The Black Campbell

My experience with my first “Turkenelli” — the Military Armament Corporation’s MAC 2 shotgun was…lackluster. You can read about it here. A knockoff of the Benelli M2 12 gauge semiautomatic shotgun, it is an exacting enough clone that they are supposedly 90%+ parts compatible. When I took the thing down the first time, I didn’t need the instructions; it was nearly identical to my old M1 Super 90 from the ‘90s. The question was, at $400 after tax, was I getting anywhere near the quality and usability of a gun five times the cost?

Having had a plethora of issues with the weapon, SDS Imports out of Chattanooga had me send it back. The experience with their customer service department was very good. The lady on the phone had responded to my initial email within 24 hours, the tech team had looked at the pictures and concluded “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” and had me send it back. 48 hours later (plus Sunday), I had a new MAC 2. I decided to do the same 50 round run at the local range to see if my experience would be replicated.

I got the same marine-finish MAC 2 with black plastic furniture and a standard shotgun grip. (I like these more than the “tactical” grips.) The MAC 2 comes with the standard Benelli ghost ring sights, but also an Picatinny optics rail. It has a front slug mount…but not a rear. (Really, guys?) A rotating and heavily knurled cocking lever, standard button to release the bolt, and cross-bolt safety. Exactly like the Italian M1/M2s. It also comes with cylinder, modified, and full chokes. The finish is nice — and appears to have been badly applied in my original unit, judging from the level of wear seen. More in a moment.

For the test, a ran 5 rounds of Winchester #4 buck, 30 rounds of 00 buck — all with a 1150fps velocity according to the boxes; 5 more 00 buck with a 1350fps speed, and lastly 5 shells of older Super-X rifled slug with an 1150fps speed. I figured, like the Benelli, the lower velocity might give me malfunctions to eject or feed like some of the Benellis have in the past. All 50 shells ran without an issue.

The original MAC 2 I had purchased patterned very well an shot true to point of aim with the pre-installed cylinder choke. The #4 buck shot a wide pattern at 15 yards — about 30 inches on the widest axis. The pellets on the 00 were generally within a foot or so and stayed on the silhouette target, aiming center mass at 20 yards and not really taking my time. Interestingly, the shot cups veered pretty wildly — up to two feet from the shot pattern. Slugs shot to point of aim between 5 and 20 yards.

The MAC 2 can pop them out pretty quickly, too. The inertia system of the older Benellis isn’t as quick at the ARGO in the M4, but the gun never lagged behind my ability to get back on target and hit the trigger again. Extraction was enthusiastic, as well; the shells were throwing about three yards and slightly forward. Recoil is not as soft as the ARGO delivers, but it’s not as brutal as a pump action.

With a successful range trip concluded and only the barrel/tube support having worked its way forward during shooting, I took it home to clear the thing. This is were things went wrong with the first MAC 2, and I’m pleased to report that this shotgun did not show the signs of wear on the finish anywhere I looked. Not did it have the damage to the bolt head or receiver that the initial gun did. While a sample of two is hard to make sweeping generalizations — I suspect I got a Monday morning gun the first time. It disassembled and reassembled without issue and the internals were not overly dirty, as you would expect from an inertial semi-auto.

The MAC 2 has the following specs:

• Chamber: 12-gauge, 3-in.
• Action: semi-auto, inertia
• Barrel Length: 18.5 in.
• Stock/Forearm: Black plastic (although they do a really nice walnut.)
• Capacity: 5+1 (MAC’s website does have +2 tubes.)
• Sights: adjustable ghost ring rear/blade front
• Optic Compatible: yes (Picatinny rail)
• Finish: bead-blast aluminum
• Overall Length: 47.8 in.
• Weight: 6 lb., 8 oz.
• Chokes: Benelli/Mobil® 1/3/5
• MSRP: $549.99 (I got mine for $350+tax.)

So…is it worth it? In the original review, hell no. Now? If this shotgun is indicative of the quality of most of the MAC shotguns, then yes. You get a parts-compatible Benelli clone for a third the price that runs well (even the original shotgun I tested ran with only two failures to eject)) and looks the part. I might even pop for their M4 clone.

I’m not really a shotgun guy. I don’t find twelve gauge all that much fun to shoot, but I always had one. I’ve owned a few semiautomatic shotguns, including the original Benelli M1 Super 90. I noticed a knock-off of the Benelli M2 by Military Armament Corporation at the gun store the other day. The price was hard to resist (sub $400), so I didn’t.

Now, I’ve heard a lot about the quality of Turkish shotguns being as bad as some of their handguns (Tisas) are good. But at $400, I figure if it’s even halfway to the Benelli, it would be worth it.

So how good is it? Wrong question. How bad is it?

First, the good stuff: It actually comes with chokes, something Benellis I’ve bought don’t, plus the tools to adjust the chokes, the sights, the angle and distance of the stock. It’s got adjustable ghost ring sights, a rail for optics, and is very pointable and light. It looks good, and at first pass, the action runs well and smoothly.

I got the M2 home last week, and broke it down, cleaned and lubed it. I noted a few aluminum shavings here and there — probably missed in the cleaning phase of the production. I took it out for a run today (Monday). I put a total of only 50 shells through it (plus another 30 in a Kel Tec KS7). It’s pretty light at six and a half pounds, and you feel the stouter stuff after a few boxes.

The M2 uses the time-tested Benelli inertial recoil system, so it should run some of the lighter stuff that the ARGO system wouldn’t. In this case, I started with some Norma reduced recoil buckshot. Out of 20 rounds, I had a single failure to eject. Not a bas start. I tried a couple of shorty Aguilas, anticipating they wouldn’t cycle. I was correct. Back to Norma Performance buckshot for 20 rounds. The Turkenelli ran them without issue, save for one failure to eject. Again, for the first time out, now awful. Hornady Black buckshot ran like a top save for one failure to fire that looked to be the round. (It was three years old.) Ten rounds of slug with no malfunctions. All 2 3/4rds, no magnums.

Accuracy was decent, though the reduced recoil shot about two inches high at 15 yards. It was spot on with the Black and slug. While the shorties didn’t cycle, they did pattern spot on at point of aim.

So far, so good. As usual, when I got home, I started cleaning the weapons, starting with the MAC 2. First thing I noted was that the magazine tube really didn’t want to unscrew. I also noticed a bunch of aluminum shavings from the threads and there was some damage from the brace that holds the mag tube and barrel. It had worked it’s way forward a bit during firing.

I don’t mean a few shavings like you’d find from having not cleaned the area…

This is just from the magazine tube being unscrewed. But wait, there’s more. I pulled the tube and dismounted the barrel. Here’s the front of the receiver:

Note not just the impact damage where it meets the barrel; look inside the receiver there. But we’re just getting started, Dear Reader. I pulled the bolt and took it down. Here’s the bolt:

Aluminum shavings. I popped the trigger assembly, using the firing pin retaining pin, as they instructed. That was a mistake:

Nice. And before you say anything, yes — you could do this with the Benelli and not break stuff. With the trigger guard off, the real fun started. There were aluminum shavings and damage everywhere. Remember, this is only 50 shells, nothing hot; in fact, half of it was reduced recoil.

No — that’s not dirt. How’d the bolt look? It was scuffed at the front of the face.

After half an hour of cleaning I had a nice collection of metal filings and had to go over the cleaning mat twice just to get rid of the bits. I even vacuumed the floor under my seat. And once I was done and oiled the weapon…? More shavings.

That’s after I cleaned the hell out of the gun. There was still more.

Aluminum, admittedly, seems a bit of a bad choice for a 12 gauge, but I’ve seen it from other manufacturers. None of their stuff spontaneously shed aluminum, like Arianna Grande losing weight. And again — 50 rounds of normal factory ammunition.

So is it worth it? NO. Not just no, hell no. Steer away from this. I can only imagine how they’ve messed up the ARGO system in their 1014s. Yes, it’s sub-$400, but you can get a Maverick, which won’t shred itself with normal operation. Hell, my cheap Kel Tec has hundreds of rounds through it and even eats shorty shells: no failures.

I have a warranty claim into MAC for the firing pin retaining pin and a request to replace the weapon. Will I fire this thing again? Unlikely. If it’s shedding metal, it’s going to fail somewhere.

Update: I reached out to SDS in Tennessee the same day as this occurred, and I will give them this — their customer service folks are on it. They confirmed that this is not a normal event and that the weapon needs to be replaced. The lady on the CS line was very helpful, especially as I got in touch with them right at the end of their work day.

More as events unfold…