Tokyo Marui M3 Benelli Shotgun – Review.
The Type M3 Benelli Super 90 was Marui’s second pump-action shotgun to enter the market is certainly an impressive piece. Sporting a 3 barrel hop-up system, 10 shot capacity, mean looking 12 gauge front end, and some very tactical features. Lets take a closer look.
If you’ve ever seen the real steel in action, featured in many action films, you’ll know it’s a semi-automatic shotgun, favoured by SWAT teams across the globe for its ability to rapidly deploy two shots into a suspect. The knock down power of this gun makes it a favourable “room clearance” weapon, and staring down the menacing barrel, its not hard to see why.
Tokyo Marui have opted to make this Airsoft version spring pump-action. What does this mean? Well, it won’t affect you that much unless you’d been planning on using this weapon in a suppressive fire role, shotgun’s aren’t really designed for that, and don’t boast a 200 round hi-cap magazine, for spray and pray tactics. This model was designed for a more oppressive role, storming your way into enemy buildings, and shoving its huge 19 1/4″ barrel in their faces. Equally however, during an Airsoft skirmish, this weapon could very easily take on a sniper role, due to its incredibly accuracy – more on this later.
Opening the impressive box, you are presented with a 2kg beast of a shotgun, a well presented manual written in both English and Japanese, a packet of 100 or so 0.2g Marui rounds, an Allen key for sighting adjustments, and a cleaning/un-jamming tool common with nearly all Marui products. A spare place has been left in the box to store a further three shot-shells, which you’d be well advised to purchase, at the mere cost of £20 (ish).
Carefully prising the gun out of its box, you soon realise you’ll be in for a treat, maybe its something to do with the large number of metal parts which are found amongst it’s frame. Or maybe its the fact this gun is nicely balanced in the hand, and is very robustly constructed using the highest quality materials. Either way, you know right from the start, that this was £155 well spent. (price correct as of Sept 2006)
Starting at the business end of things, staring down the impressive 12 gauge metal barrel, its very hard to notice these 3 hop-up barrels. That’s because they’re recessed about 8 inches, which certainly adds to the realism. Directly underneath this another metal tube which holds 2 shot-shell cartridges, a spring loaded mechanism ensures easy removal, although the plug which holds them in place is slightly difficult to get off, especially during a skirmish. A nice feature, but maybe not as practical as getting yourself a shotgun sling, or the pouch which slips onto the stock.
Just behind this is the Auto/Pump lever, which is only an aesthetic feature, then the front sling plate, which can be mounted either downwards, left or right. The procedure for this is quite simple, and shown well in the pictures – by simply unscrewing the fore-end bolt, pushing the whole assembly forward, and positioning where desired.
Next we reach the main cocking action, the fore-grip. Nicely styled, with ergonomics in mind, this is where business starts. By pulling this back until a click is heard, and pushing it forward, you cock the gun’s mainspring and chamber 3 rounds into the barrel assembly. Once cocked, the fore-grip is locked into place, and cannot be pulled back again – maybe this is to prevent spurious rounds being chambered if cocked accidentally, a second time.
The whole mechanism is quite sturdy, and is made from very durable textured plastic which certainly looks the part. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to fire the SPAS 12, another Marui offering, you’ll have some expectations as to the effort required to cock this weapon. I don’t think its particularly difficult, and its made easier with the pistol grip, as you can simultaneously push the weapon forward, whilst pulling the fore grip back. The only downside I have come across with the way this works, is if your hands are at all sweaty, it becomes increasingly more difficult to operate. Marui obviously thought of this, and included in the box, is a self adhesive rubber strip which can be cut into two pieces, and mounted on either side of the fore grip. This helps remarkably, and can be further aided by the shooter wearing fingerless leather gloves – which also adds that SWAT look to the operator.
On either side of the metal barrel can be found numerous serial numbers, product markings and ammunition information. Also the rear sight sits on the top just behind the fore-grip, and is adjustable for elevation and windage.
From this point onwards, the receiver and stock and made of high density plastic, with the exception of the shell ejection port, trigger, shell-shot release mechanism and sling fixtures – which are all metal. On the right hand side of the frame is the fake shell ejection port. It would have been a nice feature to have this spring loaded, if just for appearance. Inscribed on this is information about the 3 barrel hop-up system, and underneath on the lower receiver are the Tokyo Marui trademarks.
At this end of the gun, we can notice the ingenious shell-shot system, whereby a fake shotgun shell, loaded with 30 0.2g Bb’s can be loaded underneath the gun, by means of a spring loaded metallic cover. Operation of this is fairly realistic, and gives the impression of loading live shells into a real steel M3. Loading your shot-shell is fairly simple. Pressing a small button, on the right of the trigger releases a trapdoor, and the shell is simply thumbed into the recess, and the lid closed. You’re then ready for 10 shots of pump action fun. Word of caution – when pressing the button to release an empty shell, beware it can fall out, and contact with a hard surface may damage it.
The shell itself looks like a fake 12 gauge shell, and 30 Bb’s are loaded into the end of it. Its quite easy to manually thumb each BB into place, but Marui have provided you with a 30rnd loading tool, like used with the MP5K, to speed up the job. As follower spring is under quite high tension, I wouldn’t recommend you leave the shell fully loaded for too longer period (i.e.> days), as this will weaken the spring, and may cause loading difficulties later on.
Ok, so the gun is very pretty, but how does it shoot? Well the answer is VERY well. Like I mentioned previously, if you prefer to fire aimlessly into bushes, rattling off rounds at 700 per minute with a 1000 box magazine, why not take a well earned break and get yourself one of these babies. The accuracy is not only good, but increased 3x with the extra 2 Bb’s flying down range. At 25m, the spread of the Bb’s is about 1ft in diameter – and lets face it, your average Airsoft player is a little wider than that! Simply put, if you line your sights up, and squeeze the trigger – you’re not going to miss. That’s what makes this gun such a good candidate for a sniper weapon. Cock the action, safety on, then sit and wait for your unsuspecting victim. That 10 rnd shot-shell will easily provide you with enough fire power to pick off victims at ranges equal to most standard AEGS.
On the CQB front, where a little more persuasive action may be required, this gun has a wonderful feature. Holding down the trigger, whilst pulling the fore grip back and forth will fire off as many rounds as your left arm can handle. In this situation, it would be ideal to make use of that sticky backed rubber strip, bundled with the package, to increase your grip on the action.
Conclusion?
Well, you could possibly purchase yourself the Maruzen M1100 (magazine version) gas blowback shotgun, which is equally nicely styled (although without the combat style pistol grip) but then you have two problems. Firstly, the magazine only holds around 25 rounds, and are expensive against the M3’s £20 for 3 shells. Secondly you have problems with running out of gas, or worst case scenario – gas leaking, as inevitably happens with GBB weapons in cold weather. Plus you’re looking at a price tag of £260 average.
The M3 is perfect for skirmishing. Its robust, nicely balanced, well made, will last all day so long as you have Bb’s in your pocket and most certainly looks the part. The range is perfectly adequate, in fact, many people would say that its greater than your average AEG, and I’d have to agree with them. What more can I say, other than – go get one!
