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- Treat every gun as loaded
- Point the muzzle in a safe direction
- Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot
- Know your target and what’s beyond
Table of Contents
How we tested: Every pick here is ranked against our testing methodology. Minimum round counts, accuracy and reliability protocols, the failures that disqualify a gun. Where we have not shot a specific variant ourselves, we say so in that section.
Review: Benelli 828U – The Over and Under That Threw Out the Rulebook
Our Rating: 8.3/10
Every other over and under on the rack locks the same way it did in 1900. Benelli looked at that and put a solid steel breech block into an aluminum receiver, hung the ejectors off the barrels instead of the frame, and made the trigger group drop out in your hand. The result weighs 6.6 pounds in 12 gauge and sells for about a thousand dollars under Benelli’s own list price.
Specifications: Benelli 828U 12 Gauge 28 inch (10702)
- MSRP: $3,799 anodized black, $4,399 engraved nickel
- Street Price: $2,779.99 (Use our live pricing for the best up to date deal)
- Gauge: 12, also available in 20
- Chambered For: 2 3/4 inch and 3 inch
- Barrel: 28 inches, gloss blued
- Overall Length: 45.25 inches
- Average Weight: 6.6 lbs
- Receiver: Anodized black aluminum with steel locking system
- Stock: AA-Grade satin walnut, Progressive Comfort
- Chokes: Crio C, IC, M, IM and F
- Sight: Red fiber optic front
- Length of Pull: 14 3/4 inches
- Drop at Heel / Comb: 2 1/8 inches / 1 1/2 inches
- Drilled and Tapped: No
Pros
- Six point six pounds in twelve gauge
- Steel breech block locks to monoblock
- Trigger group drops out for cleaning
Cons
- Not drilled and tapped for optics
- Right handed only, no left version
- Aluminum receiver reads plain beside steel
Quick Take
Benelli’s pitch for the 828U is one sentence on its own website: “With the strength of steel and the lightweight advantage of aluminum.” That is the whole gun. The receiver is aluminum so you can carry it, and the part that actually takes the pressure is steel so it lasts.
Three things follow from that decision and all three are unusual. The trigger group comes out without tools. The ejectors live in the barrels, not the frame. And the triggers reset when you push the top lever rather than when the barrels swing open.
Best For: The upland hunter who walks a long way and wants an over and under that does not feel like carrying a fence post. A poor choice if you want a traditional steel receivered game gun to look at.
The Steel Locking System, and Why It Exists
Put an aluminum receiver on a conventional over and under and you have built something that will shoot loose. The pressure of firing goes into the standing breech and the hinge pins, and aluminum gives up before steel does. Benelli’s answer, in its own words on the 828 U product page, is to route the pressure somewhere else entirely.
“The heart of Benelli’s Steel Locking System is a solid steel breech block that locks directly to the monoblock, containing all pressure from the shotshell and preventing its transfer to the receiver and hinge pins.”
Read that carefully. The receiver is not holding the gun shut. A steel block is locking to the steel monoblock the barrels are built into, and the aluminum around it is a housing. That is why an aluminum framed over and under is not the compromise it sounds like, and it is the reason this gun exists.
Ejectors in the Barrels
On a traditional over and under, linkages run from the trigger group through the forend to work the ejectors. Benelli says the 828U’s ejector system “is all contained in the barrel,” which “allows for a stronger, more streamlined receiver by eliminating the need for linkages between the trigger group and the forend.”
The practical result is the shallowest receiver in this class and a forend that comes off without disturbing anything mechanical.
The Trigger Resets on the Lever
This one you feel on the first shot. Benelli: “The 828 U triggers reset when the top lever is unlocked instead of by opening the barrels on a traditional over/under.” On other guns, cocking the locks is part of the effort of swinging the barrels down, which is why a new over and under is stiff to open. Here that work happens as you thumb the lever across.
The gun opens light from new. Reloading between pairs is quicker and quieter, and it stays that way rather than needing five hundred shells to loosen up.
What It Costs, and How Far Under List It Sells
Benelli publishes its prices, and the street ignores them by more than most makers tolerate. Benelli lists the anodized black guns at $3,799 and the engraved nickel-plated ones at $4,399. The cheapest new listing across the eight retailers we track was $2,779.99 at EuroOptic, with Kentucky Gun Co at $2,788.99.
That is a gap of roughly $1,019 between list and street on the same finish. For comparison, a Beretta 687 Silver Pigeon III lists at $3,899 and sells at about $3,499, a gap of $400. Whatever you think of the two guns, only one of them is being discounted hard.
828U anodized black $3,799 list
828U engraved nickel $4,399 list
828U street, anodized $2,780-$3,300
828U street, nickel $3,490-$3,800
828U Sport $4,116-$4,267
20 gauge, 26 inch 5.9 lbs
The 20 gauge deserves its own line. Benelli lists the 26 inch 20 gauge (10740) at 5.9 lbs and the 28 inch (10741) at 6 lbs. A sub six pound over and under is a genuinely different thing to carry, and it is the strongest argument this gun makes.
Range Testing: 1,000 Shells
Reliability
A thousand shells, mostly sporting clays with three days of upland walking, and the gun gave us nothing to write down. No ejector failures, no doubling, no selector faults. The lockup felt identical at shell 1,000 to shell one, which on an aluminum framed gun is the number everybody wants to know.
The trigger group came out twice for cleaning. Benelli says it is “compact, easily removable” and it is: it drops into your hand and goes back with a push. Anybody who has tried to get powder residue out of a conventional over and under’s action will understand why that matters.
Recoil and the Progressive Comfort Stock
A 6.6 pound 12 gauge should punish you. This one does not, and the reason is inside the stock. Benelli’s Progressive Comfort system uses “flexible and lightweight polymer buffers” that compress to absorb recoil, and Benelli’s own description of how it scales is the interesting part: “The heavier the shot load, the more buffers come into play.”
We felt exactly that. Light 1 ounce target loads are soft, and stepping up to 1 1/4 ounce pheasant loads did not produce the jump in recoil the weight of the gun predicts. It is not magic and heavy loads still kick, but the curve is flatter than the scales say it should be.
Handling
At 45.25 inches overall and 6.6 lbs, with the weight sitting between the hands, this gun starts moving faster than a heavier one and stops faster too. On driven style crossers that is a mixed blessing, because a light gun rewards a positive swing and punishes a lazy one.
In the field it is not a mixed blessing at all. Three miles into a walk you are still mounting the gun properly, which is worth more birds than any amount of barrel weight.
Shell Log
- Winchester AA 1 oz 8 shot: 420 shells
- Federal Top Gun 1 oz 7.5 shot: 300 shells
- Remington Gun Club 1 1/8 oz 7.5 shot: 180 shells
- Federal Prairie Storm 1 1/4 oz 5 shot: 100 shells
Technical Deep Dive
Five Crio Chokes in the Box
Benelli ships C, IC, M, IM and F Crio tubes with the gun. Five is generous, and the spread means you can pattern the gun properly rather than buying your way to a full set. Combined with 2 3/4 and 3 inch chambering, the same gun covers skeet, sporting and a driven day without a shopping trip.
No Rail, and Benelli Says So
Benelli’s spec sheet lists Drilled and Tapped: No. There is a red fiber optic front bead and that is the sighting system. If you were hoping to put a small reflex sight on a turkey gun, this is not the platform, and no amount of aftermarket shopping changes it without a gunsmith.
Right Handed Only
Every 828U SKU on Benelli’s chart says Hand-Dominance: Right Handed. The stock comes with a fixed 2 1/8 inch drop at heel and 1 1/2 inch at comb, and no factory cast option is listed. A left handed shooter is looking at a stock fitter, the same as with the Beretta 687.
How It Compares
Browning Citori 725 ($2,301-$2,900)
The direct cross shop at the money, running $2,300.99 to $2,899.99 across our retailers. The 725 is a steel receivered gun with a low profile of its own and a mechanical trigger, and it will be a pound heavier in your hands.
Pick the Browning if you shoot mostly clays and want the weight to steady your swing. Pick the Benelli if you carry it. Our Browning Citori CXS review covers the family and the double barrel rankings put both in context.
Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon ($2,094-$2,755)
The traditional answer, and cheaper. A 686 Silver Pigeon I starts around $2,094 and gives you a steel receiver, the 680 locking system and the look most people picture when they say over and under.
This is the honest comparison for anybody who thinks the Benelli looks modern in a bad way. Our Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon I review covers it, and the Beretta 687 review is the next rung up if wood and engraving matter to you.
Benelli Ethos ($1,800-$2,400)
Benelli’s own semi-auto, from $1,799.99, and the gun that takes the sale when somebody walks in wanting a light Benelli and leaves with a third barrel’s worth of change. It uses the inertia system rather than a locking block and it is a completely different animal.
Two barrels or three shells is the oldest argument in shotguns and this is not the page to settle it. Our Benelli Ethos review and our Benelli lineup ranking cover the rest of the range.
Upgrades Worth Making
| Upgrade | Recommended | Why it matters | Cost |
| Chokes | Nothing at first | Five Crio tubes come in the box, so pattern those first | $0 |
| Stock fit | A fitting session if the 14 3/4 inch pull is wrong | The drop is fixed and there is no left handed option | $100 – $400 |
| Sling | A light leather sling and studs fitted by a gunsmith | A six pound gun is worth carrying properly on a long walk | $60 – $200 |
| Recoil pad | Leave it alone | Progressive Comfort is inside the stock, not the pad | $0 |
Common Problems and Fixes
- Cannot mount an optic: Benelli lists Drilled and Tapped: No. The red fiber optic front bead is the sighting system and changing that is a gunsmith job.
- Gun feels twitchy on clays: that is 6.6 pounds doing what light guns do. Slow the swing down or shoot the 30 inch barrels, which run 6.7 lbs and settle better.
- Worried about an aluminum receiver: the receiver is not what holds the gun shut. A steel breech block locks to the steel monoblock and keeps the pressure off the frame and hinge pins.
- Action needs cleaning: take the trigger group out. It is designed to come out without tools, which is not true of most over and unders.
- Paying list price: do not. Benelli lists $3,799 and the street starts at $2,779.99.
Who Should NOT Buy This Gun
- The traditionalist: an anodized aluminum receiver will never look like case colored steel. A Beretta 686 Silver Pigeon I at $2,094 is the gun you actually want.
- The dedicated clays shooter: 6.6 pounds is a hunting weight. A Browning Citori 725 at $2,300.99 carries more barrel weight and swings steadier on a long station.
- Left handed shooters: every SKU on Benelli’s chart says right handed. Budget for a stock fitter or buy from a maker who lists a left handed gun.
- Turkey hunters wanting a red dot: there is no rail and no drilling. A Benelli semi-auto from the same catalog is the platform for that.
- Anyone who wants three shells: this is a two barrel gun by definition. A Benelli Ethos at $1,799.99 is cheaper and holds more.
Final Verdict
Benelli did the hard thing and rethought a design nobody was asking them to rethink. The steel breech block locking to the monoblock is what makes an aluminum framed over and under sensible, and everything good about the gun follows from it: 6.6 pounds, a trigger group in your hand, an action that opens light from new.
A thousand shells found nothing wrong. At $2,779.99 against a $3,799 list it is also the best discount in this part of the rack. If you carry your shotgun rather than rest it on a stand, this is the one to handle first.
FAQ: Benelli 828U
Is the Benelli 828U a good shotgun?
Yes. Ours fired 1,000 shells across sporting clays and three days of upland walking with no ejector failure, no doubling and no selector fault, and the lockup felt the same at the end as at the start. The trigger group came out twice for cleaning, which takes seconds and needs no tools.
How much does a Benelli 828U cost?
Benelli lists the anodized black guns at $3,799 and the engraved nickel-plated ones at $4,399. On the street the cheapest new example across the eight retailers we track was $2,779.99, with most anodized guns between $2,780 and $3,300 and nickel guns between $3,490 and $3,800. That is roughly $1,019 under Benelli's own number.
Is an aluminum receiver a problem on an over and under?
Not the way Benelli built it, because the receiver is not what holds the gun shut. Benelli describes a solid steel breech block that locks directly to the monoblock, containing all pressure from the shotshell and preventing its transfer to the receiver and hinge pins. The aluminum is a housing, the steel takes the load, and that is how you get a 6.6 lb 12 gauge.
How much does a Benelli 828U weigh?
In 12 gauge Benelli lists 6.5 lbs with 26 inch barrels, 6.6 lbs at 28 inches and 6.7 lbs at 30. The 20 gauge is lighter again at 5.9 lbs with 26 inch barrels and 6 lbs at 28. A sub six pound over and under is a genuinely different thing to carry all day.
What is the Progressive Comfort system?
It is a set of flexible polymer buffers inside the walnut stock rather than a thicker recoil pad. Benelli's own description explains why it works across loads: the heavier the shot load, the more buffers come into play to help absorb and cushion the recoil. In practice light target loads are soft and heavy pheasant loads do not kick as hard as the gun's weight suggests.
Can you mount a red dot on a Benelli 828U?
No, not without a gunsmith. Benelli's specification chart says Drilled and Tapped: No. The sighting system is a red fiber optic front bead and nothing else. If you want an optic on a shotgun, this is the wrong platform and no aftermarket part fixes it.
What chokes come with the Benelli 828U?
Five Crio tubes: cylinder, improved cylinder, modified, improved modified and full. That is a complete set rather than the three most makers include, so you can pattern the gun properly out of the box. The gun is chambered for both 2 3/4 inch and 3 inch shells.
Benelli 828U or Beretta 686?
The Beretta is the traditional gun and the cheaper one, starting around $2,094 with a steel receiver and the 680 locking system. The Benelli is about a pound lighter, has a removable trigger group and opens lighter from new. Buy the Beretta if you want a classic over and under to look at, and the Benelli if you carry it a long way.
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