benelliwerkes

In deference to SD I did label it and tuck in to to a labeled drawer. That polymer tool shown above was a Flintstone appearing workhorse but I finally got around to making a more refined tool today worthy for the tool box. Used a shortened #28 drill bit shank slotted with 1/16" square end mill to press fit into a 3/8" drill rod tool shaft cut to length, ends radiused for aesthetics on the slotted end and to be functional fitting into vise jaw hex fastener to stabilize the tool to prevent it sliding down the vise jaw face.

This set of parallel punches is unique in that the shaft slides along the length of the punch, so only a minimal amount of small diameter punch is unsupported that limits the likelihood of bending or breaking punches like SD mentioned. The Brownells set is useful sometimes, but as in this retaining pin situation, the shaft diameter was too large to fit in the narrow confines of the bolt access. For starting and finishing some pins where a tapered "starter" punch can not be used for whatever reason, I made a set of short shaft punches and hardened the tips which avoids bending and breakage.

............make the punches from drill rod stock. The common roll pin holders are tool long for a lot of situations. Nothing worse than working with a crummy tool in the hand.

Finally got around to installing a Wilton 500S 5" vise and installed smooth jaws, it weighs 98 lbs, got it earlier this year. The only one Wilton makes still made in USA. I wanted the 6" but it weighed 150 lbs! The small roll pin holders are made on the lathe which is handy to create short pin depths and small diameters which are easier to control in the hand. I made this 5/32" last week.

.............................

Removing the M4 Bolt Handle Detent Spring Retaining Pin. The key to making the task simple is to de-tension the spring from acting on the pin, very much like for the bolt extractor roll pin removal. The second item is to have a tool to compress the spring away from the pin. I fabricated a fork tool from 1/8” hex wrench, after observing my M4 trigger safety spring tool would fit in the hole and compress the detent spring; the problem was that tool was too long to fit in vise for compression of the spring. The hex wrench was slotted with a Dremel to 0.067”, shortened to fit a polymer tool handle. The tool can then be fitted in the vise to compress the spring freeing up your hands to remove the pin. The pin is removed inside-outward, once de-tensioned a simple small tool such as jewels screwdriver or 1/16” hex wrench can be lightly tapped with a light hammer to begin moving the pin which doesn’t take much force. A right angle pick with slight pressure will complete the pin removal and the pick captures the spring so it doesn’t fly about. Cover the spring hole, remove the pick and extract the detent and its spring. Installation is the reverse. Compress the spring, insert right angle pick, use small pin holding punch to tap the pin in, displacing the pick. Make sure the inside of the pin does not impinge on bolt raceway. Generally, no need for breaking punches or flying springs.

I have enjoyed Dave's Metal Works mushroom safety.

^^Aha. Got it.

I am not sure I understand the OP question. However, the grip retaining pin is secured by asymmetric apertures on either end of the pin. It can only be removed one way! which is left to right. These might help.

It has always been a 5.5 mm nut on the front sight. Has something changed ? Thanks.

Not just for the M4, but almost all shotgun magazine spring removal / installations that have an aperture in the magazine retaining cap, I employ an aluminum thru- rod with chamfered edges that engage the follower, spring and magazine retaining cap which controls the spring in a predictable linear manner if it gets away from you.

Not very many reports of a repetitive specific part failure on this forum. Never heard of a "parts kit" for the M4.....maybe there is one.

IF you are hunting them at night, like many do, wear your college alumni sweat shirt.

The Advantage is 4". Most often, 4" longer is better, not so in this case.

This is a mini-me version of the Benelli M4 "flexible ring" that retains the receiver end of the action spring. Benelli fabrications have a number of examples of simple open "C-clip" styled rings to retain parts; the magazine cap retaining external spring is such an example. Almost a decade ago (2013), SD and I offered a number of alternative solutions to remove / install said C-clip; not easy. For the flexible ring removal some alternatives are a fine tipped hook tool to slip under the ring and lift it out, in combination with external snap ring pliers, fine split ring pliers or some other fabrication. Just tinker with a small tool under the clip and get-it-done. Report back.

Ask your attorney IF it's a real concern.

Prior to my posting many years ago describing the fastener system for the Benelli M4 fixed stock, and its disassembly / assembly I never saw any YouTube on the topic....share the Link(s) for Benelli Dealers or it didn't happen.

It was the implied sales pitch I was referencing not your employment history. Done here.

The non-starter for me is pedaling a non-Benelli firearm on a Benelli Forum and expecting hugs & kisses. No eye appeal for me. But then that's why there are 33 flavors of ice cream. I see a bulky forend bracket for the rail support. I see white letter highlighting for "Black Aces"......not seen on Knights, Benelli, HK etc.....; IF visually challenged naive friends Ask where can I buy one ?, that's your opening to disclose the mfg. The last time wood furniture seemed attractive on a tactical style shotgun was the Rem 870 standing upright in the middle of the bench seat of a Plymouth Belvedere, sometimes a AMC Matador, (with hemi interceptor engine) featured in the 1960's Jack Webb TV Series Adam-12. "One-Adam-12 respond"; what a great series it was. Officers in the day not afraid of offering a "wooden-shampoo" with their billy clubs to any misfits that needed to be cleaned up before getting to the Station for booking. The obvious style mismatch of corn-cob forend style with checkering for the stock wrist is a walk-away for me. Even looking at the depth of wood stain / wood figuring differences has me all cross-eyed. When one is in Sales, you need the thick skin to hear and gracefully accept the No Thanks.

I'll let the rest of the crew say what needs to be said out loud.

A friend actually gave me this 1983 mfg. imported via F.I.E. Miami, FL, NIB Franchi SPAS (Sporting Purpose Automatic Shotgun) with folding stock and infamous "hook" arm brace (way ahead of it's time) 10-12 years ago. It's definitely a cult firearm piece, glorified by it's highlights in Arnold Schwarzenagger "Terminator" movie. It took 10 years and $2500 for me to acquire all the known available "accessories", the last of which was the 2-piece muzzle "diverter" for $1300 in 2021, from the SPAS12.com site originator nonetheless. Several years ago I balked @ $500 for the device, bad non-purchase. It's one heavy and clumsy gun to manipulate. Importantly there was a Safety Recall in 1991 regarding the original "lever" style safety lever that would, without warning, discharge the firearm while toggling the lever from ON-OFF / OFF-ON position; a good time to emphasize the primary safety on any firearm is muzzle direction. My Franchi SPAS 12 (Sporting Purpose Automatic Shotgun) has a 21.5" barrel, SPAS 12 external muzzle thread protector, folding stock, 8 round magazine = pre-ban SERIAL NO. AL XXXX DATE CODE “AL”=1983 Imported by F.I.E. , Miami FL - collector desirable. pump / semi-auto modes. The pump mode was for cycling low powered rubber tip riot cartridges. First year mfg 1979. (1994 assault weapons ban) Removable magazine restriction plug, FIE scope mount, Vario-Mix choke tubes (cylinder, modified, full choke), sling, "hook", muzzle “diverter” device paid $1300 in 2021 for this 2-piece accessory Trigger guard “lever” safety (Safety Recalled in 1991; factory replaced recalls with the cross-bolt trigger group. SAFETY MALFUNCTION DEMONSTRATED: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/0cdaa4_952e6a62edc84135a0113b9964845d33~mv2.gif I authored an Anatomy Series Manual on the differences between the Lever / Cross Bolt safety trigger groups available that also details how the safety malfunction occurs and the factory resolution using the same lever trigger groups! A bit of musing on the "muzzle device" and it's parallel development in the armed forces follows. A variety of shotgun muzzle devices have been tried over the years to enhance their effectiveness in a defensive role. One item that comes off often is "Duck Bill Spreaders" most seem to originate in the early 70's. Crane Lake is often cited as were their origin and cited has being used by the SEAL's in Vietnam and by the Air Force Security Forces. In each case they are cited as being regulated for use with #4 buck shot. Relative reference manuals from the early 70's reveals #4 buckshot was the preferred load for LE-military shotguns. Crane Lake is often cited as such prototype muzzle devices used by the SEAL's in Vietnam and the Air Force Security Forces. A&W muzzle in "The Police Shotgun Manual", by Roger H. Robinson, 1973. Mr. Robinson includes many high speed photos that were provided by A&W Engineering of shot loads coming out of the A&W duck-bill device; photos show the diverter to be very efficient at pattern modification. At 10 yards a 7 1/2" H x 29" W pattern with #4 At 30 yards a 25" H x 96" W pattern with #4. A claimed a 22% reduction in recoil an diminish the muzzle flash to that of a .38 special at night. A slug can be used as well, imparting two grooves on either side of the slug with a reduction in projectile yaw. According to Swearengen in _The World's Fighting Shotguns, the US Air Force Directorate of Security Police in the mid-1960s developed a requirement for a spreader choke that would produce a wide elliptical shot pattern. This horizontal pattern spread was supposed to increase the hit probability from a shotgun on a moving target. The Air Force request went to Frankford Arsenal for action, at the time Frankford was working on improvements to the military shotgun in general. Early experiments at producing a spreader choke were less than successful- the chokes split, patterned poorly and in various ways failed to produce te desired result. Ultimately Frankford ordnance engineer Charles A Greenwood developed the duckbill choke in answer to the Air Force requirement. It was subjected to a good deal of laboratory and field testing. The original duckbill choke was simply a sleeve with a long V-notch cut on either side, the apex of the V toward the rear. The top and bottom of the sleeve were compressed toward the centerline at the muzzle, constricting the emerging pattern of shot in the vertical plane and forcing it to spread horizontally. The sleeve was permanently brazed onto the barrel so that it would not be blown off or rotated by firing the gun. Early examples of duckbill- equipped shotguns were deployed to Vietnam in the hands of Marines and Navy SEALs. It was found that the open V- notches in the muzzle of the duckbill hung up badly on vegetation as the shotgunner tried to move through thick growth, so the duckbill was modified with a ring around its muzzle to exclude vines and branches. It was discovered that the spreader device worked as advertised, but in reality what was needed in a fighting shotgun was a way of producing dense, lethal patterns. Spreaders in field testing produced patterns five feet high and twelve feet wide at 30 meters with #4 buckshot loads. At 40 meters, patterns were six feet high and sixteen feet wide. At 40 meters an average sized man would only be hit by a couple of pellets. But with a standard cylinder bored barrel shooting approximately a four- foot circular pattern at 40 meters, some 60% of the shot would strike an average man- sized target. Still, the duckbill choke had its adherents, among SEALS especially. Development on the idea continued for several years. Clifford Ashbrook and Wilson Wing of Kexplore, Inc. in Houston, TX developed the A&W Diverter in the late 1960s using mathematical concepts, and received patent protection (# 3,492,750) in February 1970. The HK 512 gas operated 7+1 shotgun, it was manufactured by Franchi for HK under a contract to supply an elite force in Germany (GSG9), i.e. the "Anti-Terrorist Shotgun" . A production over run of 270 units which were imported into the US, employing a shot diverter that creates a rectangular spread .

Moribund thread, but what the heck. The problem with shotguns for SD is the obvious limited round capacity and the need to understand if you are not shooting you better be loading. I have found for single breech loading, the Blackhawk forearm situation is really fast; supplement with grab-a-few shotshell carriers; the aluminum ones are far superior to the polymer style for functioning. The polymer shotshell holders are used as the standard at the elite Rogers Shooting School for their combat shotgun course of fire using the Winchester 1300 pump as the "school gun"; IF you can shoot the pump fast, you can scream an auto-loader. The 1300 and it's modern clones FN Police Shotgun have been described as the worlds fastest pump shotgun's with a rotating bolt; the recoil will eject the round if you take the support hand off the forend. https://www.dropbox.com/s/g7fbv3ywppxvpsn/Rogers Shotgun Test 4 Also copy.mov?dl=0

What SD said.

I'm thinking the 2009 OP is dead and doesn't care anymore.

Don't like the 1.5" offset from the barrel. Their have been a number of good setups in the past, AVA tactical mount being one of them. Pretty easy to mount a picatinny rail to a factory rail panel as well. That said I like a SureFire forend tri-rail.