So do you agree the Benelli is the most reliable? Beretta 1301 close 2nd.

As a Marine who carried the Benelli, I can indeed confirm there were bearded, sandal wearing doors. The only issue I ever had with my Benelli was getting enough rounds for it. We had more guns than we had 00 buck by the end of the deployment

If it's good enough for the Marines, the SAS, and John Wick, I think that's all the credentials it needs.

My husband got me a shotgun for "home protection" 1) cause I am a crap shot, and a shotgun, as he said, only really needs to be aimed at proper cardinal direction to be effective and 2) because that chix-chix sound it makes can be an effective deterrent, and may save you from using ammo. All he said about "close-quarters" was, "just aim it as the problem and you should be fine". I love that man, lol

As an owner and super fan of the Benelli M4 - and a user of the Mossberg 500 whilst in the Army... I can easily say that once you use an M4 anything else seems like a toy. I love that thing.

"Terminal Ballistics. Pistols put holes in people, rifles put holes through people. Shotguns at the right range with the right load will physically remove a chunk of shit off your opponent and throw that shit on the floor." - Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch

I feel the SAS need their own video especially as they’re formation was wild

I am a Marine and in 2004 I carried one in a 1 man shoot house... The RSO that followed me at the end of the shoot asked me, " Was it necessary to double tap the swing out target with the shotty?" I responded "no SGT, but it was fun and felt good." He laughed and told me to get out of his face

"...when it comes to semi-automatic shotguns and carbohydrates..." I REALLY enjoy your sense of humor and the surprising examples that all seem to work so well. ...and "You'd be surprised how many doors over there had beards and [ ] sandals." Classic!!

I remember in MOS school when we were learning how to work on this piece of Italian engineering, one of the other young Marines ask what do you do when you're out of ammo with it. Our instructor said to Davey Crockett it. At which point he dropped the stock down to it's most compressed setting flipped it around and wielded it like a club. I miss those times

It’s always a good day when garand thumb, donut operator, demo ranch, and the greatest of them all: the fat electrician upload in a less than three hour period

DoD: Don't use shotguns against live targets just doors. Marines: He was a door but I made him into a window.

As a Marine that had trained on the M4 for PMO…I have to say it’s probably one of the best firearms I’ve ever handled.

Benelli's are a work of art. They should freaking sponsor you for this resounding endorsement.

As an Armorer, the M4 is the 1 gun i can't reject for being dirty cuz it never is.

The benelli m4 is credited as being the only small arm to ever take out a grenade in the air. I witnessed a gunner use an m4 benelli to shoot a parachute grenade in Iraq. The parachute grenades were designed to be thrown at turrets to disable gunners and possibly the entire vehicle. He was using the m4 to tell a corolla that it was about to enter the FAFO zone when he saw it come off of a balcony on the 2nd floor. The convoy was headed to cropper, I was tc in the vehicle behind him, he shot it out of the air and it went back on the balcony almost immediately after it was thrown. Looked like something that was planned almost. He received a bsm for it, I signed the sworn statement to get it for him.

Im fucking dying at the "You'd be suprised how many doors over there had beards and sandle" remark, shit has me tearing up from laughter

Part of me wonders of Benelli was aware of the 7 + 1 + 1 hack and left it in there as a "feature" for the Marines to discover thus preventing them from discovering other more dangerous things to do with that shotgun.

Everybody talking about mossberg versus remington but we all know benelli is the best

I’ve been using a Benelli M4 in 3-gun matches for many years. Never had a misfire or jam during all the practice and matches. Super easy to maintain. Will flawlessly eat anything with 12 ga on the head-stamp.

I love the “shotguns have no range” idea. Most urban combat happens within 25 yrds and the M4 will drop dimes at 50 yrds. If you ain’t hittin the 10 ring every time that’s operator error.

Can I just take a minute and say I'm so glad hes not making portrait view short videos anymore and we're actually getting more and more long form content. I would enjoy it if the trend continued keep up the good work.

I am no small arms expert but I'd always heard the Benelli M4 was the best and I knew it cost a small fortune, I just never knew why. This was a great watch

The SAS has always had a special affinity for shotguns. In Vietnam they used to carry Remington Model 25s to fend off close quarters jungle ambushes, with good effectiveness, they were usually cut down to save on weight.

When I was a cop, we carried the Benelli M1 Super 90, the older brother of the M4. I loved the gun so much, I bought one when they upgraded. Fastest, most reliable Shotgun I've ever used. That gun can dump more lead down range faster than any other gun I know of.

I personally carried one from 03-05 in Iraq. Buck was great but Slugs were un freaking real. Like .50 cal at close range awesomeness. Plenty 1012s were used for more than doors and I mean way more.

I carried on in Fallujah back in 07. I was with 19th Marines and I felt very satisfies with it also I had an m16 slung but I carried the benelli alot more.

I was 4th ID, 12 Mech, 02-10, and my SSGT carried the Benelli M4. He carried 'Bertha' everywhere with him, and used it like a scalpel. I have stories, but none I can share here. :P

I have an WW1 Winchester trench shotgun. Was told by a so called expert it was modified. Yes he was wrong. Two reasons he said it was modified was because of it having no sights.and the stock was rough. Both were the way it was made. A true expert checked it and determined it to be original and unused condition. The gun weighs 28 lbs. This was so it could be used to crush German helmets when it was empty and being used as a club.

I went a large sporting goods store Friday to pick up a new knife and some ammo. I walked up to the shot guns and saw a fully intact military/LE trade in M4 on the rack. The only thing stopping me from getting it was the 2K Price tag. I asked the guy behind the counter if anyone has noticed it and he said I was one of the few who knew what they were looking at. So cool.

As the owner of an a.r. style shotgun, I can attest to it having more jams than a smuckers factory....But holy shit if it isnt a fun as hell gun to shoot.

"...better bring a loaf of bread and some peanut butter, cause you're going to have a f**kTON of jam" AHAHAHAHAH

I love your content, style and sense of humor; paired with your abundant knowledge makes yours my favorite military YT channel by far. Keep up, a the good work! And thanks.

You should do a video on the SAS, their first mission was to heist supplies they needed from their own army, because they were formed but not given equipment.

As a former marksmanship instructor for the Marines, and long time Range Safety Specialist working with the Marines, I can def tell you those shotguns are great close range. Can use a target carrier for years with rifle or pistol shooting... half a day with shotgun, if you're lucky. If you're unlucky... 1 shot.

I knew a friend back in the days that had a 1897 Winchester Shotgun. He told me his grandfather had it for a long time. Thing was, my friend had no idea about it until I saw it. It definitely saw some trench fighting. Only thing that was missing was the bayonet. I have a soft spot for shotguns, so this was a special treat for me to see one in person. And now after watching this, I regret not buying a Benelli myself. The M4 is one of my favorites when it comes to shotguns. At the time, I only owned the economical friendly Mossberg 590.

The Army still has a ton of trench sweepers. They are fun, but I always wondered why no semi auto. It's good to know they exist. Also, anyone that thinks shotguns aren't good at close range clearly has never shot anything close range with a shotgun and seen the massive hole. You can chop down trees with a shotgun in case anyone was wondering.

An absolute beast of a shotgun! I could run everything from less lethal to slugs, to 00 Buck. We used it as “hall boss” position. So many people don’t know how good they are. We taught a tac shotgun class to teach them how to hit 50 yard targets with slugs. It also played “oh shit” response when you step out of a patrol car in the hood and rack a round in it. People had a tendency to leave or go inside.

We outta talk about the other M4 in history. The rifle or the tank? Yes.

For me it’s the M4, but I’m a marine, I saw the Armorer handle one in the armory. Man as soon as I saw him operating the collapsible stock I was in love, never even got to handle one in the marine corps. After I got out it took quite a few years before I finally went out and bought one, it was the FDE version, and man was it sexy. By luck I was able to find the one shop that carried the OEM factory FDE 7 round magazine tube, so the fact it was matching FDE made it look so much sexier. It was a fun gun but I had more fun building it up, did all my own work on it, until one day nothing more could be done to it and I had a 3500.00 work of art. Had to sell it eventually, but I miss that shotgun.

It really is a work of art. No shotgun feels better in your hands.

As someone who is not very knowledgeable about weaponry, I'm glad you give context on these topics. Just hearing "a shotgun that doesn't jam" means very little to me, because I kinda expected that to be the norm, but hearing the examples about jamming being a problem and following it up with a clever pun helped me understand why the gun is so beloved. Also, your impressions of the comment section keep improving and they are hilarious.

It’s like the sports car of combat shotguns

Man, shotguns are no joke. Fired a 3" slug shell out of my Mossberg 500 with a 28" barrel and nailed a 14" plate at 200 yards. The thwack sound was loud enough that I'm 100% certain it hit with enough force to ruin a person's day. The energy dump within 5 yards is insane, and it wouldn't surprise me of even with level 4 plates, your ass is gonna be on the ground struggling to breathe from getting the wind thoroughly knocked out of you, and several ribs broken, possibly puncturing a lung.

The Benelli M4 was my favorite weapon in the Marines. I was an 0311/31/DM so wide range of weapons during my time. Got the 500 which was nice but, then we got the M4 and when you do hammer pairs with a shotgun that you can collapse and tuck in for CQB you know that it's a monster.

My dad had a Saiga, and he worked on it for a year to make the thing shoot without jamming, but he bought a berrtea 1301 later and said he loved it even more than his saiga despite the fact he had a 20 round drum for it

You know, it’s nice that in the modern age, Marines are the old sage that other special forces take wisdom from. I can just imagine someone bringing a weapon to Marine, he goes to the range, uses it, and just walks back, hands it back saying “yay” or “nay” and that concludes wether or not it gets used.

I have a Stoeger M2000 which is the Benelli M4 essentially with its enertia system! Absolutely love it! 15 years and no issues or jams.

The gun you're best at operating is absolutely what's most important. My grandmother is missing an eye, doesn't have great eyesight out of her other eye, and is scared of handguns and most other guns. She grew up with a shotgun however, and when she was about 30ish, my grandfather packed up the family and they went skeet shooting. There he and the rest of the family learned that my grandmother is a freaking sniper with a shotgun. On the same token, my dad has been shooting iron sights his entire life while his brother always wants the latest tech. When they go to the range, it's basically a coinflip whose accuracy is better due to them both shooting what they're comfortable with. Do not underestimate what gun makes you feel the most confident and badass, as that has a LOT to do with your success. A lot of studies have found that if you have a favorite pair of underwear or socks, you'll preform better in life than without, particularly for women so I hear, and the same is true for guns.

"You can't use it on people!" "I was shooting at the doors! Not my fault they decided to stand in front of doors...or behind them...or in some relative proximity thereof..."

I tend to be a pump action shotgun guy. I've used both types for over 40 years. The only flaw with the Benelli system is in the extreme cold, where the cartridge produces less pressure and can fail. It doesn't happen often, but it can happen.

My uncle got a Benelli without the pistol grip when this bad boy came out. what a beast. all 6 shells in the air before the first one hit the ground. great weapon

I love shotguns and train with them regularly. My preference is the 870 that I had Hans Vang work over. But shotguns in general will always have a special place in my heart❤!

Pentagon: You’re supposed to only use this one doors. Marines: I did it’s not my fault the enemy wants to stand so close to it.

The idea of shotguns being terrible for combat is more of a civilian self defense issue because most people never train with them and the risk of short stroking with pump shotguns during an adrenaline dump. Less so if you’re able to actually train with them like in the military. Also helps that as soldiers you’re not paying for your own ammo 😂

“A lot of those doors had beards and were wearing sandals”. 😂

Like 3 seconds after picking up a Benelli the only thought I had was, I didn’t know guns could be made this well. It’s out of this world smooth.

I personally love the 1897 and exactly what you describe god I love your content

Ah, yes. It's definitely a classic multi-purpose instrument of terror and beauty. I'd love to add a Benelli M4 to pair with my Berretta ARX160. To which I'd also love to add the ARX100. Would be interesting to see a video done on the ARX100 platform, should you find it interesting enough to make a video on.

“…you may as well bring a loaf of bread and some peanut butter because you’re gonna have a fuck ton of jam.” Fucking hell this is the most true statement.

An incredible weapon. Was introduced to it in 2009 when we deployed to East Timor and were posted to Kiwi Company. They used the semi-auto feature for live rounds and the pump action feature for non-lethal. Fell in love with it instantly😁

So glad you used that scene from John Wick. The Sommelier is honestly one of my favorite parts of that movie.

As someone who also still has an inner child, I found the I got your nose comment particularly fantastic and relatively hilarious. 😂😂😂😂😂👍🇺🇸

I unfortunately had bad luck with my brand new H20 Benelli M4. During my 3rd range trip shooting standard slugs, the entire trigger mechanism locked up and wouldn't release the hammer, rendering the gun inoperable. I tried to take it apart afterwards to find the issue but couldn't figure it out so I sent it back to Benelli and they said a piece of debris was stuck in the trigger mechanism. Anyways, the cleaned it back up and sent it back to me, but now the rear ghost ring aperture won't hold 0 and drifts in windage after firing only a few shots. Maybe I received a lemon IDK

So funny you mention the Marines in this. I asked my old boss who is a retired Marine what shotgun I should get (when civilization was on the verge of collapse per riots) and he immediately said Benelli.

Clint from Thunder Ranch said it best..”Pistols put holes in people, rifles put holes through people, shotguns with the right load and range will remove hunks of sh!t off people and throw them on the floor.” 😂. Great video as always

Marines and Shotguns, goes together like Peanut butter and Jelly.

There's always the Spas-12/15, and the Beretta 1301,which are *also* Italian made-and the SPAS can be used in pump action or semi-automatic modes.

"youd be surprised how many doors had beards and were wearing sandals" 😂 I think that's my new favorite quote lol

Because of the most recent unsubscribe podcast you need to do an in-depth breakdown of the tsar Bomba that you spoke about crawling on Ocean floors putting fear into the hearts of the unknowing

As a Marine Vet, I love when you talk about Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children! Love the videos keep it up!!

The number of times pro pulled these for training and then we had to extract rubber rounds was crazy. We made a special tool just for it. And no matter how many times we told them they would inevitably come back with a few rounds stuck

Garand Thumb cameo! Sweet! My buddy used one of these in the corps, he said it absolutely lives up to its reputation.

I was always jealous the Marines got the M1014 while we just got the M500 in the Navy. Don't get me wrong after 20 years of using it I can work miracles with the humble Mossberg, but having owned a 1014 for nearly the same period of time there is just no comparison.

Had a coach who was a vet. Told us a story of breach man ripping some bearded bad guys ribs literally all the way back. One half of buddies ribs where facing west while he was facing north. Wild

I carried one in Iraq almost by accident. When my unit got in country, we realized that all the Navy corpsmen were only given M4s and thought “That’s stupid. Give them some of our backup M16s.” When my platoon sergeant was wondering what to do with the M4, I reminded him that I trained on one when I was in Security Forces. From then on I carried both an M4 and an M16. A couple months in, we were shooting off our old ammo for training because we just got some new ammo in. I asked about the shotguns (we also had a breaching mossberg carried by someone else) and we each got 30 shells to play with. He went first, slowly firing and pumping that thing to the cheers of everyone. I went next and they laughed as I hit the shell release lever instead of the louder more impressive action of the mossberg. Then I fired off 8 shells as fast as I could get controlled shots off and started reloading. They weren’t laughing anymore.

Good enough so that one of the most elite Special Forces units on the entire planet fell in love with it at first sight. If that doesn't say "Screw you, shotguns are awesome," I don't know what does.

Fun facts: There is only one military issued ammunition that would not cycle in the Benelli M4/1014. Riot control "less lethal" rounds. (rubber slugs and bean bags) They are specifically loaded with significantly less powder to reduce velocities and energy so they are not lethal. Therefore the gas pressures are not adequate to cycle in the Benelli (or any semi auto shotgun period.) So Benelli's fix was to put on an oversized charging handle on the bolt, effectively making them bolt action style shotguns. And having been through the Marine Corps Riot Control Non Lethal Weapons course several times, And having been forward deployed in South Korea and surrounded... In a real riot... I can assure you that there will never be a time in a "non-lethal" situation where you need to fire semi automatically. And since there were no modifications to the operating system, if your riot turns lethal, all you need to do is quickly load lethal rounds (which all Marines carry even in non lethal missions) and you are back to semi auto unhealthcare administration. And to add to why Benelli went with a gas system instead of their inertial drive system. The inertial drive is cleaner, simpler, very reliable, and also self regulating. However the principle concept that makes the inertial drive work is the gun needs to move at minimum an inch during recoil to create the inertia. So a 200lbs Marine with 100lbs of gear who might have his back against hard cover in a firefight... Probably is not going to have any give under recoil. Thus the inertial drive will not work. (Put an inertial drive shotguns butt against a hard surface like a tree and if shot it will not work (unless you use their comfer-tech flex stock designed to let the gun move under recoil even if the butt is against a hard surface) And besides... European owned companies have been making American designed weapons for our military for decades. (Notice how mot of them have "U.S.A" at the end of their business names... Yeah they opened factories on American soil, and employ Americans to build guns for the American Military. So no metric measurements went into he production if our combat arms. Even if there is a European makers name on the side. 🦅🌎⚓🇺🇲

Used mine for 3 gun competition. NEVER JAMMED - even with garbage reloads. The gun is AWESOME. Put an extended tube on it and with carrier loading you got 13 rounds. Use a couple of 4 round reloading “sticks” and you have 21. Pretty decent.

Used to have one many moons ago here in California. This was prior to Long gun back ground checks. This was The Best Shotgun I've ever had. Bought from a small gun shop legally or sorta. and it was 8+1 in the pipe. Why Sorta legal, well after a traffic stop, I was informed that the gun was stolen from the LAPD Swat team. I provided my receipt and was not charged. Next day cops raided the gun store finding lots of 'Off Roster' and full auto guns. The building was seized and since then has been the LA Sheriff sub station in my town. I want to thank You for your videos, I want you to know they inspire me to Fight back. In what may be a fight to the Death. You see I have cancer. If these people in your videos can overcome such odds, So can I. Keep doing what you're doing.

You should do one on the AA-12 automatic shotgun next. Or even a video on the FRAG-12 shotgun grenade shell. Because only some grunt working for Uncle Sam could come up with the idea of trying to make mini-nades they can give to other grunts to fire out of an automatic shotgun. Why? Because apparently the Mark 19 automatic grenade launcher wasn't man-portable enough.

This video was also sponsored by" the lock picking lawyer, for those times that you need to unsecure a door and you haven't got a key". I watched John Wick2, in the theater and when the weapons specialist was going over the selection of weapons and came to the Benelli m4, you could almost hear the majority of the audience having a chubby over it

I'm definitely a fan of the Mossberg 500 family, but I REALLY want a Benelli M4 at some point. Only reason I don't have one is I'm a poor, and working on remedying that.

The Benelli M4 turns “you make a great door” from a sarcastic quip meaning “get out of the way so I can watch the TV” into a threat meaning “congratulations, you have made a tactical FUCKING error, as a reward you’re about to not be in my way whether you like it or not.”

Personal account, I met some bearded men in Iraq. They dropped off what was left of a sandal wearing bearded door at our check point. Dude was strapped to the hood of their truck like jim bob shot an 8 point. He attempted to open their HMMV door with a silly Russian grenade, they opened his mind with a Benelli M4 Short Barrel. They well like cats dropping off a dead mouse because you can’t hunt.

The beards and sandals quote is only beat from one that Classic Firearms gave me out of satire, people shot with 9mm always say ouch, but people shot with 12 gauge dont say anything.

Absolutely amazing video! Super funny and entertaining. Love how a Marine apparently said that most of the doors had beards and wore sandals, lmao

I served army infantry paratrooper. I got out and met a marine while in security. Heard the stories and bought my own. Dammit why can’t the army have those guns!? Amazing straight out of the box.

While I still have my A5, that my grandad gave me in 65, and will never give it up. The M-4 is a work of art. Course I'm one of those cranky old Marines, that loves his M-14/M1A1. Ya gotta crack a nut, the Benelli is sweet for it.

It’s definitely one of my favorite shotguns. I was first introduced to it while in the Marines and later got one for personal use. It’s an absolute hoot to shoot and will dispense with all 7 shells as fast as you can pull the trigger.

The benelli is a great piece of kit, but since I’m not an SAS Member, i prefer the mossberg. There’s no problem with selfloading if you don’t have selfloading. And the sound it makes when you load a round is…quite a weapon by itself , even before using…

The fact the bonelli's will shoot from a two-and-a-half to a three-and-a-half is the most beautiful thing on the planet and is up to you to decide how much of your enemy is left

Love the fact that the US Army thought that giving an 18 year old who has no seen a woman for years was given a weapon that could fire as fast as you could make the male self pleasuring motion

I love that you said the best gun is the one that you’re the most proficient with. Shotguns are very underrated and very deadly. Great video man!

"You'd be surprised how many doors had beards. And sandals." That one had me rolling, much like the two heads in that one engagement you talked about.

I was in one of the testing units for this shotty when it was developed. It’s the best shot gun I’ve ever seen/used. In Iraq it was excellent especially when targets were too dopped up.

11B here......do you even realize how much joy your videos bring me

Given the fact that the Marines are the only branch that still uses bayonets, I have to ask. Does the Benelli M4 have a bayonet lug? Because it needs to.

Wish it was a Mossberg product, but you have to tip your hat to Benelli. That is a hell of a shotgun.

I never shot the Benelli M4, we had the The Mossberg 590A1 when I was in the USMC, back in the 1970's.