Beretta 1301 Tactical

[FFZ06]

First post!

Recently picked up a new 1301 Tactical (Gen 2 with the revised bolt release). First trip to the range she ate ~75 rounds of mixed bird and buckshot with zero malfunctions. The bolt locked back on the last round as designed every single time. As the shooting session rolled on I noticed the bolt release lever became harder and harder to depress. After about 50 rounds I had to pull the charging handle back while simultaneously pushing the bolt release lever to get the bolt to close. I chalked this up to the gun being new and needing to be broken in (it was pretty well oiled from the factory). After the last round of the day the bolt locked back as normal, and the shotgun went back in its case. After getting it home I pulled it out to give it a quick cleaning but the bolt wouldnt close. It wouldnt even when pulling the charging handle back a little to relieve pressure from the bolt release. A quick google search didn't find anything so here I am. I tried calling Beretta this morning but they are closed due to inclement weather apparently.

Any ideas what happen here? I'm hoping there is something stupid and obvious I am missing!

[oneand0]

I bought my 1301 from them in October. Same price, too. What we've got seems to be a hybrid between generations. It's got a Gen 1 barrel without choke threads. It's got the Gen 2 bolt release. I had also bought the plastic dingus for the bolt release before buying the shotgun. Turns out the dingus isn't necessary and can't be installed on the Gen 2 release.

Thank you for that information on what we ended up with! BTW Armsunlimited has them in stock again, at 847.00. I shot mine for the first time out in some BLM land and love it! I'm so happy I sold my Benelli M1 20.5" and replaced it with this.

[Clusterfrack]

First post!

Recently picked up a new 1301 Tactical (Gen 2 with the revised bolt release). First trip to the range she ate ~75 rounds of mixed bird and buckshot with zero malfunctions. The bolt locked back on the last round as designed every single time. As the shooting session rolled on I noticed the bolt release lever became harder and harder to depress. After about 50 rounds I had to pull the charging handle back while simultaneously pushing the bolt release lever to get the bolt to close. I chalked this up to the gun being new and needing to be broken in (it was pretty well oiled from the factory). After the last round of the day the bolt locked back as normal, and the shotgun went back in its case. After getting it home I pulled it out to give it a quick cleaning but the bolt wouldnt close. It wouldnt even when pulling the charging handle back a little to relieve pressure from the bolt release. A quick google search didn't find anything so here I am. I tried calling Beretta this morning but they are closed due to inclement weather apparently.

Any ideas what happen here? I'm hoping there is something stupid and obvious I am missing!

Welcome to Pistol-Forum, where we also talk about shotguns. That sounds a lot like the problem I had with my Gen2 1301. See below. After a visit to Beretta USA, the gun has been 100% reliable.

My 1301 G2 tactical is home from Beretta USA. They fitted a new carrier and "cartridge latch" (bolt release). I have not live fired it, but the problem I had with the carrier getting stuck behind the latch is fixed. The new carrier looks shiny and polished as well. I'll report back after I have a chance to test it further.

This was free of charge, including the UPS call tag to pick the gun up at my house. Also I appreciate that there was no concern about the custom work I had done on the gun. They took the gun back and made it work. That is excellent customer service! I especially want to thank @e_stern for all his help.

[OldRunner/CSAT Neighbor]

First post!

Recently picked up a new 1301 Tactical (Gen 2 with the revised bolt release). First trip to the range she ate ~75 rounds of mixed bird and buckshot with zero malfunctions. The bolt locked back on the last round as designed every single time. As the shooting session rolled on I noticed the bolt release lever became harder and harder to depress. After about 50 rounds I had to pull the charging handle back while simultaneously pushing the bolt release lever to get the bolt to close. I chalked this up to the gun being new and needing to be broken in (it was pretty well oiled from the factory). After the last round of the day the bolt locked back as normal, and the shotgun went back in its case. After getting it home I pulled it out to give it a quick cleaning but the bolt wouldnt close. It wouldnt even when pulling the charging handle back a little to relieve pressure from the bolt release. A quick google search didn't find anything so here I am. I tried calling Beretta this morning but they are closed due to inclement weather apparently.

Any ideas what happen here? I'm hoping there is something stupid and obvious I am missing!

FFZ06 if you haven't already, click on the link Cluster posted for Erik Stern & send him a PM.

He'll get you squared away as he's the associate Pro Shop product manager @ Beretta.

[FFZ06]

Welcome to Pistol-Forum, where we also talk about shotguns. That sounds a lot like the problem I had with my Gen2 1301. See below. After a visit to Beretta USA, the gun has been 100% reliable.

Thanks Cluster, I found your post and yes it appears we experienced the same issue. Apparently it’s not a fluke one off but maybe a design flaw with the new Gen2 model bolt release design? I’ll PM the Beretta rep on this thread for assistance in getting this repaired.

Anyways, thanks for fast and efficient help. Solid forum here!

[TCinVA]

I stumbled onto this site and thread, while doing research on the 1301 for red dots and light mounts for it. I just picked mine up today, purchased at armsunlimited for $847. Im so happy with it after mounting a holosun 503GU. I didnt know what to expect and thought I would have to buy the crom to be able to co witness with it, but it fit perfectly on the stock rail and had ghost sights perfectly in view inside the red dot sight. I will zero in the dot in a couple of days. I also bought a mechanism for the bolt release to stop it from emptying rounds accidentally and getting stuck in the loading bay. But I noticed my breach bolt release button looks different and doesnt allow it to happen without adding that after market mechanism. Has anyone seen one of these 1301 come with a breach bolt release like that from the factory? Does anyone else not use a crom to co witness with red dot sight?

Cant wait to start shooting this!

I like that reticle for a shotgun sight...that's pretty cool.

[FFZ06]

FFZ06 if you haven't already, click on the link Cluster posted for Erik Stern & send him a PM.

He'll get you squared away as he's the associate Pro Shop product manager @ Beretta.

Already sent a PM to Erik, just waiting on his reply. They took good care of Cluster so I'm not worried.

On a side note I learned the hard way the Burris SpeedBead does NOT work on the 1301T. I thought it would make a nice co-witness optic...plus I had a spare FF3 sitting around. I purchased the version for the A400 Xplor as the stock is interchangeable with the 1301 so I figured it should at least mount up. It did. However, the angle at which the red dot sits is too "steep" to have proper sight alignment. Even if you wedged the front of the red dot up it sits too low. You only see the rear ghostring through the red dot. This could all have something to do with the fact I am running the Urbino, YMMV with the factory stock.

Anyways, I figured I would share to avoid someone else the hassle.

[QuickStrike]

Now I’m a little bit nervous..

You guys think ~350 shells of 00 buck will be enough to test for this issue?

Edit: gun should arrive today.

[TCinVA]

Now I’m a little bit nervous..

You guys think ~350 shells of 00 buck will be enough to test for this issue?

Edit: gun should arrive today.

Generally speaking if there's an issue with a 1301 it shows up pretty early. If you run through 350 rounds of buckshot without experiencing a problem then you aren't terribly likely to experience one until you've shot it enough to wear out springs.

The percentage of 1301's that manifest problems out of the box seems to be very, very tiny...especially compared to most other semi-auto shotguns. So I don't think you have much to worry about.

[QuickStrike]

Just picked up the 1301 tac.

Mine seems to be 1.5 gen with the updated bolt release but no choke. I like that, as I hated cleaning the threads out on my comp model.

Fitted the nordic tube extension but only managed to get 6 shells in there with about 11” of spring extending past the tube.

A bit more snipping and I could fit 7 and it’ll probably cycle the last round fine, but meh... just in case.

I just used the OEM spring.

The spring that came with the nordic kit seems a bit stiffer, but I ended up cutting it shorter than the oem and still couldn’t get 7 in there. How short are you guys cutting the mag tube springs on yours?