M3 Cartridge Drop Lever and Carrier

Upon installing a new trigger pack into my M3 I noticed that I could continuously move the pump forend repeatedly without the bolt locking. (Normally the M3 will only lock the bolt if the magazine tube is empty.)

After investigating this phenomenon, I found out the m3 trigger pack has a cartridge drop lever with an addition notch on the top.

I experimented with the M3 trigger in my other Benelli shotguns and have concluded:

-The extra notch has a purpose to indicate that there are no more shells in the magazine tube to prevent pumping the M3 excessively.

-Unlike conventional pump-actions, the M3 can pump regardless if the hammer is cocked or home. Which means you can eject a live shell.

-M3 carriers are universal to all the others, but you must use the M3 carrier with the missing slot to accommodate the extra notch on a M3. So make certain you do your research before you buy a replacement!

-With the M3 trigger in the M1014, the action was very stiff and you could not pull the bolt back unless you pushed the lever into the receiver. You could feel EXACTLY where the notch is engaged.*

-With the M3 trigger in the M1, it was more difficult to start the rotation of the bolt. The smoothness of the action seemed to be unchanged immediately once you get the bolt out of battery. As with the M1014, you could not pull the bolt unless the lever was into the receiver.*

-TTI uses the M3 carrier.

*Testing done without the use of dummy or live rounds