I am interested in a soft shooting semi-automatic shotgun for competitive shooting. Is there a noticeable difference in felt recoil between different models? I have read that the Remington Versa Max Competition Tactical is one of the softest shooting shotguns. Would it be noticeably softer than the Benelli M4 Tactical, Beretta 1301 Competition, FN SLP, or Mossberg 930 JM Pro?

I tend to believe if you use 'low recoil' shot shells, it makes a noticeable difference, you can always have the barrel ported also

Almost bought a Beretta 1301 recently.  Liked it better than the Remington. Only thing that stopped me was the green. And that don't happen very often.

 

Lotta green for that one.

Last year my range did a "Lady's Day" where women of all ages and experience levels could come to the range and try a variety of guns. As a shotgun instructor I got the shotgun range. The club provided CZ 20ga semi auto shotguns in the youth size. I was impressed with these guns, very low recoil and easy to shoot. I had a 80 something woman who had never touched a gun before handle the shotgun and shoot it without difficulty.

Haven't shot the Rem Versa Max, but I've got an 11-87, which is extremely soft shooting (especially when you add on the Remington Supercell Recoil pad).  That being said - it's not a great gun for 3 gun compeition.... If it's for trap/skeet competition, that's fine... 

all the gas operated ones? 

 

I'm by no means even close to pushing the envelope on shotgun skills, but they are all soft and fast, especially if the benchmark is a pump gun. 

Fit is going to play a role in how each gun feels.  But your decision should be based on reliability and ease of loading.  Those are the 2 areas that make or break shotgun 3 gun shooting. I would go either Benelli M2, not the M4 or the 1301.  Both are great shotguns, and both shoot differently.  Try as many as you can before you buy

What kind of competitive shooting?

 

The Benelli inertia guns recoil slightly heavier than gas guns. Gas guns are dirtier, and depending on the load, may be more fussy with ammo. If you plan to compete, find one affordable brand and stockpile it. Also, FWIW, every magazine article or blog claims every shotgun is "soft shooting," kind of like every .45 is a "surprisingly soft shooter with big mass that soaks up recoil" and other marketing phrases - don't let what you read drive your purchase. Try first. With most semi-autos, I think the differences are minimal, and is way more important.

 

Edit: I have an M2, and prefer it over any gas-operated semi-auto.

Edited June 6, 201412 yr by Sixtytwo327

Really, are any autos that bad? You're not shooting 100 rounds like in trap are you?

 

But that being said I've shot an M2 and it was pure butter .

When I used to compete, I used a Benelli M2. I used to own a dozen shotguns and my experience was that a good recoil pad and low recoil ammo made more of a difference than differences between shotguns. During competition, when the adrenaline is flowing, I never noticed the recoil. I tend to concentrate on my target so much that everything else is tuned out. I assume that you are using target rounds and if so, they sell low recoil ones and those are the best for competition.

I should preface this comment by stating I do not want to buy one- but- the softest shooting shotgun I've ever shot was a late 70s or early 80s-era Remington 1100.

 

Like shooting a .22LR... I can't compare it to any other shotgun because it just wasn't even close.

 

It was my best friends' stepfathers gun, who was a retired police captain I believe and had bought it back when it came out and it was a newest-neatest type deal.  This was a standard 1100 I believe, nice wooden forend and stock, never failed to cycle a single target load, and we put about 250+ rounds through it as we tried to hit hand-tossed clays lol.

 

 

 

I am more into combat shotguns, but if I needed a gaming-gun, it would be an 1100 (or perhaps an 11-87) but that 1100 is still a soft shooter boy.