Why is the Benelli M4 revered while the Benelli MR1 is despised?

geologist

geologist

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The M4 is widely viewed as the best semiautomatic shotgun for defense.

It shares the Benelli ARGO system with its mostly despised MR1 brother.

The ergos on the MR1 do indeed suck and in an AR rifle dominated world I get the "why reinvent the wheel" attitude. But in jurisdictions that ban AR rifles, why are the MR1s not more favorably viewed.

They are piston actions, run clean and reliably with all ammo, don't require a lot of cleaning and in Canada are Non Restricted so they can go anywhere (for now at least).

They run STANAG magazines.

They are only 2 MOA rifles so they are not as accurate as some ARs.

They are cheap to buy as I see them used on the EE in the $1500 - $1700 range.
 
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I owned an mr1 for a number of years & enjoyed it.
had the barrel cut & threaded to just keep in non restricted.
I found it light & super reliable with anything i fed it.
the 20'' pencil barrel just seemed out or proportion & heated up quickly causing
accuracy to suffer.
I really tried to like it but a few things bothered me.
1) cheek placement was difficult & had to remove the rear sight to mount the scope low enough.
2) the take down & assembly process was needlessly complex.
3) although the bolt & chamber area remained clean, the gas system & inside handguard was always dirty.
it was a great companion to the m2 & always turned heads when i brought it out.
if it had a beefier barrel, i could overlook the other issues & may have kept it.
in hind sight, I probably shouldn't have let it go.
 
Had one... liked it...

It was ergonomically a shotgun... accurate enough...

Certainly a quality gun.

It was fun to carry in the bush (albeit a little longer than it needed to be)

And yes... scopes mounted too high... so I just used the irons, which were perfect.

I ended up trading for a hunting rifle/scope package that was a decent deal for the guy I traded to... but I just wasn't using the MR1.

I pretty well only carry bullpups in the bush now if I'm out for a plinking adventure. They just fit nicer on the ATV, or in and out of the truck.
 
bps540 said:
I owned an mr1 for a number of years & enjoyed it.
had the barrel cut & threaded to just keep in non restricted.
I found it light & super reliable with anything i fed it.
the 20'' pencil barrel just seemed out or proportion & heated up quickly causing
accuracy to suffer.
I really tried to like it but a few things bothered me.
1) cheek placement was difficult & had to remove the rear sight to mount the scope low enough.
2) the take down & assembly process was needlessly complex.
3) although the bolt & chamber area remained clean, the gas system & inside handguard was always dirty.
it was a great companion to the m2 & always turned heads when i brought it out.
if it had a beefier barrel, i could overlook the other issues & may have kept it.
in hind sight, I probably shouldn't have let it go.
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I agree 100% with this list. I literally used to be afraid of taking it apart to clean it because putting it back together was always so stressful.
 
I actually have the same question about the R1. I am looking for a semi auto 308 - and it seems to be cheaper then most and well built.
 
I've always liked the looks of the MR1, but agree a heavier barrel, or an option to change to one, would be better still.
 
The Comfortech stock (straight stock) changes this rifle completely. I sold my MR1 two months ago and just this morning I bought another one. I missed having my Italian Space Gat. The straight stock will allow you to use all the controls properly with minimal hand relocation. It’s a game changer. The telescoping and Urbino stocks look awesome but they suck ergonomically.

I share all of the concerns previously mentioned. The barrel is too long and thin, and heats up very quickly and vibrates. I’m hoping a muzzle brake improve this. Putting it back together was stressful, I’m getting stressed out writing about it.

Cheek weld was tough to achieve and I couldn’t get the rear sight off to save my life, the comfortech stock addressed this issue. Rather than using a scope I used red dot and magnifier but I am excited to use a scope this time around.

The Forend vibrated a lot and there are definitely places you don’t want to place your fingers when firing. An AFG solved this.
 
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vondoom said:
The Comfortech stock (straight stock) changes this rifle completely. I sold my MR1 two months ago and just this morning I bought another one. I missed having my Italian Space Gat. The straight stock will allow you to use all the controls properly with minimal hand relocation. It’s a game changer. The telescoping and Urbino stocks look awesome but they suck ergonomically.

I share all of the concerns previously mentioned. The barrel is too long and thin, and heats up very quickly and vibrates. I’m hoping a muzzle brake improve this. Putting it back together was stressful, I’m getting stressed out writing about it.

Cheek weld was tough to achieve and I couldn’t get the rear sight off to save my life, the comfortech stock addressed this issue. Rather than using a scope I used red dot and magnifier but I am excited to use a scope this time around.

The Forend vibrated a lot and there are definitely places you don’t want to place your fingers when firing. An AFG solved this.

I consider guns to be tools, an MR1 is more like an instrument.

I’ll be trimming and threaded it as soon as I can.
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I cut mine to 18.6" and had it threaded 1/4" x 28.
 
The MR-1 should have been improved over the last 15 years. Its commercial failure is due to the high price point and low modular ability. Gun nutz like to tinker and the MR1 doesn’t offer much in that regard. The Tri rail (if you can find one) costs 150 bucks, this should have come standard or at least a bottom rail to attach a bipod or fore grip.

Integrated tri rail, thicker barrel with threading for a muzzle device, adapter to install a buffer tube to accept aftermarket stocks would have made a lot of difference.
 
vondoom said:
The MR-1 should have been improved over the last 15 years. Its commercial failure is due to the high price point and low modular ability. Gun nutz like to tinker and the MR1 doesn’t offer much in that regard. The Tri rail (if you can find one) costs 150 bucks, this should have come standard or at least a bottom rail to attach a bipod or fore grip.

Integrated tri rail, thicker barrel with threading for a muzzle device, adapter to install a buffer tube to accept aftermarket stocks would have made a lot of difference.
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I disagree, partially due to the stock needing to facilitate the bolt tail, modularity is not practical.

The fixed, collapsible, and hunting stocks were all comprtable and functional... anything else would pretty well just be dress up (though personalization is fun, functionally it offers little).

The biggest issue is the inability to drop a mag with your dominant hand, making it less practical for speed reloads.

The manual of arms is not as fluid as many other rifles.


Granted, as a truck gun, coyote gun, or bush rifle, the MR1 is excellent.

I would own one again, but likely would still pass it up for a bullpup in nearly every scenario.
 
Benelli M4 is an "advanced" shotgun when it came out 20 years ago, it doesn't hurt it is US military oriented product. Lots of marketing draw there.

The MR1 is really an old gun dressed up in a plastic shell - safety, ergonomic, mechanism....everything is a 1950 semi auto sporting gun wrapped up in plastic.

MR1 is an old EU product ( think HK SL8 ) to appeal to the past EU market back in the days when some EU states were still more restricted with gun laws, with non-sense on cherry picking guns they don't like based on appearance. As EU gun laws are getting less restricted in many EU states, MR1 and HK SL8 are like "post ban" guns.
 
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vondoom said:
The Comfortech stock (straight stock) changes this rifle completely. I sold my MR1 two months ago and just this morning I bought another one. I missed having my Italian Space Gat. The straight stock will allow you to use all the controls properly with minimal hand relocation. It’s a game changer. The telescoping and Urbino stocks look awesome but they suck ergonomically.

I share all of the concerns previously mentioned. The barrel is too long and thin, and heats up very quickly and vibrates. I’m hoping a muzzle brake improve this. Putting it back together was stressful, I’m getting stressed out writing about it.

Cheek weld was tough to achieve and I couldn’t get the rear sight off to save my life, the comfortech stock addressed this issue. Rather than using a scope I used red dot and magnifier but I am excited to use a scope this time around.

The Forend vibrated a lot and there are definitely places you don’t want to place your fingers when firing. An AFG solved this.

I consider guns to be tools, an MR1 is more like an instrument.

I’ll be trimming and threaded it as soon as I can.
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I tried to get the Comfortech stock, and could not succeed. Where did you get one?

Is anyone buying an MR1 any more that it's on the "to be prohibited" list?
 
TJspeller said:
I tried to get the Comfortech stock, and could not succeed. Where did you get one?

Is anyone buying an MR1 any more that it's on the "to be prohibited" list?
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The M2, Super Nova,and MR1 ComforTech stock are apparently all the same.

Some are buying the MR1 because it's on the list.
 
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The M2 stock is not compatible unless you want to cope around the trigger guard, it is close but not an actual fit. I found out the hard way. I bought the Mesa Tactical Urbino stock for the M2 and it wouldn’t fit the MR1, luckily I was able to return it.
 
vondoom said:
The M2 stock is not compatible unless you want to cope around the trigger guard, it is close but not an actual fit. I found out the hard way. I bought the Mesa Tactical Urbino stock for the M2 and it wouldn’t fit the MR1, luckily I was able to return it.
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Interesting, as Benelli advertises the M2 and Super Nova as being the same stock. Maybe the Mesa Tactical was slightly different? Did you try it on your M2? Or am I misreading and you bought it for your MR1 thinking it would fit?
 
The M2 comfortech stock may be compatible with the supernova and MR1 but the Urbino stock wasn’t, the trigger guard of the MR1 didn’t accept the Urbino stock. A comfortech stock looks like it won’t have that problem.
 
The Tactical Urbino stock failed for me as well.
I wonder what on earth Benelli was thinking when they designed that lousy drop down stock.

I haven't shot my MR1 much because of it. Would be willing to sell if if there was interest.
 
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