m4prime

Just installed a Briley 8" handguard, and wanted to give some thoughts. I have ran the OEM handguards, and Midwest Industries rail. Initial impressions, the thing is very very sturdy. Weight is not really a concern, when I received the box in the mail the box basically felt empty prior to opening. Installation is super easy, as is removal. It just slots right in like the OEM handguards, but in a single piece. I mounted an Arisaka 600 series with a Malkhoff head and Surefire DS00 with a TRex Arms / Arisaka extended scout mount, on the farthest Mlok slot. I put a modlite modbutton just below it, will need to play around with mounting positions before I decide on a final spot and do some cable management. Impressions once installed... the thing is girthy, and slick. The midwest industries rail was far far easier to get a c-clamp on, just like the OEM handguards. Of course, that is going to result in high heat and not being able to do that very long without gloves. The Briley is difficult to get a c-clamp on, and I'm sticking to a more traditional grip with it. It's slick, and really needs some added traction on it. I tried an Emissary handbrake, but that's not really conducive to making it more grippy with the traditional grip as opposed to the C clamp. I think I'll try out some 2 slot Irregular Defense MLok panels, one on each side of my support hand, and one on the underside. They're polymer and the most aggressive rail covers I've tried. Overall, very happy in the absence of the IWC scout mount. The light placement with the Malkhoff head gives a ton of spill and throw. There is some degree of barrel shadow of course, but it's dumping so much light, it's a non-issue. I would say in use, I like the Midwest rail more. It can get the light way further out (for less weight than even the 8" Briley rail, let alone the full size one), and feels way more ergonomic to grip. That being said, I don't like the set screws, and I had trouble taking it off the barrel to clean the ARGO system without taking my MLok attachments off. As of now, (without the rail covers, will update with those later) I can easily remove the handguard with the light and pressure pad from the barrel just by lifting it off. So from my experience, pros of the Briley are tool-less takedown, very solid. Cons, price, poor ergonomics, very slippery and hard to get a solid grip. Midwest, pros - cheaper, lighter, MUCH more ergonomic and grip forgiving due to the ability to C-clamp. Cons, a pain to take down.

I have one I'm about to list up for sale if you decide on ordering one. As far as the inconvenience, it's only a pain when it comes to cleaning the pistons (which I pretty much never do). When cleaning the pistons, some MLok attachments might need to come off as they get in the way. As far as field stripping the shotgun, you back out two set screws (allen keys, just need to back them out, not fully remove), and then the barrel comes off the receiver as normal, but with the handguard still around the barrel. You can then access the bolt housing, and of course removing the bolt and cleaning the barrel and chamber. I don't love the set screws, but I will say the handguard is mega tight and stiff to the shotgun. It's definitely well made.

My OG M4 most definitely does not have that. I assume it interfaces with the new railed handguard in some way? I'd say remove it and install the new forend and shoot it. It definitely isn't an energy bearing part judging from it's construction. Looks more like a way to clamp / compression fit the new foreend.

I've literally never heard of this company until now, which makes sense as they're based in Europe. Had I not bought a Briley just now I probably would have been after this right away. It's lightweight, strong, tool-less, and looks like it has really nice texturing built in. If you can get ahold of one, the TRex Arms extended scout mount for Arisaka lights might make this work. You could shove the light very far forward off the handguard, and actuate it with a clicky tail cap press. Your hand would probably still hit it, but you'd be hitting the small low profile MLok mount instead of a large light body. Thanks for sharing, I think this is a great option for everyone seeking light mounting solutions with the IWC mount off the market, while maintaining tool-less take down and a negligible weight change from the stock plastic handguards.

PM'd.

Love to see the progress! How much weight is this expected to add to the gun?

Here's some discussion on my thread about the Agency rail. I really really disliked the Midwest Industries rail, although the function was there. Takedown was too difficult and required set screws that did leave marring on my titanium mag tube. I'm back with the OEM handguards, but I'm probably going to head the Agency route soon. RX Arms is also coming out with a highly anticipated heatshield / MLok rail, but there isn't a solid ETA on it yet.

Thanks a bunch for sharing. I think I'm going to order the 8" and see how I like it. With the Trex Arms / Arisaka extended scout light mount I can get the light out pretty damn far, so I'll try to save on some front weight with the shorter handguard.

Thanks, interested to see. How does the handguard feel to hold? It looks really bulky compared to the stock plastic ones. The more I shoot the gun with the stock handguards, the more I love them...

I took a look at the handguard and I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right one. The install videos I watched for this one didn't use any screws at all, it just slides over the barrel like the stock handguard. Is this the right one? If so, I really like the look of the install. https://www.briley.com/p-63643-briley-3gun-m-lok-handguard-benelli-m4.aspx

I don't necessarily mind needing a screwdriver to break down the gun, as I find the gun rarely needs a full cleaning anyways. I just hate the way the Midwest rail goes on, with the big lugs that have to be inserted and lined up with the magazine tube. I find it extremely cumbersome and it frequently jams on itself. If it was actually just a handful of screws and the thing just came right off, I'd be fine with that. I'll take a look on YouTube of how it installs.

It's something I did look at. I didn't really like the install being full of tools to get the screws off, but I will say it's a much nicer install than the Midwest one. How many screws are required to field strip it? Do you have to take them all out? I also don't like how it, like most of the MLok handguards, leave the pistons exposed.

Damn, good deal.

One of the emails I received from one of their distributors:

Hey all. Well, as we all know, IWC isn't producing or selling their scout light mount, which was the single best solution for mounting a light and sling with the stock handguards. I've tried a few MLok rails like @StrangerDanger has. Midwest, the Mesa Truckee, and the Briley. None of them worked for me. I hate the set screw setup which requires tools to remove, and I could never get the Midwest rail (my favorite of the bunch) to be able to be removed from the barrel without removing all the MLok accessories first. All I want is a damn push button flash light mount with a QD or even a clip on or pull through sling attachment still present. I've looked at some of the offerings from GG&G, and they all seem to be a bit mediocre. When you go on Optics Planet and look at reviews, everyone complains of very loose fitment and rattling. They also are not ambi, which is a problem for me as I'm left handed and can't have the sling mounted on the right side and the push button actuation on the left side. I really need something that will let me mount a sling properly set up for a left handed shooter, and would really like a WML solution that lets me mount a proper full bodied weapon light rather than a pistol type light with a pic rail setup, although I'd settle for that at this point. Are there any other options out there, or any creative ways around the issue? Has anyone heard anything from IWC or IWC distributors about the Scout Mount being stocked? I've contacted some distributors to see if they had heard anything from IWC, MountsPlus and never heard anything back, FFT said unknown basically. Thanks in advance.

I have barely seen any RCR's or RMR HD's in the wild yet on pistols, and the Benelli M4 platform is pretty niche, mounting micro dots on Scalarworks mounts is even more niche. I'd buy from a company that has a good return policy, and place it on the mount carefully without mounting so you can decide whether you want to keep or return.

If anyone has one for sale, I'll buy it. Name the price and hit the DM's. Done with my Midwest Handguard and want to go back to my OEM handguards, but need a light + sling mount solution that's ambi friendly.

Woohoo! Range day was a success. Went through 50 shells without a single malfunction. Ran all full power 00 buckshot. Ran through as many different brands as I could, and different conditions. Mixing brands into the tube, fast firing, slow firing, full tube, single shell in the tube, etc. Federal, Remington, Winchester... everything load and every test performed flawlessly.

Actually, found a photo of my M4 with the bolt looking as it does above. All good.

Thank you for your reply. I definitely learned a few lessons. For one, I can now field strip a Benelli M4 half asleep in 2 minutes. My hands hurt. My receiver has scratches on the finish. All sound like net positives to me 🙂 And absolutely I agree, yes… one mod at a time. Had I done one at a time, I would have been easily able to pin down what caused the issue. It would have been as simple as assembly after each modification, and then cycling through some snap caps. Heading to the range shortly, will update. Bringing 3 different types of full load 00 buck, with enough to cycle at least one full tube of each, with another set of each to do a full tube + 2 ghost load. Will keep track of any malfunctions. Have a dripping soaked bolt, rails, and bolt carrier group. Wish me luck! Question for you… is it normal to have a small gap between the bolt and the breech? I swear my bolt carrier group used to block the view completely and all I could see was black when the bolt was forward, but I could be wrong. I’ve seen a mix of both on google image searches.

Update: Well guys, I think I have solved my problem. The video I watched showed the shell stop spring being looped around the tab on the shell stop plate. I found the install guide by StrangerDanger and saw that the spring is simply placed on the plate. I tore down my M4 again (for the probably 12th time today) and put the spring as per the write up. Immediately I noticed the bolt release was so much lighter. I loaded the tube up with snap caps, and cycled through the whole tube. Tried not to get too excited as they were heavy snap caps, so loaded it fully with 00 buck shells. Cycled through the whole tube 4 times. Had one shell on one full tube cycle fail to load, but I'm going to chalk that up to hand cycling and not being forceful enough. Off to the range tomorrow to test it with the piston system doing the cycling work. If I have any issues I think it will just be further adjustment of the shell stop plate and spring. I'm just really relieved I didn't do something really dumb like irreversibly damage the receiver in the vice.

Hello everyone. Pretty bummed out right now. Bought a Benelli M4 a few months ago. Have shot about 200 rounds of full power stuff through it and have absolutely thoroughly enjoyed it. When I bought it, I knew I was going to 922R extend it to the full 7 round tube, along with some other modifications. I did those modifications today, with pretty disastrous results. Modifications: - Freedom Fighter Tactical (FFT) Titanium 7 Round Tube - FFT aluminum follower -FFT Wolf extended spring -FFT Worry Free Lifter -FFT Oversized Bolt Release -Midwest Industries Grip (not installed yet because the gun is not functioning right, and it complicates disassembly) Didn't have any issues with the tube. Just heated, twisted off, no problem. Screwed the new one on as tight as I possibly could while mounted on a vice, inserted follower, spring, and retaining piece. The lifter was a similar story. Just watched a YouTube video and removed the trigger assembly, and followed the instructions and installed the lifter. I did run into a small issue here, the lifter had such tight tolerance, it would not go back down under spring tension. The OEM one did. I gently filed down the plastic on the trigger control group around the section where the lifter was catching, and it then functioned as it should. Lift up, drop back down under spring tension. The bolt release was a bit more tricky, and I strongly believe this is where my issue lies. I followed a video for this one as well. All seemed well, other than the bolt release being dramatically more stiff than the stock bolt release button, despite being so much bigger and giving me so much more leverage. While the gun was disassembled, I took apart the bolt and cleaned it with CLP, and lubed it with my usual Slip 2000 oil. Problem: So, gun is fully reassembled. I start with snap caps. Immediately notice an issue. I start loading to full capacity (7 + 1 in the chamber). I click the shell release, and the shell dumps onto the lifter. I dump the round in the chamber by pulling the bolt back, and the next shell did not lift fully up into position. It would lift perhaps half way. On occasion I could get it to lift on it's own, but I'd say that was 1/10 times. I went to the nearby range and discussed it with the guy there who I know is the shotgun guy at the range. He immediately pointed out my bolt release, and agreed it was incredibly stiff and something felt very wrong. We punched it out, and reinstalled it. It felt better, but still stiff for sure. I loaded it up with 00 buck, and fired one round. Extraction was fine, but the lifter once again did not put the next shell into place. A small tap from the bottom of the lifter immediately shoves the shell into position and the bolt flies forward and puts the shell into the chamber. I took a few shots, and knew it was pointless, so dumped the tube out and packed up. Troubleshooting I figured the correct thing to do was just to work backwards and uninstall parts one at a time to find the issue. I started with the lifter. Swapped back to OEM. Zero change. Then the bolt release. Zero change. What I did notice was that the bolt release was notably at an angle when the bolt was locked back, and INCREDIBLY hard to press. This is why I think my issue is coming from something I did during the install of the bolt release. Went back to the stock tube and stock follower and stock spring, zero changes. I realize that the filing I did to the trigger group plastic may be a cause, and is the only one that I can't eliminate for sure, because I don't have a brand new one to throw in to confirm it's an issue (like I did with all the other parts, by swapping back to stock). However, from my reading, the bolt release is integral to the loading action, and so my issues with the bolt release being super super stiff, that is where I have been leaning towards. The last (and most terrifying) possibility is that I somehow damaged the receiver, either by overtightening the vice I set it in, heating, twisting on the tube, etc. No idea how to check or test this. Any suggestions are absolutely welcome. I'd like to try to fix this myself before I take it to a gunsmith. It really was a downer because I spent all day working on these parts that I spent a month saving up to purchase, only to end up with an unfunctional gun (likely user install error, and not the gun nor the parts themselves). Any other troubleshooting tests, photos, etc that anyone would like, please ask and I will do it. Thank you all in advance.