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Broke my M1 Super 90


cliffy109

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I was at the range tonight, trying to see how well this shotgun feeds with the side saddle installed and full. The light, target loads didn't have enough power to cycle the action, even with the rounds removed. I then switched to buckshot. I fired 5 rounds of PMC 00 buck without problems. I then loaded up with #4 buck and had a catastrophic falure. The screw that holds the side saddle on, sheared off and fell to the floor. The empty had ejected, but the new round was still in the carrier. I cycled the action to chamber the new round and I noticed that the barrel was not fully in the receiver. I then tried to eject the round and it would not budge.

 

After several attempts, I finally got the live round out and put the thing away until I got home. That is when things got interesting and I discovered the full extent of what happened.

 

First, I removed the forend. I noticed that there was a metal ring with a flat spot that looked rusted and nasty. It didn't occur to me what I was looking at quite yet. I hit it with some oil and steel wool to try to clean up the contact surface a bit. I then noticed a similar pad on the bottom of the barrel and it looked equally nasty and again for cleaned before I realized what I was looking at.

 

Those parts were, of course, supposed to be silver soldered together. Its the barrel attachment ring. I felt like an idiot for not recognizing this immediately, but was horrified to realize that the gun had essentially falled apart.

 

So the question becomes, how and why did this happen and what do I do now?

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Well, that happened to me on an SBE at the 11 year mark (20,000 rounds). The ring was not rusty on mine though.

 

There was some talk a few years ago about some bad barrel ring welds, not much talk, but some. How old is your M1? Is it under warranty?

 

Over the 11 years, I had removed the mag cap so many times, the notches were almost worn smooth. I do recall the cap would come loose often during hunts, I doubt that helped. I got a new cap from Brownells.

 

I called Benelli USA and got Carter Miller. He told me to send the entire gun back, which I did.

 

27 days later (right in the middle of duck season), I got my SBE back. A new barrel ring had been cleanly welded on and the barrel nicely reblued. The ejector assembly had been upgraded with new parts.

 

This 27 days included the shipping time to and from Benelli.

 

The invoice was maked "No Charge" even though the SBE was 6 years out of warranty.

 

So, I would suggest calling CS and asking them what to do. I suspect they will have you send the gun back.

 

I'll be surprised if Benelli does not swiftly take care of the problem, unless you somehow voided your warranty with aftermarket alterations.

 

mudhen - CA

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I don't know if its under warranty or not. I bought it used and haven't had it for very long.

 

The only thing that keeps me from a 100% sure diagnosis of a "bad weld" is the fact that the external shell carrier screw sheared off on the same shot. As mentioned, it was factory PMC #4 buck and the recoil didn't seem all that bad, but it is possible it was an over pressure round.

 

Anybody else with a suggestion here?

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Was it a reload ?

 

The shearing of the Saddle screw could have been from a slightly loose saddle mount screw, a little bit of freeplay makes the screw take the full load of the mass of the carrier and the shotgun recoil force. ( quite a bit of force opposing each other there).

It is unlikely but possible that the extra mass on the side of the gun being loose caused a snapping effect on the gun ( sort of like a second recoil ) and caused the barrel lug seperation. ( especially if the solder joint wasn't that strong to begin with )

 

 

(When you were firing those #00 buck rounds you might have been having too much fun to realize it may have come a little loose.)

 

 

Or it could have been the extra 2 ounces of powder you jammed in that reload. ;0)

 

Either way, I would call benelli and get it sent in for repair. I would have the chamber mic'd as well to make sure its still in spec.

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