gaducks

I have been away for a while and just got back to this. I have found online sources for the nitrile rings. From your experience what size would you recommend for this application? Thanks again for you help.

benelliwerkes Your reply is right on and the photo of the damaged "o-ring" looks very similar to mine. You indicated that you have replaced it with a similar o-ring. Did you use a rubber or plastic ring? The original in mine looks like some type of plastic. Thanks much for you response.

After a couple years of use I finally decided to remove my M2 recoil spring for cleaning. After much research I concluded that the Retaining Nut Screw was possibly attached with Loctite and would require heat to remove. The nut was very tight so I heated it and was able to remove it. I found that there was no Loctite on the threads. There was, however, what appears to be an O-ring (plastic?) at the top of the nut interior threads. On removal of the nut, the O-ring was damaged though not enough to come entirely off the nut. After cleaning the recoil tube and spring, I reinstalled the spring and nut with the damaged ring still in place. I have a couple of questions about the O-ring and nut. First, does anyone know the purpose of the o-ring? Secondly, is here any potential harm from using the nut with the damaged ring? And, lastly, is there any way of obtaining and replacing the ring only? Otherwise replace with a new nut @ about $20+. Thanks for any info or advice.

Triple K Brand from Cabela's (Cat #IG-220742). I have had no previous experience with Snap Caps so I cannot judge them relative to other brands. They were relatively inexpensive - $4.99 for two.

Sorry Berreta4Life, patterning will tell you a lot. Can't say that I bought into it myself until I did some serious patterning recently and it was eye opening. Here are my results. Firearm and patterning setup: Benelli M2, Crio Modified choke, 3 shots for each Mfg/Line/Load at 40 yds. Average % hits (relative to the shell shot count per standard tables) in 30" circle drawn around the majority of the shot hits is included. BB 76% - Winchester Xpert HiV (3”x1-1/8 oz) 85% - Kent Faststeel (3”x1-1/4 oz) 88% - Federal Ultra Shok Heavy HiV (3”x1-1/4 oz) #2 61% - Winchester Xpert HiV (3”x1-1/8 oz) 78% - Kent Faststeel (3”x1-1/4 oz) 76% - Federal Ultra Shok Heavy HiV (3”x1-1/4 oz) #3 70% - Winchester Xpert HiV (3”x1-1/8 oz) 67% - Winchester Xpert HiV (3”x1-1/4 oz) 69% - Kent Faststeel (3”x1-1/4 oz) #4 65% - Winchester Xpert HiV (3”x1-1/8 oz) 72% - Winchester Xpert HiV (3”x1-1/4 oz) 80% - Kent Faststeel (3”x1-1/4 oz) 72% - Federal Ultra Shok Heavy HiV (3”x1-1/4 oz) Several of these groups are missing one or more of the Mfr/Line/Load entries because they were unavailable to me locally. There is enough here though to make the point. Granted pattern density alone does not tell the whole story, consistency and pattern distribution make a big difference also. That shows up in my tests as well. The point with the data shown is that changing manufacturer, shot load weight, muzzle velocity, or shot size can make a big difference in density of the overall shot pattern. I am a believer. As I have time, I plan to do the same kind of patterning with my Benelli Crio IC choke. Anyone else out there have data to share for the standard Benelli chokes?

Another follow up. SUCCESS. Another source suggested using a ram rod through the barrel to give extra force against the bolt to get it open. I really was a little reluctant to try this so I tried one more time to open the bolt with MAXIMUM force I could apply by hand to the bolt handle. It slipped a little and then came open. There was no visible damage to the bolt face or the Snap Cap. I think the mistake I made in the beginning was to allow the breech bolt to SLAM shut on the Snap Cap. The Snap Cap is all plastic body and the force of the closing bolt just may of jammed it in extra tight. In future I will close the bolt on Snap Caps very gently!! Thanks much for your responses.

Okay. I tried to remove the barrel but it would only come out to the point where the breech bolt handle hit the front edge of the chamber opening. I tried to remove the bolt handle per the owners manual but it would not budge. The gun came fully assembled so I have never inserted or removed the bolt handle myself. The manual states "Pull the bolt handle off with a firm tug". It will definitely take more than that. Am I missing something here in the disassembly process or am I just a wimp?

Thanks for the reply. I thought about removing the barrel but I am a little concerned about doing that without the breech bolt open. All of the Benelli manual dissassembly instructions say open the breech bolt first before removing the barrel but without explaining the reasoning. I am concerned that the front end of the breech bolt may be in some way engaged with the rear end of the barrel and that removing the barrel might damage the extractors or some other part of the breech bolt. Have you ever removed the barrel of an m2/m1/SBE with the breech bolt in the closed position?

I have a new Benelli M2 12GA RH. I have had the gun for about 3 weeks. I have fired about 2+ boxes of shells, one 3" Steel Hi Velocity and the other lead field loads. Until yesterday, no problems. Yesterday I fired about a box of lead field loads without incident. After finishing, I unloaded the gun, chambered a Snap Cap, released the firing pin, and put the gun in a case. This morning I was preparing to clean the gun but was unable to open the breech bolt. I have tried everything I can think of to get it to open, including going throught the manual procedures to the T. No luck. I have used the Snap Cap on several occasions with no difficulties so I can't imagine it has anything to do with the problem. Any suggestions?