Alright, we've got our M4 clone thread, now it's time for the M3 CLONE thread.
To my knowledge, these Turkish Benelli M3 clones have been imported as:
Tristar Tec-12
SDS Duo-Sys
These appear to be the Khan Arms Duo-Sys Force in sporting format.
The Tec-12 apparently had some changes early on, but from what I can tell, the SDS Duo-Sys seems to be identical to the later models of the Tristar Tec-12.
The cheapest place to buy these is likely to change. You are best off checking Wikiarms. I bought mine from Dahlonega Arms for $306 (plus $30 shipping), but they're now much higher. Suffice it to say that you should be aiming at $350 and under for your base purchase price.
Initial impressions out of the box:
The Duo-Sys ships in the usual godawful cardboard box I've seen with the last two SDS shotguns I've bought. Clearly, this is one of the places they're saving money. The gun itself was in good enough condition, with no serious marks or similar. It comes with a limiter, some chokes, the charging handle, and an instruction manual.
Initial hand-cycling function checks with dummies were successful. The semi-auto action is super smooth (shockingly so); the pump action encounters some friction about halfway through the stroke, but nothing that would slow you down if you were in a hurry. If you are used to the 870 or 5XX platforms, the M3 operating system is going to surprise you a bit. The pump action does not lock closed when chambered, but it will lock open when you fire your last shot when the tube is empty. While I would certainly appreciate it locking closed (the real M3 does not as well), I don't mind locking open as much. The extractor looks like the standard Benelli setup, and the spring felt really rather weak; I expect that replacing those two will be a first order of business.
The sights are meh, but functional. I suspect optics might not be such a bad idea (much like the S4), provided the rail is torqued well.
The stock is garbage. Unfortunately, they decided to bolt it in, as you can see in this bad picture:
View attachment 331339
Hope you've got a good socket wrench extension! I am told the ATI universal stock for Tristars will fit this thing, and I've got one on order.
The other problem is the magazine tube. Instead of doing it right with the dummy tube extension, they instead made an extra long tube and then crimped the top of it. Genius! G-d help you if you ever need to fix the spring and follower in there:
View attachment 331342
The good news is, they SUPPOSEDLY take Nova extensions once you cut the extra bit of the tube off with a conduit cutter or similar. Just realize that this is a one-way operation unless you can make a snap ring work in it, or maybe a real Benelli nova nut. Personally, if I had assurances that the genuine M3 magazine tube would fit, that would probably be my personal preference - this is a one way operation no matter how you slice it.
Next stop is the range; gotta check functionality!
To my knowledge, these Turkish Benelli M3 clones have been imported as:
Tristar Tec-12
SDS Duo-Sys
These appear to be the Khan Arms Duo-Sys Force in sporting format.
The Tec-12 apparently had some changes early on, but from what I can tell, the SDS Duo-Sys seems to be identical to the later models of the Tristar Tec-12.
The cheapest place to buy these is likely to change. You are best off checking Wikiarms. I bought mine from Dahlonega Arms for $306 (plus $30 shipping), but they're now much higher. Suffice it to say that you should be aiming at $350 and under for your base purchase price.
Initial impressions out of the box:
The Duo-Sys ships in the usual godawful cardboard box I've seen with the last two SDS shotguns I've bought. Clearly, this is one of the places they're saving money. The gun itself was in good enough condition, with no serious marks or similar. It comes with a limiter, some chokes, the charging handle, and an instruction manual.
Initial hand-cycling function checks with dummies were successful. The semi-auto action is super smooth (shockingly so); the pump action encounters some friction about halfway through the stroke, but nothing that would slow you down if you were in a hurry. If you are used to the 870 or 5XX platforms, the M3 operating system is going to surprise you a bit. The pump action does not lock closed when chambered, but it will lock open when you fire your last shot when the tube is empty. While I would certainly appreciate it locking closed (the real M3 does not as well), I don't mind locking open as much. The extractor looks like the standard Benelli setup, and the spring felt really rather weak; I expect that replacing those two will be a first order of business.
The sights are meh, but functional. I suspect optics might not be such a bad idea (much like the S4), provided the rail is torqued well.
The stock is garbage. Unfortunately, they decided to bolt it in, as you can see in this bad picture:
View attachment 331339
Hope you've got a good socket wrench extension! I am told the ATI universal stock for Tristars will fit this thing, and I've got one on order.
The other problem is the magazine tube. Instead of doing it right with the dummy tube extension, they instead made an extra long tube and then crimped the top of it. Genius! G-d help you if you ever need to fix the spring and follower in there:
View attachment 331342
The good news is, they SUPPOSEDLY take Nova extensions once you cut the extra bit of the tube off with a conduit cutter or similar. Just realize that this is a one-way operation unless you can make a snap ring work in it, or maybe a real Benelli nova nut. Personally, if I had assurances that the genuine M3 magazine tube would fit, that would probably be my personal preference - this is a one way operation no matter how you slice it.
Next stop is the range; gotta check functionality!
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Amazon claims that my high cheek riser kit came, so I will put it on and take a better picture tonight.
