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M3 Off center carrier?


tonyp

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I finally got my M3 - been a long time waiting - and lo and behold, I *believe* it came with a problem.  (NIB with a manufacture date seeming to be 2015.)

See pic, but the carrier seems to be bent?  Or for some other reason off center.  I have trouble loading it - I have to manually the push carrier to the side a bit and down for the last centimeter or so,  so that it clears magazine entry point and a shell can be pushed into magazine.

I disassembled it and cleaned and lubed it (didn't take trigger assembly apart), and it fired fine, mostly.  I have a few mis-feeds initially, where a shell got jammed behind carrier.  But after a second time apart, cleaning, and relubing, no more of those mis-feeds, and in semiauto mode, it handled the 1300 ft/sec 1 1/8 loads mostly fine.  (One or two partial feeds out of 50 rounds, which could well have been due to "pulling my shoulder", it was getting sore.)

A few questions:

  1. I'm pretty sure now it is NOT supposed to be off center in this way.  (Call me a bone-head, but this is my first semi-auto.) Right?
  2. I am hesitant to send it in to Benelli - I've written to them about a separate issue (finding a picatinny rail for the *factory* drilled/tapped receiver), and haven't heard a word, after more than a month.  I've heard they are good folk, but way over-worked and under-staffed - espcially now.
  3. Can I just replace the carrier or will there be more that needs doing?
  4. It seems carriers are very inter-changeable - will an M1 or M2 or M3 carrier work?  E.g., TTI seems to offer the same carrier for M1, M2, M3, and M1014.
  5. Should I go to a gunsmith locally?

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

bent.JPG

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-That carrier does look off. Looks like you have one of the newer M3s with the plastic trigger guard. I would take off the carrier and see if it is bent.

-You can use virtually all carriers except the ones from the M4, M1014, Ethos, and Super Black Eagles. The TTI will work.

-You need four 61192 screws and one 61193 rail if you choose to go factory. I was using the GG&G M2 rail code GGG-1077 for a while, and it works great and about 1/3 the price of the Benelli.

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Thanks a lot for the very helpful response.  Yes, it it is a plastic trigger guard - not sure what to think of that.  I will take off carrier - I found a carrier (#61136) for the M1/M2 that I am going to try.  Waiting on a pair of retaining ring pliers from McMaster-Carr.

As for the rail - I'm checking on the GG&G M2 rail, but my spreads seem to be unusual?

  • rear spread: 0.83 inch = 2.1082 cm
  • front spread: 1.03 inch = 2.6162 cm
  • center spread: 2.59 inch = 6.5786 cm

 

 

benelli-x - 1_measure01.png

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I would call Benelli for warranty before you order the carrier. I told them about a problem years ago and they mailed me a part all for free no questions asked. Hecc I have I bunch of carriers laying around I could send you a spare for free if you don't want to wait for Benelli. The carrier might not even be the problem, we really don't know until you take apart the trigger group.

I am pretty confident the rail fits.

Also, if you ever want to switch out the bolt release, you can't use most as it will interfere with the pump handle.

Edited by Vertigofirearms
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  • 1 year later...

I am finally updating here - spurred to do so by a DM from another member with the exact issue on the same model. 

As @Vertigofirearms insightfully wrote above, it was the carrier.  What I ended up doing is getting a new carrier (https://www.midwestgunworks.com/benelli-m3/carrier.html.  I probably would have taken up Vertigo's generous offer (above), but I found one the next day locally, and that solved everything - once installed it was visibly straighter and I had no further issues.  In retrospect, I could pushed Benelli for the part or repair, and probably should have, but I enjoyed solving it myself, and on my timeline.

 

 

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I'd still follow up with Benelli. If you can send them the bent one, maybe you'll get a replacement for a spare.

 

And, vertigo's comment regarding the plastic trigger guard was just to differentiate that it was a newer production gun versus the original release of the gun in the 90's that had a cast trigger guard. While both M3's are largely the same gun, there are some nuances between the two that can cause compatibility issues if you try swapping parts over, such as putting an original folding stock on the newer model.

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