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Background I have been involved with firearms since the age of 4 (Remington 514 single shot) and since then have almost six decades of owning and experience with most every type of common firearm. My sole, do-all shotgun since the mid 1980s had been a basic 12ga Mossberg 500 pump, but I picked up a Browning O/U [recreational skeet/pheasant] and an Ugartechea 20gs SxS [dove/quail] about 10 years ago. I had only tried an auto-loader shotgun a few times, and while fun, never felt the urge to buy one. Recently that changed, and I bought a 2024 Beretta Tactical 1301 Mod 2, code J131M2TT18 (thanks Lava Dog Fire & Police Supply in Plymouth, CA https://www.lavadogfireandpolicesupply.com/). The 1301 will replace the 500 as my HD shotgun.
1301 Initial Experience a few days after receipt, I went to pattern it and generally practice live operation/manual of arms, though I had been becoming familiar with it at home with dummy rounds.
Features Grip and forend texture is very aggressive, I used gloves most of the time. I really like the semi-flat trigger; not sure why, though it seemed quicker positioning my finger. The ghost rings sight are fast and accurate (I am used to them on rifles). It came with only one choke (Cyl) but I had ordered an IC for it. The raised position of the now-standard pro lifter was about the only similarity to my 500 and made it very easy and fast to reload. There was good surface/space for positioning a match saver.
Loading/Unloading As shipped, my 1301 would not take 7 shells, at least not the ones I have laying around nor my dummies. A supposed fix is to remove the plastic tube plug spring retainer (which allows field tripping without having the fight the spring), I have not tried that yet. Unloading the tube without cycling shells through the chamber is a two handed affair, but efficient...hold the lifter up and pull up on the bolt release and one pops out, repeat. I did learn how to ghost load it, tedious but doable. I also heard about Benelli Carry which is just ghost loading without a shell chambered.
Shooting - Recoil felt surprisingly mild. The fit, balance, and handling suit me. It does cycle crazy-fast, though I?m way to slow to maximize its potential. In goofing around trying some clays out of a vintage flinger (by myself so it was an exercise in getting a good toss, plopping the thrower on the table, then repositioning my strong hand and acquiring the targets), none of the 20 clays hit the ground unbroken, though about a third required two shots. I was using dove/quail loads and the IC choke for that. Also, it would not consistently cycle Winchester AA target loads (I have a stockpile of them). I will try them later once I have several hundred rounds through it.
Patterning I only had two types of 00 Buck, both 9-pellet ? Rio and Federal Personal Defense Force X2, and brought along some obsolete (lead shot) turkey loads. I also had along my 500 with fixed Cyl for a baseline. I set up at 10 yards, and got the following odd 00 results, in inches:
Funny bits more than a few times I caught myself trying to operate the non-existent slide, thumb safety, and under-action bolt release.
Lastly, and this actually shook me, after cleaning-up the 1301 at home, I grabbed it one-handed by the action and in doing so my hand hit and disengaged the oversized safety. I immediately put it down, stood back, and thought WTF! I cannot recall ever having a safety disengage unintentionally, regardless of how the firearm was being handled. Anyway, given that, I will only store the 1301 in Benelli Carry condition... full tube, one on the lifter, chamber clear.
If you have a Mod 2 1301, I would like to hear your firsthand perspectives.
PS - I saw online at least one problem with the QD cups being configured too deep so as to not lock-in; mine work as intended (though I do not like the rear location and may add one to the side, I do not know that I will typically sling it).
1301 Initial Experience a few days after receipt, I went to pattern it and generally practice live operation/manual of arms, though I had been becoming familiar with it at home with dummy rounds.
Features Grip and forend texture is very aggressive, I used gloves most of the time. I really like the semi-flat trigger; not sure why, though it seemed quicker positioning my finger. The ghost rings sight are fast and accurate (I am used to them on rifles). It came with only one choke (Cyl) but I had ordered an IC for it. The raised position of the now-standard pro lifter was about the only similarity to my 500 and made it very easy and fast to reload. There was good surface/space for positioning a match saver.
Loading/Unloading As shipped, my 1301 would not take 7 shells, at least not the ones I have laying around nor my dummies. A supposed fix is to remove the plastic tube plug spring retainer (which allows field tripping without having the fight the spring), I have not tried that yet. Unloading the tube without cycling shells through the chamber is a two handed affair, but efficient...hold the lifter up and pull up on the bolt release and one pops out, repeat. I did learn how to ghost load it, tedious but doable. I also heard about Benelli Carry which is just ghost loading without a shell chambered.
Shooting - Recoil felt surprisingly mild. The fit, balance, and handling suit me. It does cycle crazy-fast, though I?m way to slow to maximize its potential. In goofing around trying some clays out of a vintage flinger (by myself so it was an exercise in getting a good toss, plopping the thrower on the table, then repositioning my strong hand and acquiring the targets), none of the 20 clays hit the ground unbroken, though about a third required two shots. I was using dove/quail loads and the IC choke for that. Also, it would not consistently cycle Winchester AA target loads (I have a stockpile of them). I will try them later once I have several hundred rounds through it.
Patterning I only had two types of 00 Buck, both 9-pellet ? Rio and Federal Personal Defense Force X2, and brought along some obsolete (lead shot) turkey loads. I also had along my 500 with fixed Cyl for a baseline. I set up at 10 yards, and got the following odd 00 results, in inches:
500 Rio = 5.0, Fed = 6.0
Cyl Choke Rio = 8.5, Fed = 7.5
IC Choke Rio = 8.0, Fed = 6.25
I have since ordered a Mod choke, and will retest the above along with other 00 Buck I can find locally. I really want the Fed x2 to pattern well, but if it does not, I will try Flight Control and other plated/buffered rounds rather than trying more $50+ chokes.Cyl Choke Rio = 8.5, Fed = 7.5
IC Choke Rio = 8.0, Fed = 6.25
Funny bits more than a few times I caught myself trying to operate the non-existent slide, thumb safety, and under-action bolt release.
Lastly, and this actually shook me, after cleaning-up the 1301 at home, I grabbed it one-handed by the action and in doing so my hand hit and disengaged the oversized safety. I immediately put it down, stood back, and thought WTF! I cannot recall ever having a safety disengage unintentionally, regardless of how the firearm was being handled. Anyway, given that, I will only store the 1301 in Benelli Carry condition... full tube, one on the lifter, chamber clear.
If you have a Mod 2 1301, I would like to hear your firsthand perspectives.
PS - I saw online at least one problem with the QD cups being configured too deep so as to not lock-in; mine work as intended (though I do not like the rear location and may add one to the side, I do not know that I will typically sling it).
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