Mind boggling how people continue to make comparisons with the Beretta 1301 & A300U vs. the Benelli M4. IMMEDIATELY, people point out the Berettas are noticeably lighter and handle/swing easier..OF COURSE..because the Berettas are not platforms designed to meet the request proposed in 1998 by the United Sates DOD/USMC for a COMBAT 12 ga. semi-auto system proven effective & reliable in the harshest of any conditions..which is precisely what the M4 did-won-proved superior and functioned reliably for 20,000+ rounds before needing to be cleaned. The M4 was/is purpose built for the rigors of combat..so 25 years later & counting newer semi auto platforms are brought to market but without one tiny exception, go through/meet the requirements in place by the US Military that the Benelli M4 was built for. The Genius of the M4 is it’s ARGO system, a total of just 4 moving pieces to minimize fouling & maximize going boom when it matters most. Beretta owns Benelli, and the piston systems of the 1301 & A300U are similar to the M4 ARGO system..BUT NOT identical & the Beretta piston systems absolutely have more moving parts to cause fouling. So ya the Benelli M4 is heavier & slightly cumbersome(to some)..because it was not designed to go bird hunting, or for sporting clays/skeet/trap, or paper targets or put in a glass display case..although it can do ALL those things just fine and shoot any load made. The Benelli M4 was purpose built for combat, people always conveniently forget/dismiss that fact..yet at the same time all these years later every 12 gauge semi-auto “tactical” platform made gets compared to the M4, which is the ultimate validation. Of course the M4 always loses two feel-good categories; it’s overly expensive and not light enough, meanwhile the cost for a new 1301 tactical is approx. $1,600 & counting.