I have watched a few Youtubes on this subject, I only have the Battle 2 & 3 which are some of my nicest spinners, and have been pleased with them . I am curious about the other 2 offerings?
An early days BG in good condition, is a nice, but perhaps weighty spinner. Allen Hawk did a good review on the now-a-days BG's. Got a 5000 which I think is a great spinner for around $100. Which Shimano model? I like most of the earlier Stratic's, but some areas are prone to corrosion and the price is up there a bit high. I think I paid about $170 for a Stratic 3000 about 10 yrs. ago. That said, Iown't know the Penn Battle at all.
I wasn't sure what model Shimano had that's similar, I only know of my Shimano Sienna 1000 which is a great reel for the price. I only got the battles because they were $40 at BPS clearance center, and couldn't pass that up.
Alan Hawk picks the Daiwa BG as the best general purpose saltwater spinner under $150 by a good amount. The Shimano Spheros in the 150-250 category and the Saragosa as the best budget offshore reel.
I just read the review I didn't realize the export versions are made better and several spawn models as well.Sounds like Daiwa's marketing people do a lot of copy and pasting,some of the spawns do not have the specs as advertised.
For their price range the BG and Battle are hard to beat.
I have owned both (2500 Battle II and 4000 BG). Of the two the BG was smoother out of the box, but everything I read said the Battle was better sealed.
Personally I wouldn't buy any Shimano spinner in the same price range unless I was only fishing fresh water.
I was recently looking for a new 2500 reel and I nearly bought a BG, but I ended up finding a decent price on a Battle III DX. Between the look of it, and both the pinion and main gear being brass (something you don't see in smaller spinners), I couldn't pass on the DX.
I have the Battle 2 2500 for Bass fishing as well, and a Battle 3 2000 my go to for crappie.
Had diawa bg 2000 and 2500 after a year and a half sold them both had bearing noise went back to using my old bg 10,15 and 20 .I have a penn battle 3 in a 5000size only used it 1/2 a dozen times seems good but time will tell.
Kim
I have an original Battle 6000. I've caught both Yellowtail and YFT to 30# with it. 50# braid with a 40# mono leader. 30# YFT is a lot easier than a 30# YT!
The fifth (bottom) video in Alan's post on this page:
https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=34056.30
That is a BG 6500 on a Saltist STW70MHS as a 40lb setup. See no need to replace it with something else.
nice catch! looks like no struggle for the BG6500
My two cents worth. Shimano has nothing in this price range to compare to the BG or Battle 3. I own a Battle 2. Picked up for $50 new, couldn't pass up. Own a BG and a Battle 3 DX. I like both. I give the Battle 3DX the edge because of the machined brass main gear and sealed bearings. But, still like my BG.
I've had to replace the pot metal gears in the battle reels on a daily basis. The are crap. Especially the SSV reels.
All of them use the same gear set. The Fierce, discontinued Sargus, and one other I can't remember.
Keith