Review: MESA Tactical Urbino Stock

Benelli M4 with MESA Tactical Urbino

I have always been a fan of the quality and durability of MESA Tactical products.  Let me also say that I am a, “buy-once, cry-once,” type of consumer.  I need it to work when I need it and I don’t want to ever find myself wondering about if my kit will work or malfunction when I need it most.  With the need to shorten the length of pull on both my pump-action and semi-auto shotguns, I installed MESA Tactical Urbino stocks on both my Remington 870 and my Benelli M4 Shotguns. They quickly solved the problem I had which stems from being cursed with arms the length of a T-rex.

Remington 870 with MESA Tactical Urbino and a bit of a problem…more on that later

Installation was simple, with all mounting hardware and instructions being provided with the stocks.  I purchased mine from Brownells and the Benelli M4 set came with a matching fore-grip set.  Both stocks came with an ambidextrous sling attachment point that mimics that of the Benelli M4 line with a 1-¼ inch metal tab on both sides of the stock.  I was able to easily link up my Blue Force Gear sling to it.  The only trouble I had was with the alignment of the fore-end grips on the Benelli but this was easily solved with a few passes of the file and some very light sanding.  Overall though, fit and finish are very good. The models I purchased both have the adjustable cheek riser that makes running red dot optics much easier.  These combs are adjustable for height and are easily adapted by removing the butt-plate and sliding the comb riser onto the appropriate set of rails on the stock.  The stock can be run without the riser and is available without the riser if that is what you prefer.  The attachment of the butt-plate is with simple plastic tabs, which proved to be a weakness that I will describe later. I ran both guns with their new stocks reasonably hard; with well over 500 rounds each, both stood up very well to the task. They fit me well, have a soft, yet firm pistol grip and provided easy and intuitive access to the safeties on both guns.  When combined with the proper “push-pull,” technique and appropriate body positioning, they made a day of 00 Buckshot and 1 1/4oz slugs very enjoyable.  In fact, I found that the rubber additions to the pistol grip and the Limbsaver™ recoil pad allowed me to focus more on sustained reloading skills, marksmanship, and shot placement than anything else.  But it seems like there always has to be something.

Here is the warning. DO NOT strike the shoulder pad of the stock on anything hard. I broke mine during a class while teaching a malfunction clearance in the sand at the SIG SAUER Academy. The shotgun was not affected at all and I ran the remainder of the class without the butt plate and Limbsaver™ pad.  This is another example of where using the proper technique paid off.

What happens when you treat a prom queen like a biker chick!

Before I got ahold of it.

I should point out in all fairness, that both our Chief Instructor and myself have broken separate Mossberg 930 guns using this same technique.  In those cases, the gun was FUBAR and needed a lot of work to get back in the game.

While speaking with Lindsey at MESA Tactical, I learned that replacement pad assemblies are $50 each plus $5 for shipping. She also said that a few other trainers have had similar issues. I’ll pay to replace it once, but after that, I’ll go back to the MESA Tactical AR style adapter and stock. I simply will not keep replacing the part every time I teach a class. This is not a slam on MESA Tactical. They offered to go through the return process and look at what had happened, but broken is broken and this simply is not a warranty item. My sending it in and waiting for them to get back to me isn’t going to change that. I broke it doing something typical for shotgun use that would be only for the more advanced of shotgun users out there. The numbers simply won’t support MESA Tactical making it so robust as to survive a direct strike for a malfunction clearance when so few people even know how to perform one of this type on a shotgun.

Again, MESA Tactical is awesome and the people there are fantastic; it is a great stock and a very comfortable base pad, but do not strike it on anything hard to clear malfunctions. It is simply not up to the task of hardcore field use.

Overall, any end user will find that the reduced length of pull, the somewhat sticky rubber pistol grip and the Limbsaver™ recoil pad will be a huge benefit for serious shotgun use.  They are very good in fit and finish and excellent in overall quality and value.  The tactical payoff is worth the monetary expense of this modification.

Visit Mesa Tactical: http://www.mesatactical.com