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Posted: 7/21/2013 4:56:15 PM EDT
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I recently picked up a Benelli MR1 Comfortech, and have been enjoying it so far. When first holding it, I was struck by the quality, fit and finish, just the overall product itself. It really has the look and build of a 21st Century rifle, a "general purpose", I suppose. (Not an assault rifle or battle rifle, and probably can't be used that way for very long---but it's 50-state legal and will survive the bans if they ever come.)
Despite my excitement for the rifle, I did notice in several online forums and blogs that it was widely panned by gun enthusiasts (I think perhaps unfairly). One common reason was the overly large rear sight, which present the user with some challenges if the pictures online are any clue. The rear sight assembly is rather tall, so in order to mount a scope the rear sight must either be removed entirely (doesn't sound like a prudent idea) or the scope must be mounted with rings so high that the height above bore is very high (from pics I'd guess say almost 3 inches). Putting the scope that high also means raising your face off the stock, breaking your cheek weld, just to look through the scope. This was disappointing because my first day at the range using the iron sights was a bit underwhelming. Now, keeping in mind it's not AR and has a *very* light barrel, I'm confident I can hit a large, say, 200 lb target at perhaps 200-250 with this thing. But I feel I could get a bit more range and accuracy out of a 5.56 with 16" barrel if I had some glass on top. So I started looking for a solution to give me some magnification and aiming ability, without sacrificing shooting fundamentals. That was an exhaustive search, as I had to consider mounting options, eye relief, magnification (6X is probably too much for this barrel, IMHO), practical application, and of course--price. As it happens, the best solution in my opinion was sitting atop my Ruger Gunsite Scout all along. It's the Burris 2.75X Scout scope. Not heavy, not too powerful (won't outperform the round), and good for acquiring targets quickly. It's a Long Eye Relief scope--which allows me to avoid the conflict with the rear sight altogether, by mounting the scope forward. The forward-positioning of the scope, I achieved using Larue's SPR-E mount. This puts the optic about 1.5" above the rail with about a 2" height above bore, very correctable. The cheek pad is the Comfortech extra-high cheek comb, available from Benelli. I probably don't need it, but my wife will be using this rifle as well, and the high comb will assist her in getting the proper cheek weld with her tiny face. On the range, this setup gave me no issues. Shooting 55-grain Lake City ammo, I was able to shoot half inch groups at 25 yards while zeroing. Unfortunately, we hit closing time at the range before I could finish up, so I'll have to continue tweaking my adjustments next time. In the meantime, here's a couple pics. http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b545/greekstorm/2B8359EF-76DF-49F9-84D7-0105C4ADDC2B-11515-00000FFCECE9F280_zps1c8c6114.jpg http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b545/greekstorm/4AFA70ED-B407-4916-BBBF-12925DA7DD1F-11515-00000FFD26E36D23_zps98c604fc.jpg |
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It's definitely not a sub-MOA rifle. There are a few reviews out there but I'd say you're lookin at 1-2 MOA at best. That's not necessarily a ding on it--it's really designed as a "home defense" rifle, aka not a tactical rifle. The barrel is not only short, it's very thin in contour, meaning more vibration, it'll heat up more quickly, etc. So it's really not made for heavy, sustained fire or long-range shooting. You wont be blasting varmints from 1000 meters away with this thing ever. However, the light barrel keeps the weight down to something you can carry around, and it is 16" inches worth of barrel. So as long as you can aim well you could still put accurate fire out to a respectable distance. (I probably wouldn't bother for anything past 300m.).
Now, I put this scope on top because my theory is this "home defense" rifle could also be a light, relatively handy, "coyote rifle" or similar "good-enough for most things, all-purpose rifle". It probably does nothing perfectly, but many things adequately, or at least that's the idea. I plan to take it around with me and try out multiple uses, and I'll see whether that's true. If I ever need an AR, I've got one anyway. The MR1 with the pistol-grip stock was already legal in most states. --But it's the Comfortech stock (no pistol grip) that gets it into CA and NY, and the lack of flash hider and other "evil assault rifle" features is what kept it off the most recent list they were toying with. Oh and Benelli isn't kidding about the "Comfort" part, either. It is a very comfortable stock, kinda squishy, which pretty much softens up an already quite soft recoil. (I'll put this way: my wife has arthritis and suffers pain from a dislocated shoulder, and she shot this thing all day long with no issues.) Anyway, is it all that and a bag of chips? No. It's definitely niche, but I thought it was a good safe bet that'll do most jobs I need it to. |
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I tried a 20 rd Magpul PMAG. It works fine, it's just when you hit the mag release the magazine doesn't fall away, you have to pull it out. So no PMAG for this guy, and I'm sort of leery of buying Thermold or similar magazines for that same reason.
The MR1 seems to really like any straight 10- or 20-rd metal magazines. I bought some Promag magazines (pictured, top) and they work great. I recently also just picked up a metal 20-rd mag at Cabelas, and no issues there either. I figure, just stick with the metal, straight mags and it'll do solid. You can usually find immense stacks of those suckers for cheap at any half-decent gun show. I have a metal 30-rd that came with my KAC SR-15, and it seems to do okay. Really, I just don't put 30-rounders in the MR1 for aesthetic reasons (looks weird to me) plus if I need 30 rounds, ever, I'm grabbing something else anyway. (I also wonder--and I'm no engineer--whether the curve on the 30rd mag is the problem; like maybe when it's fully loaded there's a funny little torque because of the weight distribution and that's what gives people problems??? Any mechanical engineers in the house?) Also, if magazine capacity is an issue where some of you live, the flush 5 rd factory (2nd pic) mag is available from Benelli online. Or a cheaper option is to get the 5 rd "hunting" mags that look like 10 rd mags. Haven't tried them, but the slim profile on those looks compatible for this rifle. |
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I posted a few questions at Benelli USA about this rifle and here.
Can anyone help out? THERE http://forum.benelliusa.com/showthread.php/32275-MR1-Looking-and-Want-Some-info AND HERE |
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Sorry for the late reply ...
I can't answer your specific gun related questions, JRCmx (sorry) other than to say that I have seen the add-on rails for sale somewhere. When I first picked up our MR-1 I looked into the adjustable stock and between price and availability I forgot about it. The LOP works well for me and my wife so I didn't press the issue. I do think about adding the bottom rail as the outside of the magazine well has a rounder shape and it's hard to maintain a good grip there without putting pressure on the magazine. I'd rather have the vfg further back than what the rails allow, but I still might try it out if I can find the rails. I will say that the design of the stock is such that if you ever plan on scoping the rifle plan on using a high riser. The slope of the stock sucks in that regard. I did install one of Primary Arms very low profile red dot and cheek weld isn't bad without any riser. I can second greekstorm's experience with the pmag magazines. I had a couple pmags that I tried out and all of them required me to pull them out. Okay for the range, but that was it. I also tried some different 30rd steel and aluminum magazines and I had a very common problem of the round that was being chambered riding over the bolt. It didn't make any difference what the follower in these magazines were as I played around with a bunch of them. Now I strictly use the Brownell magazines with the Benelli, but I might start experimenting with 20 rounders. Reliability of the rifle seems good so far although to be honest I've never shot more than a hundred rounds out of it in one session. Cleaning it can be adventurous the first few times, but after that it's not bad. Accuracy is on par with pumpkinheaver, but the majority of FMJ were closer to 2moa at 100yds. I think mine likes lighter than 55gr bullets although I did have good luck with some 64gr fusions. I do love firing the MR-1 in that I find I can stay on target better and I think it cycles a little faster than an ar15. Nothing scientific of course, but it is noticeable to me. Ergonomics aren't too bad once you get used to them. All in all I'm happy with it and do like to bring it out of it's resting place. If I needed a defensive firearm, however, I would not grab it but rather I would grab an ar15 if I wanted .223. Finally, the gun shop is trying to soak you. I bought mine a couple years ago new for $1200+. $900 might be a go for used, but they would have to throw some ammo or mags in to sweeten the deal. |
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Quoted:
Sorry for the late reply ... I can't answer your specific gun related questions, JRCmx (sorry) other than to say that I have seen the add-on rails for sale somewhere. When I first picked up our MR-1 I looked into the adjustable stock and between price and availability I forgot about it. The LOP works well for me and my wife so I didn't press the issue. I do think about adding the bottom rail as the outside of the magazine well has a rounder shape and it's hard to maintain a good grip there without putting pressure on the magazine. I'd rather have the vfg further back than what the rails allow, but I still might try it out if I can find the rails. I will say that the design of the stock is such that if you ever plan on scoping the rifle plan on using a high riser. The slope of the stock sucks in that regard. I did install one of Primary Arms very low profile red dot and cheek weld isn't bad without any riser. I can second greekstorm's experience with the pmag magazines. I had a couple pmags that I tried out and all of them required me to pull them out. Okay for the range, but that was it. I also tried some different 30rd steel and aluminum magazines and I had a very common problem of the round that was being chambered riding over the bolt. It didn't make any difference what the follower in these magazines were as I played around with a bunch of them. Now I strictly use the Brownell magazines with the Benelli, but I might start experimenting with 20 rounders. Reliability of the rifle seems good so far although to be honest I've never shot more than a hundred rounds out of it in one session. Cleaning it can be adventurous the first few times, but after that it's not bad. Accuracy is on par with pumpkinheaver, but the majority of FMJ were closer to 2moa at 100yds. I think mine likes lighter than 55gr bullets although I did have good luck with some 64gr fusions. I do love firing the MR-1 in that I find I can stay on target better and I think it cycles a little faster than an ar15. Nothing scientific of course, but it is noticeable to me. Ergonomics aren't too bad once you get used to them. All in all I'm happy with it and do like to bring it out of it's resting place. If I needed a defensive firearm, however, I would not grab it but rather I would grab an ar15 if I wanted .223. Finally, the gun shop is trying to soak you. I bought mine a couple years ago new for $1200+. $900 might be a go for used, but they would have to throw some ammo or mags in to sweeten the deal. The clerk said the owner was waaaaaay off the mark on the price. It is a consignment unit. I was thinking more like $700 to start the talking for a used rifle. The clerk sent the owner a message on the price but no respones yet. A couple of shooters / owners said a heaver barrel would help with MOA. The RX4 has a "better" barrel, but I think it is only in 12.5" in length. Damn You Beretta, You have the teas down to an art. 
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