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Benelli came apart


TC11

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Let me first say that I am a die-hard, bang on my soap box, Benelli all the way owner. However, on PA's first day of goose season (Sept. 1) by M1 broke after the second shot. The bronze solder (I think) joint which holds the ring in which the end cap screws tight to came un-soldered from the barrel. The break is as clean and smooth as if the surfaces were never mated. I have a black synthetic model and the only reason I didn't touch off the third shot was that the silver nitrided portion of the barrel which slips into the receiver was sticking out about a half an inch and it caught my eye. I thought that the end cap wasn't screwed on tight. I checked it and it was tight. I unloaded the gun and grabbed the barrel and it pulled right out of the reciever. I'm glad that I didn't get hurt but there were two other guys in the blind with me and they could have been injured as well.

 

Has anybody ever experienced this before? I have owned the gun for 4 years and take very good care of it. I don't shoot a lot but I do hunt as much as I can. I had my gunsmith (Smith's Custom Guns in Warren, PA) look at it and Tim said that he has never seen that before on a Benelli. Now we are half way through goose and dove season in PA and my M1 is sitting at Benelli for repairs. Sorry for the long post, but I'm just a little frustrated right now. :confused:

 

Tim

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  • 2 weeks later...
Originally posted by TC11:

Let me first say that I am a die-hard, bang on my soap box, Benelli all the way owner. However, on PA's first day of goose season (Sept. 1) by M1 broke after the second shot. The bronze solder (I think) joint which holds the ring in which the end cap screws tight to came un-soldered from the barrel. The break is as clean and smooth as if the surfaces were never mated. I have a black synthetic model and the only reason I didn't touch off the third shot was that the silver nitrided portion of the barrel which slips into the receiver was sticking out about a half an inch and it caught my eye. I thought that the end cap wasn't screwed on tight. I checked it and it was tight. I unloaded the gun and grabbed the barrel and it pulled right out of the reciever. I'm glad that I didn't get hurt but there were two other guys in the blind with me and they could have been injured as well.

 

Has anybody ever experienced this before? I have owned the gun for 4 years and take very good care of it. I don't shoot a lot but I do hunt as much as I can. I had my gunsmith (Smith's Custom Guns in Warren, PA) look at it and Tim said that he has never seen that before on a Benelli. Now we are half way through goose and dove season in PA and my M1 is sitting at Benelli for repairs. Sorry for the long post, but I'm just a little frustrated right now. :confused:

 

Tim

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wanted to add that my SBE of 7 years went into the mail thanks to gander mtn. for the same reason as tc11. but I also lost the bolt assembly when it came apart in the duck marsh. What a way to start the season!! All I can hope for is customer service and Benelli themselves are as good as everyone says they are

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Quackhead

 

My M1 was sent in to Benelli on September 10th. I called this past Monday and they indicated that I should have the gun back by the 16th of October. The barrel lug was repaired 4 days after Benelli received the gun but they do not have a blueing department at their shop. All blueing is performed at Beretta's shop which is located up the street from Benelli. This is where the long delay is occuring as Beretta's bluing department is backed up. I sent you a private message with more detail. Sorry to hear about your gun. It's a frustrating wait this time of year.

 

Tim

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Originally posted by TC11:

Quackhead

 

My M1 was sent in to Benelli on September 10th. I called this past Monday and they indicated that I should have the gun back by the 16th of October. The barrel lug was repaired 4 days after Benelli received the gun but they do not have a blueing department at their shop. All blueing is performed at Beretta's shop which is located up the street from Benelli. This is where the long delay is occuring as Beretta's bluing department is backed up. I sent you a private message with more detail. Sorry to hear about your gun. It's a frustrating wait this time of year.

 

Tim

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Well guys, I just made my standard Monday morning call to customer services to see when I might get my M1 back (supposed to be the 16th). They are closed today for a system upgrade, whatever that is.

 

Drundel

 

I figured when I bought my M1 and paid close to $900 for it, I wouldn't need a back up. But I realize that things can and do break. This past Saturday was the first day of duck in PA. It was an awesome day with many guys limiting out. I shot two woody's and 2 drake mallards with my trusty used Mossberg model 500 which I bought when I was 16 years old. It sure doesn't look pretty and I get razzed real bad by my friends but it was effective. Maybe I need a new M2 and use my M1 for a back up? Does some one want to call my wife and explain the new purchase to her? hehehe

 

Tim

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The ring on my 14 y.o. SBE cracked off in 2000.

 

Benelli fixed in 29 days including the shipping time - during waterfowl season. Re-blued and undated some ejector features while it was there. Also put in a few new parts while there. All at no charge.

 

I suspect the issue involved a loose mag cap + some weld problems. When the ring broke, the nubs on the mag cap were about worn smooth. I would tighten the cap several times during each hunt. The wear was consistent with 20,000 magnum rounds and hundreds of disassemblys.

 

I bought a new cap from Brownells a few years back. Nubs look fine.

 

mudhen - CA

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Mudhen

 

Now that you mention it, I have to tighten my mag cap every once in a while when on a hunt. We hunt a lot of large farms around the Lander, PA region for pigeons and you can burn up several boxes of shells in a hurry. I check it often and it does seem to come loose just a very little, maybe one click. I don't have near the rounds through my M1 as you have through your SBE but I am going to look into replacing the mag cap if Benelli doesn't do it for me.

 

A couple of questions. When Benelli returned your gun, did they include a list of parts replaced/work performed? Also, does the Brownell catalog list it as a Benelli part or is it a reproduction cap?

 

Thanks for the ideas.

 

Tim

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The invoice only said "updated ejector assembly", but I know what parts they worked on.

 

They put in a new locking head pin for sure, bright and shiny with different markings on the top. They ground indents into the receiver to allow better tool access to the ejector plate cover screws. The screws looked new, so I can presume they took the cover off and looked around. I'm guessing they put in a new ejector plate not knowing that I had already done that, but I'm not complaining!

 

The cap that came from Brownells sure looked like factory - I bought the one w/o swivel to avoid the dreaded rain in the action syndrome. The new one has not budged one notch while shooting.

 

mudhen - CA

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Awfully hard to look at the SBE II with a glass-smooth 14 y.o. SBE that still works great + a 2 y.o. SBE slug gun + reg barrel that plunks whitetails and toms on a regular basis.

 

I like the SBE II - feels great at the shoulder - but I just can't justify the $1300+ with these other Benellis running so well.

 

That being said, I will probably own a SBE II by next turkey season!

 

mudhen - CA

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I'm sure once I get my M1 back and everything is fine, the idea of buying the M2 will subside. I just need to stay out of my local gun shop which happens to be a Benelli dealer. My friend Mark which just traded in his X-trema for an SBE 2 is experiencing a mis-feed with 3" loads he uses for duck so he is sending back his gun to Benelli only after having it 2 months. I guess the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

 

I talked to Benelli customer service late yesterday and all they could tell me is it is being blued and will be returned as soon as possible. I asked when that might be since the guy I talked to last week said by the 16th and she said I don't know. 34 days and counting.

 

Tim

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Quackhead

 

I just wanted to give you a heads up. I spoke with Benelli customer service this morning and they said the blueing department is running 5 to 6 weeks to get a barrel done after repair. That would put my M1 at Benelli for over 50 days. It looks like I won't have it back until the first or second week in November. I sure hope you get yours back faster than that. I never thought I would need a back up shotgun, but apparantly I do.

 

TC

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benddg,

 

That's kinda what I was thinking. Even though I don't have the brains to understand the whole "Crio" thing, the concept sure looks like a dream for turkey hunters. I sometimes get funky patterns from all my turkey guns - I really need consistancy.

 

Since I travel to hunt quite a bit, I really need a solid gun that can make a wide variety of shots. Looks like the SBE II might be just what I need.

 

mudhen - CA

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well gang, I got my M1 back this past Wednesday (10/27). Service went as follows:

 

gun shipped from my gunsmith - 9/10/04

 

received for repair by Benelli - 9/15/04

 

barrel hanger re-attached - 9/20/04

 

barrel re-blued - 10/21/04

 

shipped by Benelli - 10/22/04

 

All in all it went ok. The blueing on the barrel is quite poor but I figure after all of my phone calls to customer service they ran it through for me. The blueing almost looks like they parkerized it. It is very flat and rough. I don't mind it since it's a black synthetic anyways. I figured it would take a long time to get the gun repaired and the blueing would be quick but it was the other way around. They went completely through the gun as described by the gunsmith's checklist (thanks Chester from Benelli). I would like to commend Benelli customer service with putting up with my weekly phone calls. They were always nice even through I was getting pretty frustrated.

 

I had my gunsmith put a new HI-VIS sight on it before I picked it up and had a great day pheasant hunting on friday. My local Gander Mountain has the new M2 in. $999.95 (ouch). I think I'll keep the M1 for a while.

 

Hey, Quackhead. Did you get yours back yet?

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