I just hope they're also reaching their intended market, which is in Ukraine. Heard a little anecdote about a skilled retired SOF sniper who went there and set up shop, then looked up to see something like 100 little drones overhead. I guess he left rather quickly.
Benelli M4 with Advanced Impact Choke system!
- Thread starter Al Flaherty's
- Start date
I would’ve run too
Drones completely change the whole picture now. It would be great to hear some real field feedback from the Ukrainians — and let’s be honest, the Drone Guardian probably won’t change much against that kind of threat, but it’s still a cool piece of gear.
One thing to note about the Steiner MPS is apparently it is duty grade and will survive drops (you can find this on youtube). Normally you see this durability in the 800-1200 price range (EOtech, Trijicon, Aimpoint), while the cheaper red dots like Holosun and Vortex just survive on their warranty (already killed a vortex viper shotgun enclosed and on my second).
Unfortunately I don't think this shotgun is reaching it's intended audience. From what I have seen, Ukraine has adopted a Turkish made bullpup shotgun for anti-drone work. I have even seen videos of hunting 28" shotguns being used against drones. A 4000 dollar shotgun is too much of a luxury I would imagine. Japan is buying them though.
Yeah, I saw that one too — and that bullpup really looks like junk.
Now imagine a drone coming straight at you and your fancy Turkish shotgun jams… No way. Not even if my life depended on it!
SilentKnight confirmed that 10,000 units of Benelli M4 Drone Guardian are allocated to the Ukrainian military, for your information.
And I get the feeling the Ukrainians really like anything that goes boom-boom!
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Picked one of these M4 A1 Drone Guardians up for my collection from Al's as well. Sold my last M4-A1 years ago after getting offered and paid full price for it, then regretting the sale of it since I could never find another one, now this one popped up. Very thankful & happy
The Flagship Semi-Auto 12G worldwide/ Ferrari of shotguns Love all Benelli products.
The Flagship Semi-Auto 12G worldwide/ Ferrari of shotguns
Love all Benelli products.Nice pickupPicked one of these M4 A1 Drone Guardians up for my collection from Al's as well. Sold my last M4-A1 years ago after getting offered and paid full price for it, then regretting the sale of it since I could never find another one, now this one popped up. Very thankful & happy
The Flagship Semi-Auto 12G worldwide/ Ferrari of shotguns
I’ve had mine for almost two weeks now but still haven’t had a chance to get it to the range.
Really curious to see if the recoil is actually as soft as people say — what’s been your impression so far?
Haven't tried it yet either. My last M4-A1 (2018 model) was noticeably less recoil than the Beretta 1301 however with these latest "Drone Guardian Advanced Impact" models with a larger bore and different choke system I'm very excited to test it out with all different types of shot. Just not any slugs until it's Declared/Proven safe with slugs by Benelli itself or some other companyNice pickup
I’ve had mine for almost two weeks now but still haven’t had a chance to get it to the range.
Really curious to see if the recoil is actually as soft as people say — what’s been your impression so far?
I doubt benelli themselves will declare this, as benelli customer service still says not to shoot slugs out of any choke tighter than IC. Meanwhile, the m4 comes with a modified, including the m1014 model which is fixed modified. I'd bet millions of slugs have been fired from these guns and I've never heard of it causing an issue.Haven't tried it yet either. My last M4-A1 (2018 model) was noticeably less recoil than the Beretta 1301 however with these latest "Drone Guardian Advanced Impact" models with a larger bore and different choke system I'm very excited to test it out with all different types of shot. Just not any slugs until it's Declared/Proven safe with slugs by Benelli itself or some other company
Benelli usa says that "slugs are not recommended out of the advanced impact models they offer (talking about sbe3 etc, not m4)", but I suspect this is mostly a legal CYA. Accuracy might also not be the best with slugs out of these oversize bores, so they may just not want to deal with complaints.
If/when these make it to the American market in decent numbers I'm sure there will be tons of info out there from new owners, but until then info is limited.
My suspicion is that is perfectly safe, but accuracy may be worse than a standard barrel.
The Advanced Impact barrel was specifically designed to optimize shot patterns, which is exactly why I chose it.
Using slugs in a barrel designed for shot is a bit like putting racing slicks on a tractor, it works, but it’s clearly not the right tool for the job.
For me, an inaccurate round doesn’t really serve a purpose. If the goal is to shoot slugs with precision, a dedicated slug barrel or platform makes much more sense.
Using slugs in a barrel designed for shot is a bit like putting racing slicks on a tractor, it works, but it’s clearly not the right tool for the job.
For me, an inaccurate round doesn’t really serve a purpose. If the goal is to shoot slugs with precision, a dedicated slug barrel or platform makes much more sense.
I saw a video where someone is clearly shooting Brenneke slugs through a Benelli M4 Drone Guardian, and they show the groupings on paper.
I can’t tell what distance the shots were taken, but based on what is shown the patterns look reasonably tight.
Just wanted to share that observation since it’s one of the few real examples out there.
I can’t tell what distance the shots were taken, but based on what is shown the patterns look reasonably tight.
Just wanted to share that observation since it’s one of the few real examples out there.
Yeah, same. Bought it for what it's designed for... Shooting shot. Have plenty other shotguns for slugs but it is cool to see slug use by others in the Drone Guardian M4. Thanks for the posts/info Brother.
