Aselkon IT1 - The $250 Benelli M4 Clone You've Never Heard Of

Ever wanted a Benelli M4 but couldn't afford the $2,000 plus price tag?
Full Written Review: https://crackshot.tv/aselkon-it-1-review/

You're might be in luck. Introducing the Aselkon IT-1, a Benelli M4 knockoff semi automatic shotgun. At nearly 1/10th the price of the real thing, is this Turkish clone shotgun a good value?

I picked this bad boy up from Palmetto State Armory for $250 on clearance.

Now I know, when people see semi auto Turkish shotguns for under $300 they roll their eyes, maybe some of you have purchased a dud, maybe some have exploded and you've lost arms while bearing arms, I don't know, but bear with me and don't throw the baby out with the bathwater quite yet.

So does this deal of a shotgun go boom or bust? Let's find out together.

I'm going to say at $250 this was a steal. This shotgun is a blast.

Let's go over the features:

The IT-1 comes in a pretty nice hard case. Sadly, the hardcase forces you to disassemble the barrel in order for the shotgun to fit, so I'll never use it. The IT-1 also comes with 2 chokes. I'm sure I'll lose the second one in a parts toolbox somewhere, since I really like the spread pattern of the one that comes installed for my needs.

Starting from back to front the IT-1 has a very familiar design that you might recognize from the Benelli M4. Some distinct differences are the sling attachment points and the style of the rubbarized rear pad. The construction of the stock feels solid. Although hollow and light weight, there isnt any flex to the stock itself.

Next, integrated into the stock is a rubbarized grip that feels great in my hand. The oversized finger grooves that fit my hand quite well. I love the fit and feel of this grip, but I'm also the only person on earth whose hand seems to fit the gen 3 glock finger grooves.

The IT-1 has a safety just where you'd expect it on the M4. It's tactile and easy to engage, no real difference there.

The trigger itself feels great. It is a single stage trigger with a very short length of pull and quick, crisp reset. Overall a very good trigger.

The receiver itself feels like high quality steel. It has a nice matte finish and so far has been pretty resilient against scratches. It has a built in dove tail with a picatinny mount tightly bolted to the frame. The pic rail is steel and rock solid. I have no doubts that it'll hold whatever optic I mount on it with no issues.

My biggest complaint with the shotgun, and really its only visible negative, is it's rear ghost ring sight. The ghost ring is made of plastic and feels a little flimsy. You can easily wiggle the body of the sight around with little effort. The fiber optic front bead is by contrast very nice and very durable. It's also great in bright daylight.

The front handguard has a nice design and is of solid construction.

The inertial bolt system is where this shotgun really shines. Copying the Benelli design, the action is crazy smooth. It doesn't feel clunky at all. The machining and finish appears to be top notch.

As shown in this Aselkon official and oddly satisfying to watch promo video, the inertia bolt system operates very similarly to that of the Benelli M4. I wasn't able to find any information at all online about if the parts are cross compatible, with the real thing so I can't comment on that.

The tube has a 4 round capacity plus 1 in the chamber. The shotgun is easy to load and it loads like most tube fed shotguns. Be aware that the tube is not threaded, so capacity cannot be extended.

Lastly is the barrel. The IT-1 ships with an 18.5" smooth T6 aluminum bore barrel.

In practice the system is very smooth shooting. It's easy to get multiple shots off if in succession with very manageable recoil considering that it is a 12 gauge shotgun.

The only issue that I noticed is that the shotgun would have trouble with stove piping on some Fiochi brand self defense loads. Ironically it handled generic Academy sports Monarch bird shot just fine, and it did great with some off brand Sauk 12 gauge slugs I got cheap from PSA. With the exception of the Fiochi ammo, the shotgun ate whatever I threw at it.

The choke that came preinstalled worked great for a home defense context. At a range of 15 yards, which happens to be the longest distance in my pretty average sized 3 Bedroom home, rifled slugs flew accurately and where I wanted them on 3 USPSA targets, fired in fast succession. Similarly, buckshot had a very nice spread. Bird shot as expected peppered each target indiscriminantly.

So let's review the pros and cons.

The Pros:
- Cheap price
- Reliable
- Fast shooting
- Durable
- Great accuracy within 15 yards
- Good for home defense

The Cons:
- Flimsy rear sight
- Limited capacity, limited options for extending capacity
- Potentially difficult to find replacement parts
- Not a great option for competition

Overall I'm extremely happy with this purchase. I think its a good value if you can find one for under $400