threeshot

Quacker-Wacker, Just curious what you did to resolve the "shoots high" problem. Was it the choke or did you try a different shim setup? Or did you get the larger front sight?

Maybe Montefeltro went to Italy to talk to Benelli about the stiff safety and the dinged barrels . Hopefully we will get an update soon. sbe2-stiff safety- reply from benelli

Laz, Now I understand where you are coming from with this post. When I first saw your post I was thinking that the SBE2/M2 are not that bad since they still function (I hope after break-in anybody shot your sbe2 ) correctly. However you raise a good point. I am one of those people that disengages the safety as I am shouldering the gun for bird hunting. I would never hunt with my gun loaded and the safety off. It kind of defeats the purpose of using the SBE2/M2 for bird hunting if you are not able to disengage the safety due to it being too stiff. At the time I bought my SBE II, there were no postings on the gun forums regarding the stiff safety and I thought, incorrectly, that it would break-in. Let us see what Benelli will do to resolve the issue without me having to spend more money. I do not look forward to having to cut 1-2 coils of the trigger safety spring and get it back into the trigger guard. As always, shoot safely. [ 06-29-2004, 09:01 PM: Message edited by: threeshot ]

rdn, I assume you meant SBE II. According to the manual I have on my SBE II, there is a "C" shim in the drop change kit.

PS. Make sure you have the following before leaving the store: * 1 Plastic Breakdown Case * 5 Cryo Choke Choke Tubes (All different sizes) * 4 Choke Tube Plastic Holders * 1 Choke Wrench * 1 Drop Change Kit (Drop & Cast Adjustment) * 1 50ml Benelli Gun Oil * 1 Use/Maintenance Manual * 1 Spare Parts List Manual * 1 Warranty Registration Card I got home and discovered I was missing four choke tubes and their plastic holders. Called the gun shop and they had me bring everything back. The gun shop opened the gun case on another SBEII that I was looking at earlier at the store and gave me the chokes from that case. Of course, I made sure that all the chokes were different before leaving. -threeshot [ 06-24-2004, 08:25 AM: Message edited by: threeshot ]

Laz, I would take the gun back to the store. If the store/gun shop has a good reputation, they will not hesitate to take the gun back and get you another one. Although, I would carefully inspect the next gun at the store with the store employee. If next gun has missing/chipped camo, I would asked for my money back. Regards -threeshot

My gun shop had three SBEII's, M2 and M1. I notice the stiff safety on the SBEII's and the M2. I did not try the safety on the M1. At the time, there were no postings on the forums regarding the stiff safety and I thought (incorrectly) that it will break-in. Well, maybe it will after 10 zillion uses.

M1014, I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree. Why do you think Benelli created this forum on their website for Benelli owners? What better way for Benelli to learn what their customers like or dislike about their products and/or customer service than to have this forum. What better way for Benelli to learn of issues surrounding their products than to have this forum. I think it is great that Benelli monitors (at least Montefeltro, Benelli USA Customer Service Manager) the postings for issues and feedback. Both positive and negative. In reading other people’s posts, I see people that are making positive statements and constructive criticism that will help Benelli improve their products for all of us to enjoy. I am sorry that you feel that the constructive criticism should be handled privately. I personally like the public forums to raise awareness of issues and to be made aware of potential issues that I may have not experienced with a particular weapon, but may in the future. To me, this is the purpose of all the gun forums on the internet. To share your knowledge with others, both good and bad. To Benelli, this forum provides them with information they can use to build a better product. Benelli learns what their customer’s feel they are doing correctly and where Benelli needs to improve. It's good for all parties involved. [ 06-19-2004, 05:35 PM: Message edited by: threeshot ]

Thanks fezman. I decided to order the Slip 2000 Choke Tube Cleaner. I like the idea of being able to soak the choke tubes to get them clean while I am busy cleaning other parts of the gun. Regards, threeshot

Shell Waster, As with all new products, the quirks need to be worked-out. Since you are asking for people’s opinions on what you should do regarding the purchase of SBE II, I will step-out on the slippery ice with my opinion. If I already had an SBE, I would have waited a year or two to allow all the bugs to be resolved. I would monitor the message boards to see that all the issues raised on SBE II have been resolved before making my purchase. You have to decide which issues about the SBE II are important to you before you make your purchase. My reasoning is that you already have a SBE. You can continue to use the SBE while the kinks get worked-out on the SBE II. Since I do not have an SBE to compare with the SBE II, I cannot provide an opinion regarding the felt recoil. Perhaps someone else can provide you with that feedback. My SBE II suffers the same stiff safety as everyone else has posted. I am holding-off from having to cut a coil or two out of the safety spring pending Benelli’s response. It's not getting any easier. My SBE II has completed the break-in period according to the manual of a 100 rounds of standard hunting load shells. I’ve put 100 rounds of 2 3/4", 10 rounds of 3” and 10 rounds of 3 1/2” through the gun last weekend. I had 5 FTF with the 2 3/4” shells. See the thread anybody shot your sbe2 for the complete story from me. Once I put more rounds through the gun, I will post in that topic if I am still having any FTF issues or if the break-in (particularly the 3 and 3 1/2) “fixed” the FTF. As always, shoot safely. -threeshot [ 06-18-2004, 06:32 PM: Message edited by: threeshot ]

Can anyone help me with choosing the best choke tube cleaner? I want to find a product that will make cleaning the choke tubes very easy. Has anyone used the choke tube cleaners listed below and do you prefer one choke tube cleaner over another? Slip 2000 Gas Piston Parts / Choke Tube Cleaner Shooter's Choice Shotgun and Choke Tube Cleaner Brownells Shotgun Wad Solvent Brownells EZ-SOAK Choke Shine Thanks - threeshot [ 06-14-2004, 08:42 PM: Message edited by: threeshot ]

Montefeltro, I will send you an e-mail or private message after work on Monday or Tuesday. I finally got to shot the SBE II for the first time today. I just completed cleaning the gun and now need to get myself some food and sleep. Thank you for your assistance! -threeshot

I finally got to take my SBE II out for the first time today. I shot 120 shells through the gun. 100 shells of Winchester 2 3/4" with 3 1/4 Dr. Eq. at 1 1/8 Oz. 10 shells of Winchester Supreme 3” with Max Dr. Eq. At 2 Oz. 10 shells of Winchester Supreme 3 1/2" with Max. Dr. at 2 1/4 Oz. I had 5 FTF (failure to feed) out of the 100 shells. The first FTF was around 50 shells fired. The gun did not fire on the second shot (it seems that was when all of the FTF occurred out of the four shells) and when I looked down at the three-quarter open breech, the second shell was in the carrier but the bolt stop at about a third of the way down the shell. The shell was still in the carrier. My guesses are that the bolt was closing too quickly before the next shell was totally in the carrier or that the first shell did not provide enough recoil to move the bolt fully to the rear. I had no problems firing four in a row of the 3” shells or firing three in a row of the 3 1/2” shells. I should state that the gun had no problems shooting the Turkey loads however my shoulder certainly felt it. After shooting four shells of the 2 3/4", I would release the bolt, and attempt to load a shell to find the carrier would not move down. I would manually pull the bolt back and lock it back, then release it again. Most of the time this allowed me to move the carrier down so I could load a shell into the magazine. Once I got home, I noticed that I could repeat this problem and it seems I needed to hold down the carrier release button while the bolt completely closed or manual press the carrier relase button again to get the carrier drop level (the silver button above the trigger) to come fully downward position. Not sure what may be causing this issue. Perhaps this is working as designed. Regards, threeshot

On June 1, I saw an episode of American Shooter on Benelli. The entire show was dedicated to visiting Benelli in Urbino Italy. Benelli and Smith & Wesson are sponsors of American Shooter. Some of the interesting things I learned about the Benelli guns are the amount of robotics Benelli uses to build the guns and the computer CAD for designing guns. Although the assembly of the guns are still performed by hand with the help of machines. In other words, the assembly of the guns are not performed entirely by robotics. As expected, some of the parts are not made by Benelli. To quote American Shooter: The episode of American Shooter did not explicitly state that all Benelli barrels are made from the Beretta Group. If the SBEII and M2 barrels are made from the Beretta Group, then based on what I saw at my local gun shop, the barrel ding showing bare metal is either due to the Beretta Group’s manufacture process or poor handling after the barrel is built. If it is not the supplier, then it must be the Benelli factory’s build process that is causing the consistent ding. The guns from the factory should not come with defects or flaws of this characteristic. Since we are making car analogies, didn’t the Japanese start beating the American car makers in the 1980’s because the American car makers felt that the quality of their cars were good enough and the Japanese improved the quality of their products? Let us hope that Benelli does not feel the same way. Let me be clear about my reason for posting this topic. My intention is not to disparage Benelli. My purpose is to allow other Benelli owners to share their experiences if they have noticed the same issue as I have reported in this post. This will provide Benelli with evidence of a problem that they can address in order to produce a better product for all of us to enjoy. It appears that Benelli USA Service Manager (Montefeltro) attempts to address issues presented on this forum. I hope Benelli never loses their customer focus and willingness to improve their product based on our experiences with their product. Regards, threeshot

I noticed that my new in the box SBE II had bare metal showing on the gun barrel dead center right in front of the Rod Retaining Cap that has the swivel for attaching a gun sling. While I was in my local gun shop on Thursday, I inspected the barrels on two SBE II, a M1 and a M2 shotgun from Benelli. Three of the four Benelli guns had the exact bare metal showing in the same location. Four out of five if you count my gun that I bought from this gun shop. This leads me to believe this problem is from the factory. The M1 was the only gun that did not show this defect. This damage was not done by the local gun shop due to I watch them cut open the tape on the cardboard box on a new SBE II that contains the new plastic breakdown case. This gun also had the same bare metal showing near the Rod Retaining Cap. I am posting pictures to try to give you an idea of what I am seeing. Sorry, I have a web cam and this is the best I can do with the web cam. The gun is laying on its side in the soft gun case (not the case that came with the gun) if you are trying to figure out the picture. Picture 1 is to just give you an overall reference point. The second picture shows the scratch/ding showing the bare metal. I know the duck hunters would not be bothered by the bare metal, however, I feel NIB guns and certainly four out of five at my gun shop should not be experiencing this problem. Did my gun dealer just get a bad batch or has anyone else notice this on NIB gun barrels from Benelli?

Mentefeltro, Thank you for checking on the issue of the stiff safety on the SBE II. I look forward to your reply once you get a response from the Chief Engineer in Italy. Regards, threeshot

upland04, Looking at the spare part list booklet for the SBE II, I see exactly the parts you wrote about in your posting. Good job describing them! It appears that the safety plunger spring is pushing against the horizontal pin (safety spring retaining pin). So how did you manage to keep the spring pushed down while getting the pin back into the trigger guard? Thanks for the tip!

My SBE II safety is so stiff (sounds like an introduction to a joke) that I will not be able to disengage the safety as I bring the shotgun to my shoulder and start my sighting (bird hunting). Anyone manage to get his or her SBE II safety to break-in?

Ops. I forgot to list that I use Mil-Comm TW-25B grease.

Thanks Drundel. Your post about FP-10 and Militec-1 had me researching the gun oils again. As I expected, many opinions on which gun oil is the best. Personally, I like to use M-Pro7 to clean my guns and I have ordered Firepower/Shooters Choice FP-10 CLP. (Currently using Hoppes Oil & Glockmeister G-Lube which I suspect is Militec-1). Shooters Choice has a contract to sell FP-10 made by Firepower. FP-10 Firepower and Shooter's Choice FAQ There are posts (in other gun forums) claiming that CLP is causing our troop’s guns to jam in Iraq versus guns that are oiled with Militec used by soldiers that had friends or family send them the Militec-1. If this is true, why did we not hear about this in the 1990 Gulf War? Hhhhmmmm. In addition, there are several CLP vendors. Someone from the Army posted that the defense department has a contract with Royal Lubricants “Royco 634 CLP”. It is much thicker and has a distinctly different odor than Break Free CLP. Another military person posted that they felt that gun failures were due to a lack of proper weapons maintenance (he was a former US Marine). Some of the other forums that I read about Militec-1 wrote how this is a great oil for low humidity environments or if you are frequently oiling your guns. Say every four months. Some people posted that Militec-1 was not good for long-term storage of the gun for rust prevention. I am not trying to sell anyone on using brand X over brand Y. These are opinions from other people. Your mileage may vary. I am summarizing what other people have posted in the other gun forums. I decided to get FP-10 a try. I can always get a free sample of Militec-1 if I decide to later. Regarding the minor scratches: Yea, you are right about don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s just that I am anal about caring for my guns. This was the equivalent of buying a new car and then scratching the car door when you went to unlock the door with the key. I hope to shoot the SBE II in the next week or two.

Thanks for the information. That helped. The procedures that have been listed thus far are the same procedures I used on my old shotguns. A light oil layer on all metal parts and a little extra on the slide rails or high friction points. Just as a FYI for other newbie owners, I had problems with re-assembly of the trigger guard per the manual. Let me clarify that this is when you remove the entire trigger guard assembly. I am not disassembling the trigger assembly once it has been removed. The two problems I ran into are the shim that touches the metal receiver had budged or bent upwards in the middle when the trigger guard was removed. This made reassembly a challenge. I took a small screwdriver and used it as if it was a shoehorn to put the trigger assembly back into place. The other issue was my fault for not noticing that the front of the trigger guard has a lip that attaches to the outside and on top of the receiver, and then you sort of hinge the back of the trigger guard downward into place. I ended up putting some minor scratches on the front of the trigger guard. Another learning experience for me was the choke tubes. Since my old shotguns are fixed choke, I was not sure how tight to put the choke tube into the barrel. Fortunately, I did not over tighten the choke tubes. Using the choke wrench, I tighten the choke until it starts giving me resistance, then turn it about 1/8 of a turn more seemed tight enough for me. I had to buy a Retaining Ring Pliers to remove the magazine spring seal ring. The needle nose pliers were not small enough to allow me to squeeze the seal ring without slipping out of the seal ring. One last item. With the gun being NIB, if you are going to disassemble the bolt assembly per the manuals instructions to clean and lube, first remove the bolt handle before starting. On a completely assembled gun, this the third step. (Of course making sure the gun is unloaded is the first step.) Otherwise, you will make it harder on yourself later. Before shooting a new gun, I prefer to field strip the gun per the manufacture. Then clean and re-oil the gun. You will be amazed at the goop and grime that is on the gun and in the gun. Thank you again for the advice.

Hello Benelli owners. I am new to semi-auto shotguns and I have purchased a Synthetic SBE II and I have read the manual. Yes, I actually read the manual. The manual gives you step-by-step procedures for the disassembly and assembly of the shotgun. The manual does not specify what should be cleaned nor what should be lubricated and how much lubricate to apply. The manual states that after the shotgun is completely stripped (removing the barrel, bolt assembly, disassemble bolt assembly, trigger guard assembly): "All the parts that require routine maintenance and cleaning are disassmbled.". Can someone provide me with instructions of what exactly should be cleaned and what should be lubricated and how much lubricate to apply? Thanks to all for advice and your help.