StrangerDanger

I received my production model unit from AVA Tactical today. I replaced my prototype model that I've been using for about five or six months. Upon disassembly of my prototype, there were minor wear marks present on my Cerakote finish. Personally I do not care, but others might. So if you're concerned about your finish beneath a mount, I would recommend using some sort of buffering tape. Cerakote wears easier than anodizing or phosphate finishes no matter what anyone says. You can see the minor burnishing in these pictures. No design changes would ever be able to avoid this. The barrel flexes under recoil.

Got my production unit installed today, standby for pictures and a write up...

It depends on the type of collector you're pursuing. Some want the weapon unmolested at all. Some whine even if it is assembled out of the box. That type would be more concerned about keeping everything as it came from the factory. Another type of collector wishes to reproduce a concept rifle typically not available to the general public. They would want an OEM magazine tube and the OEM collapsible stock. The trouble is, you run into legality issues here. Something is going to have to be swapped for 922® compliance. The original M1014 had just the two position receiver extension. I'm told that current production military M4's have the three position receiver extensions. The military models do not have the flag engraving anyway, so if you're trying to create a reproduction, you're better off starting with a 11707. If you plan on shooting and using the M1014, then I would install a three position receiver extension, then just hang onto the neutered extension as well. You could reassemble in stock form, or sell it for a premium. The neutered extensions have very low resale value. It took me two years to sell mine for 75 bucks.

You need to buy the stripped unit, then either transfer the internals of your existing extension into the new one or buy all the internal parts. Ie; Receiver Extension Main Spring Plunger Flexible Ring Stock Retaining Screw Stock Retaining Ring The only part I would recommend purchasing is the flexible ring. It's extremely difficult to remove from your existing extension. I wrote up a full disassembly guide here: http://forums.benelliusa.com/showthread.php/31588-Benelli-M4-Receiver-Extension-Removal-Reinstallation-Guide

ATI, I'd be willing to do an unbiased review of the stock set if you like. You could even have it back in the end. I have pretty much every aftermarket accessory available for the M4. Be warned though, I will be honest about it. I do a lot of reviews and tear downs here. PM me if you're interested.

Awesome to see finally in production. I've been using one of the prototypes for the past six months or so. It's perfect. Everything you want from a light mount. It's even better than my handguards I made. No tools are necessary for disassembly of your weapon. The mount and light simply clamp around the rear barrel hanger. It's impossible for it to slip or rotate. The activation button is right where you want it. Just ahead of the handguards and held in tight. Further value is the anti rotation QD socket. The mount itself is everything I envisioned and more. I just didn't have the technical skill or resources to make it happen. AVA listened to all my whining about dehorning the mount as much as possible and upgrading to torx fasteners. Sure, the mount system isn't cheap, but it'll replace a pound of crap. It's also a CNC machined part set milled out of 7075 aluminum and anodized to death. Type III if I recall. I have no financial stake in this product. I was just glad to help produce an item that works in the real world.

You did well. The M1014 has the neutered receiver extension so they could sell it with the collapsible stock. At the time, the pistol grip fixed stock and the field stock did not exist at the time. You can replace the receiver extension with a functional three or two position extension. Personally, I'd leave it alone or sell it for a premium. Then get another 11707 or 11703 and pocket the difference.

Received shipping confirmation today from my order from 2/17/2013.

Agreed. Ideally, you should avoid firing all your rounds in the tube. If you're not shooting, you should be loading to remain topped off. You don't have to be doing mag dumps to encounter this type of failure. You could be doing double taps and cause the malfunction. These kind of issues rarely occur when using full power loads anyway.

Several Benelli models have this issue including the M4. I've encountered it when screwing around with relatively weak rounds. Good luck having this issue with some stout buckshot or slugs. The issue is the hammer is no longer being held cocked by the bolt. As the bolt cycled and recocks the hammer, the hammer hook is engaged by the disconnector. As the bolt begins to reciprocate forward, there is a certain point where the hammer is no longer being held cocked. Once this happens, the hammer will disengage from the disconnector and is set to fire again. There is about 2-3 inches of bolt travel that the hammer will fall. It is roughly when the shell elevator is pushed back down by the bolt. The hammer travels much faster than the reciprocating bolt/carrier. The hammer will hit the firing pin as the bolt is still moving forward into battery. Since the bolt hasn't rotated and locked into the barrel lugs, there is no chance of an out of battery detonation. You just end up with your thumb up your ass with a live round in battery and the hammer down. What at can be done about it? increasing the cyclic rate of the weapon will reduce the chances of this occurring. This can be achieved by using lightened parts, spring maintenance, quality lubricants, proper cleaning and higher dram shells. Low recoil loads cycle sluggishly and exasperate the chances of this occurring. Tactically speaking, you shouldn't be doing mag tube dumps on a target. You have limited ammunition with a 12 gauge. Conserve it. Double tapping someone with a 12 gauge should be more than enough to deal with the problem. The only time I could see value in a tube dump in the field is if you are dealing with something like a bear or a hungry hungry hippo. Anything else is generally left to 3 gun crap.

Listen to paladinjme. I sold several pairs of these in the past. I think I got about 35 bucks for the factory short tube and about 15-20 doe the faux extension. Both parts have very little value. Even at the prices I mentioned, it will be a hard sale.

I have a set. I found they are better quality than the OEM handguards. Some people have stated they had issues with fitting or squeaking. I haven't had either one of those issues. You can PM me if you need more information.

I believe it was 189.00 IIRC. Honestly, if I was him I would have bumped it up 50 bucks to stem the demand.

Interesting. The four I have on order from mid February might actually ship soon then. Seems the price went up a bit.

Here is how I addressed my magazine tube. Read thru the following threads; http://forums.benelliusa.com/showthread.php/32324-Paging-Benelliwerkes-Shell-Stop-Mods?highlight=Shell+stop http://forums.benelliusa.com/showthread.php/32317-Benelli-M4-Magazine-Tube-Polishing?highlight=Shell+stop these mods combined with a carriercomp spring have produced a reliable easy loading port. The only way it would be better is if I did a Salient Arms style bevel job on the loading port and weld up the carrier.

Define stiff. I imagine your issue is related to the Shell Stop rather than the magazine spring. Do the shells push in easy until the rim of the round pushes into the magazine tube? I would agree with truckcop, I would not cut the spring unless the spring is preventing a full capacity of rounds from being inserted. A weak spring will not eject the shell onto the shell elevator with authority. This can cause cyclic issues. Another option would be to source a carriercomp Wolff spring. Some of us have modified the shell stop to make loading easier. There are a few threads here about it. Polishing the inside of the magazine tube can also aid in smoothness.

I recommend 3gungear.com for the velcro card systems. Not only is it the cheapest, it is the lightest. The carrier adds virtually no weight and can squish flat when putting carrying in a case. You can also buy additional velcro carriers, and peel and stick the rounds onto the side of the receiver as needed. I've used the Mesa, Sidearmor and Tacstar metal carriers. The SideArmor is nicer than the Mesa, the shells insert easier and you're not relying on that stupid rubber tube for tension. Mine ripped. The SideArmor was well built, but the unit I had had rather sharp edges on it. I'm not sure if they've changed this or not. The edges of the carrier would cut into the plastic hulls. The Tacstar unit was pure garbage. I literally threw mine down the street. The rubber carrier itself was okay, but the attachment method was pure crap. You had to replace the trigger pin which then screwed into the backer plate of the Tacstar carrier. If you tightened it too much, it would cause the receiver to bind and stop the bolt from cycling properly. If you didn't tighten it enough, it would just shoot loose. Now, I don't mount rounds on the weapon since they cause too much of a weight penalty. Figure every shell you hang on your weapon adds two ounces. So an 8 shell carrier will add a pound of weight. Both the SideArmor and Mesa top rails held up well for mounting LaRue mounts.

I'd keep the Benelli. .223 is expensive to shoot compared to 12 gauge.

A titanium rail would actually weigh more than an aluminum ones. Lighter exotics to consider would be magnesium, but the ergonomics would still suck. I feel railed foreends is not a good solution.

I had a few in the past. The purpose for me was to mount a weapon light to. The ergonomics of the rail suck compared to the stock forearm. A lot of people are fixed on using a Magpul AFG on the M80. I tried it for a moment and determined I hated it before even firing it. It went against the push/pull firing technique I use.

It seems there are very few pins that size in the Nova according to this diagram. The weapon should be displaying problems due to the missing pin. Generally, a roll pin is holding something together. This isn't the first time I've heard of a Benelli coming with a pin rattling around in the action. The pin ended up not even being to the weapon itself. The part was dropped in at either the factory or the gunstore. You may have located one of their pins that got sent into orbit.

Sounds like you have a good plan. Your understanding of 922® is correct. I wouldn't mess with the aftermarket stocks.

The pin is staked in place. Once replaced, I'd recommend staking the carrier to prevent the pin from walking out. I know a guy who took his out and never restaked it. It has not come out on its own. Another option is to have it refinished. I had mine coated in Nickel Boron with excellent results.

Thanks guys. It ended up being a lot more work than expected. Tearing down and reassembling only took about 30 - 40 minutes even when taking pictures. Processing the photos was slow. Then dealing with Photosuckit issues really slowed things down. Part of this is the Benelliforums fault. It seems Photosuckit randomly uses P-S-2 and P-S-3 (without the dashes) in the URL. Benelliforum bans those words from being used here for some reason... So I had to delete and re-upload the images until those acronyms were no longer present. The brass slave pin would help holding the hammer in place. I've gotten pretty good at reassembly. It usually only takes me about 5 seconds to shuffle all the parts to align. Besides, my father is holding my SouthBend lathe hostage.