Engineeringtech Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Hi Benelli shooters! Need some advice... I bought my first Benelli last May. Beautiful Legacy 20 ga. A new '04 model that had gone un-sold. Unfortunately, I have had nothing but problems. I bought two cases of Remington Gun Club from Dick's Sporting Goods. Had over 30 misfires! I cycled these shells through the gun 3 or 4 times before they would fire. Everyone tells me the primer dimples are very light (about .015 deep) and off center. Dicks wouldn't refund or exchange the unused shells. Nor would Remington. I sent pictures and shells to Remington. They analyzed the problem and insist it is the Benelli. Sent pics to Benelli also. They said the problem was the ammo, but then they sent me a heavier hammer spring to try. I installed it and it helped SLIGHTLY. Changing to Winchester AA helped somewhat too. But still too many misfires to allow me to shoot skeet. Have by now cycled over 600 shells through the gun. Noticed that the primer dimples on the Winchester AA are very deep and big, wheras the dimples on the Remington are very small and light. What is going on here? Hard primers? That is what I thought. But even the AA missfires sometimes. I haven't found any other brands of ammo in this area, and don't have any friends who reload 20 ga. Please don't anyone tell me that I need to clean my gun. It was clean and lightly oiled when I got it, and I have completely field stripped it and cleaned and re-oiled. I operate the gun per the manual. I let the bolt slam shut and I don't ease it into place. I supposedly have a 5 year warranty on this gun. Benelli tells me they don't know what is wrong with it. If I send it back I will have to wait 4 weeks or more to get it back. And since it is an '04, they may have to mix new parts with old. I like the looks of my gun and don't want it monkeyed with. I also don't know if I can trust Benelli service. I would hate to get it back dinged or scratched up. Any ideas anyone? Do you think I should bite the bullet and send it back to Benelli to have a look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty or death Jr. Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Well, remington shells seem to be notorious for hard primers, but not one gun shotgun in our house, (thats over a dozen) has failed to fire any remington shells. Benelli service is the most reputible I have ever heard of, I would trust them with the gun. Send it in, wait the 4 weeks and hopefully the problem will be resolved. Also, I would not think a 3 year old gun would have different parts as a new one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOGWILD Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Sounds like you need an RA # and let Benelli fix you up and stop crying, guns malfunction and keeping one that malfunctions is about as bad as crying about it!! I have heard lots of great CS repair issues but i have also heard a lot of your type, will do anything but the rite thing!! Any special reason for not sending it in other than the ones above? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Well, I guess it's a bit too late to extend you a warm and hearty welcome. Are the failed Winchesters struck nice and deep too? If so, then you have awful luck buying shells, but the gun's OK. If not, then your gun could have headspace issues or a defective firing pin or hammer. Benelli CS is top notch and they will fix your gun if you do a good job of describing the problems to them. They will handle the gun carefully and will not replacee any parts that are cosmetically inappropriate. I'd recommend saving the shells that do not fire and taking some good close-up photos of them. Ask CS if you can send them the the bases if you cut them off, removing the powder and shot. I doubt they'll let you, because the primers are still unfired, but it's worth asking. At least you can send the photos. Welcome to the forums! PS: Dick's Bait & Tackle is no place to buy ammo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMAC Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 I too would go along with letting the factory take a try at repairing the gun, even after 3 trys the were able to fix my M2000 to the point it actually works well all the time (hard to believe). Like Tucker mentioned head space and firing pins could be the culprit but unless you submit to the hands of the professionals you wont know for sure, let them do their job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOGWILD Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 BTW XOXOX!! The ammo being used is at Min range to cycle in this shotgun as long as no mods have been done to it, and choice of ammo according to Benelli is find one that cycles and do not use ones that will not cycle. The main problems with this malfunction is bolt being hit and not knowing it, or bad ammo other than that it needs Benelli's attention and i would sell the other case of ammo and shoot a couple boxes of Heaviest ammo the gun could take and then shoot some lighter loads say Federals or Winchesters and only do this after gun came home from Benelli.!! also sounds like it needs properly cleaned,oiled & lubed:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 I could be wrong, but I don't think the powder charge has much bearing on how hard the firing pin strikes the primer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Engineeringtech Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 Thanks everyone for all the replies and the ideas. I'm going to mail order and try some other brands of shells before sending the gun in. Reassuring hearing that Benelli's service is A+. This is my only shotgun, and I'm on a tight budget, so I was being cautious. As for Hogwild's assertion that I'm "crying"... I don't EVER cry. I'm also man enough not to resort to insulting strangers on a public forum. Oh, and I'd put my gun cleaning and lubricating abilities against anyone else's. My gun is spotless and properly oiled. It cycles just fine. It just misfires sometimes. One more thing... Benelli told me before I bought the Legacy that it'd be a suitable skeet gun with any type of factory loading, including the so called "light loads" that everyone and their brother buys in bulk and uses for skeet and sporting clays. The number one reason I bought this gun was it's reputation for reliability. I am also suspicious of the requirement to run heavy loads till the gun "loosens up". What is the goal in that? Over-stress the springs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Benelli does specify a minimum load for all 12 ga. models, but they do not specify a minimum for the 20 ga. guns. The idea behind shooting heavier loads is to "break in" the action and springs. I don't think it over-stresses them, but it gets them used to doing their job. I'm sure that doesn't fit into any engineering principles, but that's what they say anyway. Perhaps it's something to do with steel memory or some such? I suspect it also has to do with the friction surfaces deburring themselves and developing a smooth fit. At any rate, I think 600 rounds will suffice As TMAC indicated, Benelli CS does sometimes need more than one try to get it right, but they will get it right. Try the mail order shells and go from there. Please remember to post back here with results so that the information can be a useful archive for future users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOGWILD Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Sorry you feel insulted but your post appeared to start smelling like cheese after the 3rd paragraph! You are not the first person that has refused to send your shotgun in to get fixed and probably will not be the last so if you can live with your problem like you obviously have been, more power to ya and sorry my post felt insulting to ya. I just feel you are putting off something you should have done say 400 rounds ago? Guns malfunction and require Gunsmiths to repair them, sorry you can't afford the repair even though it's warranty work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwim Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Engineer tech, Don't mind these old gobblers; their peck is worse than their spurs. This forum is an excellent resource and the gurus on here are are pretty thorough. Some of them are less patient than others, especially when the solution is obvious, but they are fair and they offer good advice. And they unanimously say that once you have made sure that the problem is not user related that you get your firearm to a competent gunsmith or in the case of a warrantied gun the manufacturer's customer service. If I had to choose between the average gunsmith and Benelli CS, I would send that pretty Legacy to Benelli. If you get to the point that you don't like that gun, I'll trade you even for a Ruger Red Label. You got the straight dope from three senior members; sweet&sour, but it was the truth, and it was free. Good luck DW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwim Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Make that four senior members. I'm a newbie,trying to learn everything I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M1014 Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 so this is where the fun is,,yeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GunCrazyD Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 remmington ammo is crap these days - the primers are hard as **** and cause problems in several guns i have seen....switch to another ammo...federal is a good choice..and see if that helps...otherwise call CS and they will take care of you no sweat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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