[New M1014, Tube Won’t Take 5 x 2 3/4” Shells]

Super interesting, thanks for sharing those!

You said that 2 3/4” refers to the fired length? Curious if the median length of these shells would be closer to 2 3/4” open. 

The 2 3/4” Federal 00B & slug I purchased are not equal length as unfired, I’ll be curious to put empty shells of each in the caliper and see if they’re the same length fired. 

[New M1014, Tube Won’t Take 5 x 2 3/4” Shells]

15 minutes ago, Scout_21 said:

So now I'm a bit confused.  5 - 2.5" dummy shells fit but only 4 - 2.37" shells fit? 

Yeah, that’s my bad. I’m [obviously] new to shotguns and I assumed that a 2 3/4” shell would literally be 2 3/4” so, by comparison, the dummy rounds were proportionally shorter (side by side the dummy round looked ~1/4” shorter so= ~2 1/2”).

It didn’t occur to me to measure the live shells until your post, and now that I measure the dummy rounds, they’re only 2.21” long. 

*caliper is good

[New M1014, Tube Won’t Take 5 x 2 3/4” Shells]

Good stuff Scout, I appreciate it. 

Strange thing about this ammo is it’s 2.37” long per my caliper. Verified on a second one to double check  

I made sure the spring retainer was a hair below the end when I reassembled so there wasn’t much there to gain. I like your idea on leaving it out a hair and squaring with the end using the cap, will definitely do that going forward. I also throughly molested the follower while cleaning the factory coatings off and am confident there’s nothing in it hanging the spring up, but again, great call out  

I’d read about clipping the spring- both home jobs and sending back to Benelli for “warranty” work- so I called them this morning to ask for guidance. Guy was super cool, confirmed that they do use the 7-round spring in the 5-round tube and told me to cut it myself. I could hardly believe my ears. He was really casual about it, said it’s exactly what they would do if it sent it in (but minus the four week wait) and walked me through the procedure. He said the 7-round spring is “longer than it needs to be even in the 7-round tube” but that in the 5-round tube it is known to be sometimes problematic due to the amount of spring steel accumulated at the nose of the tube when loading. 

He said that that “4 to 6 coils” could be cut off without risk of a malfunction due to too-low of spring force, but to start with 4 coils and go from there. So, I broke out the split ring pliers and wire nippers, took a deep breath and did exactly as he told me. Reassembled and sure enough it swallowed five shells and the fifth just barely cleared/seated. 

I cycled five loaded tubes through to check for malfunction and couldn’t make one happen. 

That said, the above is not a recommendation to anyone to do as I did just as I wouldn’t have taken action without Benelli themselves telling me to. 

I look forward to zero malfunctions due to spring weight at the range tomorrow and will report back here should I get any. 

[New M1014, Tube Won’t Take 5 x 2 3/4” Shells]

Picked up my new M1014 Sunday and the first thing I did was read the manual cover to cover. The second thing I did was read it cover to cover again. 

Then, following the manual, I disassembled the weapon, cleaned it (found some metal shavings, unexpected) and lubed it, again, according to the manual. 

My issue: Since picking it up and cleaning/lubing, I’ve been practicing loading, chambering, etc. but cannot get more than four 2 3/4” Federal shells in the tube. When inserting the fifth shell, the stack bottoms out with approx. 1/4” of the fifth round left out.

I’ve searched this and read thread after thread. It’s not getting hung up on any burrs/lips/etc. (the first four shells go in smoothly but stiffly). Strength is not at issue here, though technique might be, but no amount of brute force gets it home.

What’s interesting is, I ordered some dummy rounds- a pack of five- and they’re 2 1/2” long. I can fit five of those in the tube, and I can BARELY fit in 4 x 2 3/4” live rounds + 1 x dummy round, but even that requires finesse and just barely clears and seats. 

What are the chances I’m doing something wrong (I know this is a stupid question to ask someone to answer as I type it)?

I read in more than one place that folks with similar issues had to send M4s back to Benelli who ultimately clipped the recoil spring and returned to owner. Do they not test fill the tube in addition to the live firing they do?

I’m headed to the range with a couple hundred rounds of Federal LE 00B + Federal LE Slug on Friday and hoping a bunch of the ol’ “in/out” there will loosen things up, but stopping by here tonight to ask what I might be missing. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[Announcement: AVA Mod1 for the Benneli M4]

Hate to bring the dead back to life, but...

Hi all. My name is Rex and I am on wait-day 6 for my M1014.

Of the few mods I want to apply out of the gate, a light mount is one. And, as I like to “do it right the first time”, AVA’s offerings have made the top of my list. 

Having found zero bearing on a timeline for AVA mount availability I recently ordered IWC components to mount my SF Fury but would still like to come by an AVA solution, even if the timeline is longer (but at least known or anticipated). 

Anyone have line of sight to AVA’s resumed production?

Thanks in advance. 

-Rex