What's the break in on a Benelli M4

JelloStorm

JelloStorm

Gunny Sergeant
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Feb 23, 2010
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Northeast Pennsylvania
#1
Guys with Benelli M4s,

Anyone have luck shooting Fiocchi "defense" 00 buck? It's a low-er (I guess?) brass round but it wouldn't cycle through the Benelli on it's first outing. I'm not surprised since the gun was showroom new until this morning. So my question is, once properly broken in, can a Benelli M4 cycle lower power loads like that?? Most of the time it wouldn't eject the spent shells, but I only have 20 high power 00 buck through it so far.

Will the M4 gas system cycle even target loads once broken in? I wish I would have brought more high brass shells with me today because damn is that thing fun to shoot!
 
#5
I hunt and shoot trap/sporting clays with mine using standard low brass 8s with no problems. Cases of cheap 1 1/8oz low brass.

I bought it used so can’t help with the break in bit.
 
#6
I haven’t used the Fiocchi load, but I use the Federal LE13200 9 pellet 00 buck almost exclusively.
It’s 1150 fps, so equivalent to the Fiocchi.
Mine has run 100% from round 1 with no break in.
 
#8
I have a SBE2 and I absolutely love it. If you can swing it- I'd recommend buying something like 2-3 boxes of 20 game loads (high brass) that your local range permits you to shoot. It'll likely be something like a $100 investment if you'd choose to do so, but I'd be willing to bet that shotgun will cycle target loads until the cows come home if you do so. They really are fantastic shotguns.

-LD
 
#10
Heh,
Here's an old vid of me at a 3-Gun shoot with my m4 (field stock,fuck a PG)
Fun day.

The one that didn't fall was set too tight. You can see shot splatter against it.

Last few shots were slugs @150yds on steel. You can't ses the hits, but they're audible


 
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#14
M4 is inertia driven, not gas. Lube it excessively, and put a few cases through it.


I once had a CZ that wouldn't function. Finally bought a case of high brass buckshot, held the butt against a fence post, and started dumping rounds. A dozen boxes in and it ran fine with bird shot.
 
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#15
chevy_man said:
M4 is inertia driven, not gas. Lube it excessively, and put a few cases through it.


I once had a CZ that wouldn't function. Finally bought a case of high brass buckshot, held the butt against a fence post, and started dumping rounds. A dozen boxes in and it ran fine with bird shot.
Click to expand...
Benelli M4 uses the ARGO system - (auto regulating gas operated)

Mine took about 50 rounds of 00buck and now it runs everything just fine
 
#17
I was told by a few folks over the years that to properly break in a Benelli so it’s not super picky, is to shoot a full case (250rds) of high-brass high-velocity ammo first, then it should be broken in enough to reliably cycle low-brass.

Don’t know how legit that is, but have heard it from several folks over the years, including a Benelli rep, and it’s what I plan on doing with my new M2 when I finally get ready to start breaking it in at the 5-stand before dove/pheasant session. I’ve got a case of Federal High Brass 7.5 shot for skeet, and 2 cases of Kent Mid-brass high velocity 7.5 shot for dove and pheasant.
 
#18
LuckyDuck said:
I have a SBE2 and I absolutely love it. If you can swing it- I'd recommend buying something like 2-3 boxes of 20 game loads (high brass) that your local range permits you to shoot. It'll likely be something like a $100 investment if you'd choose to do so, but I'd be willing to bet that shotgun will cycle target loads until the cows come home if you do so. They really are fantastic shotguns.

-LD
Click to expand...
The m4 has nothing in common with other shotguns based on inertia drive. It's a gas system.
 
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#19
The
DeathBeforeDismount said:
The m4 has nothing in common with other shotguns based on inertia drive. It's a gas system.
Click to expand...

And not only that, but it's different than the Beretta "Blink" system. The ARGO is its own animal.

If cycling lighter loads is important, either do some break-in on the M4 and then clean and lube it properly, try loads from different manufacturers until finding one that works (by which time the break-in process will likely be finished), or just get a 1301.
 
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#22
chevy_man said:
M4 is inertia driven, not gas. Lube it excessively, and put a few cases through it.


I once had a CZ that wouldn't function. Finally bought a case of high brass buckshot, held the butt against a fence post, and started dumping rounds. A dozen boxes in and it ran fine with bird shot.
Click to expand...
Uh,
M4 is gas.
M1 and 2 are inertia.


Do NOT lube a m4 excessively.
 
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#23
EotS said:
Uh,
M4 is gas.
M1 and 2 are inertia.


Do NOT lube a m4 excessively.
Click to expand...

Why do they have to do that? Every single other shotgun they make is inertia or a break.


I'm at a point in my life where I just buy Berettas because the blink system is unreal.

Probably doesn't help that the 1 Benelli I have is a pump, and it took me probably 15 hours of work to make it run. How they made a pump that wouldn't work was pretty magical.
 
#25
chevy_man said:
Why do they have to do that? Every single other shotgun they make is inertia or a break.


I'm at a point in my life where I just buy Berettas because the blink system is unreal.

Probably doesn't help that the 1 Benelli I have is a pump, and it took me probably 15 hours of work to make it run. How they made a pump that wouldn't work was pretty magical.
Click to expand...
Becuase if you want a reliable shotgun it needs to be gas. Has always been and will always be...despite what the shotgun ignorant and people who fall for marketing believe.

Less reliable, more recoil, malfunction prone when hanging shit off it, slower recoil impulse making follow up shots slower...ect


All shit we knew 30+ years ago.
 
#29
DeathBeforeDismount said:
They needed a gun to be reliable....even benelli engiturds knew their shit is inferior to Beretta's gas system that has been the gold standard for almost 50 years.
Click to expand...

I thought since Beretta bought Benelli they just stuck with keeping them both in their lanes.

They both have quite useless websites that were obviously done by marketing when drunk and without reading any of the material from engineering.


Not that it should be surprising, but years ago my buddy started working at Black Hawk. It was hilarious watching him pick apart every single piece of marketing being wrong. He would pull up a memo of the "spec list" he had sent to someone 1000 miles away. They would ignore it, use one from the wrong product, or simply make stuff up!

I have to assume from the complete lack of anything I would call relevant info they do the same.
 
#30
DeathBeforeDismount said:
Becuase if you want a reliable shotgun it needs to be gas. Has always been and will always be...despite what the shotgun ignorant and people who fall for marketing believe.
Click to expand...
I understand we live in the same state...do you not know any waterfowl hunters who use inertial Benelli's cause I sure, tons of them on the eastern shore including me and half of the members of the goose pit or the duck blinds I hunted for years off of the Chester River and on Long Island. My SBE II has never failed me in waterfowl conditions and has no gas system to get gunked up (and yes, they absolutely do). Rain, snow, grit, you can row a duck boat with it and then shoot.

And I also know tons of people in the same locales who shoot gas Beretta's for the same purpose. Funny, I never hear any smack talk in the blind about what kind of system your shotgun uses

But, its good to see you still have total confidence in your strong opinions....warms my heart to know some things just don't change.

Cheers
 
#31
Baron23 said:
I understand we live in the same state...do you not know any waterfowl hunters who use inertial Benelli's cause I sure, tons of them on the eastern shore including me and half of the members of the goose pit or the duck blinds I hunted for years off of the Chester River and on Long Island. My SBE II has never failed me in waterfowl conditions and has no gas system to get gunked up (and yes, they absolutely do). Rain, snow, grit, you can row a duck boat with it and then shoot.

And I also know tons of people in the same locales who shoot gas Beretta's for the same purpose. Funny, I never hear any smack talk in the blind about what kind of system your shotgun uses

But, its good to see you still have total confidence in your strong opinions....warms my heart to know some things just don't change.

Cheers
Click to expand...
I grew up and live on the shore. My house is less than a mile from the Chester. Grew up competing and hunting all over the region. At one time this was the sporting clay capital of the US. That was a big part of my life growing up.

Everything I said is true. Most people are idiots. Some I even call friends. Most people don't really care becuase they can't tell the difference, don't have the experience shooting a bunch of platforms in different shell sizes to know the difference. Once you have owned everything, shot everything, killed everything, the differences are apparent. When I was young I bought Into the benneli hype as well. You know what cured it? Owning a bunch and selling them off when you realize they don't do anything special and have more recoil than a well build gas gun.

The fact benelli who had no experience with gas guns...made the m4 a gas gun tells you all you need to know.
 
#33
DeathBeforeDismount said:
Becuase if you want a reliable shotgun it needs to be gas. Has always been and will always be...despite what the shotgun ignorant and people who fall for marketing believe.

Less reliable, more recoil, malfunction prone when hanging shit off it, slower recoil impulse making follow up shots slower...ect


All shit we knew 30+ years ago.
Click to expand...
Well that's just wrong.

An inertia gun is absurdly reliable, and the M1/2 are eaisly the most proven semi shotguns ever made. The SBE lineup is far and away the most proven waterfowl gun of all time.


However, they don't lend themselves to accessories like lights, side saddle shell holders, or heavy optics as it allegedly causes issues.


Enter the m4.
It's entire reason for being created, and a gas setup is because the milatary insisted their shotguns be optics and accessories compatable.


That's it, and that's all.
 
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#35
EotS said:
Well that's just wrong.

An inertia gun is absurdly reliable, and the M1/2 are eaisly the most proven semi shotguns ever made. The SBE lineup is far and away the most proven waterfowl gun of all time.


However, they don't lend themselves to accessories like lights, side saddle shell holders, or heavy optics as it allegedly causes issues.


Enter the m4.
It's entire reason for being created, and a gas setup is because the milatary insisted their shotguns be optics and accessories compatable.


That's it, and that's all.
Click to expand...
Pure fucking ignorance.
 
#36
DeathBeforeDismount said:
Pure fucking ignorance.
Click to expand...
No, that's a fact.
Benelli has stated any number of times the reasons that brought about the creation of them m4. It's also a pure combat shotgun whereas the others were sporting models used in a combat role. It was also created due to its modularity, and ability to be configured to whatever role it was needed in. Something the m1/2 could not do.
That, and feel free to google the shotgun used by the top 3 ranked 3-gun matches for the last 2 decades, and you'll see the M2 listed far more than any other model.



If you've got any evidence to support your claims besides your feels and emotion, I'm all ears.
 
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#37
Yea...about 500k+ rounds through every shotgun known to man over the last 30 years... with many of them in NSCA competitions. The shotgun sports with high round counts ...benelli is no where to be found. They shoot like shit. They are much more temperamental of load. They have significantly more recoil. You can Induce malfunction just by holding Inertia guns a certain way. You have a longer recoil impulse that slows follow shots up compared to gas gun. Gas guns have DOMINATED shotgun sports since people realized the gas guns shot much better than the A5. Browning even switched over to gas guns until the rerelease of the a5.

I've owned 1201fp, m1, m3, super sport, sport 2 and a early sbe. All of them are long gone. Had a Supersport go down in competition and it shot like ass compared to a cheaper 391.

Benelli has great marketing and fools idiots Into paying twice what a good shotgun costs. It's a name casuals heard of and people who don't shoot enough to know the difference. When shot side by side, in heavy volume, it's clear as day.
 
#38
Eh-

To each their own as I see things. Personally, I’m very happy with my SBEII and as a bird gun it has worked exceedingly well for me in goose/duck blind type of conditions. With that said, my mossberg 500 worked very well too and there was a winchester semi I remember from years back that allegedly had larger gas lines than the other Italian semi gas guns which also worked well and had something as an option called … duratouch or something like that which was a rubbery coating on a synthetic stock that was kinda cool. Probably a number of 870’s in there that reliably put waterfowl down too.

That said if I were to get into 3-gun, I’d use it as an excuse to pick up a Beretta 1301 but mainly to justify a new acquisition/toy- I’d likely be just as happy with a minorly modified 590 or maybe a M2 set up for the game but that’s just me I guess. I like most of ‘em.

-LD
 
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#39
LuckyDuck said:
Eh-

To each their own as I see things. Personally, I’m very happy with my SBEII and as a bird gun it has worked exceedingly well for me in goose/duck blind type of conditions. With that said, my mossberg 500 worked very well too and there was a winchester semi I remember from years back that allegedly had larger gas lines than the other Italian semi gas guns which also worked well and had something as an option called … duratouch or something like that which was a rubbery coating on a synthetic stock that was kinda cool. Probably a number of 870’s in there that reliably put waterfowl down too.

That said if I were to get into 3-gun, I’d use it as an excuse to pick up a Beretta 1301 but mainly to justify a new acquisition/toy- I’d likely be just as happy with a minorly modified 590 or maybe a M2 set up for the game but that’s just me I guess. I like most of ‘em.

-LD
Click to expand...
Winchester super x 1. Cult following they were built like tanks...similar to old beretta A302/303 guns. Fantastic guns if you ever see one for under a grand, snatch it up.
 
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