Benelli M3 shell on lifter after shell is chambered

[Grega]

So guys I have a problem with following problem :

I pull back bolt, put the shell in chamber

pressing the bolt release button - bolt locked with shell in chamber

lifter can be pushed down and I fill the tube with additional shells - in my case 10 additional

start shoting - after 4 to 5 rounds I want to reload shells but I can’t as there is shell on the lifter (the shell is also in chamber and bolt closed)

I wonder what is causing that actualy shell is coming from tube on lifter on the bolt way to closing into chamber.

Can you please advise me what can be wrong or where to search. 
 

Thanks.

 

grega

[bambihunter]

Providing you don't accidentally hit the cartridge release control and the guns action is clean, then it sounds like the cartridge drop lever is out of tolerance, or possibly a weak spring. If this is a newer model M3, it likely won't shoot like that. The older HK marked ones could clear a shell there just fine and in fact, some people put one there intentionally in a loading operation referred to as "Ghost Loading". If

There are schematics on Numrich gun parts here: https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/benelli/shotguns-benelli/semi-auto-shotguns/m3-super-90

Note that there are a few different schematics on there depending on which version yours is. This is for the older tactical style with pistol grip or folding stock. Most likely the part causing your issue is the "Cartridge Drop Lever" (part 25). This part effectively times the release of the shell from the magazine, or when you manually release one. You most likely won't need to replace it however. They can get bent and with a little trial and error they can be bent back. If you do decide on trial and error to bend it back, it doesn't take much change to greatly effect it. So, go slow. A friend of mine has bent his countless times on his M1 that he uses in competition, but I've never bent one personally. If you end up getting a new one, I'd go ahead and replace the spring while you are in there, but it's most likely fine.

Others may come along with other suggestions so if you aren't in a big hurry, you might wait and see if others have other suggestions.

Good luck and report back.

[Grega]

Hi Bambihunter,

yes gun is clean. The strange is that this is not happened regulary and it is really hard to find the error.

Thank you for your advice I will check and report. Can you tell me in which direction should I bent it - more to the lifter or more to the way of the lifter.

I suppose that I need to bent I call it little nose in front - correct ?

Thanks again.

Grega

[bambihunter]

Oh, I thought it was happening every time. In that case, I wouldn't start by adjusting the carrier. While it still can be the part mentioned, it being a sporadic issue could also be because of accidentally hitting the shell release. Or, could be its spring, or the carrier spring I mentioned replacing if you replaced the carrier. I'm not as experienced working on these as some of the guys that I hope come along and respond. I've had an issue with one single Benelli that I added an extended mag to. Once I put it back to stock, it worked fine. Best I could tell is the longer spring pushed shells too fast for the stop to catch them. Ultimately I took the +4 off and put a +2 on it and it still worked fine like that. Since I didn't shoot competition with that gun, it was fine.

Being an intermittent issue, it will be harder to solve. If you have access to a video camera on a tripod, you might try shooting with it looking into the bottom of the gun to see if it can pick up anything. Does it only happen when loading beyond a certain number of shells? I.E. if you always half load it, does it still happen? You might try mock speed loading in a quiet area to see  (hear actually) if you are hitting the shell release under those conditions.

[Grega]

You wide my knowledge 😁👍. I will check everything. I still think it is cartridge drop lever. About the carrier spring they told me that spring to be longer than tube it self.

What I saw which could be problem is that shell stop latch is bent. I will try gently bent it inside.

As this is original latch I also ordered some after market to see what will happened. Will post it as soon I get it.

Thanks for all this info.