Loose Bolt Handle..?

[Nomaspescado]

Hi Everyone,

I have a somewhat new to me M1014 with an extremely loose bolt handle. The OEM handle will freely rotate back and forth from say 12 o'clock to 2:30 and back again. I've even accidentally pulled the handle free while charging it using the underhand method with my thumb. It will only engage the Bolt Handle Detent at the very end, right before it rotates fare enough to switch to another detent in the bolt handle. It's not seating in the pocket of the bolt handle and keeping constant pressure on the handle..

I own six different Benelli shotguns, going back almost 30 years, and I've never had one that was "loose". If fact, they've all been almost overly stiff. I even used a coated speaker wire, where I'd loop it around the handle of my old SBEII charging handle to remove it easily.

Do I really have a problem with my M1014, or is this somehow a design feature that doesn't make sense to me? 

Thanks for any help

Steve

[Fullassault]

Mine is tight on my m1014

Edited June 30, 2022 by Fullassault

[Nomaspescado]

2 hours ago, Fullassault said:

Mine is tight on my m1014

Thank you kindly..

Benelli wants me to send in the entire gun, and says that their current turnaround times are running between 6-7 weeks.

No way. I'm hoping that it's just a bad detent. I'll give it a go later on today.

Thx again

[RxArms]

7 hours ago, Nomaspescado said:

Hi Everyone,

I have a somewhat new to me M1014 with an extremely loose bolt handle. The OEM handle will freely rotate back and forth from say 12 o'clock to 2:30 and back again. I've even accidentally pulled the handle free while charging it using the underhand method with my thumb. It will only engage the Bolt Handle Detent at the very end, right before it rotates fare enough to switch to another detent in the bolt handle. It's not seating in the pocket of the bolt handle and keeping constant pressure on the handle..

I own six different Benelli shotguns, going back almost 30 years, and I've never had one that was "loose". If fact, they've all been almost overly stiff. I even used a coated speaker wire, where I'd loop it around the handle of my old SBEII charging handle to remove it easily.

Do I really have a problem with my M1014, or is this somehow a design feature that doesn't make sense to me? 

Thanks for any help

Steve

I have a recent 2020 model. And the detent is loose also, same issue with the OEM charge handle.  
 

i haven’t had time to inspect and figure out why the looseness. It could be a variety of things.. 

[Nomaspescado]

4 hours ago, RxArms said:

I have a recent 2020 model. And the detent is loose also, same issue with the OEM charge handle.  
 

i haven’t had time to inspect and figure out why the looseness. It could be a variety of things.. 

Oh wow. Thanks for the heads up. I figure it's fixable as long as the bolt body was machined correctly.

[Nomaspescado]

Ok,

I have sourced all four new parts for comparison: detent, spring, roll pin, and another new OEM charging handle.

Same issue after replacing the parts..   There was only a slight improvement in the degree of that loose, rotating handle. It went from free rotation of 12 o'clock to 2 o'clock rotation (from the original previously observed 12 to 2:30)

There was no debris or otherwise anything, from the impeding the detent from full travel. The charging handles were identical in their cutouts. 

This slight difference was probably from the just slight difference in detent dimensions:

Original Detent: 2.98mm height, and 1.11mm lip thickness

New replacement Detent: 3.05mm height, and 0.77mm lip thickness

The lip difference determines how far the detent will stick out into the handle channel.

Tools needed for job are a 3/64" punch, a roll pin starter punch, small hammer, patience, and a small reading glass screwdriver set to hold the spring down while reinserting the roll pin. 

*Could any others confirm, and please let me know if your charging handle is tight, and free of rotation?

I don't want to needlessly lose the firearm for two months over my belief that the charging handle should be tight.

Benelli Warranty is unfortunately not being helpful this time.. I keep getting the same guy who just wants me to send in the whole firearm. No one there has confirmed if the handle should be tight.

Thank you to anyone who can provide any advice.

Edited July 2, 2022 by Nomaspescado
Highlighting the question*

[SnidelyWhiplash]

10 hours ago, Nomaspescado said:

 

I don't want to needlessly lose the firearm for two months over my belief that the charging handle should be tight.

Benelli Warranty is unfortunately not being helpful this time.. I keep getting the same guy who just wants me to send in the whole firearm.

I mean no disrespect with my comments but I really don’t understand your thinking. You think there’s a problem and Benelli customer service is willing to look at your shotgun and make sure it’s right but you’re reluctant to let them. To me, it sounds exactly the opposite of Benelli being unhelpful, it sounds like they are making a legitimate effort to be very helpful. If it were me I’d let Benelli look at it and use one of your other five or six shotguns during the turnaround time.

I have three M4’s and none of mine have a charging handle as loose as you are describing.

[Nomaspescado]

9 hours ago, SnidelyWhiplash said:

I mean no disrespect with my comments but I really don’t understand your thinking. You think there’s a problem and Benelli customer service is willing to look at your shotgun and make sure it’s right but you’re reluctant to let them. To me, it sounds exactly the opposite of Benelli being unhelpful, it sounds like they are making a legitimate effort to be very helpful. If it were me I’d let Benelli look at it and use one of your other five or six shotguns during the turnaround time.

I have three M4’s and none of mine have a charging handle as loose as you are describing.

I'm certainly not taking that as any disrespect.. On the contrary, I appreciate your input and perspective along with Fullassault and RxArms. And, I'm thankful. That's why I posted here.

Just a little background: I've needed to use them in the past where they were ale to send out parts without needing the entire firearm. I currently live on an island where shipping is a royal pain for a couple of reasons. Before going through with all of that, I wanted to confirm that the fitting of the bolt handle was indeed an issue.