Page 66 - American Rifleman (February 2020)

DOPE BAG

EAA MC312

enelli’s patent on the inertia the gun is red, it begins to move provide suf cient guidance in the
operating system has run its rearward; within the bolt is a strong disassembly of the gun. With the
Bcourse, and we are now see- spring that holds the rotating bolt barrel removed, the handle is pulled
ing near clones of the Super Black head rmly in battery with the lock- away from the bolt, allowing it to
Eagle on the market from a number ing recesses at the barrel’s breech. then slide out of the receiver. At the
of shotgun makers, including the By the time the spring’s tension is rear of the bolt is a cross pin that
Turkish-made Girsan MC312 reviewed overcome, the ejecta (shot and wad) is drifted out while the ring pin is
here. Imported by European American have exited the muzzle, and the bolt held in its forward position, and is
Armory Corp., this 12-ga. scattergun begins moving rearward, driven by the then released slowly—as the tension
offers inertial operation at a fraction remaining recoil. provided by the spring can propel the
of the cost of its Italian forebear. The bolt then extracts the red ring pin across the room if you’re
The inertia system is nothing new, shell, which is kicked out by the ejec- not careful. Following removal of the
as it was rst developed by and used tor nub, and, if a fresh shell is present ring pin and spring, the bolt index
in Danish gunsmith Carl Sjörgren’s in the magazine, it triggers the bolt pin is removed and the bolt head
Normal shotgun in 1903, the same release, reloading the gun. The bolt slides out. The MC312 can be cleaned,
year John M. Browning’s Automatic-5 locks open when the last shell is red. lightly lubed and re-assembled in the
hit the market. In function it’s a When empty, the two-piece carrier reverse order.
simple system with few parts. When necessitates the tripping of the carrier Drifting out a one-way pin releases
latch, located on the right side of the the trigger group. The guard is of a
forward portion of the trigger guard, composite material with metal work-
allowing the bolt to be locked open. ing parts. The cross-bolt-style, trigger-
This style of action is very easy block safety is located in the guard
to clean, as there are few parts, immediately behind the trigger. Of
and the MC312’s owner’s manual real interest is that the trigger of the
includes exploded drawings to test gun was amazingly crisp, breaking
Thanks to the simplicity of its inertia-driven action, the EAA MC312 is easy to disassemble
into a few subassemblies (below) for routine cleaning. Sights consist of a serrated, ventilated
rib with a red ber-optic pipe near the muzzle (l.).

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