The new Franchi Instinct SL is a great feeling little gun, but at 5.3 pounds for a 20ga it would be punishing with 3" loads. The local dealer here in town carries both Beretta and Franchi. He said the new Franchis are going fast as they offer a happy medium between the low end Stoegers and the higher end Berettas. I will admit that while the fit and finish is nowhere near the level done on a Beretta, for $1,000 it looks pretty damn good. Take the other $1k you would spend on the Beretta and buy a pallet of ammo.

I don't know why you need 3" to shoot pheasants. They can easily be killed with 2.5" #6 Copper Loads from RST.