I know this is primarily a muzzleloading board but I just picked up a new shotgun that I am so impressed with I had to mention it. It is a Benelli M2 tactical with pistol grip and ghost ring sights. This gun is very similar to the new M4 shotgun the USMC recently adopted however the M4 uses the ARGO system and the M2 uses the Inertia Driven system. Also the M4 has a few more bells and whistles primarily for the adaptation to optical sights,light, lasers and such. The M2 is pretty much the civilian counterpart in a no-nonsense, no frills package. I do like alot about it though. It shoots 2 3/4 light field loads up to 3 inch mags with no adjustments neccessary. I tested this as soon as I bought the gun firing 00 buck, slugs, and 1 1/8 trap loads with nary a stutter. It fed and functioned flawlessly. The ghost ring sights are some of the best stock iron sights I have ever found on a factory longgun. It is an excellent sight with postive click adjustments for windage and elevation on the rear, and the front sight is adjustable as well. I found it quick, easy, and positive to sight with with deer slugs at 50 yards. After about 5 shots I was punching the center out of the target and put about 10 shots in a 4 inch group without even a decent rest. The model I have does not have tritium sights but it is available at extra cost. I would have bought that model but it was not in stock and I don't really need them on a shotgun loaded with 00 buck for defensive purposes. My gun has a 3 dot sight system. I really like the pistol grip as it does make this fairly light shotgun more controllable with heavy loads by allowing the shooting hand to take some of the recoil that would normally be transferred to the shooters face and shoulder. Another nice feature I appreciate is the chromed lined bore and bolt, it made cleanup a snap. This gun, typical of Benelli semi autos, has an extremely fast cycle time. I am not in Tom Knapp's league but I had no problem at all breaking 3 hand thrown clay birds before they hit the deck. I think with practice I might even be able to squeeze in 5. Recoil is very tolerable even with slugs. I think this is due to the stock design and material, pistol grip, and the excellent recoil pad. The magazine capacity is 5 rounds and with one round up the spout you get a total capacity of 6. I was told at the shop that mag extensions are available for this gun. Also the factory included a magazine plug which is nice in case you wanted to hunt and one was required. This shotgun also came with 3 chokes tubes in full, modified and improved cylinder. Another note about the iron sights, this shotgun is made primarily for defensive purposes and for that application the factory supplied irons are excellent. For wingshooting though they just get in the way. However I had very little problem hitting clay birds with this shotgun by making sure I had a good focus on the bird and ignoring the irons, which of course is what you want to do when wingshooting. A shotgun for wingshooting this is not, but in a pinch it will work. I intend this gun to be for home defense as well as a slug gun for deer in case I need one as a spare. I don't get all that worked up over semi auto shotguns normally, but I must say I am really impressed with this one and like it very much. I know someone will ask what it cost so I will tell you the price tag was kinda steep. Sticker price at my local shop was $ 889.00, but I was doing a trade involving several guns so I actually paid a little less depending on how you look at it. Anyway, here is a link if you want to see a picture:
http://www.benelliusa.com/firearms/defense.tpl
http://www.benelliusa.com/firearms/defense.tpl
