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I think our "fearless titanium M4 parts leader" is at the vet for repairs/recuperating following his very humbling motor cross experience. He needs a little time to heal and hopefully doesn't do anything else suicidal. Kip, all the best and get well soon so you can machine beautiful M4 parts aplenty for USMC & all else. Carey

The current factory Benelli Performance Shop SBEII turkey shotgun comes with a ported barrel & a Rob Roberts Final Strut non-ported 0.640" choke tube. The one I have was shipped with a test pattern of 98.4% @40yds. with the recommended Federal Premium Heavy Weight FLITECONTROL 3 1/2" 1 7/8 oz. #7. The LE FLITECONTROL 00 buckshot loads also work very well but with the RR recommended 0.695" T3 choke tube.

The factory Benelli M4 SBS sold in the U.S. does not comply with 922®. And BATFE has approved them for sale here in the U.S. as NFA weapons in both collapsible and fixed stock models.

Surefire 617LM 200 lumen; works great and far cheaper than trip to the ER (or worse). Bears don't like it; bad actors don't even count when they are illuminated. The upper 1/3 of the lighted field is what you get at night if you pull the trigger. 617LM has been very bright and easy on batteries but look for what works for you. Cheers! Carey

F18 Heavy WSO, I am in very much the same boat: new M2 Tactical, broke in with a couple hundred rounds of 2 3/4" & 3" leftovers, replaced the forend and magazine follower with U.S. parts for 922® compliance, added factory extension, added the steel DMW bolt handle, replaced OEM recoil pad with LIMBSAVER, and it is just not reliable with low recoil LE132 00 loads. The full power LE127 00 FliteControl load and the WCC/Winchester military grade 00 work 100%, no issues. I need to put both on paper but am expecting the LE127 00 FliteControl load to be the clear winner. LMK how you make out with your tests & I will do the same. Carey

Relax, you are doing fine. If you have already removed the firing pin retainer pin & the firing pin with spring, the locking head pin (cam pin) should be free to be removed. Turn the bolt upside down and cycle the chrome locking head in & out of the bolt a few times to loosen up the pin. The pin should drop out as do this.

This is my second Surefire weapons forend; the other one is an M500A 225 lumen weapons forend on an M16A2 carbine which has performed flawlessly for almost 10 years now. I would not have a weapons forend light that was not tight/quiet and VERY bright. The 200 lumen 617LM will light up your target extremely well at 50yds PLUS; more like 100yds. Bad actors, both 2 legged & 4 legged, will look like they are on a Broadway stage. But I did have to add a 0.025" SS shim to help the 617LM forend fit completely tight & keep it absolutely motionless/noiseless. Surefire should furnish a few 0.010" shims in addition to the 0.060 wave washer supplied with their 617LM weapon's forearm kit to help fit individual Benelli M1/M2 shotguns. JMO

You are referring to the forearm washers, correct? There should be (1) wave (spring) washer sandwiched in between (1 or 2) flat washers in your OEM Benelli M1 forearm retained by the outer forearm ring. Surefire supplies a wave washer with instructions to use it in back of the front forearm bushing of the 617LM forearm when used on the M1 only. The OEM forearms washers of both types I have measured & the one supplied by Surefire are all the same thickness at 0.060".

The Surefire 617LM on an M1/M2/SBE/SBE II does very nicely for my purposes of HD/Bear Defense when a weapons light is needed.

Thanks KB! Very nice indeed!

All you guys bragging about how good Kip's Gen II hybrid charging handle looks on your M4 are lame unless you share pictures with us.

I have owned/hunted with 28", 26", & 24" SBE/SBE II shotguns. The first SBE I picked up in 1990-1991 had a 28" barrel with wood furniture because that was all they offered. The wood butt stock shattered from the repeated recoil of the 3.5" loads so HK/Benelli replaced the furniture with the then-new synthetic. The 28" SBE with an extended turkey choke installed was a bit on the long side. A few months later, HK/Benelli offered a 26" SBE with synthetic furniture. So I picked out a new 26" SBE for myself and gave the 28" SBE to one of the other hunters in the group. Both 28" and 26" SBEs patterned well right out of the box and killed geese better than any other 12ga. we tried out (almost as well as the Ithaca/Browning/Remington 10ga. shotguns we had available). I picked up a 24" SBE II for a dedicated turkey gun a couple months back but will keep the 26" SBE for ducks. Both 26" & 24" barrels have been ported & had their force cones lengthened/polished by Briley & Rob Roberts respectively. Both barrels pattern in the low to high 90s %@40yds. with the 24" SBE II patterning 98.4%@40yds. with the Federal FliteControl Heavyweight #7 turkey load. IMO, the 24" SBE/SBE II is by far the best barrel length for a turkey gun with the 26" SBE/SBE II being the best for an all-around shotgun. Best of luck!

Hi Kip, Any updates on arrival of the dark finish PVD GEN II Charging Handles? Thanks, Carey

Limbsaver has not yet produced a direct replacement recoil pad for the M2 Tactical/SBEII SteadyGrip stock with the plug-type recoil pad. And several people have been complaining that Benelli's plug-type recoil pads have come off/been lost while they were in the field. One hunter I know has lost his twice in the past year. I wanted a more solid mounting design. So I fitted an aluminum plate to go in front of the stock's internal plug-type recoil pad mount, threaded it, and screwed on the Limbsaver 10112 recoil pad used on the M1 Tactical/SBE SteadyGrip stock with a screw-on recoil pad. The Limbsaver pad is a very nice upgrade especially for using magnum loads or extended shooting sessions.