ThisShouldDoTheJob

Well, I'm old enough to not really care about impressing anyone in my house anymore, so when I when I got tired of fighting this gun loading and unloading every night and morning, I ordered these from Amazon ... Povihome Black Finger Protectors, Finger Cots, Moisturizing Thumb and Finger Covers - New Thick Version - Elastic Cracked Finger Sleeves to Protect Cracked, Peel Finger and Other Finger Pain. In hindsight, maybe I should have ordered something more flesh colored so I don't look like I've had my thumb up my axe. The other day, my wife did ask me what in the world is that on your thumb, shook her head, and just walked out of the room. 😕 I have just enough pride left where I'm not sure I'd wear one of these on my thumb at the local gun range. I can hear the snickering and Lord knows what comments being made now. But, on the other hand, I will be standing there with a loaded M1014 so it could be one of those giggle at your own risk kind of scenarios. 😆

Do a couple of searches here, YouTube, etc and you will find many cases where the M4 just doesn't seem to like FIOCCHI shells all that much, and it may have nothing to do with FPS. I can't find it now, but at one time, I came across a YouTube video where a guy explained something about FIOCCHI shells being slightly different than other shells as the cause of the problem. That was his theory anyway. And, of course, others own M4s here that will shoot FIOCCHI and all other shells just fine. (???)

Hey welcome. I'm new here too and learned a ton here before I even bought a Benelli. Have a great day.

Meh .... OK. Some fair points there. Plus, this helps ... I just did yet another, extensive Google, YouTube, Every-Gun-Website-Known-to-Man search and comparison on the competition and guess what? All roads lead back to the M4/1014 in the semi auto world. I'm sure things will work out fine once I get some shot down range, and if not, no big deal. Let's face it, it is just a luxury good after all, and there are worse things going on in the world. Plus, if it turns out that I'm just not a semi auto kind of guy, and this is just not the shotgun for me, there's a couple simple great looking coach guns out there that have just caught my eye. 🤔

After I have the chance to shoot mine after it gets back from Benelli, my opinion may change, but so far I think I'm with you. With two dud Benelli guns in a row, coupled with others' questioning posts/topics, the need to upgrade the tiny bolt handle, the tiny bolt release button, the loading mechanism, and the forend if you just want handle it like a tool instead of a finicky little toy, etc, I'm starting to wonder, what the hell did I just spend $2K+ on??? My own forum name, ThisShouldDoTheJob, was a tribute to what was hyped up as a sure fire, over kill, over the top, rock solid gun. Oh well. If it shoots well, and nothing else falls off of it, I'll keep it. Hell, I already paid for all the other upgrades except the forend anywat. Those two little plastic pieces have got to go next. Have a good one.

I bought a M4/1014 for its vaunted ARGO system, and I'm starting to think that's the only feature I'm going to like about this gun - if/when I eventually get a chance to shoot one. In other words, it better be a real smooth shooter or this $2K+ gun will be out of my collection real fast. Here's a summary of some recent posts/experiences (only a few of them are mine) with Benelli that have me wondering if this is the right brand for me: > Franklinexpress's blue balls situation in this topic. 😆 > I had to return a supposedly brand new H2O that was clearly a used and abused gun. That BS took 4 weeks. > The magazine cap retaining spring and pin just fell out of my brand new M1014 so now I'm without that gun for another 3 - 4 weeks while it's getting repaired. > Both front sights on my supposedly brand new H2O, and my brand new M1014 came canted/off center from the factory. This is common/acceptable condition on a $2K+ gun??? > The magazine release button is a joke. Thanks to RX Arms for his quick fix. > The gun is hard to load, and even more awkward to unload. > The jenky two-piece plastic forend is a joke. I've been around all sorts of firearms for 50 years. If I find putting those two pieces back together to be a finicky PITA in the comfort of my own home - and I've watched many others on YouTube struggle with this finicky PITA feature too - how the hell does a young kid in the military under fire/duress do it? How did this finicky PITA feature even make it onto a combat weapon??? > And, of course, the heat shield. Yeah, I know, it's not really needed, and real men never drop a burning hot firearm under fire/duress and then have to pick it up and burn themselves, but I'm still surprised some sort of heat shield is not on a combat weapon. When I want to reload fast, the last thing I want to be thinking about is how I have to hold this gun just right so I don't burn myself. The forend on the M4-A1 got that right. OK. Rant over. I'm just ticked off right now after several weeks of delays, and hopefully some eventual range time with my M1014 will set my world right. Serenity now! 😆

It depends is what I've heard. (I say, "heard", because I have not had the chance to fire my brand new M1014 as it is already back at Benelli for a repair. Ugh.) In any case, I recommend cleaning any new gun before firing, but some new M4 owners here have reported being able shoot anything and everything right out the box without a prior cleaning. Some new M4 owners here have reported having to go through a break in period with a couple of hundred buck and/or slug shells before being able to shoot lighter loads. It seems to vary from one gun to the next.

Joking aside, that is lousy, and I'm sorry it happened to you. I have no idea how it will fade, but it won't fade for a while yet, so that's a problem. Blame it on COVID, a lack of pride in a job well done, too much texting on the job, whatever, but manufacturing standards in general are going downhill faster than ever these days. A few weeks ago, I returned a supposedly brand new H2O that was clearly a used and abused gun. And a couple of days ago, the magazine cap retaining spring and pin just fell out of my brand new M1014 that replaced the H2O. The good news is that Benelli Customer Service has been fine to work with so far, so I would give them a call and - calmly as you can - explain that you would like to replace this clearly blue gun with a black one like the 99% of the other M1014s out there. Best wishes for a successful resolution. It really does suck when one opens that box with such high hopes, and one's first reaction is WTH???

Baby blue. It will fade to a baby blue color. Not my kind of thing, but hey, at least you'll stand out at the range. 😁

Speaking of RxArms ... Good job on that Benelli M4 Bolt Release Tab! Nice, simple clean lines. I just got it and it worked like a charm in my office. I was looking forward to trying it out at the range, but that will have to wait now that I won't have a barrel for 3 weeks or so.

Heard back from Benelli Customer Service and they issued a RA # and covered the cost of shipping so that was nice. Like the OP's case, the metal looks so clean, I'm thinking someone got distracted and just forgot to run my barrel through the detent staking machine entirely. Who knows. I've never seen their production line. They initially wanted the whole gun returned, but I called them back and they agreed that returning just the barrel was fine. Frankly, the less parts to get banged around, dropped or go missing in transit, the better. The repair will take 3 weeks because they are behind, short staffed, still recovering from COVID, etc, etc. Oh well. I've been through worse things in life. At least they are trying to make good.

Nuts. This just happened to me. Brand new M1014. Haven't even had a chance to fire it yet, just getting ready to clean it, and PNs 073J Cap Retaining Spring and 074J Cap Retaining Pin just fell out on the floor. WTH??? Had this happend at the range, good luck finding those tiny parts. I could barely find them on the floor of my office. I know this gun has a great reputation, battle tested, etc, etc, but with its jenky two-piece plastic forend and parts just falling out of it, I'm not real impressed. Well, I guess I get to meet Benelli Customer Service now. First a dealer tried to sell me a used and abused supposedly brand new M4 and now this. I'm bummed. 🙁

+1. I've searched but haven't found a way to get that handguard. The incorporated heat shield on top would be great. If it ever does come available, I imagine it will cost a small fortune.

Wild speculation here, but given the frankly strange vagueness of the topic, and this being the Internet where wild speculation is the soup de jour ... If the Company is legitimately concerned that the Customer is, say, selling Product X to the "wider shooting community" that is advertised as incorporating the Company's top of the line Component A when, in fact, Product X actually incorporates the Company's bottom of the barrel Component Z, then maybe the Company has a point that the Customer is defrauding the "wider shooting community" - not just the Company. But if this is just about the Company not getting paid on time, or even not at all, due to a dispute with the Customer over, say, product quality, a late delivery, etc, then threatening to go with the nuclear option of reaching out to the "wider shooting community" seems extreme. Unless, of course, Vladimir Putin is on the Company's management team in which case anything is possible.

RxArms makes a good point, but on the surface of it, that sounds like a threat to defame your character to the "wider shooting community" over a dispute between two parties. We have no idea what transpired - obviously - but it sounds like that company is worked up enough that they are read to reach for the red button. I hope it get resolved before it really goes south.

+1. They look great and make handling a shotgun so much easier. I don't enjoy wearing a single glove ala Michael Jackson when a barrel gets to hot to handle. I picked up a plastic Mossberg 930 heat shield, but I'm struggling to figure out how to mount it to the M4/1014 OEM forend in an elegant manner. I have no problem that the heat shield is plastic because a lot of this gun is plastic - including the M4/1014 forend itself. Speaking of which, the design of that 2-piece plastic M4/1014 forend leaves a lot to be desired IMO. Yeah, I know it works, it's been battle tested, etc, etc, but I would have preferred a more solid design that came with a cool looking heat shield ala the M4-A1. Nothing about the current aftermarket forends impress me other than their high prices. Yikes! While a heat shield may not technically be needed, and metallurgy has moved on, it's still interesting to note that the US military felt heat shields were needed for about a 100 years at one point. From this interesting article https://gunsmagazine.com/sponsored/terror-of-the-trenches/ ... Two hundred M97 shotguns were sent to the Philippines in 1900 for use by John “Black Jack” Pershing’s troops in the Philippine-American War of 1898. The anemic .38-caliber revolvers of the day were relatively ineffective against the fearsome Moro tribesmen who faced American troops. The pump-action 12-gauge, however, was more than adequate to do the job. The M97 Trench Gun subsequently saw service in WWI, the Irish War of Independence, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the 1990 Gulf War. It was only in relatively recent years the M97 Trench Gun has been fully supplanted in American military service.

+1 !!! ?

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Update - This is dumb idea. What moron suggested this? Just remove the Pit rail and plug the holes with SAE 8-40 screws from Brownells - SKU 080-716-840WB - Positive Stop Refill Pak, 8-40, Blue, 1 Dozen. As Benelliwerkes pointed out years ago, SAE 8-40 and the Benelli OEM Metric M4 x .75 coarse thread screws are within a few thousandths of each other and interchangeable. This is good to know because it is apparently impossible to find M4 x .75 coarse thread screws anywhere.

I know this very minor stuff, but just to save someone else the time, I just tried the Magul XT™ Rail Panel Low-profile 1913 Picatinny rail cover and it blocks the iron sights. So that's no good. If you are trying to achieve that streamlined look, either remove the Pitcatinny rail entirely and plug the holes as others here have already done, or use a ladder style rail cover. PS - Not a big deal in the grand scheme of life with the war in Ukraine, China about to invade Taiwan, inflation, homelessness, a pandemic, you name it, etc, but I just picked up my brand new, $2,000+ M1014 shotgun and, like others have found, the front sight was not put on straight at the factory. Gee, thanks Paolo. How about laying off the freaking vino during your lunch breaks. ?

Perfect. And at a great price too. Thanks!

I know this is going to sound like heresy to some of my more techno-inclined brethren here, and I think I can see pitchforks and torches off in the distance approaching the castle, but I'm looking for a nice-looking ... wait for it ... cover for my M1014's Pitcatinny rail that will look like it was made for it. I prefer the look of streamlined firearms, but I don't want to go so far as to remove the Pitcatinny rail entirely because I know I'll change my mind later and never get it back on as good as it was from the factory. Any thoughts/experience with the Magul XT™ Rail Panel Low-profile 1913 Picatinny rail cover or similar that won't ... A. Block the iron sights, and B. Fly off from the recoil and bean me in the head. Thanks!

This just happened to me a few weeks ago with a supposedly brand new M4 H2O. My local dealer did the right thing and issued me a refund without a hassle and sent it back to his distributor. He did the right thing because he knew he tried to screw me. He knew that gun was gouged up and used because he had assembled and inspected it before putting it back in the box. He should have said something right then and there. If I dwell on it, I start to boil that he even thought about trying that sh**. Being the trusting dumbass that I can be, like you, I just gave it a brief inspection and brought it home. On my way out the door, I even said, "I'm not going to bother putting it together here because I trust you." What a moron. I have a hunch that my dealer did the right thing because I live less than a mile from him. This isn't meant as bravado or machoism - just factual - but it also doesn't hurt that while I'm past middle age, I still have a rugged, muscular build like a guy half my age, and with my shaved head, busted nose, and a few other bumps and bruises from my misspent youth, I don't exactly look like a real friendly guy - even though I am. Well, most days. LOL Anyway, the next day, I bought an in-store M1014 from another local dealer that I will be picking up on Saturday. I've had great success with on-line, sight unseen purchases in the past, but never again. The world is changing. So little honor these days.

Hi There, I'm a long time - as in you are starting to get up there old man ? - pistol and rifle owner, but this Saturday I will be picking up my first Benelli shotgun. A new M1014. I'm psyched. I owned a Remington 870 a few decades back, but this Benelli is in a whole different league. I want to thank you gents for all the insights posted here. I have studied this forum for weeks and I swear I know each and every detail, spec, nut, bolt, option, mod, accessory, sling, sight, laser, light, mount, ammo, technique, etc, etc out there by heart and I haven't even picked the gun up yet! ? I also want to thank you gents for the laughs. Some of the posts here are the funniest stuff I've read in a while. Have a good one, TSDTJ