crossgun Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Im getting ready to have Steve Rose at RAS build me a complete 3-gun ready Beretta 1301. Can any of you talk me off the cliff? Any reason I would not be very happy with this shotgun? I have shot a lot of clay targets with Beretta gas guns without issues and ran them extremely hard while neglecting them along the way so to say I favor Beretta would be an understatement. I own a couple of Benelli M1s and for numerous reasons we just dont seem to get along. I haven't spent any time behind the 1301 except for handling them at a few shows. I like how the gun feels and points. Tough decision when you just cant easily touch a fully modified gun until after the fact. I dont want to be disappointed after dropping $2K. I have handled the New Benelli M3 Performance Center 3-Gun and it is cool with all the mods but then again I love my Beretta gassers. Will I have any regrets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Donald Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 I shoot a Beretta 1301, nothing wrong with it. The gun has NEVER left me down in a match. Only thing 'wrong' with it is the serial number is kind of close to the loading port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonytheTiger Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 Not a bad choice at all. It doesn't have the legendary reliability the Benelli's have but to be fair its a relatively new model, I intend to run one till it dies and report on Enos when/if that happens. I know a guy with a 390 (the 1301's daddy if I remember correctly) that has well over 150k on it, and he's exceptionally abusive to it. The inside of the barrel extension looks like it got attacked by a rabid chainsaw but it just keeps running. The Donald is right, the SN could be further from the port, I personally load quads weak hand so it hasn't been a hindrance for me. Buy one, if you already love Beretta there's no way you'll be disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Donald Posted April 9, 2016 Share Posted April 9, 2016 I know there are a lot of people swear Benelli's but Benelli was bought up by Beretta quite a few years ago. Benelli started out as motorcycle manufacture after WW II, where as Beretta has been making shotgun for over 500 years. Beretta is the oldest company in the world. Both guns have the Italian quality, Italians for the most part do very fine machine work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossgun Posted April 9, 2016 Author Share Posted April 9, 2016 Agree and thanks on all comments. How big of a deal is the serial number thing? I am having the port opened up and the lifter welded. Seeing the serial number cant be removed from the receiver just what exactly will it hinder ? Port should look like this when finished: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrysuperhawk Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 I had one and ended up selling it because I just couldn't get used to the manual-of-arms. That's not a knock on the gun, it's a knock on me, I have too many years worth of operating DIFFERENT guns and I never could get past the feeling that I was going to zig when I was supposed to zag when operating it under time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neomet Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 I've had one for quite a while now. The single complaint I have is mentioned above. The loading port. Not only is the serial number in the way of butchering the receiver up for our game but the mag tube itself is set deeper in the receiver than a M2 requiring the shells to be :-)firmly pressed down during reloads. It is a little heavier than a M2 and some folks hate the safety being at the front of the trigger guard. I love the fact that it will shoot anything I feed it including Federal 1 1/8 900 FPS. Try that in a M2. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossgun Posted April 10, 2016 Author Share Posted April 10, 2016 I do have concerns about the location of the safety. Back to conditioning I dont own a scattergun that has ever had the safety in front of the trigger guard. I do have long fingers and big hands so I can reach it without issue but I know where I will go under pressure and that is going to take reprogramming. This opening of the loading port is really starting to take its toll on the whole buying process for me. It really should not be this hard. Dropping $2K on a gun should be exciting not concerning. I dont think I have ever had such reservations about any other firearm and probably the reason I still dont own a really nice 3 gun shotgun. I really dont know what to do now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrysuperhawk Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 (edited) In addition to the other issues already stated about the loading port and the safety location, the Release Latch flummoxed me. Unlike an 1100 for instance, there does not seem to be a way to extend it, and I found myself both accidentally activating it and forgetting/failing to activate it when I wanted to. 99% of my experience was with snapcaps trying to get used to the thing, but I never had the feeling that it was an extension of my arm. In the end, I cancelled my plans to send it off and sold it. The gun is a work of art, but like the mona lisa, just because I can appreciate the beauty doesn't mean I want it hanging on my bedroom wall, staring at me.... Don't get me wrong, everything I have said merely falls under the category of "I wish someone had told me" because I bought this gun sight unseen. There is nothing wrong or poorly designed about this gun. Just like trying to transition from a glock to a high end 1911, it does not matter how cool the gun is if you cannot get used to the levers, gizmos and trigger. Edited April 12, 2016 by barrysuperhawk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neomet Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Barry, did you know that pulling the trigger would also drop a round on the lifter? I never had the balls to do it on the clock (am I really sure there isn't a round in the chamber??) but it is an interesting trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgj3 Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Not bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jh3g Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 As the NH 3 Gun scene's 1301 fanboy, I've shot a 21" 1301 for the last 18 months, and liked it enough that I got a second. You can get them for US$950-1050 out the door. It's ran 100% for me, after a brief break-in period. I quad load strong hand, and have gotten pretty aggressive with my loading port - check the attachments. I dig it. It points well, it reliable, and shoots slugs like a laser. Hope that helps. -Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunCat Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 The 1301 manual of arms is different than the Benelli/VersaMax, which are different from the FN SLP, which is different than the 1100. Its all in what you develop a familiarity with, The 3 gun scattergun needs 3 things: Reliability, ease of loading, and a fit that allows the gun to shoot where YOU point it. Everything else becomes a personal preference. I really like the 1301 and find myself shooting it more these days...but if I had to choose only 1 shotgun for ever more it would still be the M2 based on its already proven record of reliability with a high round count. (Let's get some 1301 guns with 100,000+ rounds through them and that opinion might change) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaunk Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I've had a 1301 for a few months now. All I've done to it so far was change to a high viz front sight and add a tube extension. The gun runs like a top. I had issues figuring out how to load it properly and get the first round chambered, but that's practice. I've not handled an M2 but this can't be far off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40Rock2 Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 I have had my 1301 for 5 months and find it to be great handling and absolutely reliable. I have not found anything that it won't run including 2 light loads that would not cycle at all in my Mossberg 930. I have not done anything to it yet except the extension but it will be going in for a rear sight, port work and welding the carrier. With all that said I will need to start practicing some stage simulations to get the manual of arms down. I look forward to that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxkingxx Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 (edited) Over a year ago having just acquired a 1301 off Gunbroker for $850 w/ full Extended tube & case. I got all jiggy and sent it out for complete a Cerakote job before I even shot it because I had a credit there anyway. Like they say, that's when the fight started. First the slide lever screw broke. Maybe it was from being apart and put back wrong. Then it would intermittently shoot 1 oz but not 7/8 oz... and then neither consistently. The whole reason I got another Beretta is I have a neck problem and I sold my M2 because it definitely has more felt recoil for me than my 391. So here is what I went thru to make it run. 1) Took it all apart and sanded all Cerakote out of every single orifice inside. Ever try removing Cerakote- even overspray?2) Took entire trigger assembly apart and lapped every contact surface. Cocking pressure was 12# when started and now is 6.5# (rearward bolt travel to cock). Trigger pull is now about 4.5# from about 9# 3) Lapped each and every gas port. The large 2 into the barrel and all the tiny ones inside the gas block. Used a long wooden q-tip chucked into a hand drill and lotsa lapping compound incl. diamond lap. Every few minutes the gun was cleaned, reassembled and shot w/ Win Low noise/low recoil 960 fps,personal load chron'd 1080 FPS, 1100 fps, 1150. Until it now cycles all but the 960. It ejects the 960 but is not consistent. I'm good with that. In this process I noticed that the gas ring had been cut unevenly. I called Beretta tech support as there was a nub that prevented the ring from closing flush. They sent me a new ring. As I awaited the new one I filed the edge flush and square. That's when the gun began to run consistently. The new gas ring is visually different dimensionally than the one in the gun. The flat part of the ring is .005 lower than the one it came with on purchase. Even though the gun was running I replaced the ring and o-ring. There is a noticeable improvement in the cycling rate as well as a noticeable improvement in the reliatbility of the low noise/ low recoil... they are now about 1 failure in 20 rather than 1 for 12-14. Everything else runs in it flawlessly including 7/8 oz 1080 FPS which is my fave practice load. For the load port I took it to a buddy who has a mill and we made a video of the opening of the load port incl. a warning about the clearances around the mag tub insertion. Be very very careful in this area. It is thin and hollow. I load weak hand so one issue I kept having is the 2nd stack kept catching on the overlap of the forend on the reciever. I took some vinyl, built the area up to level the width of the forend and then expoxied it so there is no edge to catch the 2nd stack... smooth as silk. The edge around the mag port was hand sanded until a shell can't catch the lip as it lays on the loading gate. I didn't find that the loading gate needed any welding at all. From bolt locked open, gun on target, with safety on: click off safety; Load 1 from Matchsavr and close bolt; do quad load; back to target; pull trigger.... 4.5 sec par time. If/ when I learn how/ where to post pics and vid I'm glad to do it if anyone wants to see it. Edited April 28, 2016 by xxkingxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul-the new guy Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 some folks hate the safety being at the front of the trigger guard. Put me on the list of people who don't like this... blew a hole in a dump bucket last weekend and got a blizzard... Totally my fault but wouldn't have happened if the safety was somewhere else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neomet Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 (edited) xxkingxx..... now that is a helluva first post! Yeah, pics, vids. Bring it. Edited April 28, 2016 by Neomet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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