The fact that we live in the era of globalization is recognized by everyone. Globalization has affected all aspects of human life, including the sphere of consumption, within which hunting weapons have also found themselves, having lost their sacred aura and turned into consumer goods with all the ensuing consequences.

Nevertheless, despite the increasing pressure of globalization and the desire for maximum unification, countries and their people have managed to preserve national characteristics in a number of aspects of everyday life, including the choice of hunting weapons. In my opinion, it is impossible to completely unify the market of hunting weapons. Take Italy and the United States as an example. It is unlikely that Italian gun companies will place orders for the manufacture of weapons under their brands at Turkish enterprises, while for American gun companies (even the most famous ones!) it has long been a common practice. Italian hunters are more willing to buy guns made in Italy than in other countries of the world, while American hunters have completely different priorities, and the AFL-CIO's call ‘Be American - buy made in America!’ is not relevant for them.

To be fair, it should be noted that Turkey has a long history of producing quality and reliable firearms. Even during the reign of Sultan Bayezid the Just, the Turkish army, armed with firearms, defeated the land and naval forces of Venice, eighty thousand troops of Poland, the army of Hungary, which contributed to the strengthening of the power of the Ottoman Empire. And nowadays hunting weapons of Turkish production (though not all companies) represent an inexpensive and affordable alternative to shotguns not only of Italian manufacture and, as it turned out, can quite claim the top lines of the ratings of the best weapons.

To compile the annual ranking, the colleagues initially selected 20 shotgun models that appeared in the production programmes of the companies at the end of 2022 and during 2023, then their number was reduced to 12. (By the way, they also noticed that gun companies have almost stopped tying the presentation of new models to major gun shows). And what was the surprise of the invited experts when it turned out that six models of shotguns out of 12 were made in Turkey! This was not surprising, because one of the main selection criteria for inclusion of a particular model in the list was its price.

However, miracles do happen, but rarely. In addition to Turkish-made shotguns, the list of finalists includes five Beretta shotguns (three Berettas and two Benelli) and a Sauer-branded shotgun made by Breda. And it could not be otherwise! Beretta is the world leader in the production of hunting and sporting arms, and there is nothing to be done about it.

For a week, a five-member team of experts tested the guns in order to come to well-founded conclusions. On the first day, a total of over 2,000 rounds were fired. During the following days, the work continued with even greater intensity, so much so that the experts lost count of the shots fired. Everything was done in order to achieve the goal of identifying the advantages and disadvantages of each model.

For example, during the testing of rifles designed for waterfowl hunting, the experts fired two shots at a fast pace in order to understand how the shooter perceives the recoil in this case, as well as to assess the barrel recoil and how quickly the rifle can be returned to the aiming line for the second shot. This stage of the test was repeated as many times as necessary to allow the experts to assess the handling and ergonomics of the gun and make a qualified judgement. With the same care, the experts checked how conveniently the controls on the semi-automatic shotguns were located, the ease of loading and removing cartridges from the under barrel magazine, the quality of the draught and the correct fit of the wooden parts of the shotgun to the metal, the distance from the stock neck to the trigger. And, of course, the experts evaluated the relationship between the aiming point and the center of the shot.

In total, for each of the eight points (handling, workmanship, aesthetics, ergonomics, functionality, versatility, reliability and price) the shotgun received a number of points (from 1 to 5); the points given by the experts were summed up; then the average value was determined and a score was given in three categories: purpose, design and price. (If any of our readers are interested in the topic, I recommend to read the interstate standard ‘Sporting and Hunting Weapons. Methods of assessing the level of quality’ GOST 28072-89). To get an ‘excellent’ rating in the category, the shotgun had to receive a rating higher than 4.5. For ‘very good’ rating it was necessary to score from 3.5 to 4.5 points, ‘good’ - from 2.5 to 3.5, ‘satisfactory’ - from 1.5 to 2.5. The grade ‘unsatisfactory’ was given if the number of points was lower than 1.5.

The absolute winner was the Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 28 caliber shotgun. No, the Benelli SBE 3 is not a new model. It is well known and popular among hunters. But the design of this model of shotgun for 28 caliber magnum cartridge is really a novelty. (Actually, the first Benelli 28-caliber magnum model was the Ethos shotgun). All the experts were delighted with this shotgun. It's the perfect shotgun for waterfowl hunting, said one of the panel members. The fact is that waterfowl hunting with 28 caliber magnum shotguns with heavy, non-toxic, non-toxic shot is gaining popularity lately. What shot weights do cartridge companies offer for waterfowl hunting? Boss, for example, offers cartridges with 30 g of No. 4 shot, 28 g of No. 6 Heavy Shot, Fiocchi - 26 g of bismuth shot.

By all accounts, the SBE 3 shotgun will be suitable not only for waterfowl hunting, but also for pheasant hunting and stand hunting. The main advantage of this shotgun is that it is not tiring to shoot, thanks to its practically insensible recoil and low weight (2.5kg). I remember that Mauro Perazzi told me that he prefers 28 calibre rifle for hunting with hunting dogs. But as for shooting with this gun on the stand..... A few years ago I had the honour to take part in such a test. Among the guest experts were Zach Kienbaum and Desi Edmunds. After shooting a 28 calibre shotgun, Desi said that she thought it was easier to stab a target on the fly with a pencil than to try to hit it with a shotgun of that calibre. So, in assessing the suitability of a 28 calibre gun for benchrest shooting, I am more likely to agree with Desiree.

If even the sun has spots, then a shotgun (even an excellent one) must have at least some shortcomings. For example, the safety switch required a little more force than the experts expected, the trigger was a little tight (2.0 kg), and the force required to load the magazine was more than expected. But all these annoying little things did not prevent the experts from recognising this gun as the absolute winner.

The fact that the 28 calibre is gaining popularity among hunters can be confirmed by the fact that the Beretta A400 Upland Magnum is among the best shotguns of 2024. There is nothing surprising in this, if you know that the design and development work on this model in the basic version of 12-gauge continued for three years, then it was the turn of engineers and technologists: it took them 8000 hours, then 2000 hours of testing and only then the test firing of 100 thousand rounds. Regardless of the caliber, this shotgun model incorporates Beretta's revolutionary gas-operated semi-automatic rifles, as well as innovative technological and design solutions. The A400 has become a platform for the development of new semi-automatic gas semi-automatic rifles.

A comparison with the SBE 3 is apt. The experts praised the shotgun and noted that it surpassed the winner in a number of parameters, such as trigger pull (1.35kg), ease of magazine loading and ergonomics. Reloading worked like clockwork. Shooting from the shotgun was even more comfortable than from the SVE, which can be easily explained: the gas discharge is softer than inertia. So why didn't the A400 shotgun take the first place? Probably, the reason is that hunters, as I have already said many times, are extremely conservative people. Most of the experts did not like the design of the shotgun. The huge numbers 28 on the receiver, indicating the calibre, probably reminded not even of the horse numbers, but of NASCAR cars with giant-sized numbers on the doors. In addition, the barrel of the gun will glare and give away the presence of the hunter when hunting waterfowl. Yes, and when hunting wild turkey, a glare receiver is not the best option. As for pheasant and other marsh and meadow game, the shotgun is ideal for these hunts. However... The alarm bell rang where it was not expected. No shot was fired more than ten times: the striker only scratched the primer. Perhaps, it was a defect of the primer (a problem well known to Russian shooters), but in this case the cartridges were Winchester AA. However, no one is immune to component defects.

The experts studied Turkish Retay Gordion Extra Black 20-gauge shotgun for a long time and carefully, compared it with two Benelli models and finally came to the conclusion that for a hunter with a limited budget (the ‘Turk’ costs almost twice as much as the ‘Italian’), who wants to buy a working shotgun, it will be the right choice. Yes, the ‘Turk’ lacks many details that give elegance and technical perfection to Benelli shotguns. But when hunting waterfowl, marsh and meadow game, as well as wild turkey, this gun will fulfil all the tasks set before it. Experts noted the carefully thought-out balance of the shotgun, excellent handling. The trigger pull was just under 1.6kg. During testing, no complaints about the reloading system were raised. The system worked stably with all cartridges (moreover, as it turned out, the shotgun is absolutely undemanding to cleaning), which allowed to give this shotgun the highest score for reliability.

An added bonus is that the shotgun comes with five interchangeable chokes and spacers for adjusting the stock recoil and die. Experts were unanimous in their assessment of the Turkish Retay Gordion Extra Black 20-gauge shotgun and included it in the ‘Recommended to Buy’ category. At the price this Turkish clone of Benelli is unrivalled.

The Mossberg company is well known to Russian hunters and gun enthusiasts. Like many American companies, it placed an order for production of Mossberg International Gold Reserve Black shotgun in Turkey. (By the way, the Mossberg Silver Reserve shotgun is currently on sale in Russia). Khan Arms became a partner of Mossberg company.

The Gold Reserve Black model amazed even sophisticated experts in arms. Despite some overbalance on the barrels (the center of gravity was shifted from the hinge to the muzzle by five centimeters), the gun had excellent handling and turning ability. The experts were able to handle both distant and close fast targets with equal ease. The center of the shot was in line with the aiming point and the shot distribution was 50/50. It was as if the shotgun was designed for instinctive shooting. A pleasant surprise for the experts was the walnut of a rather high category for a shotgun of this price group.

The above does not mean that the gun has no shortcomings. For example, the stiff breech block is not effective enough in reducing the recoil on the shooter's shoulder. The trigger pull is mechanical, which is excellent in itself, but the trigger stroke is too long (as my friend said, there should not be long trigger strokes on shotguns at all). In addition, the trigger pull is unacceptably high - 3.15kg, while the weight of the shotgun is 2.9kg. (In the past, it was believed that the trigger pull should never exceed the weight of the gun itself). The shot sequence switch was not working properly: there was no click to confirm that the switch was moved to the end position and locked. If for any reason the switch was in the middle position, the safety remained engaged.

Some of the claims made by the experts are, in my opinion, far-fetched. For example, some experts thought that the chrome-plated external chokes did not go well with blued barrels and that the shotgun would look more elegant with black-coloured chokes. However, the experts themselves admitted that when buying a shotgun of this price category, the buyer consciously makes compromises in matters that are not essential. No complaints about the quality of the barrels? No. Any complaints about the ejectors? No. Are the sighting and side plates soldered securely? Reliably. And the fact that the gilding came off the receiver on the third day of intensive use can be accepted.

This is exactly the kind of shotgun with vertical arrangement of barrels, which will serve faithfully and faithfully to the hunter who has a limited budget for the purchase of weapons. This is the conclusion of the experts and they included the Mossberg Gold Reserve Black in the category ‘Recommended for purchase’.

I would like to conclude my review of the experts who evaluated the best hunting rifles of 2024 with a story about the Italian ‘German’ (or German ‘Italian’) Sauer SL5 Waterfowl 12-gauge super magnum cartridge. The experts hoped that this most expensive of their selected semi-automatic shotguns would be as functionally perfect as it is aesthetically beautiful. To the surprise of the experts, the shotgun was somewhat uncomfortable to shoot because of the strong recoil, even with light weight ammunition. (From my own experience, I can say that intensive firing of weapons with inertial reloading system, even from the best and most technically advanced models, does not pass without a trace for the shoulder. After 250 shots at a fairly fast pace on a pheasant hunt with 32g ammunition, the shoulder became aware of itself).

For some reason, the experts ignored the well-known fact that a shotgun with inertia reloading system is harder to fire than a gas-operated shotgun, and shifted the blame for excessive recoil to the incorrect, in their opinion, geometry of the stock. Of course, the experts admit that the stock geometry could have been corrected at least a little by using the spacers included in the delivery set, but they considered that the absolute majority of ordinary hunters do without these accessories, believing that the shotgun, which came from the factory, does not need any additional adjustment. The uncomfortable shooting was enhanced by the comb insert, made of some sticky material. According to the idea, this rubber insert was intended to ease slippage of the cheek during recoil, which occurred during firing. However, the choice of material was not quite right. The rubber insert was literally glued to the cheek and pulled it back sharply when the gun was fired.

The experts also mentioned reloading problems when the gun was fired with lighter cartridges (24g) as a disadvantage. I cannot agree with the experts' opinion. During my visits to the Urbino factory I regularly asked whether Benelli shotguns with inertia reloading system could be used for benchrest shooting. The factory staff replied that they could not guarantee the proper functioning of the reloading system for hunting shotguns when firing 24g ammunition: the Supersport sporting shotgun is designed to fire such ammunition. Why this fact was overlooked by the experts, I do not know.

Rimantas Noreika noted: ‘When firing 24g cartridges, we encountered non-reflection and ejection of the fired cartridge case from the box, with the bolt not reaching the rearmost position. It should be borne in mind that for a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun specialised for hunting, firing a low-power cartridge (24 g) is an extreme condition, which is not practical.

The shotgun is designed for waterfowl hunting and has an extended bolt handle and an enlarged bolt release button, which makes it easier to shoot with gloves on at low temperatures. The trigger pull is quite acceptable - 1.8kg. The shotgun can be equipped with barrels of different lengths (66, 71 or 76 cm). The barrel and receiver can be coated with Cerakote. The bore of the barrel is perfect. The barrel profile is cylindrical and the cartridge entrance is short. Five interchangeable chokes are included in the delivery set. The shotgun with a 71 cm barrel was selected for testing. Shot distribution is 80/20. The buttstock and stock have a retro Fred Bear Old School Camo colouring. The camouflage colouring refers to the non-digital pattern of German camouflage from World War II. The choice of colouring may seem a little strange to the modern hunter. However, this is a personal judgement. Initially, the experts thought that a shotgun with such a distinguished pedigree would deserve the highest marks, but in the course of testing it was decided that it deserved only a ‘good’ rating.

Unfortunately, the limited format of the magazine publication did not allow us to tell about all the shotguns included in the list of the best hunting rifles of 2025. Among them were both niche shotguns (28-caliber) and models already well known to Russian hunters and gun enthusiasts.