constantly high on the skeet range. I have been too chicken to ever take this beautiful shotgun out into the field but I have thought about it. Some of my stingy, cheap ass redneck friends criticsized me for spending that much money on a Browning decades ago but since that time its price has skyrocketed and now those idiots cannot afford one even if they wanted one because they waited to long because of their stinginess. The far right moron is always his own worst enemy.
And last but not least I should mention the classic side by side shotgun. Its not everyones cup of tea and I have owned a quite few double barrels, one owned by an American General in WWII that was made by J.P. Sauer & Son. I could not hit the broad side of the barn door with an SKB double I once owned but strangely enough one of the cheapest side by sides I ever owned turned out to be sudden death on upland game and I bought it brand new for the princely sum of $104 in 1964 as a mere lad of 16 years old. It was a Savage fox model B 16 gauge with an unsightly huge beavertail forend with hideous impressed checkering and double triggers and extractors and a super high ventilated rib . The double triggers I liked but I hated the impressed checkering and the fact that it did not have automatic ejectors. But nevertheless I seldom missed with that clunker and I regret the day I sold it. It had to have been a temporary period of insanity that is for sure.
My very first shotgun was a single shot Savage hammerless 16 gauge model 220A noted for breaking firing pins. My dad bought it for me for $15.00 in 1962, it was made back in the 40’s. I liked it because it “did not” have a hammer you had to cock back. It did have a horrendously heavy trigger pull but somehow I was able to bring home lots of rabbits and pheasants and quail and rabbits and squirrels in those long gone halcyon days of yore.
I once shot a cock pheasant with the old Model 220A that had actually had a pair of yellow colored legs in contrast to the dark grey legs of all the other cock pheasants I have shot down through the years. I regret not taking a picture of this oddball pheasant as no one believes me about the strange yellow colored legs.
In closing I would like to say that the gunpowder used in shotshells many decades ago had a very strong and even pleasant smell but not the ammo being made today. I have squirreled away some ancient boxes of shotgun shells made in the 40’s & 50’s and 60’s that I use only occasionally on a hunt to remember days gone by with long dead friends from the dead hand of past. The aroma of those old fired shells transports one back in time to days of long ago which will never come again.
Rest in peace dear friends, Bill, Tom, Dick, Richard, Frank, and many others now long gone into the mists of time. I am sure they are all together now and on the first day of bird season raise a glass of “old stump blower” to memories of hunts now long gone. And when I get excited and miss the first shot at the first bird of the season I can hear them all yelling from high above in the clouds “Ha, Ha, we always told you that you could not hit first bird with the first shot of the season. . Well do not rub in dear departed friends because I always managed to get the bird on the second shot and relished the smell of the burnt gunpowder when I cracked open the breech of the old Savage Fox Model B to slip in another couple of paper 16 ga. shells.
Here is a picture of what a Savage 220 single shot looks like complete with gorgeous case colored receiver. Yes it was just a boys gun but those are the ones you have the fondest memories of.
https://www.gunauction.com/buy/8987282
Another load of bullshit typed from mommies basement.
A sweet 16 that kicks like hell? You’re doing something wrong or you need to go to the gym. Or both.
I dont like 3n1/2 inch shells out of a 12 gauge.
Neither do I. Kicks like a mule. And it added 500 bucks to the cost of my 3 inch Benelli to upgrade to the model with the longer chamber. No way.
3.5 inch 12 gauge shells are a solution looking for a problem. Expensive, not fun, not that effective.