Benelli M4

[John Ralston]

I think the Limbsaver helps a ton. Lots of squish, so no matter how hard you lean into it, it still has room to move towards your shoulder. I don't have a ton of crap hanging off of mine however.

[SLG]

Nyeti makes some good points, and they are things I've seen and heard from others as well. Unfortunately, I've also seen and heard the problems that GJM describes. I guess I'll just have to get an M4 and try it out for myself. If it doesn't work, it goes in the military collection I guess.

[jlw]

I recently bought a trade-in M1 (power company security force). I'm an 870 guy at heart, but the price was too good to not give it a whirl.

Off the rack it wouldn't run a light birdshot load, but ran full power Flite Control. A person very much in the know on these guns gave it a once over, and it is in much better shape now. Lube in the right places will work wonders. I will test those same loads in it soon.

I ran it yesterday in a Tom Givens shotgun class. My bird shot was a 3-3/4 dram load as I didn't want to waste training time. It ran that stuff fine. It handled both Remington managed recoil 8=pellet 00 buck and some cheap Royal Book low recoil 00 without fail. I fired six Winchester Ranger low recoil slugs through it. On the last round (bolt lock), the hull didn't completely eject.

The only accessories on the gun are a velcro sidesaddle and a sling.

I don't live in a place where there are critters that want to eat me, and the tax payers have demanded that I have a few options for operational use.

As I wrote, I'm an 870 guy at heart. I've had some really good cornbread, but nobody makes cornbread as good as my grandmother's.

Anything other than an 870 just feels wrong when it comes to the manipulations. However, if I can't solve the problem with seven rounds of 00-buck, it's a really big problem, and I need help. I was impressed with the speed and control with which I could put the rounds on target, and I am not one to dress a gun with a lot of gadgets.

I feel very comfortable using it for repelling anyone who lives through the tactical ankle biting my terrier will inflict.

[GJM]

JLW, where were the critical areas for lube?

[jlw]

JLW, where were the critical areas for lube?

I don't know. That's why I turned it over to someone who knew what they were doing.

[GJM]

I don't know. That's why I turned it over to someone who knew what they were doing.

I forgot, you are management.

[jlw]

I forgot, you are management.

I don't have to know what I am doing. I just have to hire people who know what they are doing.

[JodyH]

On my M4 I lubed it AR style.
Bolt, bolt carrier and receiver rail's got a generous amount of TW25 grease. I cleaned the sticky stuff off the recoil spring and from the extension tube and lightly oiled the spring. Trigger group gets oiled. The gas system just gets wiped down well and inspected.
If I know I'm going to be shooting light loads I add a few drops of oil to the bolt and the rails.
It's worked so far.

[Dagga Boy]

I have found over the years that running anything over wet is good. While I get he evil eye from Wayne fairly often when I show up to the range with dry guns, I do know better. When I am in classes where I know I will be shooting a lot, I am the king of just pour lube on to fix most ills.

[Unobtanium]

My M4 sees very little use, but it has been an amazing piece of hardware:

Carriercomp Ti 7-shot tube
Geissele hammer
M1014 current issue barrel (fixed MOD choke)
Meprolite sights
Custom bolt release