The 48AL is a long-recoil action, like an Auto 5.
It has normal geometry, not like an Auto 5, but long-recoil is not something everybody loves. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of stuff moving around in my shotgun anyway, and a barrel that moves isn't my favorite thing. However, the things are light and they balance well, and there's a lot to like about the 48. They don't have a cult following for nothing, that's for sure.
WRT the Montefeltro in 20: I hunt with a guy who uses one most of the time. It's a great gun, with great balance and light weight. I can't remember it ever misfeeding or having any issues, in any kind of weather.
Personally, I would choose the Monte over the Ultralight, without question. The 20/26" Montefeltro is a well-balanced shotgun. IMO the 20/24" Ultralight is not.
The saved weight comes off the forward end: an Ultralight is essentially a Montefeltro fitted with 24" barrel with a carbon fiber rib, and a shorter foreend with a 2-shot magazine instead of a 4-shot magazine. Benellis are not muzzle-heavy anyway, since they have no gas system or pump foreend. There's nothing forward of the receiver but a barrel and mag tube.
The result is that the Ultralight is a butt-heavy gun with almost zero natural swing to it. The Ultralight is nice for carrying, but not for wingshooting. The regular Montefeltro, OTOH, feels really good, and is plenty light enough.
To those who decry the price/value equation, all I can say is, look around. It's not pretty out there. The 48AL is a tad cheaper. Otherwise, we who like 20 Gauge are not exactly faced with an overwhelming number of options in quality autoloaders. Winchester catalogs the SX3 in 20, now, at $1200 MSRP and a good deal more weight. The 391 Teknys Gold 20 is nice, but a fair amount higher than that, and the base model 391 is a lot heavier, at least per Beretta USA's website, which is terrible about giving good spec's.
Cabela's has an exclusive Beretta model: the 391 Urika Ultralight, which resembles a Teknys without the green stripe. It's a nice gun, under 6 lbs. in 20, and it is often on sale for $1050-$1100. Personally, I REALLY like the way a 391 handles shells, for field use. It's definitely worth a look, but it's certainly no cheaper than a new Monte.
The same friend with the Monte sometimes uses a Franchi 620, which is nice but not quite as good in the hands as the Montefeltro IMHO. The current version, the 720, is what, 900 bucks retail, I think. There are cheaper 20 Gauge semiautos, but none of them are in the same class as the above-mentioned guns. So for those who say a Benelli costs more than it's worth, yeah, I've thought that, too. I don't own one. However, it's hard to point to a competing gun that's dramatically lower in price, if you really look.
Back to the original question: Due to the handling of each gun, I'd go with the Monte in 26", not the Ultralight, even if they were the same price, and even though I have a real desire to go lightweight next season for chukar. The Monte is light enough. Hell, I'd buy the Monte if it cost MORE than the Ultralight, because it handles so much better.
I'd take a look at the Cabela's 391 Ultralight, too, if you have a desire for a gas-operated gun, as well as the 48AL if you like long-recoil. I'd pay extra for the Beretta shell handling, so the 720 doesn't excite me all that much. But the 48 does offer light weight and good handling, at a substantially lower price than the Benelli.
BTW a 26" Beretta 686 White Onyx weighs 6 lbs. flat, if you can do with 2 shots (2 chokes, too, so it has an advantage).
Any semi that's light and cheaper than than the 48 is a Turkish gun, these days.
