Benelli M4

[JodyH]

Just observing ejection patterns with various ammo versus my Beretta 1310, the M4 has weaker ejection with all rounds.

It does handle serious slugs (Brenneke Special Forces, 1.25oz @ 1475fps) and full power buckshot better than the Beretta though. When I'd shoot the Brennekes in the 1301 you could feel the gun getting battered by them, the M4 doesn't blink.
With low powered birdshot or even low recoil buckshot the M4 dribbles hulls and does feel sluggish compared to the 1301.
I haven't had any malfunctions with mine and I'm closing in on 750 rounds of a variety of shells from #7.5 to serious slugs and I haven't cleaned it yet.

I have noticed that just like an AR, the M4 likes to be well lubed. I keep the bolt and rails well greased with TW25 and add some Breakfree CLP to the mix if I'm going to be shooting lightweight loads.

[JodyH]

http://www.avatactical.com
This seems like the best option but I don't have any hands on experience.

I like that, thanks for the link.

[GJM]

I too would like to hear Nyeti's reasoning. I don't consider myself a sophisticated semi auto shotgun user, but I choose an M2 as my semi auto of choice because I've seen enough M4 malfunctions to be wary of it. I don't know enough about them to relate anything useful though, which is part of my problem.

I have been carefully watching Jody's experience, and wishing him well with it. I was into a M4 for about $4k, between all the stuff, and couldn't get it working for my use. That use may have been different enough than Jody's and Darryl's intended use, that it doesn't compare. Will explain in detail later, after I travel.

[JodyH]

I have two big 3 gun matches back to back the end of the month that should be a good test of the M4.
There's something about matches, training and field conditions that bring problems to a head that even hard square range shooting just doesn't do.
If a gun is going to shit the bed, it will do it in the middle of a match, during a training class or after crashing through the brush for 3 days.

[Dagga Boy]

I would be interested in you elaborating on this statement. I ended up with the M2 as my bear gun choice. While not strictly anti-personnel, anti-bear is pretty close.

It would be mine as well.

My experience with the Inertia Benellis is they love full power ammo, and are super reliable with full power foder. We had great luck with them with slug, 00 and 000 buck. Training ammo and low recoil were a different ball game especially with weight on the guns like lights and sidesaddle arrangements. The 14 inch guns were particularly picky. We used them extensively on our SWAT team,so I had a ton of time on them.
So, a lightweight m2 without a ton of stuff on it and bear loads....top choice.

For a 14" gun with a Aimpoint H2, light, sidesaddle and the ability to easily switch rear stocks based on needs that will run anything is desirable. Essentially for a pure anti personnel and training gun that can use many of the accessories I like, it makes sense. The guys I know having success are using them instead of rifles as they deal with a lot of cars. They are running them almost exclusively with slug, and they are not having issues from the reports I am getting.

[GJM]

That reminded me I owed a summary on this.

After years of carrying a 14 inch 870 in AK, decided I wanted to try a gas gun. Bought the M4. From the get go, it wouldn't run full power buckshot. I lubed, and "broke it in" with a few boxes of 3 inch magnum loads. Still wasn't up to my spec.

I didn't like the OEM pistol grip stock, as it was long and beat me in the field with the pistol grip, when carrying it. Tried the OEM collapsible, big bucks stock. Totally worthless as the cheek weld only worked for me in the fully extended position. Got a OEM straight stock, and didn't like the cheek weld. Got the Mesa, and it was better but I didn't like a pistol grip. My ideal stock would be a Comfertech, like for the M2, in the compact length.

I don't care for ghost rings sights, as for me they are not as accurate as an a smaller aperture sight, or a dot, and are way slower for me than open sights, or a fiber optic bead.

Damn thing was very heavy carrying in the field. The Beretta I got on a lark, at the same time, seemed to shoot better, and weigh much less.

All this (reliability, stock, sights) has me back to my 14 inch 870, a pair of Benelli M2 20 gauge guns, cut down and tweaked, and a Benelli M2 3 Gun in the process of being cut down to 14.

Darryl why did you find the 14 inch Benelli inertia guns less reliable -- unlike gas, a shorter barrel shouldn't effect functioning?

[John Ralston]

I found this video explaining the M4 very interesting in light of the 1301 Tactical issues. I was unaware the M4 would not release a shell from the tube when you racked the handle unless the person specifically released the shell from a control mechanism.

https://youtu.be/a6GWfg193vQ


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's true for the inertia models as well.

My M1 will feed anything you throw into it, from superlight target loads on up to 3" Mags of 00 or slugs. Never had an issue, and it, for me, is the perfect HD gun. I did chop the stock down about 3/4" added a limbsaver pad, had it drilled and tapped for a pic rail and it wears a Delta Point. The 21" VR might not be quite as nimble as an 18.5, but it is still quite light and quick to point.

[Dagga Boy]

I had six Benelli m1's in our SWAT inventory. Four full size, and later two entries. When I started with our team doing the firearms training and armory work, the guns were stripped down and only had slings. They ran like tops. We added butt stock shell holders from Eagle industries. They ran fine. We added lights. We started having issues. Some changes were made to the light design, still issues. Side saddles were added, and training loads didn't run as well. We went to low recoil ammunition department wide and I got Vang Comp 870's as our issued shotguns. Not for SWAT. The low recoil ammunition would not reliably run the Benelli's. We had to order full power ammunition just for the SWAT guns.
These guns were shot quite a bit compared to most. Usually 250 rounds a month would be normal. I was a factory Armorer. They were well maintained. Even in the Benelli armorers school they indicated that anything that inhibits recoil hinders function. This ranged from added accessories to such large heavily muscled users who were so strong there guns would not function because they inhibited the recoil too much.

I have had numerous M1's. I still have an M3. For a counter bear gun a stripped down m1 or M2 would work perfect with slug. For a gun with lots of stuff on it, I have seen the folks with m4's having far better luck. For "cop stuff" the m4 is a solid package.

[Surf]

We currently have 20 M1 supers that we still run, ten are 14 inches and ten are 18 inch. Some are pretty damn beat up. I personally own an M1 and an M3 and armor them as well. We have been running a single 14" M4 with the LE stock for 2 years now with great success and I have seen only a couple more personally owned that have a lot of use and those have ran well. We hope to switch over to all M4's when we get the go on funds. Our lone M4 runs everything, even low power stuff like Less Lethal, trap / skeet loads and various birdshot. The inertia models always prefer full power loads but that may vary from shotgun to shotgun and the shooters technique. I personally prefer an 18" barrel in the open but close in work I do like the 14".

I do not like the M4 LE/Mil collapsible stock and the length of pull on the factory pistol grip stocks are too long, so I go with the Mesa. I do not like to run the side saddles that attach via the trigger pin like the Mesa and the Chicago screw. They will pinch the receiver ever so slightly and may cause cycling issues. This becomes very much the case when the unit gets loose over heavy use and then the user clamps it even harder. So I opt for a top drilled and tapped receiver mount.

[JodyH]

I have noticed that my M4 gets along great with the "stretch" technique of shotgun shooting. I've heard the inertia guns have issues with that.