Beretta 1301T - Dumping a round or two during firing...

armybuck041

armybuck041

CGN Regular
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Hey Fellas,

Finally got my 1301 out to the range today.

It definitely met my expectations except for one strange issue. When loaded up with a full tube (I have the Nordic Extension), the odd unfired round is getting dropped out the bottom during some spirited firing. It appears to be sneaking out the tube and falling out the bottom while the lifter is raising the next round up to be chambered. My ammo was Winchester 2-3/4" #4 Birdshot low steel? (comes in the 100 round carton). Unfortunately I didn't take any other types of ammo along to see if it was unique to the ammo selection, or an issue with the gun or the mag extension.

Any thoughts?
 
Funny you mention that. The magazine spring tension is way higher than the factory spring, to the point that I think its overwhelming the shell stop during the recoil impulse.

I’m going to trim it down until it is similar to the factory tension.
 
So, you were correct.

I removed the spring from the extended magazine and it was substantially/out of proportion longer than the OEM spring and with more coils per inch. I put the OEM spring back in with the extended magazine (really only adds 2” to the tube), and everything is working perfectly.
 
armybuck041 said:
So, you were correct.

I removed the spring from the extended magazine and it was substantially/out of proportion longer than the OEM spring and with more coils per inch. I put the OEM spring back in with the extended magazine (really only adds 2” to the tube), and everything is working perfectly.
Click to expand...

Any aftermarket mag tube you buy will require you to trip thr spring
 
Just hopped on to CGN to see if anyone else had this problem too, and I believe the spring is the same issue for me. For me I can just have to my 1301 and rack the charging handle 4 or 5 times and the shell will pop out of the tube, inadvertently.

Thanks
 
JC24237 said:
Just hopped on to CGN to see if anyone else had this problem too, and I believe the spring is the same issue for me. For me I can just have to my 1301 and rack the charging handle 4 or 5 times and the shell will pop out of the tube, inadvertently.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Tried putting the OEM spring back in with the Nordic Extension and still have rounds dumping out... Going to try without the extension and maybe a different shell follower... Frig this is frustrating for a ~$1500 gun.
 
JC24237 said:
Tried putting the OEM spring back in with the Nordic Extension and still have rounds dumping out... Going to try without the extension and maybe a different shell follower... Frig this is frustrating for a ~$1500 gun.
Click to expand...

I haven’t been to the range since I swapped springs back to the OEM, but when I cycled the action fairly aggressively with the aftermarket spring, it was possible to dump a round or two out of a full load. Once I went back to the OEM spring and repeated the test, I was unable to dump a round. So I’m hoping that is all it was.

That said, when I was examining the working parts very closely, I noticed that the lifter puts very little pressure on the shell release mechanism. It’s almost like when it was stamped out in production, it came out ever so slightly narrower than it should be to keep the shell release under tension. Pure speculation on my part.

I’ve gone ahead and ordered the 1301 Pro conversion shell lifter (Beretta Part Number C7C940) which keeps the lifter raised during loading. I’ll be curious to measure the width of the lifter when it gets here.
 
As an FYI, I found the 1301 Pro lifter for the 1301 Tactical here:
ht_tps://magload.co.uk/product/beretta-semi-auto-lifter-lifter-hold-down/
 
OK, bit of an update in this.

I installed the 1301 Pro Lifter and despite the lifter being fantastic for loading, the gun was now dumping even more rounds than before. Occasionally rounds were popping back out past the shell stop during loading. It was clear the shell stop wasn't getting enough purchase on the case rims.

So, after pulling the trigger group and examining shell stop hardware, the solution was quite simple. I linked to a photo, but essentially (with the trigger group removed) I inserted a flat tip screwdriver between the back end of the shell stop lever and the receiver and gave it a gentle pry inwards (toward the centre of the receiver). Probably tweaked it 1mm in total. Buttoned her up and went back to the range.

dTfVWCw.jpg


Absolutely flawless. I fired 100 round mixture of birdshot, buckshot and slugs. Cycled and functioned perfectly. Damn I love this shotgun!
 
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Good to hear there's a happy ending!

Thank-you for the detailed explanation and photos.
Would you say the pro lifter is worth the expense?
 
You figured it out.
Shell retainer latch. Its one of the things that gets tuned when you hot rod a shotgun for loading quads and doubles.
Too much pressure on the retainer latch and it really hinders your reload speed. Bend it back too much and you get exactly the issue you had.
 
Poznan said:
Would you say the pro lifter is worth the expense?
Click to expand...

I think so. Once you drop the first round in the chamber and close the bolt, the lifter raises almost completely out of the way of the feed path to the tube. I would occasionally get the tip of my thumb caught between the end of the lifter and the tube. Zero chance of that happening now. Also makes unloading the tube that much easier.
 
Poznan said:
Good to hear there's a happy ending!

Thank-you for the detailed explanation and photos.
Would you say the pro lifter is worth the expense?
Click to expand...

armybuck041 said:
I think so. Once you drop the first round in the chamber and close the bolt, the lifter raises almost completely out of the way of the feed path to the tube. I would occasionally get the tip of my thumb caught between the end of the lifter and the tube. Zero chance of that happening now. Also makes unloading the tube that much easier.
Click to expand...


I purchased the pro-lifter to save my thumb because I don't know how to reload properly. lol!!! :dancingbanana:

Same company. I also purchased the Shot Saver (not yet installed) while I'm at it.
 
The pro lifter can be purchased from Storger Canada, the OEM spring works best with the Nordic ext.


[youtube]Kr5-9TeLRsY[/youtube]
 
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