Before I begin, I want to be clear that this thread will be updated as the round count goes up.
In December, I was the victim of a robbery. Among the items taken was my O/U Franchi Instinct L (which I had just recently had fitted, and was treating me amazingly
), so when the skeet/trap/sporting clay season came around again, I was bitten by the bug to buy a replacement. I was looking for something in the entry level range (~$1000), wanted something with some weight to it, and an adjustable comb. This led me to the Silver Reserve II Super Sport. I saw a lot of meh reviews for the first iteration of these guns, but I had also read many of the problems had been addressed by Mossberg, and their customer service was willing and able to make semi-timely repairs if need be. It was settled; my SRIISS was ordered!
When it came, I was very pleased. My 30" bbl model came in at about 8.5 lbs, had 5 extended chokes with a case (that could hold the 3 not being used and the included wrench), and a pair of allen wrenches and spacers to make adjustments to the comb as needed. The first complaint of the gun I had was the allen key set seemed to fit very poorly in the set screws on the comb, and it took a little bit of searching to get them to lock in. Not a huge deal, but an annoyance nonetheless.
The action opened and closed out of the box quite easily, which I was VERY surprised with. I was expecting a stiff operation, as I know that can be the norm with new O/U's. When locked, the action feels very solid, and I noticed no wiggle whatsoever. This may change, but at the time of writing this (~200rds), the barrels still lock up tight. Shouldering the gun feels smooth and drops right into my pocket very very well. The thick butt-pad allows for almost a cushiony feel, and alleviates any recoil concerns I had. I am dealing with a bit of face slap, but I think that will be resolved with a bit more adjusting to the comb.
The trigger on this model feels very sloppy, though. I was a bit concerned with the pre-travel, break, and MASSIVE amount of over travel (which is necessary to reset the mechanical triggers). I understand that I'm not going to get a Caesar Guerini crisp break, but this almost feels like any trigger work done was an afterthought, and no refining went into it at all. I do hold out hope that as the round count goes up, things will break in a bit.
In addition to the unfinished feel of the trigger, when pressed, the ejectors also felt gritty and unpolished. I have decided to take them out and work them a bit with some 600 grit sandpaper when I do my weekly cleanings in hopes of refining them a bit, and it seems to be helping some. I'm going to post some pictures of how to remove them in case anyone else decides to go this route.
The last point I'll bring up is the cast and palm swell; there IS cast and palm swell!! I'm a lefty, and as such I was looking for something neutrally cast with no favoritism one way or the other. When I called Mossberg to ask about this, I was told that there was no cast on any of the shotguns they manufactured. What the rep didn't know was, since this isn't manufactured by Mossberg (It's made by Khan in Turkey), it's cast-off, and has a right-handed palm swell and some minor contouring on that side. This wasn't what I was expecting, but to be honest, the comb adjustability makes up for it, and the lack of palm swell is all but unnoticeable.
I'm going to finish up with a rating of 4 out of 5. This was a budget gun that gives you something great to start with. It eats the recoil of the 1 1/8 oz loads I've been putting through it like a champ, and doesn't leave a whole lot to be desired. It swings and points quite nicely, and will put pellets on birds. I'm going to be entering my first competition with it on 7/3/16, and don't forsee any performance issues at all (But don't get me wrong, if I miss any targets it will TOTALLY be the guns fault :lol: )
In December, I was the victim of a robbery. Among the items taken was my O/U Franchi Instinct L (which I had just recently had fitted, and was treating me amazingly
), so when the skeet/trap/sporting clay season came around again, I was bitten by the bug to buy a replacement. I was looking for something in the entry level range (~$1000), wanted something with some weight to it, and an adjustable comb. This led me to the Silver Reserve II Super Sport. I saw a lot of meh reviews for the first iteration of these guns, but I had also read many of the problems had been addressed by Mossberg, and their customer service was willing and able to make semi-timely repairs if need be. It was settled; my SRIISS was ordered!When it came, I was very pleased. My 30" bbl model came in at about 8.5 lbs, had 5 extended chokes with a case (that could hold the 3 not being used and the included wrench), and a pair of allen wrenches and spacers to make adjustments to the comb as needed. The first complaint of the gun I had was the allen key set seemed to fit very poorly in the set screws on the comb, and it took a little bit of searching to get them to lock in. Not a huge deal, but an annoyance nonetheless.
The action opened and closed out of the box quite easily, which I was VERY surprised with. I was expecting a stiff operation, as I know that can be the norm with new O/U's. When locked, the action feels very solid, and I noticed no wiggle whatsoever. This may change, but at the time of writing this (~200rds), the barrels still lock up tight. Shouldering the gun feels smooth and drops right into my pocket very very well. The thick butt-pad allows for almost a cushiony feel, and alleviates any recoil concerns I had. I am dealing with a bit of face slap, but I think that will be resolved with a bit more adjusting to the comb.
The trigger on this model feels very sloppy, though. I was a bit concerned with the pre-travel, break, and MASSIVE amount of over travel (which is necessary to reset the mechanical triggers). I understand that I'm not going to get a Caesar Guerini crisp break, but this almost feels like any trigger work done was an afterthought, and no refining went into it at all. I do hold out hope that as the round count goes up, things will break in a bit.
In addition to the unfinished feel of the trigger, when pressed, the ejectors also felt gritty and unpolished. I have decided to take them out and work them a bit with some 600 grit sandpaper when I do my weekly cleanings in hopes of refining them a bit, and it seems to be helping some. I'm going to post some pictures of how to remove them in case anyone else decides to go this route.
The last point I'll bring up is the cast and palm swell; there IS cast and palm swell!! I'm a lefty, and as such I was looking for something neutrally cast with no favoritism one way or the other. When I called Mossberg to ask about this, I was told that there was no cast on any of the shotguns they manufactured. What the rep didn't know was, since this isn't manufactured by Mossberg (It's made by Khan in Turkey), it's cast-off, and has a right-handed palm swell and some minor contouring on that side. This wasn't what I was expecting, but to be honest, the comb adjustability makes up for it, and the lack of palm swell is all but unnoticeable.
I'm going to finish up with a rating of 4 out of 5. This was a budget gun that gives you something great to start with. It eats the recoil of the 1 1/8 oz loads I've been putting through it like a champ, and doesn't leave a whole lot to be desired. It swings and points quite nicely, and will put pellets on birds. I'm going to be entering my first competition with it on 7/3/16, and don't forsee any performance issues at all (But don't get me wrong, if I miss any targets it will TOTALLY be the guns fault :lol: )
