MAC 2 Tactical Wood

[Boom Vang]

Turkish shotguns have had a questionable reputation for quite a few years, have had my share and they all went down the road. But based on my good experiences with other recently imported guns from SDS Imports, I decided to try one of the new MAC 2 Tactical Wood shotguns. The MAC 2 is Turkish-made clone of the Benelli M1 Super 90/M2, and the price is about 1/3 of the latter. There's a few reviews of them available online, from the usual shills. I obtained mine from the LGS, who ordered it through normal channels directly from SDS.



Build quality seems excellent from an objective viewpoint. Compared to the Benelli, it doesn't have each and every part finished as impeccably.... there are some chatter marks and unrelieved edges on internal parts that don't affect function. Externally, the only bugaboo I note is that the forend has a tiny bit of play even when the end cap is tightened.

But the feature set is quite good. Note the large knurled rotating bolt handle, and the large head cross-bolt safety button. Pic rail is standard, along with ghost ring sights.



Sights are either a licensed copy or clone of the Benelli LPA sights. Fully adjustable for windage and elevation.



Barrel wall thickness is comparable to Benelli, but not as heavy as a Remington 870 or Mossberg 590. Shotgun is threaded for Beretta Mobilchoke system, and 3 flush chokes are provided: Cylinder, Modified and Full.

The walnut stock sets this apart from other "tactical" shotguns, and for me is a big plus. Walnut adds some weight, a better feel and a more attractive and less-threatening appearance. I'm not doing combat swimming or mountain ops with this piece, the walnut suits me just fine. Rather than put some lousy machine cut or impressed checkered on it, SDS used a stippled pattern that is both attractive and offers and excellent gripping surface. The forend has a shad belly and finger-grip recesses, and give a great hold, reminiscent of the original Benelli 121 M1 shotgun. The buttstock has a substantial recoil pad which offers excellent cushioning without being either squishy or hard.



Chromed bolt head, and chrome-lined barrel extension and barrel are comparable to the Benelli. Aluminium receiver and magazine extension are black matte anodizing. Bolt carrier appears to be cerakoted black. Barrel and other steel parts are black oxide. The finish of all the parts is excellent and they match very well. Magazine capacity is 5 shells plus 1 in chamber. Hi-Viz magazine follower is polymer, as is the magazine extension cap. The latter is my only concern; would have preferred a metal end cap.



Will be taking this shooting today and post the results.

 

[Boom Vang]

The MAC 2 Tactical manual suggests a 100 shell break-in period using minimum power level 1-1/8oz loads @ 1325 fps. I was not relishing that idea in this 6 lbs 7 oz shotgun.

In my experience with the Benelli inertia system, they function fine with normal loads for the gauge from light target to heavy field, as long as they are close to stock condition. My Benelli Legacy has run everything down to 1oz 1200 fps loads. My previous 121M1 and M1 Super 90 functioned with every buckshot and slug load, including "tactical" buckshot which is generally 9 pellet 00 @ 1145 fps. Standard 00 Buck 9-pellet is 1325 fps.

The only Benelli I have seen have functional problems were the 14" Entry models with pistol grip buttstock. Those were used by a police SWAT unit and had heavy Surefire integrated forearm lights installed, along with 5-shell side saddles on the receivers... and were loaded with the aforementioned tactical low-velocity buckshot. Functioning was not 100%.

The MAC 2 Tactical is a mix of Benelli M1 and M2 features. I decided to evaluate without the 100 shell break-in period. For this testing I installed the Modified choke, which I prefer for buckshot. In a nutshell, it digested everything in my initial 40 shell test. This included Winchester 00 Buck 9-pellet @ 1325 fps, Aguila 0 Buck 12-pellet @ 1275 fps, Federal LE 132 00 Buck 9-pellet Tactical @ 1145 fps, Remington 1 oz rifled slug @ 1500 fps, and Federal Premium Extra-Lite 1-1/8 oz #8 @ 1100 fps. Those velocities were nominal factory figures and not chronographed.

Sample patterns @ 7 Yards:


I fired 10 shells of the Federal Tactical 00-9 Buck and the average pattern was 2-1/4", the above pictured shot being an outlier. The inertial system is known for being fast cycling. I fired 6 shells of the Aguila 0 Buck load as fast as the target would return to some semblance of vertical (I was shooting at an indoor range with hanging full-size B-29 target).




The 6 shells were fired in just under 3 seconds, and the pattern measures roughly 7" (the 3 hits above are slugs fired separately). The gun cycles fast, returns to POA very well, and recoil is less than expected. The substantial feel of the walnut stock and excellent recoil pad assisted in this. I was expecting some face kick-up as the stock does not have as much drop as many others, but this was not the case.

During subsequent cleaning and lubrication, no wear was noted, and the barrel cleaned up easily. Handling was very fast with 18.5" barrel and 5-shot magazine tube, despite the 13-3/4"LOP and recoil pad. I prefer the shorter barrel and mag extension set up, as longer barrels and mag tubes feel ponderous for fast action and close-in handling. The ghost ring sights on my test gun needed adjustment which was easily done, but come onto the target quickly when shouldered.

All in all, I found the MAC 2 comparable to the Benelli original in function, close enough in build quality for the purposes intended, having some different features I liked. It's certainly more than worth the price, and so far beyond the usual Turkish defense guns in quality as to be in its own league.

 

[Boom Vang]

In a second test, I added an 8-round velcro webbing/elastic shotgun shell card onto the side of the receiver. I would normally only use a 6-round card but I wanted to test for maximum added weight onto the firearm. Did several magazine loads, including reduced-recoil Federal 00 Tactical 9-pellet buckshot and Winchester full power 00 Buck 9 pellet, without any malfunctions. So 6 shells in the gun, plus 8 on receiver, no problems.

FYI