Received mine today, thanks Austin!

Got mine today too. Just got finished installing the Mesa Urbino stock, Nordic charging handle, and Taran safety.



I had planned to put a BFG VCAS sling on it, like I have on my other long guns, but I tried it and it doesn't really work well having the front sling attachment all the way out at the end of the magazine tube. I'm going to play around with it some more, to see if I can find a configuration that works. But for the time being, it'll be slingless.

I'm also going to ponder how best to attach a light. I'm thinking I might be able to attach a small rail section to the polymer handguard.

Hmm...

These were supposed to have 6 round tubes.

I've also read where the Beretta 1201FP can be "ghost loaded" (with a shell floating on the lifter) for 6+1+1. I was looking forward to 8 rounds total.

Unfortunately, it appears that partway through production, Beretta switched to crimped 5 round tubes. My 1201FP is one of the later ones with a 5 round tube. The 6th shell only goes in about halfway.

In addition, partway through production Beretta/Benelli modified their bolt carriers to prevent ghost loading.

So my 1201FP is strictly 5+1 only.

Has anyone gotten one with the older 6 round tube and/or the ability to ghost load?

I've ordered a replacement bolt carrier from a parts seller, which is supposed to be the old style without the modification to prevent ghost loading.

That'll get me to 5+1+1.

Nice Rogue. I wasn’t aware of the Taran safety. I like it. Have a Dave’s Metal Works CH on the way. I may try one of the Taran CH as well. Is the Urbino shorter than a standard Benelli stock? Those are just too long for me. I’ll check the magazine capacity and ghost loading ability tomorrow and get back. Taking it to the range and try to run Remington low recoil 00 buck and slugs at the range.

quote:

Originally posted by 10X-Shooter:
I wasn’t aware of the Taran safety. I like it.

It's great, in several ways.

It's much quicker and easier to disengage than stock. It provides immediate tactile feedback that the safety is on when you reach for the trigger, and can be easily snapped off with the second knuckle of the trigger finger.

The triangular shape perfectly fits the Benelli/Beretta trigger guard, and looks better than the rounded ones.

And while most only come in black, this one also comes in gray/silver. I got the silver to match the other controls on the 1201FP (and all the scuffs on the aluminum ).

Removal of the stock safety is simple, though a bit fiddly. It only takes a few minutes, but requires two punches and two to three hands. If you can assemble an AR lower, you can swap the safety.

Looks great!
Mine is at my FFL. Waiting for my never to ship Brownells P365 preorder to ship to him so I only have to make one trip.

Mine is at the FFL, too.

Does anyone have a good source for maintenance parts, for these? Springs, extractors, firing pins and the like? I'd also like more information about the differences in the bolts re: ghost loading.

Thanks!

Bruce

Midwest Gun Parts has some 1201 parts, but they're pricey. Some Benelli M1 parts will work, but I don't know what all is totally interchangeable.

When my spare bolt carrier gets in, I'll post some comparison shots and provide some more details on the ghost loading issue. Basically, the newer bolt carriers have an extra notch on the underside that interacts with a lever on the trigger pack/lifter and causes the bolt to fail to go fully forward if you try to ghost load a shell. Many of the Benelli M-series bolts are the same way, so there's info out there on the web, but most is in regards to the Benelli models.

Took mine to the range and it was flawless, even with 2 3/4” light load bird shot, low recoil 00 buck and low recoil slugs.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 10X-Shooter,

Here's my quick-and-dirty look at the Beretta 1201's bolt carrier and the issue with "ghost loading".

As mentioned earlier, partway through production Beretta modified their magazine tubes and bolt carriers to make the 1201 strictly 5+1.

Earlier 1201s has 6 round tubes, and could have an extra shell "ghost loaded", where it rode on the lifter outside the magazine tube, under the bolt carrier.

The method of doing so was to pull the bolt about 2/3rds of the way back, press a shell down into the lifter, then drop another shell in the chamber and allow the bolt to close on the chambered shell, riding over the shell on the lifter. That allowed early 1201s to hold 6+1+1, for a total capacity of 8.

The early bolt I ordered arrived today. Below is a comparison shot, with the older bolt on the left and newer bolt on the right. The important difference is the extra half-cylindrical cutout in the lower right of the newer bolt.



That cutout interacts with the black "finger" on the side of the shell lifter on the trigger group:




If a shell is "ghost loaded" on the lifter, the lifter doesn't have any extra room to travel as the bolt goes forward. As a result, the bolt carrier is held back by the finger wedged in this notch, and cannot go all the way forward to chamber the shell that's been dropped in the chamber.

However, with my 1201FP and the older bolt carrier, the bolt can close as normal when I ghost load an extra shell on the lifter, since there's no additional notch to catch. My magazine tube is still limited to 5, but I can at least now get 5+1+1.

Do you know if the mag tube is pressed in or screwed in?

Screwed in.

(Likely accompanied by copious amounts of high-strength threadlocker, like the Benellis.)

Thanks. Copious is troubling. I think I might give it some minor effort just shy of Fugging it up and see if I can’t get it off for a different mag tube. If not, no biggie.

There's no real info online specific to 1201s, but I'd recommend reading up on methods to remove a Benelli magazine tube.

It usually involves a heat gun (basically a very high-powered hair dryer) applied for ~10 minutes to the base of the magazine tube, to help release the heavy duty threadlocker.

What are you planning to replace it with? Do you have a line on a different 1201 magazine tube?

Reportedly, you can use Benelli M1 or M2 magazine tubes, but you need a corresponding M1 or M2 barrel and foreend. And consider you're looking at ~$500+ for a barrel (when you can find one), $100+ for a factory tube (plus the additional cost of an extension), and $100+ for a foreend, it's not really worth the cost to go that route.

I finally found the time to pick up the shotguns I ordered. I was wondering if anyone plans to do any refinishing on them...mainly the receivers. Anyone ever use alumi hyde from Brownells and have any pics? Seems like a good budget option. I'm open to other ideas as well. Thanks

I'm digging the weathered look. Especially since the worn areas are silver, so it kinda matches the overall "black with silver accents" theme.

Anyone know if a Benelli bolt will fit?

Whenever I pick up the Beretta, I'll take it to work and see if I can swap in a bolt from one of our M1 Super 90s.

Online anecdotes state that they should work.

And just eyeballing photos online, they look pretty much identical.

But I don't have one handy to try out.

Meant to post these the other day. Here are some helpful disassembly photos I found online.