elpocho

OLGA, After reading both your posts I realized two things” 1. The nice clover shaped groups at 50 yards were fired single shot with an empty mag. 2. When I moved to the 100 yard range the first two groups were fired with two rounds in the mag and gave me groups of “aprox” 1 ½” and I say aprox since I did not use a caliper to measure them, I just eyed them using the cuadricula of the target. The two groups strung vertically. The last group was fired with a full mag (4 shot group) and this was aprox 2” stringing vertically. At that time I did not consider the opening of the groups as being related to having rounds in the mag. After being so please with the initial groups I was kind of relieved about the accuracy issue since this was my main concern, therefore I might not have been so careful and I didn’t even take the trouble to get a better rest or at least as good as the ones in the 50 yard range. The trigger didn’t help either. At that moment, with factory loads, dissipated concentration and chunks of wood covered with carpeting that bounced around after every shot, 2” seemed quite acceptable for a semiauto. I went back home with a big smile and the certainty that with handloads and proper rests I could reduce those groups considerably. This is my first semiauto but not my first rifle and I know for a fact that with proper handloads and after experimenting with different powders and bullets, almost anything can be made to shoot moa. My great fear was, as you mentioned, that it would not keep the groups on paper. I’m a hunter, not a target shooter so 2” groups at 100 yards are quite OK weather it is a bolt action or a semiauto to the point that handloads are not a must for a hunt. However this is my hobby and after I’m done with the three boxes of factory ammo that I purchased only for the brass, I will begin handloading as always. Regarding the piston disintegrating, you have brought a big concern to my mind. For the moment the only thing I can say is that it seems quite obvious that this is not a self cleaning gas system and although it was not hard to clean I wonder what would happen if I fire 50 round in one session which is what I usually fire when experimenting with handloads. I guess we’ll have to try and see. Since I have not had any problems so far I don’t know haw easy or difficult it is to deal with Benelli, Here in Canada you have to go through Stoeger, although in the Benelli USA page it clearly says that all repairs for Canadian customers are performed in the USA and the guns have to be sent to them. And I agree with you, a rifle that is not reliable is not OK for hunting, it might put you in a very delicate, dangerous or life threatening situation and this is not acceptable to the point of liability, especially if there is a known design flaw with the gas piston yet it is continued to be advertised as a self cleaning and reliable system. I don’t know how it could be done, but it would be great to somehow document as many rifles as possible that have had the piston issue. Maybe asking everyone that we know that has had this problem be invited to post in this forum. And this would be my legal argument if it ever becomes a problem with my rifle. Believe me, if this happens to my R1 I will hammer them in Canada the USA and Italy. It is too soon to ascertain if my R1 is a lemon yet, but since I like shooting quite a bit and if this is a lemon it won’t be long to show. My next trip to the range I will try again grouping with and without rounds in the mag and will post the results. I will also keep an eye on the gas piston and inform if there are any developments. So far so good and I cross my fingers and touch on wood. Let’s keep in touch regarding this.

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a Benelli R1 in 300 Win Mag with the Confortech stock. I bought it at the Toronto Sportsmen Show because i got a great deal that I could not pass and I already had a Benelli Super Sport Shotgun and it is by far the best gun that I ever had so I thought that I couldn't go wrong with the R1. (the deal was that it had no taxes, but it is still an expensive rifle) Then surfing in the internet I came across this forum and my jaw dropped after reading about all the problems that seem to plague this rifle relating accuracy and its gas system. I was starting to think that I had made a huge mistake I was truly disappointed especially after reading the brochures where it promised decent accuracy due to the cryogenically treated barrels and reliability from the "Self Cleaning" gas system derived from de Benelli M4 that in tests fired thousands of rounds without a malfunction. How was it possible that in some instances some owners were complaining about lack of accuracy and that the R1 would jam after shooting a mere 10 rounds or that the only way to get it to be reliable was to clean the heck out of it every time it went to the range and even then they had no assurances of it not malfunctioning. After all it was supposed to be a Self Cleaning gas system. Finally the moment of truth came and I went to the range last Sunday with my kids. We took a Benelli Super Sport and Remington 870 to shoot some trap, a SKS with a few hundred rounds to have loads of fun and we left the R1 for last so It would not spoil our day. Finally at the end of the day the R1 was on the bench and ready to be shot. The target was set to 50 yards where I boresigthed it with one of those NC Star Laser boresighter that looks like a round of 300 WM. Sure enough the first shot was in the target. This was the fouling shot so I was surprised to see the second shot go into the same hole as the first. So did the third. I then adjusted the sights and fired three more. Again they went into the same hole in a nice clover shape. Made the final adjustments and again one hole group. It is hard to describe how I felt at this moment. With all the negative anticipation my happiness was so that I can only described as being that of a dog that had two tails. I then went to the 100 yard range and fired the rest of the box (by the way, this was the cheapest ammo that I could find, Remington Corelokt 150gr). All the groups where between 1,1/4" and 2". This with an out of the box rifle and the cheapest ammo I could find in Bass Pro Shop and on top of that I did not even have a decent rest. Once home I took the R1 apart and found out that it was dirty but it was not so fouled that it would jam. However, I do believe that junk will pile up quite fast after three or four boxed of ammo. In fact, my rifle's manual had a few loose pages that were evidently added at the last moment that talks about how important it is to clean the gas collector since some types of ammo tend to leave significant deposit of combustion residue build up. So much for the Self Cleaning feature and since it does not mention which type of ammo is the one that gunks up the gun, it could then be anyone, therefore, you better clean your gun often. Benelli should probably remove the " Self Cleaning Gas System" claim from their brochure in order to avoid misleading customers. Finally, I think that this rifle has an outstanding potential. With better ammo and or with reloads I have the feeling I will turn this into a 1/2" tack driver which is uncommon in a semi auto. Since it has a 1:11 twist I believe it will favour the lighter bullets so I will be trying anything up to the 165 and 168 grains bullets This later ones should be good enough for hunting any game here in Canada For all of those who have had problems with this rifle I would suggest that you hammer Benelli for a solution. This is an expensive, high end rifle and it is advertised as such. If by chance some might have gotten a lemon you should not get stuck with it. You should get a rifle that lives up to the expectations that Benelli has created for itself. I have the feeling that this rifle and I will become very good hunting buddies Carlos PS: the only thing I deslike about this rifle, is the trigger, I would expect somenting better, like the one in my Benelli Super Sport. My surplus Simonv has a better trigger that the R1.