I’ve been ready to get hands-on with the IWI Mafteah since April, once I first shot it on the Athlon Outside Rendezvous. The Mafteah is a semi-auto, 12-gauge firearm that falls into the identical realm because the Shockwave, Aftershock, TAC-14, and so forth.
The Mafteah is made in the USA by IWI and is probably going the primary in a collection of weapons. Whereas on the Athlon Outside occasion, the IWI guys mentioned a possible future for a whole collection of Mafteahs, together with full-sized shotguns. That isn’t a positive factor, however a risk.
Deep Dive: The IWI Mafteah
What The Mafteah Does Completely different
The Mafteah does one thing fascinating; as an alternative of utilizing a gas-operated system, it’s inertia-operated. I didn’t have an opportunity to take the gun aside on the Athlon occasion, however I assumed it was inertia-driven just like the Benellis. Whereas they share a variety of related options, the Mafteah design doesn’t have a buffer in the back of the bolt, which lets you use a pistol grip design.
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The bolt stays closed lengthy sufficient for stress to drop, and it reciprocates rearward. The motion bars mount in entrance of the recoil spring and hook up with the bolt service with the journal tube appearing a bit like a recoil information rod. Because the bolt reciprocates rearward, it compresses the spring, and when the bolt reaches its apex, the spring pulls the bolt ahead.
It’s tremendous easy and will give the Mafteah an fascinating future. Because it makes use of a spring, there’s potential to swap springs for various masses. A lighter spring may enable it to perform with super-light masses, probably even mini shells in the event that they redesign the elevator to assist them. Heavier springs may scale back the recoil of heavier masses.
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I’m basing this idea on how related inertia weapons, just like the Benelli M2, could be tuned for lighter masses. Moreover, the gun isn’t depending on fuel, so you would trim the barrel again even additional. Theoretically, with a correctly tuned spring, you would have an uber brief AOW-style gun.
The Advantages of Inertia Operation
That’s a possible future. What are the present advantages of an inertia-operated system? First, it’s lighter, and when you might have a small gun, the lighter weight makes a distinction. Second, its simplicity enhances reliability. Inertia programs aren’t going to foul up from carbon as shortly; no sizzling, soiled gases are bled again into the motion.
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Plus, it’s a lot, a lot simpler to wash and disassemble in comparison with a fuel gun. Less complicated can be cheaper. The Mafteah is retailing for about $350 lower than its opponents.
Downsides to an inertia-operated gun embrace barely extra recoil, however it’s nonetheless considerably lower than a pump gun. It’s additionally going to be a bit extra choosy about what masses you possibly can reliably hearth.
The Remainder of the Mafteah
The Mafteah makes big strides in creating a contemporary semi-auto platform. These adjustments put the Mafteah in a class all its personal.
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The charging deal with is reversible, which may be very uncommon on shotguns of this format. Positioning it on the left facet makes it simple to rack the motion with out transferring my hand from a firing grip. Subsequent, the gun makes use of a wise optics mounting system. It’s suitable with the Glock MOS system, permitting you to make use of totally different plates to mount virtually any small optic.
Firms like C&H Precision and Holosun supply optics that mount immediately, requiring no plates. You can too use a Picatinny rail part, however I just like the MOS minimize as a result of it positions the optic decrease and additional again. The forend comes slathered in M-LOK rails to make attaching equipment simple.
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It contains an M-LOK-mounted strap that’s adjustable, simple to tighten, and simply detachable. Plus, doesn’t a ventilated rib simply look improbable? It’s an actual magnificence and a trendy gun, and elegance is at all times a part of the equation.
Capturing the Mafteah
I introduced out every part to check the Mafteah’s reliability and recoil management. I fired quite a lot of masses.
For warm masses, I used 2.75-inch No. 4 shot @ 1,400 FPS, No. 4 buckshot @ 1,325 FPS, and commonplace 00 buckshot @ 1,325 FPS. The Mafteah definitely bucked, however it was controllable, and getting again on course pretty shortly was attainable; the dot rises and drops proper again to the goal.
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For low recoil masses, I used Monarch 2.75-inch, 7.5 shot @ 1,200 FPS and Federal Flitecontrol 00 @ 1,145 FPS.
The Monarch birdshot had low recoil and was a blast. The reduced-recoil Flitecontrol masses had been “actual kittens” and the really useful spherical for defensive use, with no reliability points. The one reliability subject I bumped into was with Fioochi Protection Dynamics (9 No. 1 pellets at 1,250 FPS), which is basically a 20-gauge equal load. The Mafteah solely choked on the softest of masses, which is comprehensible.
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The Mafteah scores excessive in reliability. What’s fascinating is that in comparison with a fuel gun, it by no means begins to decelerate or chug alongside, even at excessive spherical counts. The recoil system retains issues good and clear, stopping slowdown as a consequence of carbon fouling.
Management
The Mafteah might need extra recoil than a fuel gun, however it’s not all that noticeable. Even with heavy masses, I didn’t really feel like I used to be shedding management. Tightening the strap on the forend is an excellent useful approach to make the gun simpler to regulate, permitting for push/pull grip.
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I can put two rounds of Federal Flitecontrol on course in lower than 1 second; my quickest time was .89 seconds, with each rounds hitting an IPSC-sized A-zone. That’s adequate for me for defensive use. At 25 yards, touchdown a shot on a metal goal is simple. Patterns with commonplace buckshot are about 6.5 inches large at 10 yards with the gun’s cylinder bore choke.
Blasting Away With the Mafteah
I had a complete blast with this gun. A part of the explanation I like these little weapons is that they’re a little bit of a problem and aren’t for everybody. Making an attempt to do commonplace shotgun issues with a Pistol Grip Solely (PGO) firearm is hard, however so satisfying once you do. The problem is the enjoyable.
From a defensive perspective, the Mafteah isn’t for everybody. It takes some devoted observe to run and use the gun successfully. Nonetheless, for some niches, the gun’s excessive maneuverability makes it a stable choice.
I’m completely satisfied to see that we now have two mainstream semi-automatic 12-gauge firearms available on the market. Extra is best, and the truth that they’re each stable weapons is a blessing. I’m excited to see this style proceed to develop.
