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This is a post designed to help people who are considering a firearm that fits this genre. Self defense/combative. I remember my first Benelli like it was yesterday. Back in the late 2000s, I snagged an 11707. Immediately I bought an OEM mag tube from Numrich and installed it. I was murdering milk jugs at 100m with it with slugs, and mulching brush with buck and bird. This was back when the CB05(?) stuff was around. 12 copper plated 00 pellets at 1290fps from 2.75" shells. The weapon would malunfunion near the end of each tube. I figured it was a spring issue. Dropped in an m1s90 police spec spring. Issue ceased. Then came my desire to seriously use the gun. I needed a light. There was just no way to affix one, really. The surefire handguard either wasn't out, didn't fit the barrel flange of the 11707 models, or whatever, and LED lights were in their infancy, with Malkoff being the only real solution on a modded 6P. Begrudgingly, I left the platform and bought an ar15. I could put a light on it. Optics were also more available, as I remember, we were stuck with the LaRue shredding split rail and minimal options other than LaRue or SWAN back then. I destroyed a Pride Fowled rds mount like that. Then Kip Carrier entered the scene. Rails, full 1913. Ti mag tubes. Proper springs. Still no great light mounts. Then AVA tactical introduced a viable solution. As did Fab Defense (?) with their wonky little 1913 section on the sling groove ring. Things really hit full stride with thr IWC mounts. Scalarworks SYNC optic mounts. I played with the benelli m4 off and on over the last roughly 1.5 decades, but only around the late 20-teens did it truly become a viable, cohesive weapon system, and I absolutely love my m4 Entry gun. Time marches on, though, and MFALs, thermal, nvds, etc have become a thing. Once again, I have moved back to the ar15 carbine platform. I can mount my mfal, my light, an lpvo, a piggyback nvd compatible rds, etc. I am excited for the day when we integrate this stuff into the gauge. I have already tried with a Surefire xvl2irc on an IWC light mount 1913 section, it just didn't pan out.

I think our heat shield can handle all that. It is 1/8" thick. However for optics mounted to the heat shield, there is a bit of play near the muzzle on the bracket, which was needed to ensure compatibility with older shotguns. It can be reduced some with layers of helicopter tape. Considering it is a shotgun, I am not sure how much 5 thou play would effect accuracy out to 50 yards. I would be curious to see how'd it stacks up with all this gear on it. Unforunately the SBS version is not in the works yet.

The Benelli M4 is a sweet piece of kit for sure. I like to keep it more of less in basic stock configuration as well due to its weight. I'm a big proponent of KISS when it comes to weapons. Only things I have on mine are a side saddle and light mount. The ghost rings work great, and don't think a red dot / optic is needed. Swapped the front sight post out with a tritium one as well. The gun just runs, and patterns great. I'm also a big fan of the Benelli M2 tactical, runs just as great for me and is a pound and a half lighter when set up the same way as the M4. I think within 50 yards, there isn't a weapon more formidable than a semi automatic combat shotgun.

Just got mine installed today. Instructions are poor at best. I like the MI setup, still need to mount a light.

@Unobtanium, that is confirmed the screws will need to be loosened or removed to strip it. I'll be giving that a go tomorrow after work. I'll advise if the screws need to completely come out or just be loosened. As far as the range session goes... I just went to the local indoor range due to time constraints. I fired a total of 12 LEB127RS slugs, 19 LE132/5 LE133 00 buck and 43 Black aces 00 buck rounds. There were no malfunctions to report. I maintained my zero and my patterns were on par. So far all is good with this rail.

- UPDATE I received the rail earlier today. It was unboxed and inspected. First impressions was that it felt really light in weight. The rail looked good, there were no sharp edges or machining/finishing issues. I unloaded my M4, disassembled it and proceeded to follow the instructions. The instructions are very basic but I had no problems following them other than having one question. I called Midwest Ind. and spoke with Sean (Ext. 226). I felt that they left out one step that might have the end user questioning the instructions. I would've changed step #5 to read unscrew the 4 mid collar screws and the 2 rear collar screws and remove both the mid and rear collars. Again, it was easy to figure out but it would've saved me a call. The installation required a torx and socket key which was included. Once I got everything lined up and tightened down it felt rock solid. I checked for any flexing of the rail and it didn't move. At this point I backed out the screws, hit them with a dab of blue locktite, torqued them to 20in lbs and gave them some faint witness marks. Now that it was installed, I took a few minutes to do some presentations from both the low and high ready just to get a good feel for it. I have average sized hands and it didn't feel to fat or bulky so this was a plus. I then added some Magpul rail covers that I had laying around and it felt even better with the texturing. Again, it didn't feel bulky with the rail covers. I threw on a modlite but have to wait for the mod button mlok adapter to come in. My concerns about the pistons being exposed were put to bed. Most of the pistons are housed inside the rail. In regards to disassembly/reassembly, nothing will be as fast as removing the mag cap and popping off the forearm panels but I realized that I don't normally disassemble often so the necessary bits will be added to my range bag just in case. To be honest, I probably have about 400ish rounds through this entry barrel and I've yet to clean it. It just gets some lube from time to time. Over the next few range trips, I'll monitor if there's any issue with fit or function, If the screws start to walk and just overall the performance. First impressions for me are positive and it will stay on my M4 unless something changes. Attached are some pics. These are just my opinions so hopefully this helps some. I'm off to the range

Really wish Benelli would release the handguard they advertise on their M4 T-Pro. I don't see any screws so I imagine it installs the same way as the OEM forend.

The pistons shouldn’t be an issue. They don’t move much or get crazy with the amount of gas blown out of the Argo system. Hopefully it isn’t another set screw job.

Be really careful with any spring kits you install. You have to test the firearm thoroughly any time you change spring rates. I tested some of TTI’s reduced power springs in the Benelli M4 such as the hammer spring and found it caused nothing but light primer strikes failures. What might work initially may also fail as the firearm starts getting dirty. Reduced power springs generally narrow the operational window compared to the full power spring rates. On shotguns, the range of power between loads is substantial. From shooting cheap valuepack birdshot to heavy hitting 3” slugs, we’re seeing a massive amount of difference in power that the action is handling. Add grit and buffering media from shells into the action and things start performing poorly a few hundred rounds into a session. How the shotgun is held and your stance will absolutely influence the actions performance. I fire rounds with my shoulder off the stock intentionally limp wristing it to simulate poor shouldering to see how a load or modifications perform. So if you have an action that is tuned in to just barely perform when you have a stout perfect shouldering, you might experience issues when taking a shot from a compromised position. Or two hundred rounds in. Or after several days outdoors with dust exposure. Temperature variability could make whatever lubricant you’re using perform sluggishly in the cold and move you outside of that performance window. When we set up AR platform rifles with adjustable gas systems, we find what is the minimum setting for cycling the action, then adding a degree of safety by opening the port more to contend with these variables and environmental issues.

There are a few modifications that can be done for ease of feeding. It's really easy to mess it up though and go too far. Here is a link to Brian Enos' page where people are discussing options on how to make the shell stop easier to work with. Most are bending the latch and polishing the face of the latch where the shell rim rubs against. Bending and polishing is the best option. I've tried plating the part with NP3 to see if it would help, it was marginal at best for an improvement that I could feel. It will take trial and error to get it bent to the position where it's reliable and smooth to operate. I would not enlarge the notches on the side of the shell stop to make the part more flexible. The latch will break if you get too aggressive here. https://forums.brianenos.com/topic/219805-benelli-m2-bolt-mods-and-shell-latch-mod/ Personally I'd put the A&S frame on any Benelli I owned.