29-Jul-2026
Some shotguns earn their following through advertising; others earn it in the field. The Benelli M2 is firmly in the second camp. Ask around any wildfowling club, pigeon hide or practical shotgun line in the UK, and you will find M2 owners who have put tens of thousands of cartridges through their guns with barely a hiccup. Searches for the Benelli M2 have been climbing steadily among UK shooters, so this review looks at what makes the gun tick, where it excels, and what to weigh up if you are thinking of buying one new or second-hand.
The inertia system: Benelli’s masterstroke
The heart of the M2 is Benelli’s inertia-driven operating system. Where most semi-automatic shotguns bleed gas from the barrel to cycle the action, the M2 uses the recoil energy of the fired cartridge acting against a spring-loaded rotating bolt. The practical consequences are significant. There are no gas ports, pistons or O-rings to foul with carbon; the action stays remarkably clean even after heavy sessions; and stripping the gun for maintenance takes a couple of minutes with no tools.
For UK shooters who use their guns hard, wildfowlers dealing with salt spray, pigeon shooters firing hundreds of cartridges in a day- that low-maintenance character is the M2’s defining virtue. The trade-off is slightly sharper felt recoil than a gas gun, since none of the energy is soaked up by the operating system. Benelli mitigates this with its ComforTech stock system on many versions, which does a respectable job of taming the thump.
Handling and build
The M2 is a notably light, lively gun for a semi-auto. The alloy receiver and lean forend give it a between-the-hands feel closer to a game gun than the barrel-heavy character of some gas autos. That makes it quick onto fast crossing pigeons and bolting rabbits, though shooters used to heavier clay guns may find it flightier on sustained driven days.
Fit and finish are what you would expect from Benelli: unfussy, tough and well executed. Synthetic-stocked versions dominate the UK market and shrug off weather that would ruin an oiled walnut stock, while camo-dipped versions are popular with the fowling crowd. The controls are positive, the trigger is respectable for a working semi-auto, and the gun feeds a wide range of loads once broken in, though, as with all inertia guns, very light loads can struggle to cycle the action reliably, which is worth knowing if you plan to feed it featherweight clay cartridges.
The M2 in the field
This is a gun built for the rough end of British shooting. On the foreshore it handles heavy steel loads without complaint and cleans up quickly after a salt-laden morning. In the pigeon hide its fast cycling and light weight keep it comfortable through high-volume days. It has also become a mainstay of practical shotgun competition in the UK, where reliability under speed matters more than anything else.
Where the M2 is less at home is formal driven game shooting, where tradition still favours the over-and-under, and serious clay competition, where dedicated target guns offer more stability and smoother recoil. It can do both jobs, but it was not built for them; the M2 is a working tool first.
M2 vs the rest of the Benelli stable
Benelli’s range can be confusing, so it helps to place the M2. Below it sits the Montefeltro, a slimmer sporting inertia gun; above it sits the M3 and M4 with their more specialised roles. The most common comparison among UK buyers is with the discontinued Vinci, a gun that divided opinion with its radical styling but shared the M2’s inertia reliability. We have covered that head-to-head in detail in our Benelli Vinci vs M2 comparison. The short version: the M2’s conventional layout, wider accessory support and continued production make it the safer buy today.
Against rivals from other makers, the M2’s chief competition comes from gas-operated guns like the Beretta A400, softer shooting but more maintenance-hungry. Our Beretta A400 review makes a useful companion read if you are weighing the two systems against each other.
Buying an M2 in the UK: New or used?
New M2s sit in the mid-to-upper bracket for semi-autos, not cheap, but well below premium game gun money. The second-hand market is healthy, helped by the gun’s reputation for longevity: a used M2 with an honest amount of wear generally has a vast amount of life left in it.
When viewing a used example, check the bolt rotates and locks crisply, look for corrosion around the magazine cap and under the forend on guns that have seen foreshore use, and confirm the chokes come with the gun and thread out cleanly. Because the inertia system has so few moving parts, there is mercifully little else to go wrong. As always when buying from a private seller or dealer, our guide to buying from an RFD covers the sensible steps.
Semi-automatic shotguns with limited magazine capacity can be held on a standard UK shotgun certificate, with higher-capacity versions requiring a firearm certificate; confirm the configuration of the individual gun with the seller before purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Benelli M2 legal in the UK? Yes. Limited-capacity versions are held on a shotgun certificate; versions with larger magazine capacity fall under Section 1 and need a firearm certificate. Check the specific gun’s configuration when buying.
Is the Benelli M2 good for clay shooting? It can certainly shoot clays, and many owners use theirs for informal sporting rounds. For serious competition, though, most shooters prefer a dedicated clay gun with more weight and softer recoil.
What is the difference between the Benelli M2 and Montefeltro? Both use the inertia system. The Montefeltro is slimmer and more sporting in character with walnut furniture; the M2 is the more rugged, synthetic-stocked working gun with a stronger following among fowlers and practical shooters.
Does the Benelli M2 cycle light loads? Inertia guns need a certain minimum load to cycle reliably. Standard game and pigeon loads run without issue; very light clay loads can be marginal, particularly in a brand-new gun that has not yet bedded in.
Browse Benelli M2 listings on Rightgun.uk
If you want one gun that will take everything the British seasons can throw at it, the M2 remains one of the strongest arguments in the semi-auto market. See the latest Benelli M2 shotguns for sale on Rightgun.uk, or browse the full selection of shotguns for sale from trusted sellers across the UK.
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