Ncharge Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 I recently purchased an 828U Nickle and the safety is so stiff that I can not disengage it with gloves on. I missed numerous birds on a pheasant hunt due to the issue... in fact I had to hunt with the safety off. The safety is so tight that when intentionally trying to disengage it with gloves it may take 4 or 5 tries with intense pressure. Is this how tight all of them are? If so I will be happy for Benelli to buy it back from me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryJ Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 This is not normal at all- Mine is easy butter like on and off. By chance did you remove the automatic safety? I like the feature and did not remove mine, If you haven't try removing it and see how it works- Something is hanging it up. I love the gun and have racked over 5000 rounds through it. If you can't get it to work like butter send it to Benelli they will fix it- The gun is lights out- Just don't shoot 3 in prairie storms through it lol- Interested to learn the outcome. Fix it don't hunt with the safety off brother Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin nagelkirk Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 I have the same issue with the Benelli 828 I just bought. I noticed the stiff safety in the store but thought it would loosen-up. It has not. It might be less of an issue if there was more of a perch (which a serious field gun should have anyway). As is, there is no point in taking this gun to the field unless one keeps the safety off - which I am not willing to do. I am very disappointed with this Benelli design especially for a field gun and I will try to return it. If they want to try a practical test without the benefit of wild pheasants or grouse, they could try on clays where 1) the gun is half mounted (at most) and the safety is on before the clay is thrown. Next do the same with gloves and after that try with gloves while your fingers are half dumb from cold. This might reasonably simulate hunting wild birds in the midwest U.S. Now I recognize that there may be an easy fix for this of which I am not aware and, if this is the case, I will update this forum. Also, it may depend on the gun i.e. the machining tolerances are so lax that some guns have the issue and some do not. Anyway, unless someone can suggest an after-market solution, I suggest serious hunters think twice about selecting this product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Rhodes Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 I have the same issue. New gun last two years ago stiff then but became unusable in today's hunt. My thumb is done. Anybody have a fix I would appreciate ot otherwise this gun is going back! Have fired probably 800 rounds to date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coyote56 Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 I’ve seen a similar phenomenon with a Mossberg 930. Dirt buildup beneath the lever. Disassemble and cleaning may be all you need Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurlEv Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 Here’s my hack. Drop the trigger assembly and then in the trigger assembly cavity find the safety retaining clip and safety “spring”. Slide each arm of the safety spring outward—just about 2 mm. The safety will move easier but it doesn’t feel as nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redlab Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 I bought the SBE3 a year ago and the safety on it is a small round button that pushes way too hard for my liking right out of the box but shoots awesome. Previous to that one I have the M1 that has a bigger flat triangular safety button that works great. Not sure why Benelli had to change a good thing on a super shotgun that made it worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris L Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Has anyone gotten a response or a solution from benelli on this? My safety is so damn stiff my thumb is throbbing after an hour or two hunting. I really don’t want to send this back to be fixed but if that’s all I can do I will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remarkable Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 This should be sent to Benelli for adjustment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjelk Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 I just bought the 828U Limited Edition. I'm disappointed that the safety is so stiff I could essentially never get the safety off in time to shoot a bird. As is it is worthless as a hunting shotgun. I found a gunsmith that identified the exact problem and how to fix it. The gunsmith points out that Benelli should train people better when they install this receiver, and it is also surprising that they don't pick this up with quality checks before it leaves the factory. https://www.bto-range.com/2023/08/16/the-gunsmith-bench-benelli-828u-stiff-safety/ Benelli sent me a shipping label and RA and say they will expedite the repair since it is brand new and fix it. Hopefully they will. It is a bummer to have to ship a new gun for repair. Shipping isn't without risks for damage, etc. When it comes back it must be smooth and effortless to get the safety off whilst in the process of mounting the shotgun, or it will be worthless to me as an upland bird hunting shotgun which is what I bought it for. I'll let you know how it works out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Breidenbach Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 On 1/10/2024 at 12:35 PM, sjelk said: I just bought the 828U Limited Edition. I'm disappointed that the safety is so stiff I could essentially never get the safety off in time to shoot a bird. As is it is worthless as a hunting shotgun. I found a gunsmith that identified the exact problem and how to fix it. The gunsmith points out that Benelli should train people better when they install this receiver, and it is also surprising that they don't pick this up with quality checks before it leaves the factory. https://www.bto-range.com/2023/08/16/the-gunsmith-bench-benelli-828u-stiff-safety/ Benelli sent me a shipping label and RA and say they will expedite the repair since it is brand new and fix it. Hopefully they will. It is a bummer to have to ship a new gun for repair. Shipping isn't without risks for damage, etc. When it comes back it must be smooth and effortless to get the safety off whilst in the process of mounting the shotgun, or it will be worthless to me as an upland bird hunting shotgun which is what I bought it for. I'll let you know how it works out... SJELK, I have the same issue. If possible could you let us know 1) how you contacted Benelli and 2) have they returned the gun and did the fix work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjelk Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 No one sells the model I wanted in my home town so I bought the gun from Scheels in Wichita Kansas. That is why I didn't know about the stiff safety before I bought it. I called Benelli and explained the stiff safety to them. They were very polite but it was if they had never heard of the problem before. They sent me a shipping label and expedited the repair since it was a new gun. They fixed it. I can get the safety off now with no problem with or without gloves. I will say that the texture of the glove might be an issue. I would recommend using a glove with some texture to it. The design of this safety is not ideal. It is recessed and pretty much flush with the top of the receiver. So there is nothing really to get purchase on with your thumb and push it forward. The only way it works is that it has a large surface area, so you just place your whole thumb on top of it and slide it forward. Benelli could improve it greatly by just raising up the barrel selector switch which would give something to push against - and an added benefit would be an easier functioning barrel selector switch. I also emailed Benelli and they eventually got back to me from Italy. They said no one had complained about this stiff safety issue before and no one had complained about the recessed flush design either, and they would pass it on to their design engineers. I think it also seems that their inspection process at the factory is lacking, that they would pass a gun with a safety that is too stiff to function. I don't really believe that they have had no complaints before. This recessed design also looks CAD designed by engineers rather than hunters, to focus on aesthetics rather than function. It also surprises me somewhat that Benelli doesn't monitor this forum. There are so many unanwsered complaints about a lot of their product line. Many complaints are never answered and the ones that are answered are by customers, not the company. Many forums from other manufacturers have complaints that are monitored by the manufacturers with help to fix or repair problems. Anyway, the bottom line is that the safety is fixed and should work just fine. When I shoot clays, I always start with the safety off and the shotgun in a low ready position to simulate hunting. I wanted to make sure the safety is functional to hunt with in cold weather with gloves and I had it out for a shooting lesson in cold weather with gloves on and it was fine. (Forget about getting the barrel selector switch off but in defense of Benelli, I can't get those switches off on my other over and unders either in a hurry under hunting conditions, includning my Browning Superposed Superlight.) Good luck and good hunting to you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remarkable Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Functionality of the safety as well as the the Top Lever is quite often misunderstood on the 828. Both were designed to slide with the design lines of the gun. Quite often shooters are applying downward pressure on both the safety and the top lever. When this occurs functionality of both components becomes resistant. My experience with the 828u which is robust has pointed to some issues with the Nickel versions, very few if any with the Anodized Versions as well as the PS Upland version's. I have not seen many stiff safeties in the past two years. If I handed some hunters my 828U Upland or 828U Sport very few could break the gun open with the top lever. Once shown the technique funtionality becomes very natural. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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