Benelli M4 Briley loading port opening

[BenelliFanboy]

I sent my M4 to get the loading port opened by Briley.  Not sure if anyone else here has done it.  This is what I got back.  The only I would say is I think they cut too far into the shell tube.  It doesn't feel any different when I slide my thumb across but just look a little off.

I plan on using this gun for Three Gun.

[rubicon20032003]

That’s a pretty bad job they did.I sure won’t be happy with that.If it was mine 

[BenelliFanboy]

That's what I was thinking so I'm in touch with Briley again to see what can be done

[Sukhoi_fan]

I have to wonder why they think it necessary to remove so much.

[Milspec]

I’m no expert but wow!  That looks like a lot based on photos I’ve seen of others.

[808M4]

Looks similar to my Taran Tactical M4. Why don't you put it together with the follower and shell lifter and see how it looks/works. 

[StrangerDanger]

I'd give it a try first to see how it performs for you. Remember that this is designed for rolling the weapon ejection port up, and speed feeding shells in place. Some are doing doubles with this method with their thumb on the back of the primer side and pressing them in. They gave you a lot of clearance so that the cup of your hand can seat deeper into the receiver. How much is removed from the magazine tube area isn't that big of a deal. I've seen some where they've cut into the magazine tube itself.

 

I would have preferred that they broke some of the corners to avoid sharp edges, but they probably just do these in a mill with no plan of refinishing the receiver.

I would have preferred that they open the mouth of the loading port more and broken those edges better. When you're moving fast, a 90 degree angle can cut you open easily. On the ones I've done, I spent a lot of time blending the edges so that there were zero sharp corners anywhere inside the loading area.

 

Edited August 1, 2019 by StrangerDanger

[BenelliFanboy]

So I called Briley and they told me that did an incomplete job, so Ill be sending back the receiver.

I did get an opportunity to assemble everything together and it worked great.

Hey stranger Danger, are the A&S Benelli Trigger guards worth it?

[StrangerDanger]

Did they say what they didn't finish?

 

A&S Engineering is good stuff. 922 compliance part, far better than even the aluminum OEM trigger frames. I don't really use the loading ramp feature, but it doesn't hurt anything.

[BenelliFanboy]

They didn't say, and I didn't ask. After looking at it, they didn't do into the feeding tube, just didn't clean it up.

I have the plastic trigger frame which I want to switch out, just not sure if it worth it.

I did notice one thing.  When trying to dual load, the shell catch its very stiff.  It takes a lot to push in the shell, any advice in this?

 

[StrangerDanger]

There are a few modifications that can be done for ease of feeding. It's really easy to mess it up though and go too far. Here is a link to Brian Enos' page where people are discussing options on how to make the shell stop easier to work with. Most are bending the latch and polishing the face of the latch where the shell rim rubs against.

 

Bending and polishing is the best option. I've tried plating the part with NP3 to see if it would help, it was marginal at best for an improvement that I could feel. It will take trial and error to get it bent to the position where it's reliable and smooth to operate. I would not enlarge the notches on the side of the shell stop to make the part more flexible. The latch will break if you get too aggressive here.

 

https://forums.brianenos.com/topic/219805-benelli-m2-bolt-mods-and-shell-latch-mod/

 

Personally I'd put the A&S frame on any Benelli I owned.

[Birdog19]

Hey Fanboy!  Any update on your receiver?  Is Briley treating you right?

 

[BenelliFanboy]

2 minutes ago, Birdog19 said:

Hey Fanboy!  Any update on your receiver?  Is Briley treating you right?

 

Yea, in fact I got the receiver back this last Tuesday.  I didn't have a chance to update this forum yet.  They sent me a label, got it cleaned up and sent it back to me.  The only thing is it took another 3 weeks, to get the receiver back.  They even threw in a trigger shoe free.  

I reassembled the M4 and its works great.  My next project is try to fix the shell catch, I tried quad loading and I can barely push 1 shell in without the 2nd one popping out...

[Birdog19]

Thanks for the update.  Did they smooth out the "sharp" 90 deg edges where they took material off the receiver like Danger does with his loading port job?

My shell catch is pretty stiff as well.  I checked out this forum as recommended by Danger some weeks ago and there is some good stuff there:  

https://forums.brianenos.com/topic/219805-benelli-m2-bolt-mods-and-shell-latch-mod/

I'm also going to look at the spring tension with only one shell in the mag tube to see if maybe the spring can be shortened a little thus a little less force to push against.

Thanks for the update.

[BenelliFanboy]

I ran my thumb and its smooth.

 

[StrangerDanger]

Those edges still seems pretty sharp and should have been broken. No sharper than the original receiver,  but a soft blend would do it well. 

[BenelliFanboy]

After you told me about the edges, it doesn't feel sharp but I noticed they didn't widen it.  

I emailed Briley to see if this was suppose to be tapered back to widen the port.  Below is the picture of what I pulled from online.

 

[StrangerDanger]

Yeah - that is completely different. They didn't open the port up. You can tell by looking at where the pin for the bolt release is.

Glad the edges don't feel sharp to you. The pictures were a little deceiving.

[BenelliFanboy]

So I got a response from Briley, this what they said below and they need to update their website.

"Subsequently we greatly reduced the bevel on the inside edges of the port.  While it allowed the shooter easier access to the port, it reduced the amount of control on the cartridge during insertion to the magazine.  Our sponsored shooters unanimously agreed that the way we do it now is preferable and with adequate practice it is not a limitation on the speed of reloading."

So it seems like I'm good to go. 

[adalah]

Indeed, very interesting thread

[Birdog19]

Hey Fanboy,

It's been a few months since you've posted and I'm wondering if you've had the chance to run your gun with the Briley port-opening job.  Do you like it?  I'm thinking about using their services as well.

[BenelliFanboy]

24 minutes ago, Birdog19 said:

Hey Fanboy,

It's been a few months since you've posted and I'm wondering if you've had the chance to run your gun with the Briley port-opening job.  Do you like it?  I'm thinking about using their services as well.

Overall I think its pretty good.  It definitely makes double or quad loads much faster and easier.  I recently just got a field stock so now I'm able to practice weak hand loads.

I think it was worth it.  If you send yours in, I'll be interested to see if it comes out the same.

[Birdog19]

Thanks much.  I also picked up a field stock from a forum member and have switched to weak hand loads.  I think I like it better and I don't see the fumbling around with my left hand like I expected.  Port opening by Briley is my next step.  Thanks again, Birdog

[BenelliFanboy]

So bring back this topic again.  I had a chance to visit the Briley booth and hold one of their M4 shotguns.  Then I remembered about the loading port I did with them.

What I found out was they did have a beveled edge while the one they did for me did not have one.  While taking the rep there, he told me all their shotguns had beveled edges and not sure why mine didn't have one.  I'm going to write to their customer service to find out what is going on.

[bsp212]

I haven't pulled the shell catch on any of my M4's to check, but is it by chance the same size as the M2? If so, you can use a 20g M2 shell catch. It's hinged with a spring and will load much easier without modifying anything. Same principle as the Ethos and SBE3 shell catches. I know for a fact this works on the 12g M2s.