Italian "black rifle" by Benelli

[old tom]

    I'm going to admit it. I don't have a 5.56/223 of any kind. I never wanted one, and I don't like the whole "AR" platform. Right now, I'm bidding in an estate auction on an almost new Benelli MR-1. The auction has 2 weeks to go, so I'm not in a rush to do anything, but I was wondering if anyone out there had experience with the carbine (16 1/2") barrel version, or any version, at all.
    I've looked at all the youtube videos and so called reviews, and all I see is minor complaints from people who obviously prefer the AR platform and look at the Benelli through those prejudiced eyes. Right now, the price is very low, probably considering it's NOT an AR...which is fine, with me. I thought that I might ask here, since this group has a diverse and eclectic taste in firearms.

[PAX]

As long as it uses AR mags and not proprietary units, I don't see how you can go wrong with Benelli anything. PAX

[old tom]

Supposed to use AR pattern mags, according to all I have read.

[Onepoint]

The only problem I have with them is the lack of modularity, the encasing plastic stock probably feels great like the Beretta Storm, but any maintenance may be a PITA.  I would assume the quality is there from the company name.  They are rare enough I have heard little about them other than their being on the market.  If its cheap enough, its worth a shot.  The last one I saw for sale was priced at competing with most of the mid to top tier ARs or  piston variants of them or Galil ace.



 

[old tom]

    Well, so far, so good. The price is still low, although I expect it to climb as the auction still has 13 days to run. I'm not at all concerned about modularity. I have rifles and carbines in several calibers that more than make up for any quick change. Disassembly seems quite straight forward. The gas system is supposed to be self cleaning, so I would suspect minimal maintenance. This is a hammer fired gun, along the lines of a Garand, M-1 Carbine, or SKS, with an easily removed trigger group. I have downloaded and studied the factory manual for it, and it looks like it should be nearly "bullet proof". The only thing I'm concerned about is the pencil barrel, but I don't do "mag dumps", so I don't think overheating will be an issue. I'm not a fan of plastic stocks, but there doesn't seem to be much out there that doesn't have one, anymore.

[Danjal]

It'll be modular and easy enough to get to field and cleaning maintenance bits. It was never expected to be a military rifle, so no auto or non compliant versions exist for federal law in that regard. It doesn't as designed to run along with the storm line, it IS a Beretta design manufactured by Benelli. Benelli makes good stuff, albeit not common unless you're in the world of high end shotgunners.

It'll be a good rifle, but it won't be an AR. The AR is to common for a reason; it just plain works and is cheap to produce. While that's not great for manufacturers, it's amazing for us as consumers and awful for competitive products. So you'll be missing out if you like to play barbi dress up with your rifles.

[old tom]

Nahhh, no dress up for me. I like to make every shot count. typically, a 20 round box will last me an hour on the range. The idea of a plastic stock kind of appeals to me for one reason only. The 80-100 year old wood stocks of my current rifles need constant attention since they are drying out. I had to shim the front barrel bands on my M-17, K98, Swedish and mk1#4 to get the barrel whip under control, and I had to clean up the inletting on my Egyptian FN-49, since the stock was beginning to warp.

[Onepoint]

The dress up is grown up legos for some, but there is a lot of function enhancement in some of that.  But that's fine, everyone has preference of what they like.  I don't care for plastic either, even if I do tolerate it where I have to,  which is why all of mine are floated aluminum handguards, which makes it easier to access for the ones I have with adjustable gas blocks because I run suppressed on most of them now.

We can thank Magpul I suppose for dragging the quality of plastic up alone all across the industry to be the standard others are measured by, so now its not like back in the 80s that a lot of plastic was just trash, especially after market stuff.

 I do have a hipoint carbine in a ATI beretta Storm-ish stock, and it does feel pretty good for ergonomics,  doesn't squeak or flex, I would expect no less from Benelli as well.  Hope you win it.