Coloradoryan

You don't see these barrels for sale much so I thought I would share. http://cgi.ebay.com/Benelli-Factory-Crio-Barrel-with-5-Crio-Chokes_W0QQitemZ7231825053QQcategoryZ73955QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Sorry to hear about the troubles guys. Sounds like these were new guns, and there are two critical factors for benelli owners on a new gun. *First, the gun is assembled with assembly lubricants and not operating lubricants. The assembly lubricant is designed to prevent corosion and to allow the gun to sit on the shelf ( of course we all know benelli's dont sit on the shelf long ) ) You need to strip the gun and clean the assembly lubricant from all opertional componants. One of the biggest culprits is the recoil tube assembly in the stock. A new gun is going to have a fairly heavy grease in there which will slow bolt travel enough to cause some cycle problems. Also make sure the locking lug sockets in the barrel are free from dirt or contamination so the bolt can rotate freely into locked position * Second, you need to break the gun in a bit with heavier magnums ( a box or two is usually enough combined with some target loads ). My SuperSport was the same way. It was the toughest Benelli I have had to break in so far; it took 3 trips to the range and aprox 500 ( 100 of which were magnums) rounds before it smoothed up enough to cycle anything. -cr

Well, yeah.... There are several professional grade chokes available for the Super Sport in Skeet, Skeet2 as well as every other standard constriction. If you are professional shooter and only spending $1500 on a gun you would know straight up that you are going to be buying professional grade AM chokes, to even suggest otherwise is well.. not the smartest assumption... I own the Super Sport and have no problem using the factory chokes including full without problem; but I know the patterns my gun produces with the various chokes and shot sizes to use it with fair precision. Is ther comprimise? of course there is, thats why AM choke companies are in business. Also don't get hung up on the choke restriction number until you have accurately patterned your gun, .025 does NOT pattern the same out of every gun, your gun might find sweet spots that are "off" by a full size. Yes, I saw you on the national podium all 4 times. I think you were the guy handing me my trophys !

All items sold. Thanks! -cr [ 02-18-2006, 07:03 PM: Message edited by: Coloradoryan ]

Memphis, either gun is an excellent choice. If it were me purchasing one of these two offerings for an elderly guy for waterfowl I would choose the M2 with comfortech. The comfortech stock does offer slightly less recoil than wood stocked versions with magnum loads and of course stands up better than wood in waterfowl conditions. The simplicity in cleaning, and maintaining the Benelli is far easier as well.

Providing you are measuring correctly .627 is overbored. Standard spec is .615 for a 20 gauge, although there are some manufacturing tolerances that will vary slightly ( around 2 % ). -cr

PBro21, Mudhen is giving you solid advice. If you are hitting high you are likely seeing too much rib, put the next drop shim in and take a look down the rib, it should be flat so that you dont see much of the top of the rib but the bead still perfectly. Its not hard, and doesn't require a gunsmith ( thats why benelli includes them). 15 minutes at the range with your shim kit and you will be ready to rock A larger front site will make the gun shoot a bit lower because they are taller. They are very easy to install as they just screw in. Unscrew the old one with some non maring pliers or adjustable wrench, put a dab of NON permenant locktite on the thread of the new one and screw it in ( it really is idiot proof ). There are also some stick on ones out there as well as clip on ones. ( I personally like the screw in ones but its all personal choice) [ 08-17-2005, 09:41 PM: Message edited by: Coloradoryan ]

One of two things probably going on. 1. As Mudhen suggested, broken firing pin. 2. Quite common, the bolt head was not rotated and locked in the barrel. The firing pin will not reach the round and you get the infamous benelli "click", the hammer strikes the bolt carrier but not the firing pin. ( its a safety thing). you can often see a dent start to form on the hammer if this happens frequently) This nailed me several times on my first benelli hunting trip. I experianced this from manually closing the bolt by hand instead of using the button to close the action and a couple of birds got VERY lucky. If you have ruled out the firing pin, the next time it happens look at the postion of the extractor on the bolt. If the extractor is centered in the action its not locked, if its above center the bolt head is rotated and locked. Not sure what I mean. Take your benelli, and open the action, slowly close the action by hand, see where your extractor is lined up, now open it up again and let it slam shut. You will see that it has rotated up towards the top. That is the locked position. If this is the case clean the chamber where the lugs engage with some quetips to make sure there is nothing preventing solid bolt lockup. It might be that you have some "mung" in your recoil spring assembly (even from the factory), dissassemble it and clean it VERY well, lightly oil the spring and reassemble" If the spring does not enough "ummf" to push the bolt with enough force it won't rotate and lock. Also. make sure the rails are clean and lightly oiled. Shooting too light of loads can cause that also ( slow cycling). If thats the case, after you break it in, it will dissappear. To really break in a Benelli, you need to shoot some heavy loads to "work it in" I usually shoot a box of magnums mixed in with normal loads the first two times out to really smooth things up. My Supersport took about 500 rounds to really break it in well so that it would cycle anything (including 1 ouncers).... -cr [ 08-16-2005, 04:48 PM: Message edited by: Coloradoryan ]

Does the barrel have a stepped rib by chance?

Hey Miami, first let me say BIG drag, on your bolt carrier.... Is a NON low recoil round barrel available for your m4? Reason I ask is because a "low recoil round" barrel is typically designed for just that and only that, low recoil Police, and Military rounds ( they have their own designation) for close quarter combat, and training. In fact many agencies are only authorized to use low recoil ammo, in buck or slug. I am assuming that the standard barrel is a two port which the ARGO system can regulate between standard, and magnum rounds effectively, but it is quite possible that it can't regulate the gas pressure of 4 ports fast enough from a standard pressure load and racking the action way to hard. ( remember the idea of 4 ports is to grab more pressure to cycle the action from a low recoil round.) If thats they case then yes benelli should put that in their manual... That crack looks pretty freaking bad, it took a serious whop to shift the metal structure sideways like that.. Or it wasn't properly relieved of forging tension and just cracked from harmonics.. Either way hope you get it squared away....

Your buying him the M4? ( military purpose shotgun) Can I call you dad too?? The M4 is a spectacular shotgun ( Thats why the US Marines choose it ). You are not going to have any 50 round /gun falling apart problems. As to your question about birds and clays ? Its not really designed for that. I think standard configuration is an 18.5 inch barrel with ghost ring sights. The m1 or m2 is a good choice for hunting, that can also play the role of combat gun with some inexpensive furniture changes, and a mag extension.

White Feather, for less than $50 you can send in your barrel and chokes and have them cryogenically treated by companies such as Cryopro or many other companies. Turn around time is usually about a week and is safe to bluing, teflon finishes, etc.. Here is the 50 cent definition of what the process does. The Cryo process turns soft carbon ( austinite ) into a smaller, stronger carbon molecule ( martensite ). The process makes the surface less porous, which increases durability, makes it easier to clean, etc... It reduces risdual stress from the manufacturing process and also makes the metal much less subjective to tolerance change under temperature.( that comes in very handy on target rifles) IMO the noticable effects on shotguns is a slight increase in pattern density, and consistancy in pattern placement ( less pattern wander ). (The chokes would be a bit more durable also) Its also a one time treatment so if you ever have to get your barrel reblued down the road or something it will not have any effect on the Cryo-treatment. As a disclaimer I should probably state that it may void your warranty to Benelli if you happen to mention that you had it done. However, the change is not visable to the naked eye. The $1 explanation is a bit more boring -CR [ 07-27-2005, 12:13 PM: Message edited by: Coloradoryan ]

The Super Sport is a fine gun but it is definately more of a clays gun then a hunting gun. The Cordoba is simply a Super Sport that went to the barbeque finishing room instead of the plating and polishing room. (also, the carbon fiber stock on the supersport is not carbon fiber, its the same as the rest with a paint job to simulate a carbon fiber weave.) The M2 was designed to hunt, and it sounds like thats what your after. It would be my choice in your shoes. If you want a flashy gun like the Supersport, but in more of a hunting setup the newer Legacy is a good choice and a few dollars cheaper than a Supersport or the Cordoba.

Was it a reload ? The shearing of the Saddle screw could have been from a slightly loose saddle mount screw, a little bit of freeplay makes the screw take the full load of the mass of the carrier and the shotgun recoil force. ( quite a bit of force opposing each other there). It is unlikely but possible that the extra mass on the side of the gun being loose caused a snapping effect on the gun ( sort of like a second recoil ) and caused the barrel lug seperation. ( especially if the solder joint wasn't that strong to begin with ) (When you were firing those #00 buck rounds you might have been having too much fun to realize it may have come a little loose.) Or it could have been the extra 2 ounces of powder you jammed in that reload. ;0) Either way, I would call benelli and get it sent in for repair. I would have the chamber mic'd as well to make sure its still in spec.

I think e gun parts sells them for about $25, and Brownells is about $35. Brownells can be kind of expensive if you dont get the dealer discount... Benelli might sell you one cheaper, or possibly even give you one...