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Thread: Beretta 1301 Modification & Reference

  1. #1
    Murder Machine, Harmless Fuzzball TCinVA's Avatar
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    Beretta 1301 Modification & Reference

    We have a thread on the Beretta 1301 Tactical that now numbers in the hundreds of pages. On the one hand it's great that there is a lot of discussion about the 1301, but on the other if you are looking for advice on a particular modification finding anything in that thread is hopeless. So this will hopefully serve as a reference for the kind of modifications that are out there. If you have any questions about a specific modification listed here, feel free to start a thread about that specific item to generate discussion on it.

    The 1301T Itself: Generations

    There are essentially two generations of Beretta 1301T out there. The first generation guns are most easily recognized by their bolt release:

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    Early on folks noticed a potential problem with these releases: Pressing on the rear of the release allowed shells to eject from the magazine. This is a desirable feature on a sporting gun as it allows for quickly unloading the magazine. On a defensive gun, however, bumping the wrong part of the release could result in two shells wedged on the lifter locking the gun up and requiring remedial action to fix. Tau Development Group and Aridus Industries released fixes for this. Beretta themselves has a polymer collar you can install on Gen1 guns that prevents that set of circumstances. All of the Gen 1 1301T shotguns came with fixed cylinder bore barrels and a polymer rail affixed on top of the gun.

    A couple of years ago Beretta introduced a second generation of the 1301T. There are a number of subtle changes to the receiver that you likely wouldn't spot unless you put a Gen 1 gun right next to a Gen 2 gun. The easiest way to identify a Gen 2 gun is through the bolt release:

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    You can see that the entire release lever has been redesigned to include a recessed area at the back of the lever that prevents it from being pressed to release shells from the magazine tube. It has a tendency to stick out from the receiver a little more than the Gen 1 latch which can make emergency loading slightly more challenging, but training will handle that.

    The Gen 2 1301T can be had with a fixed cylinder choke barrel or with a barrel that allows use of Beretta's screw-in chokes. While the ability to change chokes is nice to have, it is not strictly necessary on a defensive shotgun. Cylinder bore barrels are just fine for our typical use case. The ability to change chokes does allow a little more flexibility in the use of the gun if you find that desirable. On the second generation guns, Beretta also began installing an aluminum rail on top of the receivers in front of the LPA-manufactured rear sight.

    Stock:

    The 1301T comes from the factory with a nice stock that has a 13" Length of Pull. They can also be had from the factory with a Mesa Urbino pistol-gripped stock installed. Personally I'm not a fan of pistol gripped stocks on shotguns in general or the Mesa Urbino on the 1301 in particular, but some people seem to enjoy them.

    If one wants to replace the stock on the 1301 my personal opinion is that you are best served by installing a Magpul SGA stock on the gun using an adapter from Aridus Industries. Both of my 1301 shotguns have Aridus stock adapters installed on them. The end result is the shortest length of pull you can get on the 1301 and it makes the overall length of the 1301T very close to that of an NFA controlled short barreled shotgun.

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    GG&G recently released a similar adapter for the 1301 but I've never seen one in the flesh so I can't vouch for it. I can tell you that the Aridus unit works splendidly and was the first to the market.


    Optics:

    The 1301T comes from the factory with a rail on top of the receiver. This can be used to mount an optic, but in general it is not the preferred option because it forces the optic to sit just a tad too high. With the height of the factory stock's comb, an optic mounted on the factory rail will require lifting the head slightly to see through the optic. Given the importance of a reliable and repeatable cheek weld in the use of the defensive shotgun, that seemingly insignificant difference can be a real concern. Using the factory rail also generally precludes having any sort of co-witness with the iron sights included on the gun.

    Aridus Industries offers their Co-witness Ready Optics Mount to solve this issue. It drops the height of the optic low enough so that the optic lands in the focal plane of the eye when the gun is mounted. It also includes a rear sight that you can adjust for a precise co-witness. I personally use their "Haught Mod" rear sight named after instructor Rob Haught of Symtac Training. This cuts the rear ghost ring aperture in half leaving a big U notch that can still be used with precision while giving a less cluttered sight picture.

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    The CROM can be had to fit Aimpoint Micro pattern optics and Trijicon RMR pattern optics.


    Light Mounts:

    Defensive long guns should probably have a light affixed to them. One of the most frequent questions seen about the 1301 is how folks are mounting lights. There are many different ways to get at it.

    One of the simplest, and one I use on my own 1301 shotguns, is installation of the Streamlight 870 Mount. This mount is held on the gun by the magazine cap or the magazine extension. It gives just enough rail space to mount something like an X300 in a useful position that is far forward enough to prevent impact to the hand when shooting, but still reachable enough for effective activation:

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    It can also be used in combination with other light mounts to allow use of a typical carry style flashlight:

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    The Streamlight mount is cheap and effective.

    Changing out the fore-end for the Aridus Handguard Assembly is probably the most popular light-related modification to the 1301. It gives you a couple of MLOK rail slots at the front of the handguard that are useful for mounting lights using any number of MLOK compatible mounting options on the market. Lots of folks mount lights and tape switches on their guns to suit their particular preferences.

    Late in 2020 Briley introduced an MLOK handguard which provides a lot of flexibility in mounting things to the front of the gun, but at an eye-watering high price. I have one and it works fine, but it was a lot cheaper when I bought mine. I only have it on one gun if that tells you anything...

    It is also possible to get sections of rail attached to magazine tube extensions/clamps manufactured by Nordic and Briley to get the light mounted farther forward if you prefer that approach.


    Magazine Extensions:

    Here again see Nordic and Briley.


    Sights:

    The 1301T uses the same LPA manufactured sights as the Benelli M4, only the 1301 uses a polymer rear sight instead of the Benelli's steel rear sight. This means that any of the Benelli M4 sight options on the market should work for the 1301T as well. The only modification that seems remotely common on the sights is replacing the factory front sight with something more visible or friendly for low light use.

    You can get night sight inserts from Meprolight or Trijicon for the M4. It's also possible to just get the front tritium sight for the M4 that will work just fine in the Beretta 1301T.

    My preference is for the Blitzkrieg front sight:

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    It's highly visible and the pronounced point on the front sight works extremely well for slugs at distance. It works beautifully with the Haught Mod CROM as well.


    Side Saddles:

    My preference for putting a side saddle on my 1301T shotguns is to use the loop section of industrial strength Velcro on the side of the receiver paired with shell cards sold by Vang Comp.

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    These cards are the best on the market by a wide margin. I can break most of the elastic style shell cards on the market inside of an hour of dryfire. It took me years of constant use to wear out my first Vang Comp shell card. In addition, they offer the fastest emergency reload available from a side saddle. On a 1301T with the right technique I can reload the empty chamber in 1.3-1.5 seconds using the Vang card. The Vang cards hold the shells securely enough to allow carrying shells rim-down in the card.

    If you prefer something more secure than velcro attachment, Aridus Industries has their excellent QDC option:

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    The Aridus is probably the most bomb-proof side saddle option on the market. It holds shells securely and securely to the gun (a plus over velcro systems if you are pulling a gun out of a cruiser) and they also allow you to rapidly change what's on the side saddle should you need more ammo in a class setting or want to swap the type of spare ammo staged on the gun in other circumstances. It even allows for some unique loading options:




    Magazine Followers:

    Replacing the factory magazine follower seems like a logical modification for the 1301. It's a really good idea to replace the magazine follower on a typical Remington 870, but unfortunately it's not a great idea on the 1301.

    Every aftermarket magazine follower I've tried or seen in class on the 1301 has eventually resulted in a problem. If you have the original factory 5 shot magazine and use a magazine tube extension, the aftermarket followers will eventually hang up on the transition between the tube extension and the factory magazine tube. This causes a complete loss of spring tension on the shells in the tube and stops the gun from working. Sometimes a good smack will free it, but often you have to take the gun apart to get it working again...where it will eventually hang up yet again.

    I've also seen non-factory followers get pushed past the shell stop and puked into the action where it will shut the gun down hard until it is disassembled as the lifter is trapped in the down position by the spring and follower. Pushing it back in while holding the shell release latch just right might work to get the gun running again, but you'll need two people to accomplish that task most likely.

    Hopefully Aridus Industries will bless the market with a reliable follower for the 1301, but until that's a reality I'd just advise sticking with the factory follower.

    If you bought an LTT 1301 that has a Nordic follower installed, you should have the factory part in your case and I'd recommend putting that back in the gun.


    This post is intended as a quick reference for popular 1301 modifications so those looking for somewhere to start can easily find some options. It is not comprehensive, but hopefully gives some guidance and reasoning to begin deciding what you want to do with your gun. It is subject to revision and and addition.
    Last edited by TCinVA; 05-29-2022 at 07:07 PM.
    3/15/2016

  2. #2
    Outstanding, thank you for putting all of this info in one place!
    Join FPC

  3. #3
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    Yeah, even *I* didn't know about the Blitzkrieg front sight replacement and just placed an order for one.

  4. #4
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    Something else that can be done to shorten a SGA stock is to replace the SGA buttpad with a buttpad from a X-22 stock. You'll have to call Magpul directly to order this part. Below is the item number. Note, the texture of the X-22 buttpad is firmer and less tacky.

    225-0243 BUTTPAD, X-22 STOCK

    Here is where I learned about it (I also think e_stern mentioned this mod in the massive 1301 thread): https://youtu.be/4mBAnff1lRw
    Last edited by testudo; 01-20-2022 at 07:41 PM.

  5. #5
    Amazing tutorial, THANK YOU!

  6. #6
    Murder Machine, Harmless Fuzzball TCinVA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by testudo View Post
    Something else that can be done to shorten a SGA stock is to replace the SGA buttpad with a buttpad from a X-22 stock. You'll have to call Magpul directly to order this part. Below is the item number. Note, the texture of the X-22 buttpad is firmer and less tacky.

    225-0243 BUTTPAD, X-22 STOCK

    Here is where I learned about it (I also think e_stern mentioned this mod in the massive 1301 thread): https://youtu.be/4mBAnff1lRw
    I was aware of the possibility of that swap, but I was told repeatedly that MagPul would absolutely not sell those butt pads. Including by people high up at Magpul. If they're actually selling them now, that would be lovely.
    3/15/2016

  7. #7
    It might be worth including the Beretta Pro lifter and one piece Titanium charging handle. I sourced both from the UK.

    Pro Lifter:
    https://magload.co.uk/product/berett...ter-hold-down/

    One Piece Titanium Charging Handle:
    https://www.customguns.co.uk/product...release-handle

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by TCinVA View Post
    I was aware of the possibility of that swap, but I was told repeatedly that MagPul would absolutely not sell those butt pads. Including by people high up at Magpul. If they're actually selling them now, that would be lovely.
    Someone in the YouTube comments mentioned they ran into this issue.

    I was able to order a couple of them when I called.

  9. #9
    Site Supporter HeavyDuty's Avatar
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    Does anyone know what size wrench is used for the front sight retaining nut?
    Ken

    BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
    revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by HeavyDuty View Post
    Does anyone know what size wrench is used for the front sight retaining nut?
    IIRC it was mentioned earlier to be 5mm?

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