It was a 1301 for sure. Looking at the difference between the stock on a 1301 and my 870P, the one thing that jumps out at me is the length of pull. I really liked the short stock and don’t think I ever added a spacer, I think I may get stretch this one out for my first go round with it this weekend.
Where did you feel the recoil? One thing I've noticed about the OEM stock on a 1301 is the comb slopes down towards the butt. This could give the perception of more recoil because the stock is essentially being driven into your face with rearward movement.
Disclaimer: this is all hypothetical, I don't own a 1301, but I want one.
I want to say it was towards the top of my shoulder and I do believe I got some face slap from it too, but it's been a few years.
I added the spacer to this one to get closer to the 870P length, I'll see how that works out tomorrow.
Any 12-gauge (even a "mild recoiling" one) that doesn't fit you well could certainly be a problem, IMHO. P.E. Kelly wrote a fantastic article about shotgun fit, that came up in another thread recently. https://www.multigunmedia.com/shotgun-fit.pdf
One other thought, is the "rough recoil" you're experiencing in your shoulder, or on your face? FWIW, I have bony cheekbones, and often find that adding a thin sorbothane pad on the comb of the stock drastically increases my comfort level, especially with slugs, and also allows me to fine tune the comb height to get a faster sight picture. (https://www.brownells.com/rifle-part...-prod7404.aspx)
Box magazines on shotguns have major reliability issues with a variety of loads. There is a reason why they aren't more popular.
Not to say we haven't experimented in this vein before, the M3P was the model:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beretta_M3P (Sorry the only WIKI I've found is in French).
http://guns.wikia.com/wiki/Beretta_M3P
Don't take this as a no, I would personally LOVE to offer a 1301 with a box mag, but it's not something that is achieved easily and reliably to our standards.
Last edited by e_stern; 12-06-2018 at 03:44 PM.
Used to make pasta, now I make waffles.
Having done Combat Development while on active duty for my SF GP, I fully understand the issue of the magazine, or more correctly the magazine spring issue having to handle 10 shells with 1 1/4 oz of shot. I know the history from the Combat Shotgun experiments during the Vietnam war (Crane and China Lake had box magazine feed 870's decades before the current ones). How about looking outside the Gun Industry Box and look to say a Swiss Watch maker who deals with precise springs inside a watch, or an Olympic barbell maker who has to make a 20kg barbell that has to snap back to very tight tolerances after 500+ pounds are dropped repeatedly from over head, or offload automotive company who makes coil spring that help Trophy Trucks deal with a 40 inch tire and wheel assembly moving up and down over 600rpm when the truck is moving at over 140mph while racing the Baja. Beretta has the know how they just need a little outside the box thinking. Beretta = Shotguns. Take the Glock approach and look at it from outside the gun industry box.