I picked up a used Girsan MC312 for $350 from a local gunshop. 12ga, 3.5", camo. Anyone else have experience with these? Frankly, I'm impressed. The gun weighs 7lb 2.5oz and takes Mobil chokes, of which I've got pile of. The gun has a flat rib that is nicely serrated. The gun was imported in 2019 and it's seen its fair share of use. I dare say that the action on this gun is remarkably smooth and it is as close to "Benelli click" free as possible. What I mean is that if you ease the bolt out of battery, all you have to do is tap it with your thumb and it goes back into battery. The forend is very thin, which I really like. The gun is tight, no rattles. The gun comes apart and cleans very easily and goes back together equally easily, no fighting to get the parts back together. The magazine loads butter smooth, no hangup before the rim enters the magazine. The safety button is larger than many guns out there, I like it. The gun has cycled everything I've fed it including 1oz target loads. It holds six 2 3/4" shells with the plug removed, which I love for snow goose season. 6 shells without putting an extension tube on is pretty sweet, as evidenced by the 5 for 5 I went on a flock this evening and the 4 for 6 I went on the flock b4 that.
Now for the rest of the story. The recoil pad has precious little give to it, however I did not notice the recoil when snow goose hunting with 1.25oz, 1400fps 2 3/4" loads with just a shirt on. I ordered a Limbsaver after I got the gun. I may not bother to install it as the gun shoulders so perfectly with the existing recoil pad and the recoil didn't bother me while hunting. I'm a hunter far more than a clays shooter. As well as the gun is put together, the receiver and buttstock are not mated seamlessly. There is some overhang where the stock meets the receiver, not a ton but it is noticeable. The trigger has a fair bit of take up before breaking at 5 1/2 lbs of pull. My gun did not come with any stock shims. I called the importer, EAA and they said that drop shims were available but cast shims were not. I did find a guy on ebay that 3D prints shims for this gun, both cast and drop, he's sending me 1 of each for $6.
The one real issue I have with the gun is when manually unloading a round from the chamber. I believe it is due to a worn down extractor and my gunsmith agrees. Everything works perfectly when shooting the gun but when unloading the chamber by racking the bolt, the gun does not fling the round out of the gun unless you hold the gun with the bolt facing upward. I'll know more when I get the extractor replaced.
There's my 2 cents. I love shooting this gun.
Now for the rest of the story. The recoil pad has precious little give to it, however I did not notice the recoil when snow goose hunting with 1.25oz, 1400fps 2 3/4" loads with just a shirt on. I ordered a Limbsaver after I got the gun. I may not bother to install it as the gun shoulders so perfectly with the existing recoil pad and the recoil didn't bother me while hunting. I'm a hunter far more than a clays shooter. As well as the gun is put together, the receiver and buttstock are not mated seamlessly. There is some overhang where the stock meets the receiver, not a ton but it is noticeable. The trigger has a fair bit of take up before breaking at 5 1/2 lbs of pull. My gun did not come with any stock shims. I called the importer, EAA and they said that drop shims were available but cast shims were not. I did find a guy on ebay that 3D prints shims for this gun, both cast and drop, he's sending me 1 of each for $6.
The one real issue I have with the gun is when manually unloading a round from the chamber. I believe it is due to a worn down extractor and my gunsmith agrees. Everything works perfectly when shooting the gun but when unloading the chamber by racking the bolt, the gun does not fling the round out of the gun unless you hold the gun with the bolt facing upward. I'll know more when I get the extractor replaced.
There's my 2 cents. I love shooting this gun.
