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Benelli M4 Failure to Fire/ Light Primer Strikes?


MountainMan

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Hello, this is my first post but Iv been lurking here since I got my M4 about 6 months ago. It has been a good resource to find out how I want to upgrade my shotgun but I haven't had any need to post yet.

 

I ordered a carrier comp tube the same week I got the m4 to begin the wait, then proceeded to break in and get to know the shotgun. I made a couple minor changes once I got a feel for the gun by adding an oversized safety, gg&g bolt release pad, and putting on a field stock.

 

I looked into 922r parts, and as the geiselle hammer was not available, and I wasn't sure I wanted a surefire m80 rail yet, I went with the freedom fighter tactical trigger and disconnector. I also ordered the 1/2" titanium charging handle.

 

The FFT parts came in fairly quickly, there was a wait for the charging handle for a couple weeks but my mag tube was still a long way off. When I had it all in my hands I took an evening to put the mag tube and trigger parts in, did some function testing, then went shooting the next week and this is where my problems began.

 

I shot one 100 round bulk box of Federal target loads from walmart and had an unacceptable number of failures to fire. I would guess around 15%. This is from a gun that has been nothing but reliable for hundreds of rounds so I was more than a little disappointed. All of the ammo did eventually fire on the 2nd or 3rd try.

 

What do you think is the cause of this? FFT trigger parts? Hard primers on the bulk Federal? Gun lube getting thick and sticky in the cold?

 

I shoot mostly Federal ammunition and have never had reason to complain. It is consistent and goes bang every time. Did I just get a bad batch?

 

I will say I am not a fan of FFT. My bolt knob, that I waited weeks for, was almost unusable when I got it. The recesses for the detent were not large enough causing excessive rotation and for it to fall out. I took a file to it and improved the situation but eventually threw it out. This was strike one for FFT and absolutely destroyed my confidence in their products.

 

I know there may be other causes, it was a cold day and the lube I was using thickened quite a bit. That may have decreased the hammer speed enough to cause the failures. I have cleaned and relubed with a light coating of a thinner oil to see if that has an effect.

 

I also got a Geiselle hammer as soon as they were available and have already switched out the FFT parts but have not headed out shooting yet as we have had 80" of snow in the past 3 weeks.

 

I could not be happier with Carriercomp,, I hope kip finds a way to do another run of his bolt knobs this year, the quality of his products are second to none. I am quite pleased that Geiselle has found time to make another batch of hammers too, I know and trust his company to make high quality parts as should be expected for a gun of this price and quality.

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I would try another brand of ammunition first. See if the problems continue to happen. Try running some buckshot and slugs through it.

 

Inspect the the fired rounds and see what kind of primer strikes you're getting. Do they look solid or anemic?

 

Can you describe the style of shooting you're engaging in when these failures occur? IE: rapid fire as fast as you can or slow pace shooting (at least one second gap between shots).

 

The cold weather and whatever lubricant you're using could be an issue. If the lubricant is thickening, it could prevent the bolt from fully seating. This would push it out of battery slightly and prevent the firing pin from making full contact. I would experiment with a different lubricant to see if this aleviates the problems.

 

If they continue, I would reinstall the factory trigger group components and see if the failure continue. This will help determine the area that is causing the problems;

Ammunition issues

Lubricant issues in the cold

failures caused by damaged or improperly reassembled components. This is unlikely.

 

I would have contacted Tim at FFT and reported the issues I had with the bolt handle. I'm sure he would have replaced it. Even now, it might be worth trying. I do agree that the carriercomp products are better. They're just harder than **** to get.

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Thanks for the replys, I have been using this ammo for quite a while in all my shotguns but I will pick up a box of the Winchester to try also. Iv probably put close to 1000 rounds of it through the gun with hardly a single malfunction once good and broken with buckshot. I wasn't shooting full power loads that day so I will certainly bring buckshot next time I go out. Shooting was 70/30 slow and rapid fire. It seemed worst in the first couple mag tubes which probably indicates lubricant issues.

 

I believe the gun was lubed with frog lube which does congeal like crazy, it was probably 25* that day. The problem continued even when the gun was warmed up after shooting. I guess this may be the culprit, i thoroughly cleaned the gun and reapplied a basic CLP oil. I hope my next range trip goes a little better with this gun

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The primers were dimpled but it did appear to be a light strike when compared to a hull that fired first try. I loaded them one at a time to try them again and all fired on the second or occasionally third try. I probably won't be out shooting for a little while, it has been quite a winter here in NH. I think we're pushing 100" of snow in the past month without a day above freezing, wind is still blowing from yesterday's blizzard and windchill is down to about -30 degrees. I will update when I get out again.

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