I’m a Generation X man, who remembers when semi-automatic shotguns, that weren’t legacy designs (like the Browning Auto-5 and its spawn/Remington Model 11) were considered iffy at best. The first police department I worked at as a cadet used Remington Model 11-87’s and they could be quite picky with some buckshot and slug loads. A few guys had customized combat Remington Model 1100’s and they would also run SOMETIMES. But this was with the buckshot and slug loadings of the nineties…that’s the 1990’s kids.

Time marches on. When I reached the age where I could buy my own shotgun, a Remington 1100 or 11-87 was out of my price range, and the DREAM gun of every man who liked action movies was a Benelli M1 SUPER 90. However, a Remington 870 with an 18.5″ barrel and a parkerized (the ORIGINAL EXPRESS) finish was $180 at the local Ace Hardware. So that’s what I had! A short time later, when I began work as a shotgun rider on an armored truck, the issue scattergun was a Remington 870 Police in the 20″ barrel with a six-round magazine configuration or the 18.5″ four-shot Police model. I was quite familiar with it by that point, and I was happy to have it on a number of occasions! It’s hard to make sense of in my mind, but that was 30 years ago, many of my coworkers from that job have passed away, and I am still using a Remington 870 (now modified by Vang Comp) or a basic 30″ Wingmaster for my shotgun duties. Enter my only Son, who, unlike the offspring of many of my friends who have ZERO interest in firearms at all, my Son not only enjoys shooting, but also training, BJJ, knife fighting, and all of the other avenues of study I hoped he’d enjoy when he became a man. So he expressed some interest in the Beretta semi-autos and bought one to use for training and for defense. Beretta A300 Ultima Patrols are considered the floor for usable semi-auto shotguns, by most professional shotgun trainers. The exception to this is the MAC 1014 which is a copy of the Benelli M4, that is recommended by my friend and mentor Tom Givens, as well as my friend Zach Cox. I have exceptionally poor luck with Turkish firearms, so Dashiell bought the A300 and I just kept on a running with my 870 and my 590. However my gun sommelier, Rylan Martin, showed me a Benelli M2-G1 and I was instantly captivated. It has several features that made it desirable to a fellow like me, who is a semi-auto shotgun Luddite, and unabashed Remington 870 fan.

EVERY SHOTGUN IS AN INDIVIDUAL

I heard Tom Givens say in my Shotgun Instructor Development Course years ago (you can read about it here) that, “each shotgun is an individual snowflake,” and that you have to pattern your particular shotgun for the distances in your applications you might expect to use it at, with several buckshot loadings to determine what works best in YOUR particular gun. I have found that to be true, and as much as I wish that Federal Flite Control EIGHT-pellet 00 buckshot would pattern perfectly out to 25 yards in every shotgun, it simply isn’t true. I would say that MORE OFTEN THAN NOT that is true, but alas, it isn’t true every time. So, we pattern.

CHOKES

A choke in a shotgun refers to the tapering diameter of a portion of the shotgun’s bore, that constricts the shot column as the payload moves down the barrel. This results in a tighter or looser pattern of shot on target, depending on the degree of taper, as the range increases. Different applications require different chokes, and this is accomplished by having either screw in choke tubes (like this Benelli M2-G1) or having a dedicated choked barrel (like my 30″ Remington 870 Wingmaster). This particular gun came with a flush fitting MODIFIED choke tube, oddly, because most tactical shotguns in my experience have either a cylinder or an IMPROVED CYLINDER choke tube. Luckily, all Beretta family shotguns, including this Benelli, Dash’s A300 and my Over Under Franchi Instinct use the same choke tube system. Although I prefer to use the VANG COMP system in shotguns, it simply isn’t an option on guns like this Benelli, nor is it possible on other guns like the A300 and 1301’s. Thus, matching a load to the gun, the choke tube AND the patterning distance, is important. You can’t simply count on the regularity with 8 pellet Federal Flite Control that one gets from SOME cylinder bore shotguns or Vang Comp guns with that load. Experimentation must take place, and here we will reach the most cumbersome part of the article. I pattern my guns to see what they’re capable of, but since my primary application these days is home defense, and the LONGEST shot in my house is 15 yards, that’s the pattern I am most concerned about. Past 15 yards is another consideration all together, but more on that later…here is the data.

As a scientific clinician and surgeon, I often spend a lot of time thinking about the, “WHY,” of almost everything. In this case, I wondered WHY a gun intended for tactical or self defense use would come with a Modified choke, as that seems like an odd choice, but since the gun didn’t come with an instruction manual and I don’t read Italian, the explanation is unknown. Further, maybe the guns were supposed to come with a cylinder or improved cylinder choke? I’m unsure. Anyway, instead of wondering, I sought out a few other choke tubes to see what works best, and here are the results of my findings over the past week of nearly constant experimentation.

MISSION?

I don’t ride shotgun on the armored truck anymore. Making a 25 yard or further shot across a bank lobby with a shotgun just isn’t a thing for me anymore. I am no longer a peace officer either, so using a shotgun for the law enforcement mission isn’t on my list of needs either. As a capable CIVILIAN DEFENDER, I really only need my shotgun for home defense, and as I stated earlier, I need the shotgun to work for defending the confines of my home, and the longest shot in my domiciles is 15 yards. So for that task, either the OEM MODIFIED choke tube (flush fitting) or the Carlson TACTICAL choke tube (sticks out slightly with porting and aggressive teeth) would work great. If I was recoil averse, the Carlson TACTICAL choke would be a great choice, as the recoil mitigation due to the radial ports is substantial, and I would estimate the reduction in muzzle rise and rearward impulse to be approximately 30%. A lighter weight shooter might appreciate that more, as would some of my colleagues and students who have implanted medical devices like defibrillators and/or pacemakers that cannot take the kinetic shocks from heavy recoiling long guns.

WHAT ABOUT NEEDING TO ENGAGE A THREAT PAST 15 YARDS?

There is a non-zero percent chance of having to engage a threat outside of the 15 yard indoor distance I have prescribed. For example, we DO have bears here that have been known to be aggressive. In fact, there was a black bear attack last weekend not 30 minutes from me. So for that dangerous animal defense role, a rifled slug would be more appropriate, and it would also work for a human threat that presents itself outside of the 15 yard window I normally pattern buckshot for. In that case, it was prudent to check the accuracy of the Benelli M2-G1 with FEDERAL TRUE BALL rifled slugs at 25 yards. I prefer to shoot from my shoulder at 25 yards with slugs, as I would in an actual situation, and I find that standing is less abusive than using a sandbag off of a bench or a tripod.

8 PELLET FEDERAL FLITE CONTROL IS CONSIDERED THE GOLD STANDARD IN BUCKSHOT FOR DEFENSIVE USE

But what do you use when Federal Flite Control 8 pellet is unavailable? Federal Flite Control 9 pellet? What if IT is also unavailable? Winchester makes a military grade 9 pellet 00 buckshot shell that comes in 25 round boxes and is ubiquitous in my area, and also available online for relatively inexpensive prices. I opted to try it and see how it compared against the 8 pellet Federal Flite Control…stand by for even more data.

I’M ALL CHOKED UP

Tired of hearing about chokes yet? ME NEITHER! In my epic search for a choke that will make my Benelli M2-G1 pattern 8 pellet 00 Federal Flite Control at 25 yards as well as my 870 does, well, it took some patience, lots of cardboard, and a couple of Amazon Prime deliveries. Yes, who’d of thunk it, but literally ANY Beretta/Benelli/Franchi choke tube that uses the Beretta MOBIL choke system is available on Amazon, and that includes the aftermarket Carlson’s chokes, but also the Beretta OEM chokes. I lastly purchased a Beretta MOBIL IMPROVED CYLINDER (IC for short and this tube is a flush fit/not extended) choke tube AND an MTM Case Guard clear plastic case to hold all of these tubes and the wrench, in my range bag.

THE CASE OF THE MISSING 25 YARD PELLETS

My working hypothesis currently is that perhaps the case of 8 pellet Federal Flite Control I purchased several years ago had QC issues. I have more FFC enroute and I will retest with it once it arrives. But currently, like I stated earlier, for my 15 yards and in usage envelope, the gun, and all of these choke tubes I tested, deliver. Some tighter than others, but all within a statistical margin of error and acceptability.

THE FEEDING OF THE BEAST

SUMMARY

Who is this gun for? I think that the cross bolt safety, the shell tab release and the ejection port all feel very Remington 870-ish in placement and operation. Meaning if you are an 870 person, this won’t feel as odd to you as a Beretta A300 or 1301 feel.

I don’t normally go in for slings on tactical shotguns that are intended for home defense, but this Benelli comes with QD (quick detach) cups that will accept sling rings that allow one to rapidly attach or detach a sling. This gun does get hot, and after a few strings where three shooters loaded and fired the gun as fast as possible, there were times where the front support hand needed a glove. This was after 5-6 tubes worth (35-42ish) rounds had been fired, so far more than would ever be fired under real conditions. Defensive shotgun events are historically low round count affairs, often requiring one or two hits to definitively end the attack. This shotgun holds 8 rounds total, and 9 if one chooses to ghost load. I think that ghost loading is needlessly complicated and of dubious value for exactly the aforementioned reasoning of shotgun fights being low round count events; it just isn’t necessary to ghost load. If you are a competitive shooter and this is your gun choice for that, it’ll do it, rest assured, but for serious use, I don’t see the point.

While many people choose to add an optic to their shotgun (even I have one Mossberg 590S that has a Holosun EPS on it) I don’t think that it is necessary, for me, on this gun. The ghost right sights are easy to see and use with buckshot or slugs, and even in low light after dusk, the front sight was easy enough to make a coarse sight picture and deliver hits.

IN CONCLUSION

I love shotguns. I enjoy using them for sporting purposes, and also for defensive use. I think they are an incredible weapon that requires extensive training and thus they aren’t for folks that want something simple and easy. Shotguns (despite what Hollywood and the internet will tell you) must be aimed, and the muzzle blast and recoil can be punishing to some. Some people probably are better suited with a center fire rifle or even a pistol caliber carbine. But for those willing to put the work in, a shotgun offers many advantages. I think that the Benelli M2-G1 won’t necessarily supplant the Beretta A300 and 1301 shotguns in the semi-automatic shotgun market, but it offers an attractive option to folks like me who like the feel of it, the controls and the souped up semi-870 vibes over the other Beretta products. I give the Benelli M2-G1 a resounding three thumbs up!