Montefeltro 20 jams with 7/8 ounce loads..

[Rooster Man]

Nobody loves the Benelli more than this 60 year old shooter. Have owned over a dozen Benelli, Baretta and Franchi shotguns in the past 20 years. Just a word of warning to other owners of the sweet shooting Montefeltro Light 20: On the positive side it's the WORLD'S sweetest pointing best balanced and most durable semi auto. I shoot very well with it and once owned 20 guns, now own JUST the Monty Light 20. That being said, WARNING to hunters: Regardless of what owners manual says, the gun will NOT reliably or consistently cycle & chamber the 7/8 ounce load. Hunting rabbits in southeast Michigan yesterday i jumped a 5 pound wall hanging trophy cottontail, got so flustered i muffed the first shot. Put the bead on him at 20 yards, pulled trigger, nothing, saw in periphery the yellow fired hull sticking straight out from receiver, one trophy rabbit gone. Although i've shot skeet with this gun and it OFTEN cycles the low brass promo loads it WON'T do it consistently, nor will any other auto, and anybody who tells you different has a better Monty than mine. For $1000 it should cycle ANYTHING. Not griping, just letting others know, don't hunt with anything except 1 ounce 2 3/4 dram shells. DJ Dan the Rooster Man, Flint Mi. Anyone else with a similar experience?

[Novaking]

trade it for a nova 20. then you can shoot whatever you want.

 

novaking

[HOGWILD]

ever thought about sending it in for warranty repair?

[BirdChaser]

Benelli recommends for all their 12 ga to use minimum 1 1/8 oz 3 dram shells. I know you have a 20 ga but it uses the same inertia system as the 12 ga. Might want to shoot a heavier load or email Benelli for some insight.

[dooderman]

Rooster Man,

 

My wife owns the Benelli Montefeltro 20g. She has now just past the 2k mark of rounds through the gun. Like you said it is a sweet gun and she absolutely LOVES it. So much she wants to get another Benelli in 12g but instead of another Montefeltro she is going to buy the Ultra Light.

 

Ok, I said 2k worth of rounds. She has shot as low as 1135 FPS in 7/8 oz all the way up to 1 1/8 oz 1385fps Waterfowl loads to break it in.

 

For about 90% of the rounds she has shot they have been 7/8 oz 1200fps or 1250fps 2 3/4 inch #7/5 and #8 shot in the FIOCCHI brand. She has NOT had one malfuntion of cycling to date. She is 5'2 and 96lbs and I had her stock cut to 12.5 inch for the LOP with a Packmyr decelerator pad.

 

The gun can and will cycle 7/8 oz loads. We did however run 3 boxes of the heavy stuff I mentioned above prior to going to all the other ammo. That heavy stuff was Federal ammo. The two boxes of the really light 1135fps stuff I mentioned were Remington STS Target loads.

 

Make sure you clean the gun if it was new really good with something like Nu-Gun from Gunslick. Make sure you either use the lube that Benelli sends with it or like the Gunslick lube on the rails, bolt mechanism and a drip on the plunger area (Recoil spring). I would even take apart the bolt assembly and clean it with somthing like Ultra-Klenz from Gunslick.

 

Anyway, YES I like gunslick but I love their product. Stay away from the gun flush as it is a bit harsh and can take paint off. i had some and the little red dot on the magazine shut off came off. Oh well!

 

It should work and if it still doesn't then call customer service.

 

CR

[dooderman]

I just Checked my files (I keep a spread sheet of what exactly goes through our guns). She has shot 200 rounds of the Walmart promo 4 packs in 7/8 oz 1200fps #8 shot. She also shot 100 rounds (4 pack) of the Remington Walmart loads in the same size and shot. Paid under $20 per 4 pack minus tax. NOT ONE failure to cycle.

 

So that answers the fact that the Monte can cycle that stuff too. I got to thinking, if your gun is new then did you ever break it in with some heavy stuff? If not you should.

 

CR

[johnnywitt]

Nobody loves the Benelli more than this 60 year old shooter. Have owned over a dozen Benelli, Baretta and Franchi shotguns in the past 20 years. Just a word of warning to other owners of the sweet shooting Montefeltro Light 20: On the positive side it's the WORLD'S sweetest pointing best balanced and most durable semi auto. I shoot very well with it and once owned 20 guns, now own JUST the Monty Light 20. That being said, WARNING to hunters: Regardless of what owners manual says, the gun will NOT reliably or consistently cycle & chamber the 7/8 ounce load. Hunting rabbits in southeast Michigan yesterday i jumped a 5 pound wall hanging trophy cottontail, got so flustered i muffed the first shot. Put the bead on him at 20 yards, pulled trigger, nothing, saw in periphery the yellow fired hull sticking straight out from receiver, one trophy rabbit gone. Although i've shot skeet with this gun and it OFTEN cycles the low brass promo loads it WON'T do it consistently, nor will any other auto, and anybody who tells you different has a better Monty than mine. For $1000 it should cycle ANYTHING. Not griping, just letting others know, don't hunt with anything except 1 ounce 2 3/4 dram shells. DJ Dan the Rooster Man, Flint Mi. Anyone else with a similar experience?

 

Rooster Man, sorry your having trouble with your 20ga. If your 20ga. Montefeltro is not cycling a 7/8 load, then its either dirty Or f*cked up. The 20ga Montefeltro is MADE TO FUNCTION WITH 7/8oz. LOADS. This is a std. load for a 20ga. If you are shooting the Win. Super Speed loads they sell at Wally World you are shooting a 3/4oz. load and no, they don't cycle 100%.

If your gun has worked in the past reliably, then I bet you money that your recoil tube assembly is gunked up. A Benelli will jam like crazy if you don't clean the recoil tube out even though the chamber and action is spotlessly clean (its a recoil operated gun).

To clean your recoil tube, take off your stock and take out your trigger group. Take your bolt assembly and stick it in your receiver while pulling the bolt back to depress the plunger on your recoil spring. Now, squirt some d*mn brake cleaner (non chlorinated and don't get it on your wood) into the recoil tube till it comes out the little hole on your recoil tube clean (stick the blast nozzle stem into the slot on your bolt tail). Work the bolt vigorously in and out the action and that will get out the residual brake cleaner. Now, you need to squirt a 2-3 second blast of Breakfree or your lubricant of choice into the recoil tube assembly. Just remember that you have to insert that black "tail" on your bolt back into the recoil tube to get anything in there past the plunger. Now set your gun on some newspapers for a day and let the residual lube drain. Before you put it back together, work that bolt into the recoil tube and you will see some more of the breakfree get pumped out. Depending on humidity and so on, you have to do this about one time a year if you shoot a lot. Good luck and happy hunting.