truckcop

Negative. Google "plastic wad residue". Welcome to shotgunning.

Hard to tell from the pic but that looks more like plastic residue from wads. Chamber area gets hot and some of the plastic rubs off in the forcing cone area as the wad/shot head down the barrel.

Quick note: you are letting the bolt go forward under it's own power rather than riding it forward with your hand, right?

Thanks Alaska. By the way, you might want to check the dates of threads you add to. Before yours, the last post was made over six years ago. Think about starting a new thread. Just sayin'.

On the thread, go down to the bottom of the page and you'll see "Thread Display Options". The default is probably last 100 days or something like that. Change that on the drop-down to "beginning" and you should see everything.

The bolt release button is a standard Nordic Components pad that screws on to the OEM button. You remove the OEM shell latch from the receiver, drill and tap the button portion of the latch, reinstall the latch and screw on the Nordic pad. It's not specific to any particular model. It will work on all of them that have the little round button for a release. http://nordiccomp.com/retail/shop/bolt-releases/nc-speed-button-for-autoloading-shotguns/

Opening weekend, South Dakota near Gregory. Twelve hunters. Ten Benelli.

You have enough cash, just about anything is possible. Before I did anything close to what you propose, I'd first send the barrel off to Briley and see if there's enough material at the muzzle for their thin-wall choke system.

You're probably going to get answers that run the full spectrum. Do a google search and one "expert" says pistol grip stock while the next says standard straight stock. IMO, it boils down to personal preference. Of my current shotguns, 3 came with a full stock pistol grip. When I first tried one out on a Benelli M1 Entry Gun back in the early 90's, I was convinced they were the greatest thing since metallic cartridges. I don't think they have an effect on recoil control one way or another . In some situations they can be advantageous but over the years I've found that I prefer the standard straight stock. All my shotguns now wear straight stocks. No real articulable reason. Just personal preference.

I'm reasonably sure the barrel tube is screwed into the extension. I had a custom barrel made for one of my old M1's and if I recall correctly, the old tube I got back with the new barrel assembly was threaded. It has been a while though and I no longer have that old tube so I can't go downstairs and verify.

I use my M1/M2's a lot more than my M4. I purchased the M4 on a whim when a LGS had one for a pretty good deal. I didn't realize it was so much heavier until I got it home and put it together. I'll shoot it on the skeet/sporting clays range every now and then just for grins and once in a while in a 3-gun match but if I needed cash and had to sell one or the other, the M4 would go before the others. I can't think of a thing that it will do any better than the others. Part of the family:

Having owned (still do) both, in terms of operation, reliability, practicality, none really.

Briley is the only company I would trust to do that. They prefer you send the barrel to them so they could do the measuring themselves. They could tell you if the barrel has enough material to cut factory-spec choke threads. I had my M1 Entry 14" barrel checked many years back. It didn't have the muzzle thickness to cut factory threads. I ended up having a custom-made threaded barrel built. Only glitch: he threaded it for Rem-Chokes, forgetting it was for a Benelli. Don't know about the M4. Barrel may be thicker material at the muzzle to allow for threading. Briley can tell you. I have been looking a that SilencerCo suppressor for my M1 Entry. We'll see.

I second that!

Google "Benelli click". Locking head doesn't rotate fully into battery after cycling. More of a problem when using light loads, especially with a gun designed to shoot 3 1/2 inch shells, but it can happen any time. If it's a new gun, keep shooting it. Problem sometimes goes away. Sometimes not. I had one gun that did it regularly and another that never did it. I swapped locking heads between the two and never had another problem with either one. Go figure.

Take your pick: https://www.google.com/search?q=benelli+ghost+load+modification&tbm=isch&imgil=Jo0fkAzKglK2hM%253A%253BJswso4qA0VpQtM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fbeta.ar15.com%25252Farchive%25252Ftopic.html%25253Fb%2525253D6%25252526f%2525253D1%25252526t%2525253D209360&source=iu&fir=Jo0fkAzKglK2hM%253A%252CJswso4qA0VpQtM%252C_&usg=__-Iim_tmzQWSk6PHDKb-nyK4wd38%3D&sa=X&ei=NeYBVJjfN5K5ggS1rIG4CA&ved=0CEIQ9QEwAg&biw=1920&bih=979#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=Jo0fkAzKglK2hM%253A%3BJswso4qA0VpQtM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.hecklerkoch.net%252Fbenellibolts.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbeta.ar15.com%252Farchive%252Ftopic.html%253Fb%253D6%2526f%253D1%2526t%253D209360%3B719%3B710

This. I think every choke manufacturer has something similar to this on their sites: http://www.choketube.com/customer-service-details.php?Choke-Tube-Information-3 Suggest you check those out for limits on steel shot size capability of each manufacturer's choke restrictions. Info is there for the finding. For example: EXTENDED STEEL CHOKE TUBES Our line of Extended Steel Shot choke tubes pattern steel and other non-toxic shot extremely well. These chokes have a longer parallel section allowing for less flyers and denser patterns. The chokes extend ¾” outside the barrel eliminating damage to your barrel caused by prolonged use with steel shot. The extended portion of the choke is knurled and the choke has a matte black finish. The Close and Mid Range chokes can be used with all sizes and speeds of steel, lead, or Hevi-Shot. The Long Range is NOT to be used with any STEEL shot larger than BB, or with any STEEL shot faster than 1550 FPS. If you want to use any of these loads use try Mid Range choke tube. Use the text below to help decide which choke best fits your shooting situation. • Close Range: For use over decoys, ideal for 0-30 yards. • Mid Range: For shooting situations 25-40 yards (Steel shot larger than BB or Steel shot faster than 1550 FPS should be used with this choke) • Extended (Long) Range: Great for shots 40 yards and beyond.

First: go to your "settings" up at the top of the page and then click on General Settings. There's an option to save PM's in your sent items folder and an option to not save them. Make sure the correct one is checked off. Beyond that, I got nuthin'.

So, what did you plan on using it for? I assume by your post that you purchased a field model with a vent rib barrel without the d&t'd receiver. Your "KILLER" deal probably is going to be a little less killer if you start doing all those things you're talking about doing. There are larger fiber-optic front sights you can add to the rib (Trijicon, Hi-Viz, to name a couple). I've got the Trijicon Trijidot on my field guns and they work very well. Otherwise, finding someone to d&t, purchase the receiver GR sight and add a compatible front sight is going to cost a pretty penny. The M2 Tactical already comes outfitted with either open rifle sights or the ghost ring combo. If I'm not mistaken, the tactical versions already come d&t'd to add a rail for optics. You might be able to find a used rifle-sighted barrel (assuming yours is vent rib), but again, costly. Things to think about.

Don't know how he ruined yours but, from personal experience, the weak point is the "handle" or crossbar that pokes through the body of the tool. Put a little additional torque on them other than finger pressure and they snap off easily. I've broken a couple of those over the years and have found that the remainder is easily punched out and replaced with a correctly sized allen wrench. They're a lot stronger than the soft metal handle on the OEM tool. I have a ton of allen wrenches laying about, mostly tools that were sent along as part of the installation gear for various things I've ordered over the years, i.e., sights, holsters, scopes, mounts, etc.

The Sidearmor rails are being marketed by Tactical Shotgun Solutions: http://tacticalshotgun.solutions/home.php I don't know if it's the same company, a new company that bought the tooling, or just a split-off from Sidearmor since it appears they're still making holsters. I've got a Sidearmor version of the 6 round QD holder that mounts to their standard replacement rail. It appears the TSS versions are the same as the old Sidearmor versions.

If you've got a buddy with another M2, borrow his barrel for a range session and see if the problem persists. Put your barrel on his receiver as well and see if it experiences the same issue. At least the cause of the problem might be narrowed down that way, i.e., cross threaded extension, out of spec bolt, etc. One of my old M1's had the annoying habit of doing the "Benelli Click" (locking head not rotating fully into battery causing a failure to fire) at the most inconvenient times. I switched locking heads between that gun and another one. Funny thing, the problem went away in the first gun and has never showed up in the gun I switched heads with.

If you try that one out and it works, realize that the tube is one piece and there's only a small plug at the muzzle end to retain the magazine spring. To remove the magazine spring and follower to change them out you have to take the tube off the receiver. I've got one of those earlier models that I got new in 1990. So far, I've never had a problem with shells feeding from the magazine with that gun so it still has the original spring/follower in it. I can't even imagine how many rounds have gone through it.

Did you check Numrich? They list one for the earlier serial numbers which, if I'm not mistaken, have the fine threads instead of the coarse threads. http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Products/740700.htm

Generally, migratory game birds, i.e., ducks, geese, etc., are the only ones that have a magazine capacity restriction. Unless there's some specific state restriction, you should be GTG. There are all manner of "turkey" chokes out there. Depends on the terrain but usually some version of a full choke is called for. Three inch #5 & #6 shot are common loads. Again, there are a bazillion makes/load/size combos out there. Your target is the head so you want something that is going to give you a tight pattern at distance. Since you've got time, try out a handful of different loads with the chokes that came with the gun. Pick the combo that works best out of your gun. Oh yeah. If the gun in your sig-line is the one you'll be using, be prepared for the ribbing/kidding/grief you're gonna get from the traditional crowd.