In the case of the Benelli nova, I was guiding a young guy goose hunting, and it was his first shotgun that he bought.
He put in brand new Winchester 3 1/2 inch BBB’s, and the first shot out of his new gun sounded weird and I thought I saw something fly.
I stopped everything, went over to his layout and looked at his shotgun, and you could see a patch inside the barrel that was missing.
Benelli would do nothing. They said it was the ammunition.
Winchester overnighted a brand new nova barrel to us and we put it into his shotgun. And it worked fine.
Winchester was all about getting those cartridges back.
And no cost to the kid.
But when you are blowing up the strongest part of a mono block shotgun, in 2026, well…
Funny thing is, reloading a 12 gauge these days is a fool‘s errand.
When these guys are making up shotgun shells from World War II reclaimed powders that were designed for rifles, and they think they’re onto something, all I can say is good luck to you.
I’m not saying that in this case it is anything as extreme as that.
Again it’s a pretty expensive lesson and I’m sorry that it happened.
It’s not like Lord Walsingham shooting off his barrels during a hot flurry and a quick exchange.
