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When most duck hunters think about Italian semi-auto shotguns, they think Benelli or Beretta. That’s fair enough. Those two gunmakers have produced superlative waterfowling shotguns for many years and they own the top end of the market. But there is another Italian-made semi-auto to consider — the Breda B3.5SM.
I got my hands on the hefty, inertia-driven B3.5SM this summer and I hunted with it through most of my duck season. As I burned through box after box, I began to like the shotgun more and more. By the end of my season, I’m now ready to declare it as a true contender to the Benelli Super Black Eagle 3.
And if you’re one of those duck hunters who preferred the original Super Black Eagle of the early 90s to the modern version, then you’re going to love this Breda shotgun.
Here’s how the Breda B3.5SM performed in the field and on the range — and why it’s become one of my favorite duck guns.
- Gauge: 12
- Action: Semi-auto, inertia-driven
- Capacity: 4+1
- Chamber: 3.5 inches
- Weight: 7.37 pounds (measured)
- Trigger weight: 5.25 pounds
- Barrel Length: 28 inches (tested), 30 inches
- Overall Length: 49.25 inches
- LOP: 14.25 inches
- Sight: Red bar
- Barrel Finish: Black cerakote
- Stock Finish: Black (tested), Mossy Oak Bottomland, Realtree Max7
- Made in Italy
- Price: $2,100
Key Features
- Comfortable, grippy stock
- Reliable action with rotating bolt head
- Drilled barrel
- 5 Included flush chokes: F, IM, M, IC, C (Crio Plus Compatible)
Review Highlights
- Shot impressive 50/50 patterns (50 percent of pellets hit above point of aim, 50 percent hit below)
- Excellent field performance
- Minimal malfunctions while hunting
The Breda Backstory
Breda (pronounced “bree – da”) is not well known in the U.S. but it’s a noteworthy company in semi-auto shotgun history and in the European wingshooting world. Breda is currently importing shotguns to the U.S. through Banshee Brands (the same folks who work with Retay to import their Turkish-made shotguns).
Breda got its start as an Italian locomotive manufacturer in the 1880s. Fast forward about 100 years and Breda bought a portion of Benelli Armi SPA (Beretta purchased a portion as well). By the early 1990s Americans began seeing Benelli-made Super Black Eagles and M1 Super 90s appear in duck blinds. These guns were originally imported by Heckler and Koch, and duck hunters loved them.
In 2000, Breda restructured and sold its share of Benelli to Beretta. However Breda retained the manufacturing rights to both the original SBE and M1 Super 90, according to Christian Handy, chief executive for Banshee Brands.
“Our B3.5SM is essentially a refined version of the original SBE from the HK-imported 1990s models,” says Handy.
A Reliable, Inertia-Driven Semi-Auto
The B3.5SM works on the same inertia-driven action that powers the SBE 3. This action was developed by Italian engineer Bruno Civolani in 1967 and has long been a favorite among American waterfowlers.
The action functions by using recoil from the shell in conjunction with the mass of the bolt to compress a powerful spring, which then cycles the action, tossing the spent hull and loading a new shell. As the bolthead moves into battery, it rotates and locks into position.
The general consensus about inertia guns today is that they are lighter, slimmer, and cleaner running than gas-operated semi-autos. On the downside they usually have harsher recoil and can be finicky if they get dirty or wet in frigid conditions. In my experience, Benelli shotguns have lived up to those perceptions. But would the Breda B3.5SM?
Hunting With the Breda B3.5SM
At first glance, the B3.5SM is unremarkable. It’s a black, synthetic-stocked gun with oversized controls (which almost all duck guns have these days). When I shot clays with the gun I noticed that it felt a bit heavy, which I liked. It helped the gun swing nicely and diminished some of the recoil. At 7.37 pounds, the B3.5SM is nearly a half-pound heavier than the SBE 3.
I immediately liked the feel and grippiness of the stock, which has a rubbery, soft-touch finish. Plus, I shot the gun naturally, so I decided to take it out for opening day of the Wisconsin duck season. Hunting was slow that opening morning, but I did kill a couple teal over the decoys and I made one heroic crossing shot on a distant wood duck. That was enough for me to keep the B3.5SM in my rotation.
I proceeded to hunt with the shotgun in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The more I shot it, the more I liked it. When I field test shotguns, I hunt hard with them and do not clean them. I run each gun until it starts to jam — and with semi-autos I’ve found that they will all fail eventually.
By mid-season I had run several hundred rounds through the gun and dropped it in the mud at least twice before I finally got a a first failure — the bolthead had not rotated all the way into battery and the gun went “click” instead of “boom.” After that hunt I cleaned the gun and resumed killing ducks. Then on the final hunt of the season I got my second malfunction — the gun fired the first round but failed to cycle the second.
In my experience, two malfunctions over the course of a long duck season of hard hunting, with only one cleaning, is pretty damn good performance from an inertia gun.
Most importantly, I discovered that the B3.5SM is an absolute duck hammer. Loaded up with Hevi Shot Hevi XII, 3-inch, No. 6 loads, I killed ducks near and far with it all season long.
There was the high flock of teal in North Dakota where I called “kill’em if you 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 sunrise in South Dakota. There was that wary greenhead in Wisconsin that just wouldn’t commit, but folded on his third pass anyway.
I’m sure that I missed some ducks with the B3.5SM over the course of the season, but I can’t seem to recall any of those shots now.
Patterning the Breda B3.5SM
My good experiences in the field certainly have a lot to do with how the gun patterns. Even though “3.5SM” describes the 3.5-inch “Super Magnum” chamber, I used 3-inch loads for hunting and testing. In my experience (and those of other experienced shooters) 3.5-inch loads typically do not pattern well out of a 12 gauge. They simply generate more recoil without putting any more pellets on target.
So I shot the B3.5SM on paper at 40 yards with two basic 3-inch steel loads: Federal Speed Shok No. 2 with a 1 ¼ ounce payload; and Remington Nitro Steel No. 2 with a 1 ¼ ounce payload. Using the Modified choke that came with the gun, I shot four patterns with each load and averaged them.
Average Pellet Strikes in a 30-Inch Circle
- Federal Speed Shok: 127
- Remington Nitro-Steel: 130
For context, this is phenomenal performance. Under the same shooting protocol with the same ammo, my SBE 3 averaged 107 pellet strikes with the Federal load and 117 pellets with the Remington load. Of all the best duck hunting shotguns we’ve tested, I’d put the Breda up against any of them in terms of pattern performance.
Drilled Barrel
Breda attributes these great patterns to their drilled barrels. The company uses a drilling process for producing barrels (as opposed to cold hammer forging).
“A deep-bore-drilled process involves taking a tube of bar stock, cut to the desired length of the final barrel, placing the bar stock in a lathe and manually drilling out the barrel from the center and contouring and profile the barrel with lathe cutters,” says Rus Hinkle, a service lead for Breda and Retay. “This leaves the bar stock in its original, homogenous form as it was cast or forged from the factory.”
Having a more homogenous, consistent barrel contributes to better patterns overall, says Hinkle. “With specific regards to shotguns, the more uniform the vibrations of the barrel [as the shot is fired] correlate to less destabilization of the pellets as they exit the muzzle.”
I cannot say for certain if Breda’s explanation for the pattern performance of this gun is legit or not. But I do know for sure that the B3.5SM shoots killer patterns. Also, earlier this year I reviewed the Retay Gordion Turkey, which uses a barrel made from the same process and that gun shot exceptional patterns as well.
50/50 Patterns
It’s also important to note that the Breda shot just where I pointed it. It produced consistent, 50/50 patterns meaning that about 50 percent of the pellets hit above my aimpoint and 50 percent hit below the point of aim. This is just what you want from a hunting shotgun. It’s also noteworthy that many Benelli semi-auto shotguns tend to pattern high (sometimes as high as 90/10). This can be improved with shimming, but many hunters don’t take the time to mess with their shim kits.
Breda B3.5SM vs Benelli SBE 3
I’ve already started comparing the B3.5SM to the SBE 3 so we might as well go all the way now. Both are premium shotguns that work off the same action. The bolts from the guns are nearly identical.
One noticeable difference between the two guns is the profile of the rib. In relation to the receiver, the B3.5SM has a very low rib. So when looking down the gun with your head tight on the stock, you’ll see that the rib sort of disappears below the bead. The SBE 3 on the other hand has a high rib that raises well above the receiver.
Beyond that, the SBE 3 has more features, including a recoil reduction system, a carbon-fiber rib, and the durable BE.ST coating. It’s substantially lighter, sleeker, and has superior fit and finish. All these bells and whistles will cost you though, as the top-end SBE 3 runs $2,499.
The B3.5SM is rougher around the edges. On my gun there’s a noticeable gap between the stock and the rear of the rubber cheek pad. The oversized bolt-release button has a bit of wiggle to it. The crossbolt safety is too small and unrefined.
But, the B3.5SM throws better patterns and shoots straighter — at least for me. If I had to pick one of these shotguns for a high-noon duel with a greenhead, I’d go with the B3.5SM without thinking twice.
Breda B3.5SM Availability
My most serious criticism of the B3.5SM is that you can’t just walk into any big gun shop and buy one. According to the company website, there were only 75 of these guns allocated to the U.S. market this year. And in 2025 there will be “limited quantities of the B3.5SM through select dealers,” says Handy. If you want to check one out, you can find Breda dealers near you on the company’s website.
Final Thoughts on the B3.5SM
The B3.5SM really is a throwback to the original SBE. It is not the most elegant inertia-driven gun on the market, and for $2,100 I can see how some hunters would expect more in terms of aesthetics, fit, and finish. But, hoo boy, this baby shoots. I would happily trade looks for the kind of patterning and field performance that the B3.5SM delivers.
I know that there are some diehard waterfowlers out there who would rather give up their duck dog than their SBE 3. But for the folks who want excellent 50/50 pattern performance out of the box, Breda’s B3.5SM is worth a close look — assuming you can find one.
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