Benelli Nova Question plus a few general ?s

A

acfemf

New member
Hello to all. I am completely new to shotguns. Been reading as much as I can lately on this GREAT forum and have learned a lot already. Leaning towards the Benelli so far and was wondering if you can get an accessory rail for it. Didn't see on their websight that there is one specifically offered for it but many other Benelli guns have one. Couple other questions that I haven't found answers to in the Search section so far:
What is a heat shield for and are they useful?
Can you get an aftermarket version for the Benelli?
What are your opinions on sidesaddles? Do they just get in the way?
Can you add one to the Nova?
I guess I'll leave it there for starters. Thanks in advance!
 
acfemf,
I currently own a benelli nova tactical model with ghost ring sights and 18" barrel which I purchased from my local dealer for about $300 bucks. I added a two shot extension tube which if you shoot 2 3/4 inch brings the capacity to 7 plus 1 (8 round total) not bad. As for the sidesaddle Tacstar makes a
four round model which is fairly easy to install. Add a tactical sling and you've
got a pretty decent HD shotty or tactical model. Streamlight makes a mount for shotguns, add a M3 Long Gun light and you'll have yourself one heck of a
shooter there. Remember one thing, practice as often as possible, all these extras don't mean anything if your just dressing it to look nice. Shoot safely
and shoot often. Good Luck.
 
Thanks for the info Sam. Forgive me, but what is HD? I found a dealer locally who'll do about $300 as well. Just recently got a membership to a local indoor gun range to practice pistol and now, shotgun. Did you get the recoil reducer? Many have said not necessary unless you use larger shells but not having shot a 12 guage before (only 20 and very little at that) I don't know. Thought it might be fun eventually to do some trap or skeet shooting, so was thinking of buying the 26" barrel as well. It is too impractical to use a pump for that?
 
HD means home defense.

The heat shield is pretty pointless in my opinion unless you're going to using a lot of slugs and buckshot. I've read that it tends to come lose after a while. If you buy the Nova with rifle sights you can put on a heat shield since the reace sight is where the heat shield locks up with the rear of the barrel.

The recoil reduction units will reduce the recoil on things like slugs and change the balance farther back.

The sidesaddle does tend to get in the way when shooting left-handed.

There is a Weaver add on rail, you'll have to double check with the Benelli website to see exactly which model you will need.

Which model are you interested in? The one with ghost rings or the rifle sites one. You have to remember, that with the ghost ring model having a longer barrel put on it the rear ghost ring will obstruct the front sight. There is no sight problem when changing to a longer barrel on the Nova with the rifle sites.

In terms of slings I suggest a standard sling or a single point tactical sling like the one tactical tailor or wilderness makes.
 
A box stock, short barrelled shotgun is an excellent weapon all by itself and needs little.

Buy a shotgun and spend several hundred dollars on ammo. Shoot the ammo up and repeat. After a few thousand rounds you'll have a better idea of what you need vs shotgun bling.
 
Dave, I agree.

Gun Fit to shooter is very important. IF the Nova fits great. If it don't - it won't.

Try before you buy, and this means actually shooting it. There is a difference in mounting gun to face in a store, one tends to "wrap themselves TO the gun".

When in firing, especially with moving targets, one does not have time to "adjust themselves TO the gun"- which is the wrong way to use a shotgun btw.

Wood stocks allow one to adjust LOP, pitch, drop, comb...etc. Synthetic stocks do not.

There is a reason more monies is spent on training, gun fit, ammo,range fees, and lessons- than the gun itself by folks that can shoot very well - all the time, consistently.

Edit: oops...I forgot to mention Brister's book - Shotgunning: The Art and the Science.
Dave, kudu, Lee - one of them fella's was supposed to nudge me on this...I must be getting old. :p Brister answers many of the questions we see on forums in regard to gun fit, loads, chokes, etc.
 
Don't get a Nova if you plan on 'adding things'. It's all one piece.

I ended up selling mine simply because it didn't shoot very well.
 
Francisco, I'm sure glad you mentioned the issue of ghost ring sites as that's what I was thinking of adding.

Hate to start this issue up again but what is your preference between ghost ring and rifle sights? At somewhere on the order of $225 for the 26" Nova barrell I'm wondering if I shouldn't just buy another gun for things other than HD (NOW I know what that means!) when I get proficient enough to start thinking about clay shooting. Also, will a rail get in the way of the sights?

Dave and SM, if there's anything I've gotten from this forum as a novice it's to get my ass to the range and shoot, shoot, shoot. I just bought a membership to a nice indoor range about a mile away and I am gonna use it.

Chris, could you expand a little on what you mean by, "it didn't shoot very well." I know these things are subjective but would like your $.02.

What should I be looking for as far as how the gun fits me. At 6'1" the Benelli seemed to fit well as far as I could tell but am going to the range to shoot that and the Remi 870 for just that reason.

THANKS to all for your input. It really is enlightening.
 
An add-on rail will block the sights for the longer barrel as well as the rifle sights. There will be no problem with adding a rail on the ghost ring model wince the apertures sit higher than the rail.

On Ghost rings versus rifle sights: I have rifle sights on my Nova which are low enough for me to have a proper cheek weld (your cheek pressed down on the the top of the stock). On my M4, which has ghost rings, I can't put my cheek low enough to the stock and still see through the ghost ring. An add-on cheek pad will solve that dilemma for me. Some people will argue that ghost rings are faster to see through than rifle sights because you will probably try to get the proper sight picture with rifle sights and on the ghost ring all you really have to do is have the top of the front post (or the dot on the front sight if it has one, all newer Benellis do) and pull the trigger. It is better to try out both models and see which one will serve you better.

Some people say get a Nova with an 18" barrel for HD and tactical shotgun classes and one with a long barrel for skeet, trap, hunting etc.. I don't know if anybody has mentioned this but the shorter barrel Novas do not use chokes. If you don't know, chokes are little tubes that are screwed in the front of the barrel, and depending on the type, will constrict the pattern. A cylinder choke has the same diameter as the rest of the barrel while a full choke has a smaller diameter thus reducing the overall pattern of the shot. Slugs should only be used in cylinder and improved cylinder chokes. Though slugs can be shot through a choke with a tighter constriction those tube tends to either get stuck or work itself lose. Not to mention it's more cleaning with a barrel that accepts chokes (the tubes and the threading).

When people talk about gunfit it means if the length of pull (the distance between the trigger and the buttstock) is right for you. The rule of thumbs on measuring is to put your shooting arm in front of you and measure the length between the area where the bicep meets the forearm and the second joint of your trigger finger. It's all relative. I'm 5' 9" and the Nova fits me pretty well.

On cleaning, just get a dedicated shotgun kit, a jag, and a bulkpack of patches and you'll have everything you need to clean the gun.
 
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