Author Topic: New Excel Auto 5 shotgun? Anyone have a take on these? (Read 2548 times)

BoneDigger · « **on:** January 19, 2005, 09:51:06 AM »

What quality would you expect? Has H&R ever done auto shotguns before? How hard would it be to get parts?

Anyone know how much these are retailing for?

So many questions...

Todd

oo_buck · « **Reply #1 on:** January 19, 2005, 10:53:29 AM »

I want prices..... sweet looking gun.

MTNMAN · « **Reply #2 on:** January 19, 2005, 11:28:31 AM »

Sports Souuth, Inc has the Excels listed for....

H&R SA1-128 SEMI-AUTO 12GA 28VR SYN $399.89
H&R SA1-129 SEMI-AUTO 12GA 28VR WAL $444.49
H&R SA1-130 SEMI-AUTO 12GA 28VR ADV $477.94
H&R SA1-131 SEMI-AUTO 12GA 22FOS ADV $477.94
H&R SA1-132 SEMI-AUTO 12GA 28/24 COMB $562.71

Once Again, None in Stock...MTNMAN :wink:

MSP Ret · « **Reply #3 on:** January 19, 2005, 11:46:13 AM »

Made where? Not Red Chinese again I hope, or even worse...France!!!....<><....

MTNMAN · « **Reply #4 on:** January 19, 2005, 11:57:25 AM »

Got No Idea MSP...Do Know The L.C.Smiths are made in Italy...but No Idea on the Auto Loaders...to me they look like a take off on the Early Brownings or Remingtons.... Pics on H&R's Website leave alot to be desired...

MSP Ret · « **Reply #5 on:** January 19, 2005, 12:14:18 PM »

MTNMAN, I have a 2005 catalog and if your one that likes semi-autos they are not a bad looking gun, I just can't figure what you would do with the extra shots and why somone would want to carry the extra weight around, other than that they look pretty good in pictures....<><.... :grin:

HuntenNut · « **Reply #6 on:** January 19, 2005, 02:16:06 PM »

MSP, I often wonder the same thing, until opening morning of deer season in the shotgun zone. Then its nothing but 5 shot salvos for most of the morning, probably many of which are repeat barages from the same artillery unit :-D :-D :-D

I can possibly see a use for the upland hunter or the waterfowler for a follow up shot, but to my taste, you can't beat a double for that, especially when it gives you the option of 2 different chokes.

Anyway, I'd almost bet my next paycheck that these new Autos are being cranked out of the same commie factories that are making the "Pardner Pump" and "Sportster SL".

Busta · « **Reply #7 on:** January 19, 2005, 05:07:22 PM »

My take on the auto's is they look alot like a Franchi or a Verona, which I believe are both owned by Benneli as is Stoeger. I bet that they are a knockoff of one of the above or a clone. Time will tell where they are made, but one thing is for sure, they are imported.

Take a look at the pics on these sights, looks an awful lot like the Verona SX-405 series manufactured for Verona by Sarsilmaz in Turkey. Click on the H&R pics to enlarge and gives you a cleaner image. My money is on the Verona, look at the recoil pad, stocks, trigger guard, receiver, forend, barrel, vent rib, rifle sights on the slug barrel. Identical IMHO. I threw the Franchi in to see that it is close but no cigar. :wink:

http://www.hr1871.com/firearms/index.php?cat=3&subcat=38

http://www.veronashotguns.com/405cammo.php

http://www.franchiusa.com/firearms/model612.tpl

Rogmatt · « **Reply #8 on:** January 19, 2005, 11:23:15 PM »

Busta'yote, I agree. It is the Verona!! Only difference I see is the swivel on the mag cap, otherwise, they are identical. The Verona SX 405 gets good reviews on a large Verona forum I have seen. Maybe H&Rs price will be even better. Walmart's price will always be less than the MSRP.

BoneDigger · « **Reply #9 on:** January 20, 2005, 03:52:57 AM »

Well, yes of course single shot shotguns have their place in the world. For squirrels, slug/buckshot for deer, and for turkeys they are ideal. For many applications the auto or pump is a better choice. Not everyone who uses an auto lives by the "spray and pray" mantra. I can see how these look like the Verona. I hope they aren't the same gun. Unlike the H&R Topper series which are cheap because of a straight forward, unsophisticated design, an auto shotgun is anything but unsophisticated. So, a cheap auto will typically give you more troubles. If you read the shotgun forums at ShotgunWorld.com you'll find that there are many problems with the Verona design.

H&R has a reputation for making a good, dependable gun. I hope the Excel does not end up being the one that turns the H&R reputation the other way. If it turns out to be a decent design, I'll own one before the year is out (assuming I can find one). If not, I'll probably buy the entry level Berretta.

I am a huge Browning fan, but they too are made overseas. I really don't have a problem with non-American made guns if they are built right. Not being very political in nature, I don't really have a problem with the French, Italians, or anyone else that may make this gun. One of the best guns I ever owned was a Japanese made Auto 5 Browning. The design of the old Auto 5s was awesome (aside from the fact that the Magnum would not eject 2 3/4 shells worth a hoot. The Remingtons are good guns, but even Remington has been suffering from some quality control issues as of lately. Bennelli? Awesome, if you want to pay $1200+ for a shotgun (I know, the Nova pumps are less...).

So, back to my original question, do you think that parts for these guns would be easy to come by? How about replacement chokes? There is a gun show here in Tyler next week. I'm going to do some searching but I'm not holding my breath yet. I guess they be more availible in a few months.

Todd

Brett · « **Reply #10 on:** January 20, 2005, 04:33:38 AM »

My guess is that they will use a popular choke thread such as the Winchester/Mossberg threads that they use on their single shots that have screw in chokes.

As far as parts and service, well, that's anyones guess.

By the way, I'm with you their are situations that call for a repeater. Home defence for one and duck hunting for another. Sometimes you may only get one flock to come in and it's good to be able to try for a double or triple on that one pass.

HuntenNut · « **Reply #11 on:** January 20, 2005, 11:08:55 AM »

Well, I'm speaking for myself here, but I have no problem with "foreign made" guns in general. I have a nice Pedersoli Italian black powder double barrel. Although I would always choose US made if possible.

What I do have issue with are supporting those commie factories that would just as soon make guns to shoot at us as guns to sell to us.

Also, theres a big difference in quality from Chinese/Russian factories and those that come out of Italy and others.

As I stated earlier, I can see the use for a second shot to the waterfowler, etc, however, my personal preferance would go to a double barrel which has the extra advantage of 2 different chokes at once, also a bit shorter and definitely less complex. You can only put 3 shots in anyway, and I can't imagine its too often that you could actually get in 3 GOOD shots, so I would go with a double. Just my opinion.

MSP Ret · « **Reply #12 on:** January 25, 2005, 11:30:07 AM »

It would be nice to know if the "new" H&R semi-auto shotguns are clones of the Verona SX 405 or the Verona SX 401 and just what that means to quality, performance, reliability and cost...both models look exactly alike....<><.... :?

Busta · « **Reply #13 on:** January 25, 2005, 01:42:58 PM »

MSP Ret,

With the Black bolt and the recoil pad, my money is on the SX 405. The Walnut H&R looks better than the 401 to me. Doesn't matter to me anyway, I already have 3 autoloading shotguns (Browning A-5, Ithaca SKB XL-900, Mossberg 9200) and don't use them any more since I got into singles. They are nice looking shotguns though.