[Inittowinit]

I've been researching shotguns for awhile and think I really like the Beretta 1301 tactical. I had originally looked at the Mossberg 590A1 but can't find one locally. I also looked at the Benelli M4 but that'll run about $2k, even though it looks indestructable. The Beretta, however, looks like a contender with the Benelli and is slightly cheaper. I like that you can swap out the buttstock with a Magpul stock, and that it appears to be built pretty well. In a self defense scenario the semi-auto shotgun has become more and more appealing to me.

Anyone here own a Beretta 1301 tactical? Any opinions or general comments about your experience with it?

 

[PalmettoTree]

Good features but not sure it is worth the money. For the mot part a shotgun is a shotgun.

That said when it comes go guns, i believe a person should get what they want.

 

[charliemeyer007]

Not a fan of aluminum receivers. Firearms are like pennies a day over their service life.

 

[Disturbed70]

Shotguns I have within 10ft of me, right now:

Benelli M2
Benelli M4
Remington 870
Remington V3 Tactical
Remington 1187
Mossberg 930
Beretta 1301T

I have a Mossberg 590A1 at home. I have several thousand rounds through each of the above, with the exception of the 930, because it constantly malfunctions. Of them all, in my opinion, the 1301T is the shotgun to beat.

It runs everything - low-recoil, half-shells, breaching rounds, slugs, #1, #4, and 00 buck, birdshot with no problems. Bean bag rounds must be hand-cycled. None of the other semis will do that. It is very customizable, with accessories from Aridus Industries and Briley, and very fast/easy to shoot.

 

[Glockpride]

The 1301 are terrible. They’re shooting up in price. They suck until I get my copy, and then they can keep rising in price.
No one buy one until I get one.

 

[SSIG8TR]

Shotguns I have within 10ft of me, right now:

Benelli M2
Benelli M4
Remington 870
Remington V3 Tactical
Remington 1187
Mossberg 930
Beretta 1301T

I have a Mossberg 590A1 at home. I have several thousand rounds through each of the above, with the exception of the 930, because it constantly malfunctions. Of them all, in my opinion, the 1301T is the shotgun to beat.

It runs everything - low-recoil, half-shells, breaching rounds, slugs, #1, #4, and 00 buck, birdshot with no problems. Bean bag rounds must be hand-cycled. None of the other semis will do that. It is very customizable, with accessories from Aridus Industries and Briley, and very fast/easy to shoot.

what is a half-shell?

 

[Disturbed70]

what is a half-shell?

Also known as mini shells and short shells.

Best Shotgun Mini Shells: Birdshot, Buckshot & Slugs [Hands-On]

What are shotgun mini shells good for? We give you all the deets plus our favorite shells for plinking, hunting, home defense, & more.

www.pewpewtactical.com

 

[curt mini14]

look up mini 12 gauge shells.

 

[SSIG8TR]

I didn’t realize the 1301 would cycle mini shells. I love mini shells. I think I’ll have to get one now

 

[Inittowinit]

Shotguns I have within 10ft of me, right now:

Benelli M2
Benelli M4
Remington 870
Remington V3 Tactical
Remington 1187
Mossberg 930
Beretta 1301T

I have a Mossberg 590A1 at home. I have several thousand rounds through each of the above, with the exception of the 930, because it constantly malfunctions. Of them all, in my opinion, the 1301T is the shotgun to beat.

It runs everything - low-recoil, half-shells, breaching rounds, slugs, #1, #4, and 00 buck, birdshot with no problems. Bean bag rounds must be hand-cycled. None of the other semis will do that. It is very customizable, with accessories from Aridus Industries and Briley, and very fast/easy to shoot.

Do you like the Beretta more than the Benelli M4? I've seen tons of videos comparing the two with pros and cons for each. But, the M4 seems like the go to shotgun for a lot of people because the military uses them. One of the reviews i've read stated the M4 is a couple of pounds heavier, which i'm sure is beneficial

 

[Skynet17]

I think the 1301T is 2nd behind the M4 overall and used to be the best value out there for a premium semi-auto when prices were normal.

The FN SLP MkI (8+1) is rock solid and just barely behind the 1301 IMO. The 1301 is reportedly the fastest semi-auto 12 GA, although the FN is PLENTY fast and a great value, although sadly now discontinued. You can still find SLPs online for about $1000-$1100, but they aren't being replinished, so hurry! SLP is my choice for semi-auto.

The 590A1 is my overall fave for pumps, although at ABSURD cost these days when you can find it. Pssst....here's a secret.....you can get basically all of the important features on the top line 590, including the mandatory ghost ring sights and 8+1 capacity at Academy......for $429, was $399 last Fall. Don't tell anyone....

 

[Disturbed70]

Do you like the Beretta more than the Benelli M4? I've seen tons of videos comparing the two with pros and cons for each. But, the M4 seems like the go to shotgun for a lot of people because the military uses them. One of the reviews i've read stated the M4 is a couple of pounds heavier, which i'm sure is beneficial

The M4 will not run breaching rounds or mini shells reliably. If that is important, then that is a con. The M4 is heavier, I hate the stock, and I loathe pistol grips on shotguns, so those are subjective cons.

As an agency, we tested all of the above, and reliability was a wash between the 1301 and the M4, outside of the two rounds I mentioned above. Again, subjectively, people unanimously said the 1301 had less felt recoil between the two.

You can still buy a fully-pimped out Langdon Tactical 1301T for less than a base M4, the last I checked.

 

[Inittowinit]

You can still buy a fully-pimped out Langdon Tactical 1301T for less than a base M4, the last I checked.

LT is actually sold out

 

[Inittowinit]

The 590A1 is my overall fave for pumps, although at ABSURD cost these days when you can find it. Pssst....here's a secret.....you can get basically all of the important features on the top line 590, including the mandatory ghost ring sights and 8+1 capacity at Academy......for $429, was $399 last Fall. Don't tell anyone....

The 590A1 was my first choice but like you said, the price is absurd for what you get. Before the pandemic I think the 590A1 was in the $500-700 range, but now it's $1000+. There's no way i'm paying $1000 for a pump shotgun which is why I went down the rabbit hole of semi-autos

 

[ssdtopgun]

Not a fan of aluminum receivers. Firearms are like pennies a day over their service life.

Always curious when I hear statements like this. Don't mean to derail the original post, but how many people have actually worn out a firearm? I have some service weapons that have well over 35,000 rounds through them and they still function like new (some might say better than new). For what its worth the one with the most rounds through it is a Beretta.

 

[Skynet17]

The 590A1 was my first choice but like you said, the price is absurd for what you get. Before the pandemic I think the 590A1 was in the $500-700 range, but now it's $1000+. There's no way i'm paying $1000 for a pump shotgun which is why I went down the rabbit hole of semi-autos

I saw a 590A1 sell for ~$1800 on gunbroker last year, and some people are still asking up to $1300 for them!

You've seen the photo of a gate with no fence around it, but all the sheep follow the one in front through the gate? Same idea for panic buyers spending 5X what a gun or ammo is worth in a time of "panic".

And then they don't even bother to train with their new prize or even keep their bodies in good enough shape to fight anyway..... 🤓

 

[Inittowinit]

I saw a 590A1 sell for ~$1800 on gunbroker last year, and some people are still asking up to $1300 for them!

You've seen the photo of a gate with no fence around it, but all the sheep follow the one in front through the gate? Same idea for panic buyers spending 5X what a gun or ammo is worth in a time of "panic".

And then they don't even bother to train with their new prize or even keep their bodies in good enough shape to fight anyway..... 🤓

Any item is worth what one is willing to pay. You have to remember that those of us that know what the cost of guns/ammo used to be can't realistically expect to pay normal prices for some of these things anymore. Also, there were millions of new gun buyers in 2020 who flocked to the stores to get guns & ammo because of the riots and spike in crime. Would I overpay for a firearm? No. Would I overpay for ammo? I did overpay for ammo when it was hard to find and i'm still overpaying for ammo when I go to my LGS. My LGS is currently charging $0.47 on the low end per round of 5.56. Compare that to the last year or two when it hovered around the $0.75/round mark.

With that said, I don't fault new gun buyers for overpaying because for them it's about having that piece of mind. Of course, there are extreme cases where the value of item X goes up exponentially because of supply/demand. I haven't seen many 590A1's outside of gunbroker.com, so there are some who are willing to pay a premium. If i'm going to pay a premium for a shotgun (or any gun for that matter) it better be special or very rare. This is why I started looking at semi-auto shotguns like the Beretta. I'm sure there are plenty of brands out there selling acceptable semi-autos for less than a Beretta 1301, but in my case, I want something that's rock solid and worth the price tag. But 'worth' is a subjective term. $1300/1400 is worth it to me for a Beretta 1301. $1300 is not worth it to me for a pump 590A1.

 

[roseman]

What the price use to be is a moving reference point depending on decade.
I paid less that $ 50 for a new 20 ga Mossberg 500 in 1968. They had walnut stocks and metal safeties then too.
To the OP, the Beretta is a keeper.

 

[charliemeyer007]

As a kid we wore out a Glenfield M60 22LR every year. 3 boys with lawn mowing or snow shoveling money 1000's of rounds almost every week. The rifles still shot good but they were jam-o-matics with like 50% FTF. KMart would take it back and give us a new one. That worked for 4 years of high school. Then off to the army.

So my first 1911 when I got out of the Army and could buy a pistol, I was too young to buy one, they would issue me one - go figure. Any way I have that barrel in my collection - it looks like a smooth bore, maybe a faint hint of rifling. I have no clue what the round count was but it was done mostly with cast bullets, lots and lots of them. I used a bicycle glove or my hand would bleed before I got to the second 500 rounds that day.

 

[Skynet17]

Any item is worth what one is willing to pay. You have to remember that those of us that know what the cost of guns/ammo used to be can't realistically expect to pay normal prices for some of these things anymore. Also, there were millions of new gun buyers in 2020 who flocked to the stores to get guns & ammo because of the riots and spike in crime. Would I overpay for a firearm? No. Would I overpay for ammo? I did overpay for ammo when it was hard to find and i'm still overpaying for ammo when I go to my LGS. My LGS is currently charging $0.47 on the low end per round of 5.56. Compare that to the last year or two when it hovered around the $0.75/round mark.

With that said, I don't fault new gun buyers for overpaying because for them it's about having that piece of mind. Of course, there are extreme cases where the value of item X goes up exponentially because of supply/demand. I haven't seen many 590A1's outside of gunbroker.com, so there are some who are willing to pay a premium. If i'm going to pay a premium for a shotgun (or any gun for that matter) it better be special or very rare. This is why I started looking at semi-auto shotguns like the Beretta. I'm sure there are plenty of brands out there selling acceptable semi-autos for less than a Beretta 1301, but in my case, I want something that's rock solid and worth the price tag. But 'worth' is a subjective term. $1300/1400 is worth it to me for a Beretta 1301. $1300 is not worth it to me for a pump 590A1.

The fully optioned 590 is a screamin' hot deal at Academy for $429, although you may have to stalk them for several weeks or even months to catch one at the warehouse and order it to ship to store. If it makes it to the store randomly, it will be GONE in 24-48 hrs. It may not have the heavier barrel of the 590A1, but it's more than heavy enough for anything you're likely to do.

Before I buy any moderately expensive to expensive item, I always check at least 4-5 different vendors to see what pricing is possible if you look. That's why I am so amazed that people bid on gunbroker as if there is no other place on the entire internetz to buy a 590! You have to know how to look and how to be patient.

Fortunately, I saw the writing on the wall in 2007 and started fortifying my personal Armory then. It's amazing how cheap and plentiful stuff was even as recently as 2018.