Last year’s winner of the Best of the Best Tactical Shotguns returned with the Benelli M3. But the M3 isn’t your run-of-the-mill pump gun. It is capable of being fired as a pump or as a semi-automatic, inertia-driven shotgun. For the test, we only ran it as a pump, but when we were done, we all tried it out as a semi-auto, too. We found the gun to be less natural to run because, instead of simply racking the forearm forward to close it after you run dry, you have to hit the bolt release button like you do on any semi-auto shotgun. While this wasn’t what we were used to, it actually has a real benefit. When I run dry with a normal pump shotgun, it closes on an empty chamber and I hear the loudest sound in a gunfight: a “click” when I expected to hear a “bang.” With the M3, the bolt locks to the rear and the forearm won’t go forward. This tells me the gun is empty immediately and because the action is open, I can tactically load one shell through the ejection port to get it back in the fight quickly.
Overall, I would say the M3 is an incredible, well-made shotgun, and if I practiced only running that gun, I believe I would get very good very fast. But switching to it from a normal pump caused us all some delays in operating. It is definitely set up as a tactical gun: It has no chokes to work loose, can accept a mag-tube extension, has an excellent ghost ring sight, and is drilled and tapped for the addition of a Picatinny rail on the receiver. I found the length of pull to be a little long for me, especially when wearing a tactical vest. One of the judges said he would prefer it if it was only a pump or only a semi-auto, and did not have the ability to switch back and forth.
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