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M4 + Slugs?


Benelli Girl

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Hey everyone, I'm new here. I'm a former marine that fell in love with the M1014 when i had a chance to play with it during my deployment. So needless to say I bought one when I got home. Any my only long gun is the benelli m4 with factory collapsible stock and full length tube. Yes its 922r compliant. And being that its my only long gun, and my only other gun is an m9 pistol (which I also fell in love with), id like to be able to use slugs for distance. It has the factory modified choke in it. The slugs I use are 3" winchester super x. Will using a mod choke eventually blow my choke off and strip out the threads? Also, should I even bother using a rifled choke with a sabot slug or is it a waste of time and money? Thanks for the help

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It is perfectly acceptable to shoot slugs through a Mod choke. The rifled slugs are specifically designed with the grooves so that the slug has some room to squish through a choked barrel. The clever marketing department now tells everyone that "rifled" slugs impart spin and are more accurate.

 

I suggest you acquire a variety of chokes for your gun so that you have choices, not because you need them for slugs. For instance, I run a Beretta/Mobil Skeet choke for clays which has a whopping .731 constriction :cool:

 

I am not familiar with sabot slugs and rifled chokes; however word on the street is that they offer no real advantage.

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I have noticed through my m4 that no matter what I shoot through it, Brennkes, sabots (I own no rifled chokes btw), rifled slugs, cheap $ or $$$$$$$$, it doesn't matter to about 100+ yards. (The Brennkes and sabots beyond about 100 yards start to go slightly haywire). No change in accuracy at all for me. Dead on right out of the box too. I was a little let down because I really enjoy sighting in firearms... I didn't get to do that with the m4.

 

I've said before that I really think (at least my particular shotgun) will ignite primer'ed dirt and shoot a rock chip dead straight and center.

 

IMO, you do not need a rifled choke and a sabot but there's no harm in it. If you want to shoot slugs, I'd say stick with the Win rifled super-Xs. I've put several hundred through mine. They're not $$$$$$$$$$ and shoot well. With the modified choke though, you will be cleaning a bit more. I got tired of it and now swap to a cylinder with the slugs... takes all of 10 seconds to switch.

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I have a whole set of benelli mobi chokes so its not a problem of needing to get them only if i should switch them out or not. Everyone keeps telling me that if i use a riffled slug through my mod choke it would blow the choke off the barrel. But i tend to believe that it would NOT affect it as it is a soft lead. I am really in love with this shotgun and dont want to do something stupid that would F it up for good.

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Rifled slugs are to be used in smooth bore shotguns, you could add a rifled choke tube but that is not necessary. Modified (.20”), is the most constrictive choke you should use with slugs, and never use a FULL choke.

You can go larger diameter ie; Light Modified (.15”), Improved Cylinder (.10”), Skeet (.005”) or Cylinder Bore (.000”).

 

Sabot rounds are for FULLY rifles barrels, which the Benelli M4 is not.

 

Also check you choke tube often and make sure it is tight! Remove and clean often and make sure you use a light grease or an anti seize lubricant on the threads so the choke tube won’t seize up. Some shooters have a problem with the choke tube loosening up quite often and the anti seize or a small amount of Teflon tape will help with that.

As far as accuracy goes, each barrel/gun combination likes what it likes. Try different brands of ammo and see what your weapon happy…

 

http://www.briley.com/boresizesandconstrictions.aspx

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a while ago i contacted lymann about their foster slug mold ( wanting to reload my own slug shotshells [factory more that a buck a piece]) and what type of choke to use. lyman stated "Nothing tighter than improved cylinder for the choke" i put a benelli improved cylinder in mine. 2.5" groups at 100yrds. federal trueball 2 3/4

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I took the shotgun out today to run drills and train some more with it. I tried some 3" 00 buck and oh man, after 4 shots I had to give up on that ammo, it is just too brutal for my shoulder. And I tried low recoil 00 and (like I predicted) it did not cycle. Everything else worked perfectly though. I have yet to try the slugs as I am afraid of the recoil and damaging my gun. I did put the lube on the threads like M4Whore said. Hopefully it will keep the choke from getting stuck, I had no problems with it spinning off on its own. Overall I am extremely pleased with the Benelli, I will be keeping this shotgun for the rest of my life. I just need to find a good source for spare parts now :p

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Yeah it was the Fiocchi low recoil buck. It was failing to eject the spent shells and would put a fresh one on the lifter. I did shoot crappy low brass bird shot and it functioned flawlessly. Funny thing is the Low recoil buck had the same fps on it as the bird shot... so maybe it was just that ammo?

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I use Improved Cylinder chokes wit TruLock Tactical, Calrsons Breecher and Briley Extended Ported chokes. I shoot rifled slugs (Reminton Slugger 1oz, primarily), and as well as, shot cheap and expensive ammo with no problems. No issue with low recoil ammo, after I had put about 100 rds through with 00Buck and slugs; that is, breaking-in the M4 in.

 

I've mixed 00Buck/Slugs and 2 3/4" and 3" shells with no recycling issues. I have not or do I plan to shoot any sabots.

 

As long as I feed the M4, it consistently shoots - exactly what you want in a versatile tactical/hunting/personal defense shotgun!

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Yeah it was the Fiocchi low recoil buck. It was failing to eject the spent shells and would put a fresh one on the lifter. I did shoot crappy low brass bird shot and it functioned flawlessly. Funny thing is the Low recoil buck had the same fps on it as the bird shot... so maybe it was just that ammo?

 

Could be the weight of the shot charge not kickin the bolt hard enough.Both of my benellis eat whatever I put through it with no FTF.

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My wife had issues shooting the M4 with low recoil rounds. We attributed it to her inability to shoulder it firmly enough. You can attempt to induce a failure by doing some unsupported hip firing to see if it causes the malfunction to occur. Perhaps find a nice tree to put the stock against, or an experienced shooter to see if the issue remains with that particular ammunition.

 

The charging handle weights will affect the performance of the M4. Long ago I had the GG&G handle. I could literally hear the difference in cyclic rate. It seems Salient is chasing these kind of weight games for their carrier's. They've machined a significant amount of the bolt carrier away to reduce weight.

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I would say it's definitely the Fiochi ammo. I grabbed some on the cheap when I first got mine and gave it all away right there at the range the same day. During break-in, none of it would cycle so I stuck with the heavy slugs for several hundred rounds and never went back to low recoil until recently. NOT Fiocchi - and have had good luck with it all now.

 

I run a Briley improved cylinder choke with the Briley door breacher Compensator on mine and almost exclusively shoot Federal Tru-ball slugs. They are cheap and with the 1600fps rounds, either regular or the LE, I can shoot 10 inch targets all day at 100 yards with my reflex sight and consistent 3 inch groups from the bench with a scope.

 

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The federal Tru-ball low recoil slugs fly out of it like it's allergic to em now but accuracy dies off at about 75 yards with em.

 

The only low recoil buck I use is the Sellier and Bellot 1140fps which I can blast out 9 of without an issue all day now.

 

My wife is only 5'1 and about 115lbs and can shoot the low recoil slugs well and even uses this gun for skeet with Remington #8 game loads with good success.

 

Best bet, Marine or not, is to stick with the heaviest stuff you can handle until the gun is WELL broken in and then go back to trying the low recoil stuff. It seems if anyone ever has an issue it is because they are using LR stuff right off the bat but it works itself out later on after going back to heavy loads...

 

Good Luck BG...

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Yeah im gonna stick with my zombie max buck shot. I think its something like 1700 fps. I dont mind the extra recoil even if I am on 5'5" and not very strong. For slugs I will go with the tru bal everyone keeps recomending. And I guess ill just use imp cyl for the choke with the slugs. Seems the be the combo most get the best results with.

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Yeah im gonna stick with my zombie max buck shot. I think its something like 1700 fps. I dont mind the extra recoil even if I am on 5'5" and not very strong. For slugs I will go with the tru bal everyone keeps recomending. And I guess ill just use imp cyl for the choke with the slugs. Seems the be the combo most get the best results with.

 

I had the same concerns when I first picked up my m4 but I made sure to put at least 150 rounds of the heaviest stuff I could find through it (3" Super Slugs/Buck). I avoided shooting from a bench or sandbag to avoid the collarbone hickey. After that, it has run everything including the cheapest game load "super sale" crap. I was also extremely worried about sending a piece of my new benelli downrange by using the wrong chokes with slugs but after having shot probably close to 1000 slugs in competition or for fun, I can assure you there is no issue using the stock modified choke it comes with. Just make sure to clean the barrel regularly as it will quickly build up wadding and carbon like a champ (be especially careful if using a ported choke). Second best purchase for a benelli m4(next to ammo) is a bore snake.

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