Benelli M4 Super90 Initial Range Review

thegazelle

thegazelle

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
63   0   0
Location
Ontario
I had a chance to take my new M4 to the range this afternoon. I wasn't sure what to expect, since my range is slugs-only, and I have used 12ga slugs from my Mossberg pump before and there was quite a bit of kick to it. I thought I'd let a few awesome range regular members try it out and I can see their experience with it before I tried it out. I am fairly recoil sensitive, but understood that a semi-auto may lessen the felt recoil. When I saw a couple of fellow range members shoot it, I was surprised but how little kick there was. The fellows told me "it shoots very soft".

So I tried it. And sure enough, the recoil/kick was not even close to how bad I thought I would be. It would seem like my Keltec Sub2000 PCC in .40 has more kick to it.

Here's the ammo I brought today to use:

Score Competition Slug Low Recoil 2 3/4" 1oz, 1300FPS
Remington Managed Recoil Slugger 2 3/4", 1oz, 1200FPS
Challenger Target Slug, 2 3/4", 1oz (unknown velocity)

I had a Holosun HS515CM on it, though it wasn't sighted yet (and I didn't bother doing it while there).

So now, a quick impression on the shotgun.

THE GOOD:

1. Obviously much less felt recoil using the above rounds than I had expected this is a good thing.
2. Pistol grip is extremely comfortable as is the weight of the gun. That may contribute to the lessened felt recoil
3. Loading was easier than I thought - I didn't pinch my fingers like I do on my 870. I tried my hardest to get my fingers to pinch, but they never got caught on the loading ramp.
4. It was a hoot to shoot - after a while I forgot about the recoil (there was some, though as I am typing this now, my shoulder has no soreness, which is a good thing)

THE BAD:

1. The only bad I encountered and I don't know if this was because of the lower recoil rounds - I got consistent though occasional failure to feeds, and the occasional failure to eject (maybe 1 or 2 out of 100 rounds). With the feeds, consistently 1 or 2 out of every 5 or 6 rounds would not feed properly, even though the previous round was ejected. If I work the charging handle slowly, it will feed the next round smoothly. I am not sure if this is because the gun is new, or because of the type of rounds I used (all low recoil).
2. One (1) round of the Remingtons (I believe) had light primer strike. We put it through the gun a couple of times after and it never fired, so we discarded it into the dud bin.

I am not sure if the issues in the "bad" section are "break-in" issues or if there is some way to mitigate them. I will try S&B slugs next time out and pick up some other non-low-recoil slugs to see if they feed better. If not, does anyone have any clues as to why there may be some feeding issues? Again, when it happens, I get the click and then after 30 seconds or so I pull back the charging handle and see that a round was in progress of being loaded but not fully loaded. The good news is, working the charging handle chambers the round very, very smoothly, without issues.
 
The other thing that I noticed and this may just be personal preference. Having the telescoping stock retracted completely was not very comfortable. I had it in the middle position for most of the shooting today though once I fully extended it, I found it much more comfortable. Can't really explain why, maybe weight distribution, etc.

I will also add this - I think the gun is rated at 8lbs or something like that. I actually didn't notice the weight much at all and I and the range members shot it offhand. I have some guns that around around the same weight but because of a heavier barrel or whatever, the weight was always an issue in the forefront of my mind. In this case, I went through 100 rounds and didn't notice any arm exhaustion, etc. Maybe I was having too much fun blasting away at the paper target. In the end, I don't even know why I removed the target since it was blasted to smithereens and I pretty much took the corners off the 12x18 paper target and the middle was one gigantic hole. Keeping this one for posterity.
 
F22_RaptoR said:
I needed about 200-ish cheapy full power shells to break my M4s90 in, after that it's been completely flawless.

Absolutely fantastic shotgun!

3Db5JTu.jpg
Click to expand...


Been tryin to find some videos on swapping that pistol grip out and putting a normal stock on it. How was it and what did it entail to do it.

Brodie
 
Brodie720 said:
Been tryin to find some videos on swapping that pistol grip out and putting a normal stock on it. How was it and what did it entail to do it.

Brodie
Click to expand...

Very easy, all the Benelli M4 stocks are "tool less" quick change. You just HAVE to get the benelli M4 stocks otherwise all sorts of headaches can occur.

First remove the trigger guard (remove bolt handle, push the takedown pin out the side) then pull the trigger guard out by the lifter.

The stock is now free to unscrew (counter clockwise). If you have the tele-stock take it off by setting it at the second last position (that offsets the stock for corner shooting) then pull it strait back, and unscrew the pistol grip counter clockwise.

Now screw the new stock on clockwise and put the trigger group back in.

It has a series of springs in the stock, so you want to tighten it until it touches the receiver, then keep turning until it's indexed correctly. That's it, takes like a minute or two if you've never done it before. The trigger group can be a bit grumpy to get back in as it's a tight fit at the back.
 
F22_RaptoR said:
Very easy, all the Benelli M4 stocks are "tool less" quick change. You just HAVE to get the benelli M4 stocks otherwise all sorts of headaches can occur.

First remove the trigger guard (remove bolt handle, push the takedown pin out the side) then pull the trigger guard out by the lifter.

The stock is now free to unscrew (counter clockwise). If you have the tele-stock take it off by setting it at the second last position (that offsets the stock for corner shooting) then pull it strait back, and unscrew the pistol grip counter clockwise.

Now screw the new stock on clockwise and put the trigger group back in.

It has a series of springs in the stock, so you want to tighten it until it touches the receiver, then keep turning until it's indexed correctly. That's it, takes like a minute or two if you've never done it before. The trigger group can be a bit grumpy to get back in as it's a tight fit at the back.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the reply. One more question did it come with a plug or are we able to buy one to make it compliant for migratory birds!


Brodie!
 
Hold on to that thing good and tight, sometimes a looser grip can cause failures. And give it some time to break in the springs on the ARGO system

[youtube]INoJlULbXik[/youtube]
 
1ABNDT said:
Hold on to that thing good and tight, sometimes a looser grip can cause failures. And give it some time to break in the springs on the ARGO system

[youtube]INoJlULbXik[/youtube]
Click to expand...

I've shot the gun from a rest with low power target ammo only holding the pistol grip to fire to test this (dozens of shells): how you hold the gun has no bearing on cycling properly. This would be true however, with an Inertia action.

Also I've been doing some investigation into the "break-in" period, which most people claim about 200 shells, this was my experience with Turkish m4 clones too...

The break-in, from a mechanical standpoint, seems to be concentrated in the gas cylinder to piston interface (bore to piston fit), and the bolt carrier sliding in the grooves of the alloy receiver. No indication it has anything to do with the "springs in the argo system", these are simple gas regulators and if anything is breaking in there, it likely consists of building up just the right amount of contamination, conditioning, essentially. The recoil spring in the stock (buffer tube) may play a part as well, although I haven't measured any difference in spring weight between a new m4, and a broken in one, in that department.

I'm a huge fan myself of the m4 benelli action and internal/external design, I've got a lot of them in CAD nowadays from research/custom parts, there are very few design mistakes in the m4 ("all designs are wrong... it's just a matter of how wrong")

Actually conducting an experiment the past few weeks, to determine how much of the break-in period can be eliminated by gunsmithing in advance with that intention... Should have complete results in a couple weeks, it's a busy time of year for me so "hobby hours" are limited.
 
Brodie720 said:
Thanks a lot for the reply. One more question did it come with a plug or are we able to buy one to make it compliant for migratory birds!


Brodie!
Click to expand...

No problem!

Mine didn't come with a plug, if you use the faux extension that it comes with; there's a hole that goes through the "ribs" that's maybe 3/8" diameter so you can just stuff a wooden dowel through that and it will keep it away from the magazine spring. (it's kind of a weird shape to measure inside that deep, so you could just use a drill bit to gauge what size of dowel you'd need. maybe throw a loop of tape around it so keep it from coming loose)
 
Brodie720 said:
Been tryin to find some videos on swapping that pistol grip out and putting a normal stock on it. How was it and what did it entail to do it.

Brodie
Click to expand...

I changed mine from the pistol grip to a field stock. just call steoger and order from them the field stock. its pricey i think i payed 300 pre covid for it. but its original and super esey to install
 
Re 'The Bad' in the OP: When I got my M4 I was concerned when ordinary cheap target shells wouldn't operate it reliably, which was the case at first. However owners here posted that the problem would go away after the first few hundred 3" rounds and in fact it did in under 100, probably more like 50. The gun seem to need a tiny bit of shooting in.
 
ApoC_101 said:
I've shot the gun from a rest with low power target ammo only holding the pistol grip to fire to test this (dozens of shells): how you hold the gun has no bearing on cycling properly. This would be true however, with an Inertia action.

Also I've been doing some investigation into the "break-in" period, which most people claim about 200 shells, this was my experience with Turkish m4 clones too...

The break-in, from a mechanical standpoint, seems to be concentrated in the gas cylinder to piston interface (bore to piston fit), and the bolt carrier sliding in the grooves of the alloy receiver. No indication it has anything to do with the "springs in the argo system", these are simple gas regulators and if anything is breaking in there, it likely consists of building up just the right amount of contamination, conditioning, essentially. The recoil spring in the stock (buffer tube) may play a part as well, although I haven't measured any difference in spring weight between a new m4, and a broken in one, in that department.

I'm a huge fan myself of the m4 benelli action and internal/external design, I've got a lot of them in CAD nowadays from research/custom parts, there are very few design mistakes in the m4 ("all designs are wrong... it's just a matter of how wrong")

Actually conducting an experiment the past few weeks, to determine how much of the break-in period can be eliminated by gunsmithing in advance with that intention... Should have complete results in a couple weeks, it's a busy time of year for me so "hobby hours" are limited.
Click to expand...

Hmm...so maybe I shouldn't have cleaned it a few days ago and just left it for another 100 rounds or so. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to take it apart to clean the pistons (they were pretty dirty). Putting it back together was a bit of an oddity as the bolt when it slid in was stuck and did not pull back even with the charging handle installed. It wasn't like this when I initially put it back together. I decided to pull the trigger and now the hammer is caught in that long rod that is like a tail to the bolt. But now, I am able to pull back on the bolt, lock in place, and I function tested it and everything works. It is weird, because the videos I watched said it is easier to take apart/reassemble with the gun cocked, and yes, I was able to take out the bolt assembly but reinstalling it did not work until I pulled the trigger. So I am not sure what I did wrong but it's all working now.

Wondering since I now cleaned it whether I am back to square one with the "break in" period.

Curious what rounds did everyone use for the break-in, bearing in mind due to range rules I am limited to slugs. So if I could get recommendations on good full powered slugs, I will go grab 'em.

So for the others who have M4s - did you have some initial feeding issues as well?

Now, one thing I should mention which maybe I did wrong initially is that I didn't bother cleaning it up and re-lubing it prior to me using it for the first time. It didn't seem dry from the factory when I assembled it, so it wasn't a consideration. It is pretty lubed up now after my cleaning it, so shall see what happens.

Also want to ask about the cleaning of the pistons. At the end of the pistons that unscrew, there is a rubber gasket ring on each. When I cleaned it with G96, it obviously got on those rings - not sure if that will affect the integrity of the seal.
 
Last edited:
Tactical SG's are for slug/buckshot period, it's what they were designed to use first and foremost If you want to use birdshot get the appropriate SG.
 
No worries about cleaning it, that won't really change anything... Can't "undo" the break-in by doing so.

Sounds like when re-assembling your bolt tail wasn't in the right spot, I usually poke it with a tool to get it there if it doesn't just fall into place. I don't find it's more or less difficult with the hammer cocked.

The seals on those gas regulators are Viton, they are basically impervious to most gun cleaning/conditioning fluids and lubes, G96 is no problem. You can spray the whole gun full of it without issues. But do absolutely put blue loctite on the threads of the gas regulators, or they may gradually unscrew from shot cycles (which could expose the viton seals to hot gas, which may actually damage them).

Otherwise, the gas system really is self-cleaning, internally anyways. Fouling will be continuously expelled by the regular operation, dumping sludge around the inside of the foregrip... For regular cleaning, I usually just remove these, wipe off the argo cylinder area, then clean up the foregrip panels. No need to remove the regulators or the pistons if nothing is acting up, or has come loose.

One region worth a little extra attention inside, the bolt carrier to receiver contact surfaces (hardened steel riding in alloy grooves). Durable grease is good here, I use clear synthetic grease, simply to reduce rate of wear.

Everything else, just typical G96 and oil treatment. 300-500 shells seems like a fine interval, besides typical daily pull-thru cleaning of barrel bore.

I do my break-ins on these with whatever high-velocity shells I've got in excess, usually 1400/1500 FPS steel, and some cheap heavy buckshot for that extra kick.

I like these guys: https://canadafirstammo.ca/score-12-ga-2-3-4-buckshot/

SCORE/Prairieshot ammo is top notch. Pretty much all I buy now in 250 cases, various loads.



thegazelle said:
Hmm...so maybe I shouldn't have cleaned it a few days ago and just left it for another 100 rounds or so. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to take it apart to clean the pistons (they were pretty dirty). Putting it back together was a bit of an oddity as the bolt when it slid in was stuck and did not pull back even with the charging handle installed. It wasn't like this when I initially put it back together. I decided to pull the trigger and now the hammer is caught in that long rod that is like a tail to the bolt. But now, I am able to pull back on the bolt, lock in place, and I function tested it and everything works. It is weird, because the videos I watched said it is easier to take apart/reassemble with the gun cocked, and yes, I was able to take out the bolt assembly but reinstalling it did not work until I pulled the trigger. So I am not sure what I did wrong but it's all working now.

Wondering since I now cleaned it whether I am back to square one with the "break in" period.

Curious what rounds did everyone use for the break-in, bearing in mind due to range rules I am limited to slugs. So if I could get recommendations on good full powered slugs, I will go grab 'em.

So for the others who have M4s - did you have some initial feeding issues as well?

Now, one thing I should mention which maybe I did wrong initially is that I didn't bother cleaning it up and re-lubing it prior to me using it for the first time. It didn't seem dry from the factory when I assembled it, so it wasn't a consideration. It is pretty lubed up now after my cleaning it, so shall see what happens.

Also want to ask about the cleaning of the pistons. At the end of the pistons that unscrew, there is a rubber gasket ring on each. When I cleaned it with G96, it obviously got on those rings - not sure if that will affect the integrity of the seal.
Click to expand...
 
ApoC_101 said:
No worries about cleaning it, that won't really change anything... Can't "undo" the break-in by doing so.

Sounds like when re-assembling your bolt tail wasn't in the right spot, I usually poke it with a tool to get it there if it doesn't just fall into place. I don't find it's more or less difficult with the hammer cocked.

The seals on those gas regulators are Viton, they are basically impervious to most gun cleaning/conditioning fluids and lubes, G96 is no problem. You can spray the whole gun full of it without issues. But do absolutely put blue loctite on the threads of the gas regulators, or they may gradually unscrew from shot cycles (which could expose the viton seals to hot gas, which may actually damage them).

Otherwise, the gas system really is self-cleaning, internally anyways. Fouling will be continuously expelled by the regular operation, dumping sludge around the inside of the foregrip... For regular cleaning, I usually just remove these, wipe off the argo cylinder area, then clean up the foregrip panels. No need to remove the regulators or the pistons if nothing is acting up, or has come loose.

One region worth a little extra attention inside, the bolt carrier to receiver contact surfaces (hardened steel riding in alloy grooves). Durable grease is good here, I use clear synthetic grease, simply to reduce rate of wear.

Everything else, just typical G96 and oil treatment. 300-500 shells seems like a fine interval, besides typical daily pull-thru cleaning of barrel bore.

I do my break-ins on these with whatever high-velocity shells I've got in excess, usually 1400/1500 FPS steel, and some cheap heavy buckshot for that extra kick.

I like these guys: https://canadafirstammo.ca/score-12-ga-2-3-4-buckshot/

SCORE/Prairieshot ammo is top notch. Pretty much all I buy now in 250 cases, various loads.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the feedback.

The boattail did look like it was in the right spot, riding over the hammer. That's what I did when I first assembled it and it was no problem. Then again, it wasn't cocked when I installed the bolt assembly on initial setup. Who knows. I almost freaked out when I pulled the trigger and now the hammer was caught in the boat tail and I couldn't remove the bolt because the hammer was caught up in in the boattail. BUT I was able to now use the charging handle to #### it back (that's when the boattail went over the hammer and at that point everything was fine. The video I used for assembly and disassembly was the Mrgunsandgear takedown. It was pretty good up to the reassembly part. Before I pulled the trigger, it just seemed like the bolt was stuck on something and it wasn't budging and there was zero spring tension. I may take it apart again at some point after shooting it next now that I know how to fix it.

I didn't take the bolt apart and the firing pin/extractor, but just did a general external cleaning of the bolt assembly and bolt face.

Thanks for the tip on the gas regulators (assume those are the two things with the holes in it that I called the pistons - oops). When I tightened them, I used the charging handle through the holes and it looked like once it got to the right tightness, it immediately couldn't go anymore. I will put the locktite on it next time I take it apart. Or may do it on the Christmas break since I won't be shooting it again until mid-January at the earliest.

Hmmm...I didn't even think about cleaning the two foregrip pieces. Honestly if there is anything I don't like about the gun, it's those two pieces having to fit them together and then into the ridge of the receiver. It seems to take multiple attempts each time and then the plastic pieces come apart or don't align and I am whispering uncharacteristically harsh language to myself...haha...

Yes, you are right about the bolt carrier to receiver contact areas. I am already starting to see some silver streaks on it, so I lubed that area up especially.

Yeah, regarding the loads, unfortunately my range explicitly prohibits shot, so I am stuck running slugs exclusively through it. Now that I seemed to have overcome my recoil aversion with slugs, I will be looking for the regular non-low-recoil slugs to try in order to get the thing broken in.
 
Last edited:
1ABNDT said:
[youtube]UID8b4vtESU[/youtube]
https://youtu.be/UID8b4vtESU


[youtube]-EhZVuHob2A[/youtube]
https://youtu.be/-EhZVuHob2A
Click to expand...

1ABNDT, thanks for posting this. Looks like in the video they put the fore end pieces in first and then the barrel. The videos I have seen indicate to put the barrel in first and then try to put the two pieces together and that's what's causing the frustration (for me anyway). If the two pieces go on before the barrel, then it should be an easy fit and a breeze without having to snap them together and align them once the barrel is in.

This video is very helpful especially in understanding what that tail piece does and is hitting. I may try an assembly after dinner since the kiddos are not here today.
 
thegazelle said:
1ABNDT, thanks for posting this. Looks like in the video they put the fore end pieces in first and then the barrel. The videos I have seen indicate to put the barrel in first and then try to put the two pieces together and that's what's causing the frustration (for me anyway). If the two pieces go on before the barrel, then it should be an easy fit and a breeze without having to snap them together and align them once the barrel is in.

This video is very helpful especially in understanding what that tail piece does and is hitting. I may try an assembly after dinner since the kiddos are not here today.
Click to expand...


I really enjoy the visual breakdown, and yes that tail is something like an (ar). It's always nice to see a human disassembly/assembly. So I tend to try and find videos from the factory

[youtube]BMDhOFKewcU[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/BMDhOFKewcU

[youtube]oTLK2LJkDeM[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/oTLK2LJkDeM
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom