Sportsman's Journal
Jim McConville is devoted to his Benelli Super Black Eagle II
By Benjamin Boyd
“I own a lot of shotguns,” Jim McConville begins, “but I prefer a 3 ½-inch 12 gauge gun for waterfowl and turkeys. I bought one of the first Super Black Eagles, and I just love that gun – and its potency on ducks, geese and gobblers.”
McConville claims there’s a definite advantage to the added payload in these 3 ½-inch Magnums, and the Benelli we’re talking about here, he thinks, handles the big shells best. He took an after market Kicks 665 Gobbling Thunder screw-in choke (.665 is the tight constriction at this choke’s muzzle) – and – firing Federal Flight Control #5s at 26 yards he says, “The pattern was so tight I couldn’t even begin to count pellets. There were so many pellet holes on top of one another.
“I like the Super Black Eagle II because it’s both light in weight and has a narrow feel/look to me. Some shotguns, especially some autoloaders, feel like a fence post when you pick them up. This is not true with the Super Black Eagle. In fact, I urge anyone who has not handled one of these special Benellis to visit a dealer. Pick one right off the store shelf. You will be impressed,” Jim offers.
Jim hunts a lot with his two young sons. Mostly they chase waterfowl in the Sandusky Bay area of Lake Erie in Ohio. The oldest son, Colin, is 15, while the younger is Devon at 13. These two shoot the Super Black Eagle II on ducks, but use the same gun on their Ohio dove hunts.
McConville told me about hunting Canada’s Lake St. Clair. He and his party of 12 waterfowlers, waded a long way out into an eelgrass covered area and had terrific shooting on divers, mostly bluebills recently. “It was an unbelievable hunt. All 12 of us shot our 6 bluebill limits – and in a relatively short period of time.” You can bet Jim was shooting his Benelli.
Maybe unusual for a semi-auto, McConville says the Super Black Eagle is “…..so streamlined – it’s like a race horse.”
As Jim mentioned above, he owns and shoots a lot of shotguns. But when he feels the game to be hunted that day suggests him shooting a 3 ½-inch shell – that’s when he pulls his trusty Benelli Super Black Eagle out of his gun safe.
Next week see what The Duck Commander says about his Super Black Eagle II. Of course, the Duck Commander is Phil Robertson. If you’re a serious waterfowler you know about Phil through his Duck Commander videos. Next week’s input also involves Phil’s son Willie.
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