StrangerDanger

The cerakote carriercomp applies does extremely well. I've never seen any scuffs or de-lamination. I'd go with the carriercomp hands down over any other option. Keep the spring as a spare as Scout stated.

The color match is better on the carriercomp tubes. Carriercomp tunes are cheaper. FFT often has wait times lately too.

All the M4 front sling plates have that play in them. The area that limits side to side wiggle is the cut out at the top that indexes against the barrel. The best fix is to dump it and get the IWC weapon light/sling mount. You'll have ambidextrous light and sling mounts on both sides in a low profile design. The bolt carrier cam pin has the line so you can index the hole the firing pin goes through. Which direction the line is in doesn't matter.

The M4 is pretty drop safe. I was concerned about the design years ago. So I unloaded it and repeatedly bounced the gun on the carpet in various angles to try to get the hammer to fall. It never happened. You’d need to throw it hard enough for the trigger to be pulled in order for the hammer to drop I don’t think you could shock the hammer to get past the trigger hook or the disconnector if it rebounded enough. What I use the safety. Round in the chamber, magazine topped off. I don’t mess with ghost loading since I’ve seen it cause malfunctions. I use a larger DMW safety that I can feel poke my trigger finger when the safety is engaged. It’s instant feedback to know its condition. I also trim 1.5 coils from the spring so that I can press the safety without breaking my firing grip. It’s still firm to press, but not factory straining firm. As a certified firearms instructor, I should add some comments about safe storage. I’d urge everyone to store their firearms in some kind of safe even if you don’t have children. A cousin of mine when he was 3-4 went to someone’s house who didn’t have children and they had the shotgun leaned against the back of a door. No one thought of the gun and he went and grabbed it being young and not knowing any better. He pressed the trigger and the shotgun discharged thru the roof right next to his head. He was fine, but it could have easily not been. The only victim that day was the sheet rock in that guy’s trailer along with his pride. There are a bunch of cool high speed locking systems out there now with biometrics and back up PIN numbers. They have them for rifle and shotgun storage now, not just pistols. They’re not meant to protect against theft, they’re meant to keep the firearm out of unauthorized users’ hands and keep them accessible to you if needed. From a training perspective, if the firearm has been out of your immediate control for any length of time, should you trust that it is still in the condition you left it in? No one wants to spend a couple hundred bucks on a lock box. Most of them suck anyway, but what if you got one that presented the pistol grip to you so you could draw it easily with the trigger guard covered? Sweeping a loaded pistol off a night stand in the dark can be a safety issue. Did the cat jump on it and move the way you position it? Depending where you live can add another layer of culpability if an unauthorized user gets ahold of one of your firearms. Even if they’re a burglar. Having at least this second layer of protection will help keep you out of trouble when LaShawn steals your gun and smokes the cashier at the Stop & Rob.

I’ve done that too. There are a host of parts that benefit the cycling. You can run lighter loads trouble free when the plating is done. The M4 doesn’t show much for corrosion unlike a lot of other shotguns out there. So the main benefit to Np3 is going to be the lubrications and resistance to failure aspect. One of mine I don’t even bother cleaning. I just squirt more oil in and it is good to go. Adding more oil probably isn’t even necessary. That M4 has well over 18,000 rounds thru it. I think I’ve been up around 4000 before I feel bad enough to clean it. Biggest benefit to cycling to least for plating; Bolt Carrier Receiver Extension Receiver Receiver extension Plunger Hammer Bolt Carrier Link Bolt Head Pistons Magazine Follower Magazine Tube Firing Pin BCG cam pin BCG link pin Bolt Breech Lever Bolt Breech Lever Pin Breech Latch Plunger Aluminum trigger frame Hammer Bushing Shell Elevator Shell release lever Disconnector Plunger Bolt Release Lever Bolt Release Lever Pin Tearing apart things like the ARGO plugs is doable and make it easier to clean. You won’t see much performance improvement though. When buying say a trigger pack from FFT, the components are already plated in Np3. You don’t have to risk messing plating ground surfaces. I made a jig to polish the interior of the magazine tubes after plating. It’s basically a big cleaning rod for shotguns that has fine steel wool on it. It’s then run thru it for 10 minutes or so to bring the interior to a polished mirror surface.

Excellent process. The Weapon will feel and sound completely different once done. Very little if any tolerance stacking issues with NP3. The recoil impulse is different. Like the recoil isn’t as sharp. Some who who have had Robar do their disassembly and reassembly have not been completely happy with the results. Many items are skipped since they’re a PITA to get apart. Items such as the bolt. You’ll want all your aftermarket accessories plated along with the shotgun for cosmetics The process is super expensive. You can count on around 900-1000 dollars by the time you do the chemical stripping and shipping costs. The process takes along time. I typically see 9-15 weeks for parts to return.

Thanks for the comments guys.

I haven't had good luck with a heatgun on any of the newer M4's. I tried for two hours on one once and got nowhere. The MAPP torch is the way to go. It only takes about 3 - 4 minutes to break the factory thread locker down. You can use the existing locknut which is 27mm on the new receiver extension.

Would be glad to help. If you want to tackle it yourself, it is something that you could be walked through. It will require heat to get the existing receiver extension off. I use a MAPP torch which is pretty inexpensive and safe to use.

Makes sense. I was going to recommend loading from belt mounted clips like the California Competition holder and removing the shell carrier. Every shell you add to the gun adds 2 ounces. Loading from these types of holders is faster than cherry picking from a shell carrier since you’re loading 2 or 3 shells per grab depending on hand size. Some guys are even grabbing 4 at a time. Figure you have half a pound of ammo in the carrier plus the weight of the carrier. It’s not so much the weight, but how it affects how you can swing the gun from target to target I didn’t see what magazine tube you had installed. Is it a titanium model? That’ll cut another 5.5 ounces off the front end if that hasn’t been done. Reportedly, Briley is making a carbon fiber magazine tube. I haven’t seen any weight data yet though. Those Hayl rails are comfortable, but the attachment system sucks. Using set screws is a terrible design. Briley is releasing their rail soon, which promises to be a better design.

Sigma - Sorry to year about your injury. What you’re doing makes sense. A friend of mine had a similar injury from Rally racing. He’d end up tying that hand to the shifter for the races. Do you find it to be easier if the shotgun or rifle is lighter? I’d also recommend the A&S trigger frame for loading.

I could never get used to having a hand stop on the bottom of my handguard with the shotgun. It slowed me down when transitioning between firing and loading. I never liked being locked in to one hand position on the support hand. Depending on what I was shooting at or what kind of cover I was utilizing, having my hand in different locations helped. Hopefully it works for you though.

Yep, I've thought they were connected and even carried them slung for a while when they let go. Now I twist them back and forth OCD style to make sure they are fully engaged. Those BFG padded custom slings are the best. They aren't cheap, but they perform well. You can get some interesting color combinations for your builds.

Wonder how that carbon fiber tube will be weight/price wise to the titanium options.

Agreed, Earl is a good guy. Always glad do business with him. I usually buy the sewn in type that BlueForceGear offers so there are two less nylon straps to keep an eye on. I didn't like the Red swivels, they seemed to get in my way. HK Mash Hooks make too much noise. No matter the QD sling mount, don't trust them until you've pulled on them hard from multiple directions after reconnecting them.

Exactly what Sigma05 says. I've been using this method for years with great results. When you bring the shotgun up to your shoulder, the sling won't get bunched up between your shoulder and the stock. I've been using a similar method on my AR15 rifles now too. Having it connected to the outside of the stock limits the amount of roll you'll encounter in the firearm. What I'd recommend is using this QD sling point for the collapsible stock. It's from IWC as well and works perfectly on the collapsible stock. https://www.impactweaponscomponents.com/product/qd-rotation-limited-buttstock-sling-mount-n-slot/ If you're right handed, your front mount should be on the left side. The rear mount should be orientated to connect to the ejection port side. If you're a leftie, switch everything.

The initial release of the M1014 came with a 2 port barrel. For some reason, Benelli released the 11703 model with a 4 port barrel version that was marked low recoil, it also had a removable choke. The instructions did not say it was only good for low recoil rounds, it was alluded to enhancing functionality and relying on the ARGO system to regulate the gas. Essentially making the M4 more reliable with lower recoil rounds and full house stuff. This did not work as intended. I had one for a while. It broke one of the gas pistons in half within the first 50 rounds. Then it slowly battered the bolt carrier to the point that it deformed where the pistons make contact with the carrier. It was deformed so much that the carrier would bind inside the receiver when pulling the bolt carrier to the rear. When looking at the bolt carrier, you could see where it was mushrooming the steel right on the rails. The 11703 model also had the neutered receiver extension like the civilian released M1014 has - this will not allow the collapsible stock to collapse. Thankfully, Benelli warranted my 11703 for me and replaced the barrel with the new 11707 style barrel including pistons and ARGO plugs, new handguards, and a new bolt carrier group. Once the 11707 model was released, they shipped with a pistol grip stock and had the proper 3 position receiver extension installed. The barrel was also replaced with a 2 port version like the M1014 has, except it has a removable choke and a larger flared seating ring where the barrel makes contact with the face of the receiver. There were some design changes to the barrel extension that enters into the receiver as well.

No worries! It's easier to get apart these days then in the past. You'd have to really try hard to do any damage.

Correct. However, it is possible to replace the receiver extension with an appropriate one that will make the stock function as it should.

Yep! Counts as the Trigger Housing. It’s salad days for the M4 when it comes to compliance parts. Receiver Barrel Bolt Bolt carrier Gas piston Trigger housing Trigger Hammer Disconnector Buttstock (with integral pistol grip) Forearm/handguard (forend) Magazine body Follower

For now they only make the magazine tubes. It’s rare to see the top rails anymore. Even rarer to see a bolt handle. For sling points, I use a IWC magpul sling mount for the collapsible stock. It mounts through the existing sling loop. I shoot right handed, and I mount the sling point on the ejection port side so the sling wraps to the outside of the shotgun. This helps with Weapon roll and doesn’t get in the way when you try to shoulder the shotgun. For the front mount, I attach to either an IWC light mount or an Ava Tactical light mount.

Yep, Benelli did another run of the M1014’s. They don’t have the specific serial range like the first run. The current production units have the polymer trigger packs. Which is fine, the aluminum set trigger packs were rather rough. They had lots of impurity pitting, and rough cast marks like a Colt AR15 receiver. The A&S Engineering trigger frames are better across the board in fit and finish. Plus scoring you a US made part.

Thanks for sharing the video. Interested to see that 14" on the M4.

Weak valuepack birdshot will fail if you aren't holding the shotgun firmly. A weak stance literally robs the bolt carrier of energy while it's cycling and causes malfunctions. Either the carrier doesn't cycle all the way to the rear, or it's so anemic, that the carrier gets hung up on the hammer. If you want to screw around and blast from the hip, feed it some stronger ammo. You can also learn to really lean in to the way you hold the shotgun to provide a firm base for it. Everyone can improve their stance and strength.

This Briley unit looks promising. I don’t think those are set screws. They’re too far forward on the rear set. They’re likely a mounting for whatever they designed to interface with the existing handguard retainers.