Almost since its introduction in 1999, many have considered the Benelli M4 to be the finest semiautomatic tactical shotgun available. A version was adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps as the M1014. In recent years, however, the Beretta 1301 Tactical — launched in 2013 — seems to be supplanting the M4 for that reputation. The Langdon Tactical Technologies (LTT) Beretta 1301 Blackout is an enhanced version that gun, making it a turnkey defensive package that includes an optic, light, side saddle and more.
LTT is helmed by Ernest Langdon, a 12-year U.S. Marine veteran and instructor. He rose to fame as a national champion action pistol shooter, and for his trigger jobs on Beretta 92 pistols. He’s worked with Beretta directly, and with several shops such as Wilson Combat to produce upgraded parts and product-improved projects of existing firearms. LTT has been so successful that Beretta has cataloged his firearms and most firearm-related retail businesses offer his products.
The LTT 1301 Blackout is built on the Beretta 1301 Tactical Mod. 2 shotgun. It is a semiauto 12-gauge with an 181/2-inch barrel, 3-inch chamber, and seven-round-capacity magazine tube when filled with 2¾-inch shells. The barrel uses OptimaBore chokes, and Guns & Ammo’s arrived with a cylinder bore choke installed and an Improved Cylinder choke in the case.
The 1301 Tactical has an aluminum receiver that is shorter than typical when compared to many shotguns. Combine this trait with a stock that has a shorter-than-average length of pull, and the 1301 Tactical appears as if it could be a short-barreled shotgun; it isn’t. When comparing base models, the 1301 Tactical Mod. 2 is 2-inches shorter and more than a pound lighter than the Benelli M4 Tactical, even with barrels of the same length.
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The 1301 Tactical features a rotating, chrome-plated bolt. Unique to the Beretta is its BLINK self-regulating gas-piston operating system with a split-ring valve. It reportedly seals tighter than any other system and is the main reason why the gun cycles so fast. Beretta states the 1301 Tactical Mod. 2 cycles 36-percent faster than any other shotgun. It was designed to handle everything from soft birdshot to heavy-recoiling buckshot loads. The piston is self-cleaning, and — as far as semiautomatic shotguns go, the 1301 Tactical Mod. 2 has proven itself to be as immune to fouling as semiauto scatterguns get.
Many shotgun users also believe the 1301 Tactical’s controls are the best of any tactical shotgun available. The safety is a large, pronounced, reversible, triangular polymer button shaped to fit a fingertip. It’s positioned exactly where the tip of a finger rests when gripping and shouldering the gun. The bolt handle is big, too, extending beyond the receiver just more than an inch. The bolt release is also large, long and serrated.
Technically, the gun is based on the Beretta 1301 Gen 2 Mod 2. The Beretta 1301 Gen 2 has screw-in chokes and a beveled loading port on the underside of the receiver, but the biggest difference is the bolt release. If you accidentally hit the original Gen 1 bolt release while the bolt was forward with a round in the chamber, you’d experience a double-feed underneath the bolt, locking the action. That was fixed with the Gen 2 design. The 1301 Gen 2 Mod. 2 added a few improvements, including an aggressively textured forend (first appearing on the Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol) with M-Lok accessory slots, a semi-flat trigger, and an oversized carrier-stop push button with a lifter that stays up and out of the way while the magazine is being loaded.
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The Good Stuff
LTT upgrades to the 1301 envelope are meant to maximize its function for defensive use. LTT swapped out the factory stock for a Magpul SGA stock, which was designed for the Mossberg 500. It is adapted to the 1301 using a GG&G mount. Five half-inch spacers are included with the shotgun. With no spacers installed, the overall length of the shotgun is 37.3 inches and the length of pull is 121/4 inches, which is very short. The stock and forend are set up with Magpul quick-detach (QD) sling-swivel mounts; a Magpul MS1 two-point sling is also included.
LTT replaced the serviceable ghost ring factory sights with perhaps the best tactical shotgun sights I have ever seen: LTT Super Duty Sights. This setup includes the FastBack optic mount. The FastBack mount positions the included Holosun optic low enough on the receiver to allow the shooter to align the iron sights through the window. It’s far enough back that it’s out of the way if you need to go over the top of the gun and stuff a shell directly into the chamber for a quick reload.
The Super Duty rear sight is a simple, pistol-style notch forward of the optic. It’s 1-MOA click-adjustable for windage, and it can be adjusted using the rim of a shell.
The front sight is a wide .275-inch post with no protective wings (to reduce visual clutter). The front sight is roughly 30-MOA wide and was designed to be fast when firing buckshot. When shooting slugs, the center of the front sight has a tiny notch for increased precision. Wide, notched front sights balancing speed and precision are not new and date back (at least) to the French Berthier carbines used in World War I. The sights are nitride-finished steel for durability. The sights are not adjustable for elevation, but LTT indicates it regulated elevation for Federal’s low-recoil TruBall shotgun slugs at 50 yards.
The provided Holosun 509T is an enclosed optic with a titanium housing that has a 2-MOA/32-MOA circle-dot reticle; users can switch to the dot only, or just the circle. Langdon prefers running the circle reticle because it is roughly the size of the shot group at every range with premium buckshot. This makes it a quick way to gauge coverage of the target area based on the size of the circle over the target, and whether buckshot is preferrable or a switch to slugs. The optic is both battery and solar powered for up to 50,000 hours.
The factory Beretta 1301 Tactical Mod. 2 forend features aggressive raised checkering and includes M-Lok attachment slots at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. As part of the Blackout package, the LTT 1301 shotgun comes with a Streamlight ProTac HL-X on a Magpul cantilever aluminum mount. This is a 1,000-lumen light kit that includes a cable and pressure switch to activate.
The most eye-catching part of this build is the LTT Heat Shield with Labyrinth Cable Management. The ventilated, insulative nylon heat shield does not touch the barrel and will not get too hot to burn you. Its utility is as a convenient way to manage electrical cables and switches you might have on the front of your gun. Simply push the cables down into the channels to your preference, and they’ll stay out of the way. The modular switch mount holding the pressure pad for the light is set up on the left side of the forend, but you can move it if you so desire.
The LTT 1301 Blackout is also treated to an LTT trigger job. The LTT servicing noticeably smoothed out the trigger feel and provided a rolling break at 41/2 pounds.
On the left side of the receiver is a Vang Comp side saddle. It is an elastic strip with Velcro backing. When not stuffed with shells, it lies flat. Keep up to six spare shells available and change out the chamber in a second.
The advantage of an extended magazine on a shotgun means that you will reload less. A shotgun is extremely effective in critical situations. The side saddle is best utilized to hold alternative types of shells that are not carried in the magazine tube such as birdshot, buckshot, slugs or breaching rounds.
At The Range
The LTT 1301 Blackout shotgun was fed a variety of birdshot, buckshot and slugs to test its reliability. It ran everything. It proved nicely accurate with all slugs tested, but Federal’s low-recoil TruBall was the standout, delivering one-hole groups at 25 yards while sighting it in.
As this is a tactical shotgun, patterning was accomplished with 00-buckshot. Winchester’s Super-X buckshot produced nice 61/2-inch groups; Hornady’s American Gunner low-recoil load averaged about 4 inches, with the occasional flyer that opened up the groups; and Federal Premium’s nine-pellet low recoil Personal Defense load (PD132/LE132) was incredible, averaging 21/2-inch groups. Hence, it was selected as our recommended defensive load for use in the LTT 1301 Blackout.
Lasting Impressions
The LTT 1301 Blackout proved accurate and completely reliable. As shipped — empty but with the optic and light mounted — the tested LTT 1301 Blackout weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces. Felt recoil was typical for a 7 1/2-pound shotgun. The upgrades and accessories in this package make Beretta’s premium tactical shotgun even more capable. It’s not inexpensive, but you get what you pay for.
The LTT 1301 Blackout package is a Lipsey’s distributor exclusive, but LTT plans on building 1301 Blackouts for as long as people like us are interested in buying them.
LTT Beretta 1301 Blackout
- Type: Gas-piston operated, semiautomatic
- Gauge: 12 ga.
- Barrel: 18.5 in., 3-in. chamber
- Overall Length: 37.3 in.
- Length of Pull: 12.25 in. to 14.75 in., adj.
- Drop at Heel: 1.75 in.
- Drop at Comb: 1.5 in.
- Weight: 7 lbs., 4 oz.
- Stock: Magpul SGA
- Receiver: Aluminum
- Finish: Anodized
- Trigger: LTT, 4 lbs., 8 oz. (tested)
- Sights: LTT Super Duty, windage adj. notch (rear); fixed post (front); Holosun 509T
- Safety: Crossbolt
- Accessories: Streamlight ProTac HL-X; Vang Comp side saddle; Magpul MS1 sling; hard case; Cylinder bore and Improved Cylinder (IC) OptimaBore choke tubes
- MSRP: $3,299
- Importer: Beretta USA, beretta.com
- Gunsmith Service Provider: Langdon Tactical Technology, 571-385-2979, langdontactical.com
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