TKTM
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Posts posted by TKTM
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Why don't you just answer my question about whether you have contacted them about your problem?
I don't reveal PII on the net, especially when its not germane to the issue. But if it will make you happy, I will tell you I have no conflict of interest in the matter in any way. Are you willing to make the same statement?
On the other hand, a fact that is germane to the poor performance of the FFT handguard is that I have taken the FFT forends off of my Benelli M4. I will not put a set FFT forends back on my M4 until I am sure that they will not diminish the quality and capability of the shotgun. I am hopeful that a fix can be made. I also have faith that FFT will stand behind their product; I do hope you can make a non conflict of interest statement, otherwise I may find my faith in FFT to be misplaced.
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I received mine today and noticed the warp, but the installed fit is perfect with no play or gaps whatsoever. I wonder if there are variations within the M4, old vs. new.
Would you mind posting a picture of the tongue and groove on yours so we can see if they are sized to properly fit each other? FFT may have several molds in use. I did check mine to see if there were numbers indicating mold positions (ie 1-1, 2-1, 3, 4, etc) but did not find any. If they are using more than one mold then it might be possible that some sets have a better fit than others. A detail photo of a good fitting one would be helpful.
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So TKTM, did you contact FFT and either ask for a replacement or a refund? Inquiring minds you know.
Do you have any inside knowledge on if and when they have a fix planned to start producing dimensionally correct ones?
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I can't even tell what I'm looking at in that photo, TKTM.
if you take your factory forend apart and lay the halves next to each other, that will give you the frame of reference you need. The factory forend has a groove and tongue joint that is properly sized for each half; that allows the halves to lock together in a way they can't in the FFT forend.
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Here is a photo of the tongue and groove which are supposed to lock the forearm halves together. The groove is on the left; the tongue is on the right. Notice that the FFT groove is about twice as wide as the FFT tongue; there is about 1-2 millimeters of play between the two. It is that play which is allowing my FFT handguards to shift and screech as they move under my grip. Its the type of noise that would give away one's position at the worst possible time. (Unfortunately its not a turkey call)
I wager the shifting and screeching will happen even more readily as the forearm gets oily, wet, or sweaty. It would be an interesting to test for those of you who have not yet noticed the squeak/shifting problem to place a little Rem-Oil along the bottom of the guards and see if handguards sing like mine when you grab them.
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Please say it while you clean your assault rifle.
Luke 22:36
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" I would venture to guess that if you are experiencing any play at all, check to see if it is fully seated in the retaining rings, especially the forward one."
The thing to watch out for is that that the barrel is fully seated in the receiver. I don't think anyone has yet reported any axial play in the handguards. If you watch the video closely , the movement is in the perpendicular to the retaining rings. Moreover the movement is not occurring at the retaining rings, the material is deflecting at the midpoint between the rings. It is the tongue and groove joint between the halves that is supposed to stop that motion. The tongue on the FFT right forarm half is just way to narrow for the mating wide groove on the left forarm half.
I would think it would be easy enough to change the mold to widen the tongue. But given the other reports of forend curvature actually preventing the mounting of the forend, I suspect that the tongue was made small to allow for tolerance mismatches between the forend halves.
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Mommy buy you a dictionary for Christmas?
Using the birth of Christ to insult someone; I'll say a prayer for you.
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Okay, what are you going to do now? Return it for a refund or just keep bitching?
Does your vocabulary have no distinction between "bitching" and "clarification" ?
And, why should I answer the rest of your question given your obvious disdain of knowledge?
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No movement in mine. It was a tight fit due to the bowed side, and the tension made it a little harder to get the barrel fully seated in the receiver (I planted the muzzle into the padded floor and pushed down on the butt) but, once it was fully seated, there was no room for either half to move parallel to the barrel. It's rock solid.
I see the irregularity in the peices, but they function the same ... And for $50, I'm not complaining. A small price to pay to keep me legal and maintain the comfort of the original forearm.
The FFT forearm is far from perfect, but it is worth the money for anyone that wants to stay on the right side of the law (as stupid as that law may be).
mine did not move parallel to the barrel either, but if you squeezed one of the forends towards the barrel (perpendicular to the plane of the barrel) it would move. I will try to take some video so it becomes a little bit clearer.
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I just installed mine. I agree that it isn't as good as the OEM forearm, but my set is rock-solid with no movement whatsoever. Not because the tongue and groove are any different, but because one half (the left, I think) is slightly bowed. When pressing one end of the forearm halves together, the gap on the other end spreads more than two milimeters. Still, this gap can be squeezed together (with one hand) when installed, and the caps hold both ends together tightly. This slight bow will probably work out a little bit as it sits assembled at room temperature (it was freezing in transit) and the tension it causes is probably the reason why it fits so well when fully assembled.
put your palm on the barrel and place your fingers on one of the halves right at boundary between the two halves. Now make a kung-fu grip and see if you can feel one half move past the other (you'll hear a squeak too)
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Please post after you speak to FFT.
I just received mine, but will not install until others including FFT chime in on this matter. It should fit just like the Benelli's unit for $50.00 imho.
Its not an exact copy; and there are probably good reasons for that. If you look at the original and FFL's unit you can see that the tongue and grove are a slightly different design.
If you don't want to install it yet just hold both parts in your hand and put the tongue and groove together. Do they fit together flush? Does the tongue wiggle or move (non axially) inside the groove?
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Well then it seems like from your response you were more interested in starting a thread telling us the problems you had rather than checking in with FFT first. Maybe that's just the way you roll but I would have taken the step to contact them before getting on-line and writing up a review. That's just the way I roll. Have a nice day.
Why would one delay the sharing of information?
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I have a few questions for you as I have one of these in transit. First, have you contacted Todd at FFT and shared these concerns with him. Having spoken with him on a few occasions, I know he would be interested to find out that one of these units might be problematic.
Second, do you have any photos you could share that show the problems you are having? I know that Benelli restricts forum privileges until you have a certain number of posts but there are ways around that. Pictures would go a long way in terms of helping to understand the issues you are having.
Third, how old is your M4 and what kind of condition is it in? I ask because if it's older or has been banged around a bit, there is a good possibility that the tolerances may be indeed off a bit and may account for the issues you describe.
As I said earlier, your best bet would be to contact Todd at FFT and describe what is happening. I would think that you might get better satisfaction from doing that as opposed to writing what I consider to be an incomplete review on an internet forum.
(1st question) I haven't spoken with anyone at FFT; I literally fit it up and tested the fit a few minutes before I posted.
(2nd question) I didn't delay the post to take video or photos. The description is good enough.
(3rd question) has nothing to do with the gun (new). The retaining flanges hold the forend tight. There appears to be no axial movement or perpendicular movement at the the flanges. The movement is in the middle of the forends, perpendicular to the barrel. The purpose of the tongue and grove is to prevent that movement.
Its a complete review, has all the factual information required.
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I test fit my new FFT forend on my M4 and found some differences in fit from the original. Visually the FFT forend looks good, but there is a difference in fit that might annoy some. The design/fit of the tongue and groove joint which runs along the bottom of the forend haves is not nearly as good as the factory forend.
The tongue on the FFT is narrower than the one on the factory forend, this allows for movement between the halves. Also, the fit between the tongue and groove is not flush when loosely pressed together. When installed on the rifle the fit visually looks acceptable and it feels okay when squeezing the grips together. However if you grab the forend in a manner that loads the tounge/grove perpendicular to the joint, the foreend halves will move slightly passed each other (perpendicular to the barrel) and squeak. On the factory forend, the tongue and groove are firmly locked together and won't move or squeak in this manner.
I have not shot it yet to see if it makes a difference there. But I when I grabbed the M4 to put it in the safe, I could definitely hear and feel the forend haves squeaking and moving.
Given that the tongue is too narrow for the groove, it is unlikely that it can be trimmed to fit better. But it might be possible to true up the fit between the tongue and grove and then bond them together to make a one piece unit.
edited to add link to video of issue
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I use a razor wire sling because it lets me carry my Benelli and shave my back at the same time.
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gunbroker? how many guns sit on there for months on end with unrealistic pricing? http://www.pooshka.com/gun-value.php?poo_model_id=12401 - .
I'm going to have to poo poo that pooshka site. Here is a good example a Valmet M62 valued at $1200 ($680 trade in); thats just nonsense. An M62 will sell all day long at $2500, and can easily push $3500.
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post up at least 10 characters
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anything the Taliban is using probably would be high on the list, as would anything you could resupply from your enemy's supply line.
If your talking going little house on the prairie, I would say a SBE with a 28 inch barrel would be on the list.
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Would a carrier comp Cerakote'd titanium M4 tube's surface finish survive a heatgun if someone were try to restore an M4 back to an importable condition (assuming the tube has been locktited in like the factory tube)?
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Check this out, this information may make you question a few things you've been told.
.youtube.com/watch?v=BNf-P_5u_Hw
No more than elvis impersonators make me question Elvis
FFT forend review
in Benelli
Posted · Edited by TKTM
One way to possibly test for that is see if the FFT hand guards soften when heated; it might also be a way to solve some of these issues at home.