Breda B3.5SM Shotgun Review | Outdoor Life

When most duck hunters take into consideration Italian semi-auto shotguns, they assume Benelli or Beretta. That’s honest sufficient. These two gunmakers have produced superlative waterfowling shotguns for a few years and so they personal the highest finish of the market. However there may be one other Italian-made semi-auto to think about — the Breda B3.5SM.

I bought my fingers on the hefty, inertia-driven B3.5SM this summer time and I hunted with it by means of most of my duck season. As I burned by means of field after field, I started to love the shotgun increasingly. By the top of my season, I’m now able to declare it as a real contender to the Benelli Tremendous Black Eagle 3. 

And if you happen to’re a type of duck hunters who most well-liked the unique Tremendous Black Eagle of the early 90s to the fashionable model, then you definitely’re going to like this Breda shotgun.

Right here’s how the Breda B3.5SM carried out within the subject and on the vary — and why it’s develop into considered one of my favourite duck weapons. 

See It

• Gauge: 12
• Motion: Semi-auto, inertia-driven
• Capability: 4+1
• Chamber: 3.5 inches
• Weight: 7.37 kilos (measured)
• Set off weight: 5.25 kilos
• Barrel Size: 28 inches (examined), 30 inches
• Total Size: 49.25 inches
• LOP: 14.25 inches
• Sight: Crimson bar
• Barrel End: Black cerakote
• Inventory End: Black (examined), Mossy Oak Bottomland, Realtree Max7
• Made in Italy
• Worth: $2,100

Key Options

• Comfy, grippy inventory
• Dependable motion with rotating bolt head
• Drilled barrel
• 5 Included flush chokes: F, IM, M, IC, C (Crio Plus Suitable)

Evaluation Highlights

• Shot spectacular 50/50 patterns (50 p.c of pellets hit above level of intention, 50 p.c hit under)
• Wonderful subject efficiency
• Minimal malfunctions whereas looking

The Breda Backstory

Breda (pronounced “bree – da”) will not be well-known within the U.S. nevertheless it’s a noteworthy firm in semi-auto shotgun historical past and within the European wingshooting world. Breda is presently importing shotguns to the U.S. by means of Banshee Brands (the identical people who work with Retay to import their Turkish-made shotguns). 

Breda bought its begin as an Italian locomotive producer within the Eighties. Quick ahead about 100 years and Breda purchased a portion of Benelli Armi SPA (Beretta bought a portion as effectively). By the early Nineties Individuals started seeing Benelli-made Tremendous Black Eagles and M1 Tremendous 90s seem in duck blinds. These weapons have been initially imported by Heckler and Koch, and duck hunters liked them. 

In 2000, Breda restructured and bought its share of Benelli to Beretta. Nevertheless Breda retained the manufacturing rights to each the unique SBE and M1 Tremendous 90, in response to Christian Useful, chief government for Banshee Manufacturers. 

“Our B3.5SM is basically a refined model of the unique SBE from the HK-imported Nineties fashions,” says Useful.

A Dependable, Inertia-Pushed Semi-Auto

The B3.5SM works on the identical inertia-driven motion that powers the SBE 3. This motion was developed by Italian engineer Bruno Civolani in 1967 and has lengthy been a favourite amongst American waterfowlers. 

The motion capabilities by utilizing recoil from the shell along with the mass of the bolt to compress a strong spring, which then cycles the motion, tossing the spent hull and loading a brand new shell. Because the bolthead strikes into battery, it rotates and locks into place. 

The overall consensus about inertia weapons at this time is that they’re lighter, slimmer, and cleaner operating than gas-operated semi-autos. On the draw back they normally have harsher recoil and may be finicky in the event that they get soiled or moist in frigid circumstances. In my expertise, Benelli shotguns have lived as much as these perceptions. However would the Breda B3.5SM?

Looking With the Breda B3.5SM

At first look, the B3.5SM is unremarkable. It’s a black, synthetic-stocked gun with outsized controls (which nearly all duck weapons have as of late). Once I shot clays with the gun I seen that it felt a bit heavy, which I preferred. It helped the gun swing properly and diminished a number of the recoil. At 7.37 kilos, the B3.5SM is sort of a half-pound heavier than the SBE 3. 

I instantly preferred the texture and grippiness of the inventory, which has a rubbery, soft-touch end. Plus, I shot the gun naturally, so I made a decision to take it out for opening day of the Wisconsin duck season. Looking was gradual that opening morning, however I did kill a pair teal over the decoys and I made one heroic crossing shot on a distant wooden duck. That was sufficient for me to maintain the B3.5SM in my rotation. 

I proceeded to hunt with the shotgun in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The extra I shot it, the extra I preferred it. Once I subject check shotguns, I hunt arduous with them and don’t clear them. I run every gun till it begins to jam — and with semi-autos I’ve discovered that they are going to all fail ultimately.

By mid-season I had run a number of hundred rounds by means of the gun and dropped it within the mud a minimum of twice earlier than I lastly bought a a primary failure — the bolthead had not rotated all the best way into battery and the gun went “click on” as a substitute of “growth.” After that hunt I cleaned the gun and resumed killing geese. Then on the ultimate hunt of the season I bought my second malfunction — the gun fired the primary spherical however didn’t cycle the second. 

In my expertise, two malfunctions over the course of a protracted duck season of arduous looking, with just one cleansing, is fairly rattling good efficiency from an inertia gun.

Most significantly, I found that the B3.5SM is an absolute duck hammer. Loaded up with Hevi Shot Hevi XII, 3-inch, No. 6 hundreds, I killed geese close to and much with all of it season lengthy. 

There was the excessive flock of teal in North Dakota the place I referred to as “kill’em if you happen to can,” and when my buddies chickened out on the shot, I popped out of the blind and dropped a drake greenwing from the heavens. There was the double on crossing goldeneyes at dawn in South Dakota. There was that cautious greenhead in Wisconsin that simply wouldn’t commit, however folded on his third cross anyway. 

I’m certain that I missed some geese with the B3.5SM over the course of the season, however I can’t appear to recall any of these pictures now.  

Patterning the Breda B3.5SM

My good experiences within the subject actually have quite a bit to do with how the gun patterns. Though “3.5SM” describes the three.5-inch “Tremendous Magnum” chamber, I used 3-inch hundreds for looking and testing. In my expertise (and people of different skilled shooters) 3.5-inch hundreds usually don’t sample effectively out of a 12 gauge. They merely generate extra recoil with out placing any extra pellets on course.

So I shot the B3.5SM on paper at 40 yards with two fundamental 3-inch metal hundreds: Federal Pace Shok No. 2 with a 1 ¼ ounce payload; and Remington Nitro Metal No. 2 with a 1 ¼ ounce payload. Utilizing the Modified choke that got here with the gun, I shot 4 patterns with every load and averaged them. 

Common Pellet Strikes in a 30-Inch Circle

• Federal Pace Shok: 127
• Remington Nitro-Metal: 130

For context, that is phenomenal efficiency. Beneath the identical taking pictures protocol with the identical ammo, my SBE 3 averaged 107 pellet strikes with the Federal load and 117 pellets with the Remington load. Of all one of the best duck hunting shotguns we’ve examined, I’d put the Breda up towards any of them when it comes to sample efficiency. 

Drilled Barrel

Breda attributes these nice patterns to their drilled barrels. The corporate makes use of a drilling course of for producing barrels (versus cold hammer forging).

“A deep-bore-drilled course of includes taking a tube of bar inventory, reduce to the specified size of the ultimate barrel, inserting the bar inventory in a lathe and manually drilling out the barrel from the middle and contouring and profile the barrel with lathe cutters,” says Rus Hinkle, a service lead for Breda and Retay. “This leaves the bar inventory in its authentic, homogenous type because it was forged or cast from the manufacturing facility.”

Having a extra homogenous, constant barrel contributes to higher patterns total, says Hinkle. “With particular regards to shotguns, the extra uniform the vibrations of the barrel [as the shot is fired] correlate to much less destabilization of the pellets as they exit the muzzle.”

I can not say for sure if Breda’s rationalization for the sample efficiency of this gun is legit or not. However I do know for certain that the B3.5SM shoots killer patterns. Additionally, earlier this 12 months I reviewed the Retay Gordion Turkey, which makes use of a barrel produced from the identical course of and that gun shot distinctive patterns as effectively.

50/50 Patterns

It’s additionally vital to notice that the Breda shot simply the place I pointed it. It produced constant, 50/50 patterns which means that about 50 p.c of the pellets hit above my aimpoint and 50 p.c hit under the purpose of intention. That is simply what you need from a looking shotgun. It’s additionally noteworthy that many Benelli semi-auto shotguns are inclined to sample excessive (typically as excessive as 90/10). This may be improved with shimming, however many hunters don’t take the time to mess with their shim kits. 

Breda B3.5SM vs Benelli SBE 3

I’ve already began evaluating the B3.5SM to the SBE 3 so we would as effectively go all the best way now. Each are premium shotguns that work off the identical motion. The bolts from the weapons are practically an identical. 

One noticeable distinction between the 2 weapons is the profile of the rib. In relation to the receiver, the B3.5SM has a really low rib. So when wanting down the gun along with your head tight on the inventory, you’ll see that the rib type of disappears under the bead. The SBE 3 alternatively has a excessive rib that raises effectively above the receiver. 

Past that, the SBE 3 has extra options, together with a recoil discount system, a carbon-fiber rib, and the sturdy BE.ST coating. It’s considerably lighter, sleeker, and has superior match and end. All these bells and whistles will price you although, because the top-end SBE 3 runs $2,499.

The B3.5SM is rougher across the edges. On my gun there’s a noticeable hole between the inventory and the rear of the rubber cheek pad. The outsized bolt-release button has a little bit of wiggle to it. The crossbolt security is simply too small and unrefined. 

However, the B3.5SM throws higher patterns and shoots straighter — a minimum of for me. If I needed to choose considered one of these shotguns for a high-noon duel with a greenhead, I’d go together with the B3.5SM with out pondering twice. 

Breda B3.5SM Availability

My most critical criticism of the B3.5SM is you can’t simply stroll into any massive gun store and purchase one. Based on the corporate web site, there have been solely 75 of those weapons allotted to the U.S. market this 12 months. And in 2025 there shall be “restricted portions of the B3.5SM by means of choose sellers,” says Useful. If you wish to verify one out, you’ll find Breda sellers close to you on the corporate’s website.

Ultimate Ideas on the B3.5SM

The B3.5SM actually is a throwback to the unique SBE. It’s not essentially the most elegant inertia-driven gun available on the market, and for $2,100 I can see how some hunters would anticipate extra when it comes to aesthetics, match, and end. However, hoo boy, this child shoots. I’d fortunately commerce appears to be like for the type of patterning and subject efficiency that the B3.5SM delivers. 

I do know that there are some diehard waterfowlers on the market who would reasonably surrender their duck canine than their SBE 3. However for the parents who need glorious 50/50 sample efficiency out of the field, Breda’s B3.5SM is value an in depth look — assuming you’ll find one.

 

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