I purchased my M1 field in new condition, with not a single shot fired through the gun, last year from a good friend who had it as a spare. He shoots an M1, loved it so much, he bought a second for a spare and never had to use it.
I hunted the entire duck season last year without a hitch. In fact, I fell in love with the damn thing. I won't even touch my Browning anymore.
That being said, my last two duck hunts I've had an issue. The first occured while hunting in a snow storm. We had been gunning all morning the Benelli team, myself and my buddy with a SBE, were on fire. We had a lull in the action for awhile, and then we had a bird decoy. I went to fire, and all she said was "click". What the **** right? Racked up another round, chucked the shell in the water thinking it was a misfire. Next round fired just fine. Reload, first shot again, just goes "click". I disassembled the entire gun beneath my blind. Cleaned it out, reassembled. Not a single problem rest of the hunt.
Yesterday I was gunning in the rain. Benelli was again on fire all damn day. This thing is a duck killing machine, I love it. About mid-day, again after a lull in the action, I go to shoot and "click". What the #@$% , 2 birds short of a limit and I get a click again. I rack another round, being sure the bolt slammed forward. Flock of birds came in, fired 2 shots, dumped 2 birds. No problem.
This seems to be happening in wet conditions, after the gun has been sitting with one in the chamber for awhile with no action. I haven't heard of the M1's having a "click" issue. I do not like to leave oil residue on the internal parts, because in the cold, it causes problems. I always clean the gun and use oil to clean her up. But I wipe or use compressed air to blow the oil off. Never had an issue doing this before.
Suggestions?