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My Background The M4 is my first shotgun, and I have never taken a formal training class with it. My M4 haD less than 200 rounds through it before this class. My Equipment The Shotgun M4 with a steel 7 round tube, C-stock in the middle position, and the following mods: Surefire Dual Fuel Light on an IWC QD Mount GG&G Bolt Release TTI Shell Lifter Aimpoint T2 on ADM Low Mount FFT Trigger Set and A&S Housing IWC QD Rear Mount VTAC 2 Point Sling Tactical Gear SOE 12 GA Micro Rig The Class This was a “Basic Tactical Shotgun” run by a well-regarded local outfit that I’ve trained with before. It’s the first of a three class progression. This class focused heavily on a handful of items: Understanding how the shotgun patterns and functions at different distances and with different loads. We ran a variety of 00 Buck, #4 Buck, and slug loads at 7, 15, 25, and 50 yards. We then ran the slugs all the way out to 100. This was done from standing, supported kneeling, and even prone position. Learning how to do combat and speed reloads. This was a major emphasis of the training and one that was eye-opening for me. Dynamically loading while engaging multiple reactive targets was fun. Doing “slug select” drills to dynamically change out the round that you have. Concluded with a “shoot house” engaging paper targets The temperature hovered in the low to mid 90s for most of the training, requiring us to build in plenty of water and cooling breaks. Lessons Learned Know what ammo your gun likes: I can say with confidence that I’m never using Fiocchi #4 Buck again. Had multiple, repeated failures to eject/extract that led to a lot of (unexpected, but valuable) experience in failure clearance drills. This was not an issue with either my Federal Tactical slugs or PMC 00 Buck. Malfunction drills require a lot more thinking than an AR or a handgun: It’s not as easy as “tap, rack, bang” with an M4. For example, FTEs because of an extended crimp are not as simple as cycling the bolt and smacking the receiver. Getting a live round back into the chamber once you clear also requires practiced discipline with the manual of arms. You feel every ounce of weight you drop off of this platform: The M4 is a heavy beast, especially when you’re using it for several hours during a 90 degree day. Dropping the Mesa side saddle helped, but I’m looking forward to replacing my steel tube with a titanium one. I may even SBS this thing and drop down to 14” barrel. This is an impressively accurate gun: With a 2 MOA red dot and Truball slugs, I was making consistent spine box hits at 75 yards, and was hitting “minute of man” at 100. I was not truthfully not expecting that out of this gun. For my fellow lefties, you have to work on modifying manual of arms: While the safety can be swapped and things like combat reloads might be easier because of visibility into the bolt, other drills are not. For example, grabbing a round off of a chest rig to do a slug select can be tricky. You have to rotate the gun, tuck it into your armpit, use your left hand to current round and hold it open long enough to drop in the new slug. Anyway, it was a very eye opening experience for me. I’m still sore (birdshot didnt come in in time, so ran the entire course with buck and slugs) and a touch dehydrated, but well worth the time and energy.

M1014/11701: Limited edition flag model. Comes with a oem collapsible stock that doesn’t function. The receiver extension is neutered to prevent function. Barrel does not have removable chokes. The original release of 1-2500 came with aluminum trigger frames. Current production flag editions outside of this initial release have polymer frames. Original release had a different barrel design that didn’t have the seating ring that mates against the receiver face. Handguards were slightly different as to account for this seat ring. 922(r) rules apply for modifying the shotgun’s capacity and collapsible stock. 11703: When originally released, this was a 4 port barreled model made for low recoil rounds. Everyone hated it and Benelli would replace the barrel if asked. The shotgun would beat itself to death if standard rounds were used. It also came with the neutered receiver extension. It came with a pistol grip stock. Barrel assembly has removable chokes. Came with an aluminum trigger frame. For some stupid reason, Benelli released this model number again around 2014 with some changes. The barrel is the standard 2 port barrel. It has a regular 3 position receiver extension. It came with a polymer trigger frame. Came with a field stock. Why they didn’t give it its own model number, we will never know. These models are rare to see anymore. 922(r) rules apply for modifying the shotgun’s capacity and collapsible stock. 11707: This is the gold standard model. Comes with a 3 position receiver extension. Barrel is a 2 port barrel with removable chokes. The barrel have the new seat ring design and some modifications to the barrel extension inside the receiver. Early production models came with aluminum trigger frames where as current production models have the polymer ones. We’ve seen some minor changes in finishes on small parts like the Argo plugs and receiver anodizing over the years. Some Receivers almost have an OD green hue. These models come with a 5 round magazine that has a limiter in place. 922(r) rules apply for modifying the shotgun’s capacity and collapsible stock. I will note that 60 were released from Benelli with 7 round magazines and functional collapsible stocks until the ATF made them stop. 11710: This M4 essentially the same as a 11707, but it comes with a field stock. 11711: This model has all of the features of the 11707, but the shotgun was plated in Np3 by Robar. These are quite rare and not to be confused with the Cerakote model that is painted silver to copy the look. These true NP3 plated models are arguably considered the best model due to the performance of the Np3 finish. 922(r) rules apply for modifying the shotgun’s capacity and collapsible stock. 11713: This M4 is a law enforcement model that is 922(R) exempt like the 11721. This model has all of the features of the 11707. The only real difference is it comes with a steel 7 round magazine tube. 11717: This model has all of the features of the 11707, but the shotgun has a three tone desert camo pattern. 922(r) rules apply for modifying the shotgun’s capacity and collapsible stock. 11721: This is a law enforcement model that has all the features of the 11707 but doesn’t have to abide by 922(R) restrictions. It isn’t meant to be sold to civilians, but they often are. They are sold at a premium price. Given that it comes with a collapsible stock, this makes the price more appealing. The shotgun includes a 7 round steel magazine tube. 11723: This is a 14” Entry gun version of the M4 the barrel doesn’t have a removable choke. This would be a NFA firearm. It comes with the field stock. Other features are similar to the 11707/11721. 5 round capacity due to length. 11724: This is a 14” Entry gun version of the M4 the barrel doesn’t have a removable choke. This would be a NFA firearm. It comes with the oem collapsible stock other features are similar to the 11707/11721. 5 round capacity due to length. 11795: This model is similar to the 11707 in features. The only real difference is it is Cerakoted. I have seen both a H2O titanium finish and a dark earth color option. Pistol grip and field stocks can be had under this model. 11796: This is a law enforcement model like the 11713/11724. The only difference is the Cerakote paint options. The firearm is generally sold with the oem collapsible stock and a 7 round magazine tube. There may be other options and models out there. Benelli has a European model with a slightly longer barrel. There is also a redesigned M4A1 that has been floated that uses the Supernova collapsible stock and has a railed handguard assembly from the factory. I don’t think these options have been imported to America yet.

Or you could go lower profile: And a big advantage in that it already has a mounting solution.

For the opposite side of the weapons light.

The model shown is a Cerakote model H2O. You can tell by the black bolt carrier. A true H2O was NP3 plated by Robar back in the day. These aren’t made anymore and Robar is now out of business. Other places can have the NP3 finish applied, but you’ll have to do it yourself. the easiest way to tell which model it is is by looking at the bolt carrier or the receiver extension. The NP3 models will be plated silver on both those parts. The Cerakote model is simply out to copy the look of a true H2O.

Great range report! Has anyone taken a shotgun course at Front Site? I've completed their 4-day defensive handgun class and it was good training. I've posted the attached before and hopefully it is helpful for those seeking weight reduction as this thread mentions. The "Reduction/Addition" columns reflect what I have changed out since I first added all the accessories to the gun. Such as, getting rid of the Mesa side saddle for a Vang Comp and replacing the Nordic 7 round mag tube with a CC tube. Weights of other components like handguards really helped me decide to stay with the OEM foregrips; besides I like the way they grip. M4 Accessory Weights (4).xlsx

Bolt release button

I will have 2 Black M4's available July 11th, 1799.99 plus tax & FFL if needed. I have a FFL in Texas that we could ship to without a FFL fee. Please PM me for details.

Flip that thing right now on GB to the panic buyers. Use half the money for a Corona vacation and the other half for a NIB M4 when things cool down. LOL

The pistons are designed to be self cleaning. This is why it has those cuts around the pistons. As it cycles, the pistons scrape off the carbon build up and deposit it on the inside of the handguards. I went for 2000 rounds over the course of about 18 months without cleaning the M4. This particular M4 had nickle boron plated pistons. At the end of my little test, it was still functioning just fine. I just got bored and wanted to clean it. Almost no one ever disassembles the ARGO plugs either. There are spring loaded cups inside of there that deal with the same carbon build up. You can't really clean them assembled. Even soaking in an ultrasonic tank does little and usually just leaves solvent inside the plugs.

I've got one that I took off of my M4. PM me with where to send it. Once you have it, send me whatever you think it was worth.

We (Rose Action Sports) have threaded several of the short factory barrels for Rem-Choke or Mossberg Accu-choke tubes.

My wife loves my ear pros next to the bed stuck over her pink salt lamps. They’re the electronic kind that amplify low sounds and muffle gunfire. The goal being not to eliminate my hearing sense with a bump in the night situation. She has a set on her lamp too. She’s proficient with her Glock 19, but not so much with the AR or Benelli.

Hi. I bought a cosmetically challenged M2 a few weeks ago and am tidying it up. I've had the stock and fore end wrapped in 3m Di-noc carbon fibre and the barrel powder coated. I'm waiting on an order of Briley bits (charging handle, release and safety button, trigger pad and fore end weight along with some TTI springs) I'll post a few more pictures when completed. Steve (UK)

Guess I'm pretty lucky. Just picked up my M4 from my local FFL. Total cost: $30 for FFL fees. Won it in an NRA raffle. Shot it for the first time yesterday. Sweet gun!

Sorry you didn't get what you apparently ordered but those slugs are my preference over the 1600FPS stuff. I have some of the 1600 FPS stuff on hand but, for general shooting purposes and HD, the 1300 FPS stuff is the ticket. You can shoot those all day long. The 1600's are hard kicking, even in an M4.

Finally an easier solution for adding a Limbsaver to the Benelli M4 is available. This is significantly easier and requires fewer parts in the past assemblies of the 10111 model that required the Noveske adapter plate that is no longer sold. For this assembly we'll be using the Limbsaver 10403. This model has a raised lip on the inside of the buttpad that helps center the pad on the stock. First step is to remove the collapsible stock from your shotgun. You will then need to remove the factory buttpad by using a philips screw driver and inserting it in to the two small holes on the factory buttpad. Use a little oil or spit on the driver to help push it in. Push the driver in firmly as you unscrew the fasteners. Pull the buttpad away from the stock as you unscrew it. The screws will remain captive inside of the buttpad. Not the large hole roughly in the center of the stock. This is where the receiver extension passes thru the stock and in to the buttpad when the stock is in the fully collapsed position. The next step is to fit your buttpad to the stock. I had to purchase screws from the hardware store to make this buttpad work for this application. I used M4 machine screws, 0.7 thread pitch, 16mm in length. You will need two of them. The ones I bought use a 2.5mm allen head driver. Press the screws in to the Limbsaver buttpad through the two holes in the rubber. Use your driver to press since it will have to push past the rubber. They will snap in to place once seated. You'll see the threads sticking out of the bottom of the buttpad. Screw the buttpad on to the stock. Note the two holes top and bottom for accessing the screws. Now we need to make a hole in the plastic base of the buttpad for the receiver extension to pass in to. Now that you have the pad attached to the stock, you'll want to get a Sharpie marker with the cap off and drop it down the hole of the collapsible stock where the receiver extension goes. I use a silver one since it makes it easier to see the marks. I shake the stock around a little to get the marker to give me a witness mark as to where I am going to drill. Now remove the buttpad from the stock and check your witness marks. You should have something like this. You now know roughly where you need to drill your 7/8" hole. Rather than trying to bore that big of a hole in one pass, you'll have better luck starting small and moving up. I start with a 1/4" Forester bit and drill it out on a drill press. You do not want to drill all the way through the buttpad. You only want to drill through the plastic back which will open up to a void inside the buttpad. I suppose you could drill this out with a electric drill, but your quality of work is likely going to suffer. First hole is drilled. Take the pad and offer it back up to the stock. Look down the hole where the receiver extension goes down with a flash light and see how close to center your hole is to the hole you're looking down. I see that I'm a little off center to the right of the screen. No problem. Move to the next size up bit 3/8" and try to correct for the alignment. Continue through the 1/2, 5/8 and finally the 7/8 bit. Here is the end results. Clean out all the plastic debris from inside the buttpad and clean up the edges. I use a deburring tool but you don't have to get that fancy. Offer the buttpad up to the stock again and check to see if you can see the sides of the buttpad through the hole. You should be looking straight in to the hole drilled. If an edge is present, it will liely contact the receiver extension and prevent it from collapsing. You can hog out the hole slightly with no ill effects on performance. Finally offer up the stock with the buttpad screwed in place to the shotgun and see if the stock fully collapses. If it hangs up, you need to remove the offending area. If it fits, finalize the installation by applying some blue Loctite 243 to the screws then snug them up. No retard strength is needed. These threaded holes will strip easily if you muscle it. Use your fingers to hole the buttpad in alignment to the stock as you tighten it. There is a small amount of wiggle room in the pad that will allow you to even out the alignment. Make sure everything still fits after you've tightened the screws. The rubber of the Limbsaver will often times have a dried out look to it. You can rub some lubricant on the rubber with a rag and it will return it to a deep black finish. Limbsaver claims you'll see a 70% reduction in perceived recoil with these pads. That figure is a little optimistic. Realistically I'd say you'll see a 40% reduction.

And it's on my gun! Woot!!

That looks to be a genuine Benelli M3 kromo. You can see the receiver is marked Benelli Armi, which indicates it is not imported through Heckler & Koch or Benelli USA. It is exceedingly rare if it is actually in the USA and in private hands. Honestly I would be skeptical and request more information of it's origin.

Flats of 12 ga. Lots of flats of 12 ga.

just shot it dry.... Fast and easy... and a whole lot more fun!

The less stuff hanging off of a weapon, the better. If I am going to add something, I have to justify it to myself. The more you hang on a weapon, the more chances it’ll hang up on your gear when slung, or catch on a door frame.

I haven’t handled one in person, but the pivot seems like a failure point I wouldn’t want. Looks like the screw set the light’s position. I don’t like that. Seems like a part that will get knocked loose then be flopping around until you can secure it. There are better, simpler designs that would be cheaper than what it’s retailing for. You can buy a DF model on Amazon and elsewhere for 240-260 bucks. On an AR platform, use an inline mount for whatever attachment standard you’re running. The mount is like 40 bucks. If you’re mounting to a Benelli, IWC is the way to go there and you won’t need the picatinny connector. The IWC will bolt directly to the light’s body.

There are not any short barrels for the Montefeltro. If you want to increase the magazine capacity you essentially have to buy all the parts for the front of the gun. The barrel, magazine tube, handguard, and all related parts (from the M1 or M2) would need to be replaced and it will not be cheap. Easier to just buy a second shotgun.

Looks like something someone attached to the shotgun themselves. If it were a true Marine’s, he would have drawn dicks on it and thrown it down the driveway to give it that battle worn look!

Weird auction. I wonder what they did to the receiver? Parts do look a bit beat up though. The end user could part off what they didn’t want and make back a lot of their money and might come out ahead. Trigger Pack: 250 Bolt Carrier Group: 350 Barrel Assembly: 400 Collapsible Stock: 600 Receiver Extension: 200 Rest of the parts are tough to sell.

Yikes... I'd definitely reach out to Benelli on this. The warranty begins from the day you buy the firearm new from an authorized Benelli distributor. Just be able to provide proof of purchase and you should be all set.

Gotcha. I agree with Jimbo. You want something plastic or wood to drive the screw out with. You'll need a hammer and something to sit the pad on so the screw can be driven out.

Try using a wooden dowel or something similar to push them out that should work.

Hey CCB, I take mine down as shown in the video every time I clean the gun which, sometimes ends up being after a few shooting sessions. Sometimes after every one, if I know that it's going to be a while till I shoot the gun again. With one exception; If I know that I'll be hitting it again soon, I don't do much in the way of cleaning except getting the grit and unburnt powder out of the breach area and adding back lube. One thing I don't do is use the bolt handle for removing the gas plugs or pushing out the trigger housing pin. I use an appropriate sized steel punch for those two things.

You need the fridge with the ipad. It will make it easier to order more ammo.

I will have 2 Black M 4's available mid July, these will be brand new, priced at 1799.00. Please PM me for interest or details.

Quiet dude! That's the secret plan....

Exactly and now is about the worst time to be trying to stockpile ammo. You'd think people would've learned after sandy hook of course a lot of them are first time gun buyers

I have three M4s and been thinking if I should sell them to make money but I keep thinking if they'll stop importing them. IMO, the M4 never loses value. I got the H2o last year and I have contemplating of making double or triple my cash! I knew this was a nice investment!

I am not in CT but I have three M4s- Two m1014 Ltd Ed and one H2o. Depending on why you want one, i'd suggest waiting for this COVID to pass or accept the fact that you'll pay double. I bought the m1014s for $1300 and a fully loaded H20 with full tube, surefire, laser cut case and RMR for $2600 before COVID. I've seen basic H2os go for about $4500+! I keep contemplating if I should sell the H2o to make some money but it is such a hot/rare setup.

Yep, you’re going to have to wait until Armageddon ends. Everything is bought up this year.

I’d be hard pressed to shoot a fleeing felon due to my allergy to murky litigation. Arsonists have an open season, no bag limit policy. Aggravated felonies like that meet all the criteria for defending yourself or a third party from serious bodily injury or death. If I were stuck in a situation where looting was prevalent, I’d remain indoors and use the entry point as a funnel. Looters become attackers threatening great bodily injury or death as soon as they enter a domicile. Don’t exit the structure to confront. Anyone inside catches a round. The problem with the Benelli is capacity. If you ever fire on someone, it’ll seem it it takes forever for them to hit the floor. Motion of body moving forward and so on. You’ll perceive them as a threat still and likely send a few more rounds their way to make sure the threat is neutralized. If you’ve hunted, you’ve likely experienced this effect. It’s rare for a round to be so effective that they just drop. Even when they do hit the floor, they usually do the Curly shuffle. This movement on the floor will make them still seem like a threat. Are they out for the count or are they scrambling for their own gun to return fire? In less than ideal lighting, you won’t know for sure. Fire three rounds and you’re half way empty more or less. Reloading a shotgun is a fine motor skill that deteriorates quickly under duress. This assumes you have shells on hand to reload from while you’re in your jammies. Chances are you won’t be kitted out with armor and a chest rig. You’ll be lucky to have shoes on and your dick not hanging out. For this reason, I lean more towards using a short barreled AR15. It has better capacity and faster reloading capabilities. At my house I have extra mags stashed in various spots thru the house in case I need to fall back or need to engage from different vectors. They might not always come thru the front door concept. Self defense loads can be had that minimize over penetration. The absolute most important thing is if you’ve defended yourself or a third party, STFU when the police arrive. The police will try to get you to make statements right then and there. The police themselves have 72 hours after a shooting to make a statement thru their lawyer and union reps. Limit your details the the very basics, you were attacked by X and that you were in fear for your life. Tell them you are too shaken to say anything and that you want your legal counsel. They will threaten to take you to jail. Let them. They will try the buddy routine or the jerk cop to try to get you to make statements that paint you in to a legal corner. You want your statement and admission of events to be crafted by your lawyer. If they interrogate you, the only thing you should be saying over and over is, “I want my lawyer.” No if’s and’s or but’s; “I’m not making a statement without legal counsel.”

Here's another auctions that's likely on its way to reaching those numbers too. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/869721672. This particular auction is on a pre-owned M4, so I would be curious to see if that influences the price differently. I showed my GF these auctions and she was asking me why I didn't buy two M4s! She thinks I should sell mine now for profit and re-buy it again when the market goes back to normal. HA HA I was like "Heck no, I love this thing...why would I sell it!?"

This. If I can get the 1300 FPS stuff cheaper AND not have it hurt my shoulder as much, that's the way I'm gonna go. Besides, if you're like me and only using them for "plinking", it really doesn't matter. As long as it goes bang then flies straight, I really don't care.

It's good to know that people actually win that stuff. I've always wondered because you never see it announced.

I got it direct from A&S in February or March this year, don't remember exactly when. In the picture above, you can see the marks where the front of the trigger contacted the front of the pocket in the trigger group. It is "stepped" with two ledges, both are deformed where the trigger hit them. There are no such marks on the factory trigger housing, that has had a couple of thousand rounds through it, with the exact trigger that broke.

http://www.davesmetalworks.com/m4.html I got one here for $75 which seemed like a great deal to me. I'm not advertising for them. I just got my first M4 and have been going through the parts. I couldn't handle spending $300 for a titanium tube. The steel tube is going to be around 45% lighter but what is a couple of ounces? Maybe I'll change my tune later and wish I made a different decision but for the price, I felt like it was the way to go... Also, almost everything is out of stock and this one I got in just a few days.

I had problems with my FFT trigger groups disconnector not releasing the hammer. Called Todd and he said oh well so I’m using the hammer and trigger with factory disconnect.

Work around for if the color bugs you:

My M4 looks just like any other right now, but the custom case with a benelli flashlight and a interestingly gripped knife with a matching serial number is pretty unique. The only downside is the case is a bit oversized, and the foam isn’t cut in a way that permits adding an RMR, a light, or a stock with an adjustable length of pull so I might have to buy another pelican case.

Have you looked at the Intellibeam version of the Scout? M600IB model. It auto gates itself from 100-600 lumens depending on how much light blow back you’re receiving from things like indoor walls. It rapidly changes so fast in output that you barely even notice it. The m300 and m600 tailcaps are the same. So it will jam your thumb if you’re riding your thumb on the momentary button and fire a 12 gauge round. I’he been working out a new light mounting solution which uses the 13” Briley rail, an IWC inline MLOK light mount, the light of your choosing mounted far forward on the ejection port side for a right hand shooter so the bezel or the light is flush with the muzzle. Then a Unity Tactical Hot Button is installed which is essentially a push button momentary/on/off button with a 9 inch wire routed to the left side rail roughly where you want your support hand thumb to reach. Slap on rail covers that you like on the MLOK and add a QD angled sling mount to the rail all the way forward at 9 o’clock. You’d have less risk of jamming your thumb, but not completely eliminated.

Good eyes. That's from my Intellibeam Scout head. The diameter is like 1.375" which is much larger than the C or even the DF model. I had to machine the lobes off of the light head so that it would fit when using an Ava Tactical Mod 1 mount. That's the main reason that head is off being painted, to cover the bare aluminum.

Pelican or the 42" 5.11 ... I have both. Travel = Pelican, daily/range = 5.11