Light Firing Pin Strike on SBE II

[Lenbezaire]

I have a Benelli SBE II 12/28 LH I purchased new. Its 3 years old. I shoot only Skeet & Trap with it. I've shot several cases of shells with it. Lately (last 9 months or so), its been misfiring about 1 in 50 shells. When this happens, I eject the shell, examine it, reload it and on the 2nd trigger pull it fires - everytime. When examining the shell that misfires, the firing pin mark on the primer is very light. When this shell fires on the second try, the firing pin mark is deep like all the other shells that fired correctly. I only use fresh Federal or Winchester 2-3/4", #8, 1-1/8 oz, 3 Dram shells - I don't reload. And NO, I DO NOT "ease" the bolt to close the chamber. I let the bolt slam. The issue occurs whether the gun has been cleaned or dirty, internal parts lubricated well or not. Like I said, problem occurs approx 1/50 shots. In January, I sent the gun in to Benelli. Their gunsmith found nothing wrong and returned it. I did not use it for months since I was using my new Beretta SP O/U. A month ago, I used my SBE II at a wing shooting clinic and shot a case of shells (Winchester & Federal) with no misfire problems whatsoever. Then 2 weeks ago on the Skeet field, the misfires started again. Took the gun down - it wasn't very dirty. Cleaned and oiled everything again.

 

This is VERY frustrating! The Benelli Rep recommends to send the gun in again, or buy a bunch of parts to try and find what's wrong. I said, why? Will he find the problem this time? What could have changed after 12 boxes of shells? And further, I thought this gun had a 10 year warranty? Why do I need to buy a bunch of stuff to blindly "try" to find a fix?

 

The only thing I've seen while taking the gun down for cleaning that may be attributable to the issue, is a hardly perceptible "groove" you can't really see, but can feel with your finger nail on the firing pin at or about where it goes through the Locking head pin. But the gunsmith should have seen this when he examined the gun. This hasn't happened after 12 boxes of shells.

 

Wondering if anyone out there had a similar misfire problem with their SBE and what you did to resolve it.

Edited September 25, 2016 by Lenbezaire

[truckcop]

Sounds like the well-known but problematic to fix "Benelli Click". It is not limited to the SBE but basically all the line since they use the same operating system. To check and see, take it out to the range. Before doing anything else, take note of the position of the extractor on the locking head relative to the ejection port. Make sure the locking head has fully rotated into its locked position. Then shoot it until you have that "misfire". Now, again without doing ANYTHING else, look at the position of the extractor on the locking head relative to the ejection port. If the extractor appears to be a bit lower in position than when you made sure the bolt was fully closed, the locking head has not fully rotated. Generally, the Benelli Click occurs when the locking head has not fully rotated into proper position. The bolt appears to be fully closed but the incomplete rotation of the locking head keeps the firing pin from fully striking the primer, hence the click. I've had it with clean guns, dirty guns, new guns and once in a while, one of my older ones. I've fixed the problem in various ways. I've swapped locking heads between a couple of guns and that fixed the problem. I put a different barrel on another one and that fixed it. I bought a used chrome-plated locking head to replace the blued one on another gun and it never did it again. I've got M1 20 gauge that does it occasionally. It will sometimes do it when I'm loading directly into the ejection port and dropping the bolt. I'll take a look and, sure enough, the locking head hasn't fully rotated. Checking it saved me from a couple of "clicks" on SD pheasants. I've never really figured out what the underlying problem is other than the proper interface between the locking head and the barrel extension is critical. Who knows? I've seen high-speed video of a Benelli action in operation and there appears to be a little bolt-bounce at the very end of the cycle. Possibly that bounce is pulling back on the locking head and causing it to rotate slightly back out of position. I liken this to electrical problems on old British cars and motorcycles. A ***** to get an ultimate handle on.

Edited September 25, 2016 by truckcop

[tsbright]

I have the same thing happening with the SBE3 very frustrating especially for the dog after he flushes the bird

[remarkable]

Your Bolt Head is clogged with debris, not allowing the firing pin to travel through the bolt head freely.  Part 42.  Please PM if you would like

[bambihunter]

5 years later...

I'd also check the recesses where the locking lugs lock into. Could also be debris down in the hammer pivot area in the trigger group. Or, unlikely, but maybe a light hammer spring. If it is relatively new tsbright, I'd contact Benelli and let them look at it.