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New Benelli M1 User...some questions


ASH556

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Last year I got my first "real" shotgun - a Benelli M1S90. I honestly probably put more rounds through this gun last year than either my carbine or my pistol. I bought it with the 28" vent ribbed barrel, but also wanted the option for a shorter barrel to use it as a third-line defensive weapon. I shopped around for an 18" barrel and couldn't believe some of the $500+ prices I saw. I finally managed to snag this "unfired" 18" barrel with rifle sights from the EE on AR15.com for $325. I wanted to keep the gun fairly light and handy still and didn't want to put on an extended magazine tube, but I did want to carry as many rounds in the gun as possible. I had read about "ghost loading" the Benelli and found out that my gun was manufactured after the factory made a modification to the bolt carrier so that it would prevent ghost loading. They added a notch at the rear of the carrier to catch the lifter as the bolt goes forward and prevent a shell from being carried there. I searched and read some more and found that the mod is easily fixed with some JB weld, so I set out to fix that problem.

 

The next thing to address was recoil. The Benelli wasn't unbearable, but after 100 rnds in a course of clays, my shoulder could feel it, and that was just with target loads. Again, I read around some and found the Limbsaver pad to be highly recommended. I installed it on a range trip where I was able to directly compare recoil before and after and boy, what a difference that made!

 

I also found the rifle sights to be useable, but the black on black didn't seem ideal for a defensive gun with a potential for low light scenarios. I used a gold colored paint pen to paint the front sight blade. It came out a lot like a standard brass bead where it reflects the surrounding light back to your eye.

So, now I am pleased in that I have an excellent field and sporting shotgun that, with a quick barrel change, is ready to go for HD and holds 5 rounds in the gun:

 

 

IMG_1738.jpg

 

 

 

While I appreciate the lightweight handi-ness of the gun in this configuration I feel like it's not really complete. The purpose for the gun in the shorter configuration would be home defense with the Federal #1 Buck load, Hunting in tighter cover, and general purpose as a big-bore alternative (using Federal Tru-ball Deep Penetrator slugs) to my 5.56 rifles.

 

 

The options I'm considering are:

 

 

1) Form 1 the gun as an SBS and cut the barrel back to somewhere just forward of the existing magazine cap. This will increase the handi-ness and portability of the shotgun. The downside is the $200 tax. As for the barrel, I talked to a smith yesterday who said he could do the barrel mods for $125.

 

 

2) Purchase an extended magazine tube to maximize capacity of the shotgun based on the existing 18.5" barrel length. If the barrel's sticking out that far, the magazine may as well too, right? Downsides to this are making the gun muzzle heavy (I had an 870 setup like that and hated it). Also, I've seen it recommended that extended mag tubes have a barrel clamp to prevent breakage. This is a con because I want the ability to easily change the gun back into field configuration and taking that clamp on and off every time would be much more of a hassle than simply unscrewing the magazine, which you have to do to change barrels anyway.

 

Apparently the factory extensions are going to be available again?

 

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/512195/benelli-magazine-tube-extension-super-black-eagle-ii-m1-m2-12-gauge-4-round-matte?cm_vc=S014

 

 

 

 

 

3) Leave the gun as-is.

 

 

Thanks for your input.

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I'd like to know what limbsaver pad model you went with...

 

other than that tough choices....and very personal so they are hard to comment on.

 

I know that I've seen plenty of m2's with extended magazines with barrel clamps. Just have to decide on how important that quick change is for you.

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