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decocking Benelli M2 without dry fireing ?


blackpowder1

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I say that it is shooters choice. It is not going to hurt the gun either way. When was the last time your gun wouldn't shoot because the firing pin spring was weak? If all my guns had exposed hammers, I would not consider putting them away cocked. Therefore, I drop the hammer on all my guns. (When I remember to do so). I am getting old!! Mike

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Hi BlackPowder1 ...

 

Went back to the first page and yes, you did start this thread. My sincere apologies. No doubt I will be receiving an e-mail from the forum Etiquette Police, very soon. My Bad :-(

 

As for the question "leave cocked or decock" after using a weapon. In my case, when I put a weapon away in the gun safe I always dry fire (decock) the weapon. Why? Two reasons. First, it's an extra safety step to insure that the weapon doesn't have a round in the chamber (check magazine, check chamber, dry-fire). Secondly, I do this because when I was fourteen, I had several older men, (that couldn't figure out why a girl wanted to learn about firearms), screaming at me to do it that way. It may sound like a cheesy reason, but I figured these guys were all W*** vets and knew a lot more than me. Now that I'm an official "elderly person" and those gentlemen have all passed away, I can still see and hear them pounding that lesson (there were many lessons) into me.

 

One last thought. I had a great day in the Quail fields this afternoon, including a double !! YIPPEE

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If leaving the shotgun or rifle cocked over a long period of time is bad practice, then there are a very large number of LEO weapons that are in trouble. Most agencies I know of carry their shotguns and patrol rifles at "Patrol" or "Cruiser" ready. That is bolt forward on an empty chamber, selctor/safety in the safe position. I had the same question when we developed our Patrol Rifle Program. The manufacturers I contacted stated no problem with

the weapon being cocked over an extended period of time. We (large southeast sheriff's office) have not experienced any firing pin problems with the 500+ rifles in our program. Our shotguns are carried under the same quideline.

As usual YMMV

Edited by tigerdvr
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Thanks everyone for all the inputs. It appears there are no ill effects to this gun by dry firing it or storing it in the cocked mode. So it seems a matter of personal preference which to do.

 

I just prefer to store mine in the uncocked mode. If for no other reason than handling it the same way as I handle my other guns so I dont get confused what I did to which of them.

 

Have a graet day !!:):)

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OKAY, here are my results. This is exactly what I did. I picked up my M4 and hugged it cause I love it. Then I walked for about 5 minutes into the back. I call this area of the back yard the "shooting gallery", it's about 300 yards from the house. I had 7 rounds of federal OO buck 9 pellet in the tube, standard 127 OO. I hit the cartridge drop lever and released a shell from the magazine onto the rail. I pulled back on the bolt handle and released. Now there's a shell in the chamber and nothing on the rail, 6 shells in the tube. I hit the cartridge drop lever again. NOW AFTER I HIT THE LEVER AGAIN THE RED DOT WAS GONE. ACCORDING TO THE BENELLI MANUAL THIS MEANS THE HAMMER IS NOT COCKED, REFER TO MY POST ABOVE FOR THE QUOTE FROM THE MANUAL. I pulled the trigger and to my surprise I was 1 Federal less than I was before. I'm glad blackpowder asked his questions because until now I was under the ASS-UMPTION that pushing that lever de-cocked the gun, JUST LIKE THE MANUAL SAYS IT DOES. I'm a little disappointed. This is a HUGE safety concern. Please somebody correct me where I made a mistake because I can't believe there's a problem like this.

 

I think I found the discrepancy. On the cartridge drop lever is a red dot. The dot is not on the "tip" of the button. It's on the side. After I hit the drop lever the red dot is gone but the tip is still exposed. When I dry fire the gun the entire thing is gone, tip and all. My question now is, does the M1014 have a red tip like the manual says or a red dot? If it has the red tip then Benelli changed it to a red dot on the side that isn't visible when perhaps it should be.

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To Snap Cap, or Not??? (this is a copy and paste from a post I made a while back.)

 

I asked my buddy to weigh in on this subject a while back.

 

He has a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in machine design and strength of materials. Alas, I have only a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering, so obviously, he's smarter than me.

 

His answer?

 

It depends.

 

It depends on the material and the level of stress seen in the sprung (cocked position) and the unsprung (hammer down) position.

 

Metals used for springs DO INDEED take a set, that is, if kept in a stressed condition for long periods of time, the metal will actually "creep" (and yes, that really is an engineering term.) Which is why your hammer springs get shorter over time, because regardless of whether the hammer is cocked or uncocked, the hammer spring is under stress. Its just under higher stress when its cocked.

 

However, cycles (each time you take a shot) will fatigue a spring as well. And in the case of someone who shoots 5,000 targets a year, spring fatigue due to cycles may indeed be the governing cause of spring weakening, and not creep due to storing it in a stressed position.

 

So, for guns used occasionally, like hunting guns, snap caps may indeed extend the life of the hammer spring.

 

On the other hand, for guns that are used regularly, like competitive trap guns, chances are that using a snap cap may be of limited benefit.

 

Will a snap cap harm anything? Oh, probably not.

 

Do you NEED them? Oh, probably not.

 

I use my snap caps for practicing mounting my gun and improving my swing to the target in my basement.

 

As with all things...your mileage may vary.

 

Probably the right answer is, if you shoot A LOT with your guns, you should replace your hammer springs periodically.

 

If you DO use snap caps before you store your guns, make doggone sure its really a snap cap and not a live round!

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Well it all works the same but having the red dot on the side rather than the red tip is completely useless and misleading since the dot could be gone when the hammer is still cocked and the tip is still exposed (completely defeating the entire purpose of the warning). Being that the entire purpose of the red is a warning that the hammer is cocked, my gun is lying to me (sometimes). If it was on the tip like the manual says it would still be exposed every time the hammer is cocked until the gun was dry fired and the hammer is not cocked, then the entire thing is gone and it would allllll make sense. Somebody put the red in the wrong place. In all fairness, my gun would be better off with no red at all so it would not mislead the user. If somebody else is shooting my gun and asks me what the red dot is for, I guess I'll tell him to forget the red dot, it's useless and it means nothing. That is until I get some red paint and paint the tip like it's supposed to be.

 

I know this is being beaten to death and I do understand the operation of the gun, I just don't understand why the red is in the wrong. :) That is all, carry on.

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He has a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in machine design and strength of materials. Alas, I have only a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering, so obviously, he's smarter than me.

I disagree. Not that I think you're smarter than he is because I don't know you and I don't know him. But having a higher degree than somebody else does not make one smarter. Einstein and many other geniuses never graduated highschool.

 

If you DO use snap caps before you store your guns, make doggone sure its really a snap cap and not a live round!

This on the other hand, I do agree with!

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Super,

 

It was kind of tongue-in-cheek, as I agree with you in that generalization.

 

But in this case, he's one smart guy. Serves on the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code committee that makes the rules for designing high pressure pipe.

 

I put more faith in his guesses than in most people's facts.

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