I just bought and shot my Benelli M4 LE 11715 for the first time. I used Federal LE Flight control 00 with expectations that this will be my primary defense load, and tried out Lambro & Sterling buckshot as well for my plinking ammo.
The good new is that it ate everything without a hiccup.
The bad news is that the accuracy was alot worse than expected.
At 25 yards, 3 shot groups of the Lambro/Sterling were 20-30" shot patterns. That is expected from the cheap stuff. However what really shocked me was that the expensive "gold standard" Federal LE stuff patterned at around 13". Even my CHEAP Remmy 870 did 6" groups with the good stuff!
Is this to be expected? I guess it's good enough for most home defense scenario's... But I guess I also just expected more from the $2k+ shotgun.
I did read somewhere that I could replace the choke and that should improve accuracy. Is that true? Any specifics on what to try? Is the choke on the LE models removable and replaceable?
Any comments or advice?
NOTE: Yes I know that if I want the most accuracy I should pattern all available defense loads and pick the best. Good luck finding stuff in this environment. part of the reason I try and buy high quality guns is they usually lower the bar for ammo requirements. I have alot of high quality rifles/guns, and part of what makes them so valuable is none of them shoot poorly with good ammo. Better or worse with some loads, sure. But not poorly like this.
The good new is that it ate everything without a hiccup.
The bad news is that the accuracy was alot worse than expected.
At 25 yards, 3 shot groups of the Lambro/Sterling were 20-30" shot patterns. That is expected from the cheap stuff. However what really shocked me was that the expensive "gold standard" Federal LE stuff patterned at around 13". Even my CHEAP Remmy 870 did 6" groups with the good stuff!
Is this to be expected? I guess it's good enough for most home defense scenario's... But I guess I also just expected more from the $2k+ shotgun.
I did read somewhere that I could replace the choke and that should improve accuracy. Is that true? Any specifics on what to try? Is the choke on the LE models removable and replaceable?
Any comments or advice?
NOTE: Yes I know that if I want the most accuracy I should pattern all available defense loads and pick the best. Good luck finding stuff in this environment. part of the reason I try and buy high quality guns is they usually lower the bar for ammo requirements. I have alot of high quality rifles/guns, and part of what makes them so valuable is none of them shoot poorly with good ammo. Better or worse with some loads, sure. But not poorly like this.