So I recently picked up a Beretta 1301 as the wife and I are finally moving from our apartment to our first house, so therefore my "need" of a house howitzer is now justified. It was a choice between the Beretta 1301 and the Benelli M4, the choice I made should be obvious. I went with the 1301 due to its significantly lighter weight and ability to cycle "light" ammunition without modification perfectly.
I have put 500 rounds through it consisting of
B&P 1 1/8oz 7.5 shot at 1300FPS
Winchester AA 1OZ 7.5 at 1350FPS
B&P 1 1/8oz 7.5 at 1150FPS
Winchester Defender OO Buck 9 Pellet at 1150FPS
Winchester Defender 1oz Segmented Slug at 1600 FPS
So far it has cycled every type of ammunition flawlessly even locking the bolt back. The felt recoil is very similar to my Browning 725 30" sporting clays gun that weights 7.5 pounds and is ported. The semi automatic action really soaks up a significant amount of felt recoil and the Beretta only weighing 6.5 pounds is a very easy shotgun to point and shoot. It uses the Beretta Optima choke system so you can use it at extended ranges with birdshot, with the IC choke installed I would not personally try to shoot a clay farther away than 15 yards after patterning it myself.
The big Gen 3 upgrade is the barrel, it is now backbored which reduces pressure in the barrel and reduces felt recoil it has been a very common upgrade to shotguns for a long time now. Next is the extended forcing cones, this is where the barrel constricts from the chamber to the bore. The lengthening of the forcing cones makes the shot collum constriction more gradual reducing shot deformation and improving pattern density. The barrel is also cold hammer forged with berettas special Steelium barrel steel featured on some of their sporting clays guns.
With the IC choke installed the pattern with the Defender buckshot is just about fist sized with one very consistent flyer in the pattern. Once I can locate some Federal Flight Control I will update, but for now I am very pleased with this rounds felt recoil and patterning from 10-25 yards.
Ignore the 9mm bullet hole, the big one is the slug at 25 yards. The big part of why I mounted a red dot is use with slugs at longer ranges. Based on the results at 25 yards I expect this gun to very easily make hits with slugs out to 50 yards and hopefully beyond. Unfortunately I won't have a chance to test that until the spring when it gets warmer and am for now limited to 25 yards.
Above is a link to an imgur gallery going over the chromed out internals of the gun. I really like that the entire receiver extension and chamber is chrome plated. It makes cleaning the gun super easy, the dual action rods of the Blink system are also very nice in giving the bolt and bolt carrier a very smooth travel.
I love the shotgun so far and plan on ordering a Aridus Industries CROM mount and aluminum magazine tube extension cover and barrel clamp. Hoping to also snatch their aluminum side saddle in stock at some point but I am willing to wait. Then finally adding a SureFire mini scout light, extended chokes and a sling. Other than those accessories I am leaving the gun stock. The stock after adding the 1" spacer fits just about perfectly and I don't have an issue with the forend at all, though will admit I like the A300's forend better actually.
Anyone else running a 1301 and have any suggestions or anything I am missing?
I have put 500 rounds through it consisting of
B&P 1 1/8oz 7.5 shot at 1300FPS
Winchester AA 1OZ 7.5 at 1350FPS
B&P 1 1/8oz 7.5 at 1150FPS
Winchester Defender OO Buck 9 Pellet at 1150FPS
Winchester Defender 1oz Segmented Slug at 1600 FPS
So far it has cycled every type of ammunition flawlessly even locking the bolt back. The felt recoil is very similar to my Browning 725 30" sporting clays gun that weights 7.5 pounds and is ported. The semi automatic action really soaks up a significant amount of felt recoil and the Beretta only weighing 6.5 pounds is a very easy shotgun to point and shoot. It uses the Beretta Optima choke system so you can use it at extended ranges with birdshot, with the IC choke installed I would not personally try to shoot a clay farther away than 15 yards after patterning it myself.
The big Gen 3 upgrade is the barrel, it is now backbored which reduces pressure in the barrel and reduces felt recoil it has been a very common upgrade to shotguns for a long time now. Next is the extended forcing cones, this is where the barrel constricts from the chamber to the bore. The lengthening of the forcing cones makes the shot collum constriction more gradual reducing shot deformation and improving pattern density. The barrel is also cold hammer forged with berettas special Steelium barrel steel featured on some of their sporting clays guns.
With the IC choke installed the pattern with the Defender buckshot is just about fist sized with one very consistent flyer in the pattern. Once I can locate some Federal Flight Control I will update, but for now I am very pleased with this rounds felt recoil and patterning from 10-25 yards.
Ignore the 9mm bullet hole, the big one is the slug at 25 yards. The big part of why I mounted a red dot is use with slugs at longer ranges. Based on the results at 25 yards I expect this gun to very easily make hits with slugs out to 50 yards and hopefully beyond. Unfortunately I won't have a chance to test that until the spring when it gets warmer and am for now limited to 25 yards.
Above is a link to an imgur gallery going over the chromed out internals of the gun. I really like that the entire receiver extension and chamber is chrome plated. It makes cleaning the gun super easy, the dual action rods of the Blink system are also very nice in giving the bolt and bolt carrier a very smooth travel.
I love the shotgun so far and plan on ordering a Aridus Industries CROM mount and aluminum magazine tube extension cover and barrel clamp. Hoping to also snatch their aluminum side saddle in stock at some point but I am willing to wait. Then finally adding a SureFire mini scout light, extended chokes and a sling. Other than those accessories I am leaving the gun stock. The stock after adding the 1" spacer fits just about perfectly and I don't have an issue with the forend at all, though will admit I like the A300's forend better actually.
Anyone else running a 1301 and have any suggestions or anything I am missing?
