Benelli Nova Pump

Benelli is one of the frontrunners of shotgun manufacturers. A friend of mine has gone as far as saying once you shoot a Benelli, you will never want to shoot any other shotgun. And while I can agree with him on that, I can also say I would still want more guns because that's the way I am. Benelli is pretty much under the wings of their parent company, Beretta, which, needless to speak, is pretty reputable for some fine firearms.

The Specs

Size: 24" - 28" barrel options.
Shell capacity: 4+1 (3" shells)
Recoil: Average
Ease of use: Very user friendly pump action shotgun, but while they weigh around 8 lbs, it starts to feel a little heavy after a while.
Misc: Comes in an assortment of finishes from standard black to Real Tree ATG and Real Tree MAX-4 camo patterns.
Cost: Considering Benelli is probably one of the best shotgun manufactureres, you would expect the prices to be high, but these retail around $350 - $450.

How Does The Gunslinging Housewife Rate It?

The pro's: This is a finely crafted shotgun and I'm absolutely hog wild about the rib vented barrel with red bar sight at the end. Coming from an art background, the composition of the rib vents and the red dot grab your eye and lead you to position the shotgun quickly. This is definitely a plus.

The con's: As mentioned earlier, it can get heavy after a while. Depending on what size you get, the guns weigh in around 8 lbs and while that doesn't seem like much, if you're a weakling like myself and shooting trap for a few hours, it can become rather strenuous and take away from your ability to shoot trap because you're using all your energy to hold the thing up. But that's pretty much the only issue I have with this shotgun.

In the end, you wonder why I speak fondly of the Nova Pump but don't own one myself? Well it's plain and simple and the typical case: not enough money. It's just one more gun to go onto my wish list and should very likely be added to yours if you are interested in shooting shotguns.