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LeoAtrox

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Posts posted by LeoAtrox

  1. Do you have any inside knowledge on if and when they have a fix planned to start producing dimensionally correct ones?

     

    Can't answer this one, but from the outside looking in, my guess is that they wouldn't be planning on re-tooling. The tooling is (really) expensive to begin with, and they committed to a retail price of $50 per unit. I don't know how much they had to spend on tooling to get the molds to where they are right now, but I think they might have to sell as many as a thousand of these things to break even (other expenses considered). That's a lofty goal for a small company. I hope I'm wrong and that they can make a profit sooner on it rather than later; but I reckon they won't be too eager to spend more resources on R&D on tooling unless they see a steady demand (sales) for the existing forearm to justify additional tooling and R&D costs.

     

    Then again, FFT obviously loves the Benelli M4. Like carriercomp, FFT seems to be a labor of love more than a business. So maybe profitibility of this one component isn't as important as providing this "service" to other Benelli M4 owners; particularly if FFT is profitable on other products.

  2. I edited the original post with a link to the video of the issue

     

     

    notice the sound the FFT forend makes and the deflection between the hand guard halves.

     

    That is interesting. I didn't test for that. I doubt it would be a problem with normal use (no thumb-over grip on this one) but I'm curious to know if mine does the same.

  3. put your palm on the barrel and place your fingers on one of the halves right at boundary between the two halves. Now make a kung-fu grip and see if you can feel one half move past the other (you'll hear a squeak too)

     

    No movement in mine. It was a tight fit due to the bowed side, and the tension made it a little harder to get the barrel fully seated in the receiver (I planted the muzzle into the padded floor and pushed down on the butt) but, once it was fully seated, there was no room for either half to move parallel to the barrel. It's rock solid.

     

    I see the irregularity in the peices, but they function the same ... And for $50, I'm not complaining. A small price to pay to keep me legal and maintain the comfort of the original forearm.

     

    The FFT forearm is far from perfect, but it is worth the money for anyone that wants to stay on the right side of the law (as stupid as that law may be).

  4. I just installed mine. I agree that it isn't as good as the OEM forearm, but my set is rock-solid with no movement whatsoever. Not because the tongue and groove are any different, but because one half (the left, I think) is slightly bowed. When pressing one end of the forearm halves together, the gap on the other end spreads more than two milimeters. Still, this gap can be squeezed together (with one hand) when installed, and the caps hold both ends together tightly. This slight bow will probably work out a little bit as it sits assembled at room temperature (it was freezing in transit) and the tension it causes is probably the reason why it fits so well when fully assembled.

  5. AR-15 (carbine)

    Benelli M4

    Sig P226

     

    Truth be told, I just wouldn't be comfortable with only three guns. Three guns cannot possibly cover all the situations one could find himself in. So, being limited to three guns, I'd have to try to cover as much as I could with what I have available. What I listed is what I'd probably go with because it is what is on hand and it covers the most situations. But what I'd actually take is dependant on several unknown factors, such as the reason for the survival situation, expected duration, and availability at that time.

     

    If there is a foreign invasion, I might want a firearm that shares ammunition and parts with weapons of the invading force. Perhaps I'd drop the Benelli and take an AK instead.

     

    If I have something else available--specifically, in the pistol department--maybe I'd take an AR pistol or an XDm-45. I haven't got either, but I would like them eventually. And I'd probably only take the 9mm over an XDm-45 for the quantity of ammo available.

     

    A 12-gauge is really handy, and I'd hate to have to give that up for anything else ... You know what, I'd just take four. Screw your rule of three. ;)

  6. Does anybody know of any flat wire springs for 12-gauge magazines?

     

    I know that there are some flat chrome-silicon springs out there for AR receiver extensions (buffer tubes). They provide increased strength/resistance at factory weight ... And I figure such a spring for my shotgun magazine might make fitting that last shell in a breeze. As it is, the spring coils stack and I run out of room with some ammunition. A flat spring would compress further. I just don't know where I'd find one.

     

    Sure, I could trim the existing magazine spring some more ... But I don't want to keep trimming only to run out of "push" for getting that last round out of the magazine.

  7. ... frankly for defense if you can't get it done in 8 rounds of 12ga your problem isn't that you didn't have enough ammo.

     

    Your problem might be that you have more than one assailant. Home invaders are rarely working solo these days. The more ammo you can carry without having to pickup additional gear, the better. You never know how many of "them" are there.

     

    Remember the old-ish tactical adage: "If you aren't shooting, you're reloading." Even supposing you nail an assailant with the first shot, you aren't going to know if he's alone. Given the opportunity, you want to top off your magazine; and it sure would be handy to have some more ammo right there on your boomstick.

    • Like 1
  8. I decided to order the Mesa Tactical barrel clamp with rail. Clamps onto the barrel only, which should allow for field stripping without having to remove it. Though it is marketed for the 870, I found an external dimension measurement for the 870, and compared it to the external of my m4 barrel, and they are both very close. There appears to be some slack in the mount of the Mesa Tactical clamp, so I will post my results when it arrives.

     

    Please do report back. I also want a simple light-weight mounting option that I won't need to remove for field-stripping. There's got to be something out there that works well.

  9. Man, I don't know what type of phosphate coating is on there, but I tend to fall back on my Marine Corps experience and use CLP on just about everything. That's what I've got on my M4, and I'm not concerned with it. I'm sure there are better things out there than CLP; but it's cheap and plentiful, and I've never had trouble with it.

  10. Now for the bad. The grip really sucks! it is hard to get past the uncomfortable boxy felling and overall poor fit. It does not fit the Urbino particular well and is loosely glued in place. However there is a solution for those willing to do a little work.

     

    I removed both my OEM and Urbino grips and was surprised to see that the OEM grip fits the Urbino much better and tighter (no glue required) and gives you the original awesome Benelli feel we are all know and love.. FYI, the Urbino grip does not fit the OEM stock particularly well either.

     

    For the Urbino to have long term acceptance, I believe the grip needs to be reverse engineered to the Benelli factory standards and would hope that each of us who purchased the Urbino would be offered a no charge retrofit once it is available so we can return our grips to their original OEM stocks..

     

    Good news then. I've heard Mesa admits that the grip is less than ideal. They're working on fixing that, and they should have retrofit grips available in the future.

  11. I'm with StrangerDanger, and I'm going to be picking up the cheapo FFT forend when it becomes available.

     

    The Benelli forend is fine. It's only "fault" is that it is imported. Aside from that, it's an "if it ain't broke, don't (pay too much to) fix it" situation.

     

    I'm not going to run a VFG on my Benelli, and the side rails on the M80 are too far back and too low for proper light placement (in my opinion). So the Surefire has no appeal to me aside from being a compliance part. And for simple 922r compliance, I'll take the FFT forend and pocket the $150 difference. I'm sure the Surefire forend is rock-solid--their stuff usually is--but it just isn't right for my situation.

  12. This is the main reason 3 gunners use the M2 over the M4. Weight.

     

    Marines carry the damn thing all over the desert, and they can't run through a 30-second stage with it? Pansies. ;)

     

    I love the Sidearmor rail, but I just can't justify the weight or cost of it. I want a rail mount that sits close to the muzzle for a light, and which doesn't have to be mucked with when I break down the shotgun. Is that too much to ask for? Oh, and maybe one of those shotgun stands that John P's got.

  13. How are "telescoping, or collapsible stocks" not particularly suited for sporting purposes? Adjustable length of pull is absolutely suited for sporting purposes in shotguns given that top-level competitors have stocks custom fitted to their bodies. The less wealthy of us would prefer to have adjustable length of pull because we cannot afford to purchase custom-fitted stocks.

  14. Front Sight is essentially seen as a joke.

     

    Seeing something as a joke, and it actually being a joke are two different things. I have to admit that I look at a lot of the Front Sight marketing material with amusement, but I won't discount the training based on that. Ultimately, what is most telling is what people who have attended classes actually say about it; and, so far, I've not seen a lot of bad reports coming out of Nevada.

  15. Yeah ... If I could get a six-figure job in Texas, AZ, or even back up in Washington (where I hail from) I'd work really hard to split Illinois. I cannot stand this state. Its a state full of nice, simple people, that are politically overpowered by a bunch of urban knuckleheads that just seem to hate any kind of freedom that doesn't involve choosing the genders of sexual partners they prefer. The in-laws are here, so it would be difficult to pry the wife away, but the promise of not having to work--hence my need for a six-figure salary--would be a good motivator.

  16. I often wonder if the year was 1946 and people were trying to push unreasonable gun control laws, what are brave veterans would of had to say about that.

     

    A fascinating question. I had three grandfathers--yeah, that's right, three--who fought in WW2. Each was infantry, and only one ever picked up a firearm after the war. He died in the 60's of skin cancer. I doubt that the two who never picked up firearms after the war would have raised a finger to defend firearms rights, and I knew them pretty well.

  17. ... I was specifically looking at the renderings for the F.I.S.T. that Kip had previewed some time ago, and I thought: "Well that's an interesting way to mount this, with a coupler between the muzzle device and magazine tube ... Hey, didn't I think of something simillar?"

     

    Remember this? http://www.benelliusa.com/forum/showthread.php?p=132487#post132487

     

    Oh, it's not quite the same. But, I just thought it interesting that Kip had been working on the F.I.S.T. bayonet mount, and I had imagined something similar as a method to secure a muzzle brake and provide additional functionality.

  18. Man, I'm in Illinois. I'd probably go to jail just for having those spent cartridges in my cup holder.

     

    And the worst part about not being able to keep a gun in your car: The Supreme Court has ruled on numerous occasions that a car is, for all intents and purposes, an extension of your home.

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