Benelli 121 M1

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I'm looking at purchasing and noticed you guys have one. I REALLY need your honest feedback (quickly) on the pros and cons of this. I need to make a decision.

I'm a bit confused. Do I read correctly that in order to load an empty gun, I have to load the mag full, then drop a round into the chamber, then pull back the bolt handle to load?

What about topping off the magazine tube if shot half empty?

Is the reloading button issue a problem, does the 121 function as well as the s90 with lighter recoiling loads, ect?

Thanks and please email me at [email protected] so I can check it from my phone.
 
I have seen these things for sale from $450-1500... the pricing is ALL over the place.
Yes, you load the magazine... then pull the bolt handle back... drop a round in the chamber... and are ready to roll.
If you want to reload... then do it, it isnt hard... just harder than in a mossberg.
I have had 1 malfunction, and it was with a light load.
I dont shoot the 90 so I cant make a comparison.
I will say, I had a mossberg 500 before we got this Benelli, the mossy gathers dust and the 121 M1 goes to the range.


Jim
 
Hoser45.

sorry for late reply. Don't check all my threads like I should. The chamber CAN be loaded first, then the mag tube, or vice versa. What is odd about the gun is that the cycling of the bolt, whether the magazine tube is full, half full or empty, it does not load a round from the mag tube simply by cycling the bolt handle. I am not sure why Benelli designed them this way, unless it is as I mentioned, a "safety" item against unauthorized use. But you have to literally manually load a round in the chamber, and then upon firing, the thing feeds from the mag tube. You can top off the magazine anytime you would like. Hope that clears it up a little.

Concur FoMoGo. Prices are all over the place! I guess price depends if there are TWO guys looking for one at the same time! I bought mine for a very reasonable $450 a few years back. Think I paid about $600 for the first one I had years before!? Go figure. :confused:

I love shooting mine. It beats me up, bruises my shoulder, but I imagine it is like shooting a desert Eagle in .50 caliber. At least you know you are sending some lead down range with some force behind it. :rolleyes:
 
This thing is without a doubt my favorite shotgun to shoot... last time at the range I had a guy ask if it was full auto.
The feel and classic look of it dont hurt either.
It sits loaded to the gills with Centurion buck and ball on my wifes side of the bed while I am gone... lord help anyone who breaks in while I am gone.


Jim
 
If there is any one still looking I have one that has never been fired. I will be at Salem gun show tomarrow if I dont sell it there I will be interested in selling it.
 
i also have one, paid about 650 at an auction about one year ago, like others my mossy is not the head of this house any longer, stocked to the gills with military 000 buck.

love this thing , but wish i could find a pistol grip stock for it
 
Old post bumping seems to be the order of the day when people discover lost classic.

Agreed the 121M1 is the lost favorite son. Benelli should have kept this one going - the 'improvements' of the succeeding models are unfounded in my eyes. I picked mine up with a 'cracked' stock for a paltry sum. I was shocked when I had to actually sand the wood and inspect with a loupe to see the hairline parting. A quick pin and Acraglas made a fine shotgun on the dirt cheap. It cycled mixed slug/buck/bird/target loads with equal aplomb. The ghost loading made a "niner" out of it in a fast, lightweight & (I found to be)easy recoiling package. Parts and accessories are sparce but available if you know where to look and are capable of minor tweaks to fit to the older platform - Great gun!

If you find one for less than $500 grab it and smile big on the way out the door. ... Economics forced me to wean mine from the stable. I easily doubled my initial outlay- and I've regretted it from the moment cash was in hand.
 
It wasn't banned because it fired fast...it was simply replaced by a newer models, the Super 90 and the Montrofeltro. It does cycle faster than the Super 90 however and is still one of my favorite shotguns...

I have a standard barrel and one I had thin wall chokes and Pro Porting installed on it and I added a scope mount for a Tijicaon Reflex...

121m1.jpg
 
As a side note pertaining to the supposed banning of these shotguns: the M1 121 was never banned as was noted earlier. The later Super 90 was not banned either (obviously).

What was banned after the Super 90 replaced the 121 though was the large magazine capacity on these auto shotguns. Excuse me, semi auto. I think it is still the same point system the ATF uses on all firearm imports and you hear about it more often pertaining to Glock pistols. Anyway, it is legal to buy one now with a 5 or 6 round capacity and then put an extended mag on later.

Something Glock does is import the pistols with adjustable sights and then install fixed sights in Smyrna. This gets around the ATF point system legally. Benelli should do this with their higher capacity autos. Import them with the low cap tubes then put on high cap ones at the distribution point.
 
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