Benelli M1 Tactical M

E

ElementX

Inactive
A couple weeks ago i went to the shooting range with a couple friends and we did skeet with a benelli M1 tactical M and a mossberg 500. Shooting skeet absolutely rocked so i felt I had to get myself a shotgun. It will probably be the only shotgun i ever own and will probably only be used for doing skeet probably like 6 times a yr and will also be another option for home defense.

(if someone broke into my home, i think i'd most likely grab my pistol first as it is hidden where i can get to it easily and quietly, whilie anything else i would have to unlock the gun safe. I'd probably grab my pistol first and go to the gunsafe second)

Anyways, After reading through the posts here, i went to a well-known gunshop here in CA to check out a remington 870 and a mossberg 590. I figure since its the only one i will ever buy and use rarely, i was gonna go with something in the $300 range. When i told the guy i wanted to see a remington 870 and mossberg 590, he said they did not carry mossberg and that they only carried "quality firearms". So i said ummmm ok, lets see the remington 870. So I checked it out and since i dont know much about shotguns, i thought it pretty plain and wasnt really impressed with it or the finish. Then i checked out the 870 police, which has the 9 shot tube, looked cool but I still wanted to check out a mossberg 590. The mossberg 500 my friend had was 10 yrs old and looked pretty beat up but worked great. Then I saw that they had the benelli M1 tacticals (w/pistol grip). I was surprised because for some reason i thought they were included in the SB23 ban here in CA. The guy behind the counter says nope, they werent banned. So of course I make a major impulse buy and decide to get the benelli. That sure made up my mind between the 870 and 590 ;P I half regret spending so much money, but i know it was worth it. Since its the only shotgun i will probably ever buy, it may as well be a very good one. At least thats what i keep telling myself when I think about that $900 price tag...

Anyways, anyone got any maintenance tips or any other suggestions/tips/warnings about this shotgun? Whats the difference between a M1 tactical and a super 90 that everyone in the forum talks about? I cant find anything about a super 90 on the benelli site. Are they the same?


http://www.benelli-usa.com/showimage/index.cgi?m1tm.gif
 
huh, never noticed it before until this post and I looked it up in a Benelli catalog. It seems Benelli has dropped the 'Super 90' designation. From what I understand, it was the designation of the two piece rotating bolt action of the shotgun. It later evolved (was refined) into the Montefeltro action.

Early on, when HK imported the shotguns, the M1 was known as the M1 Super 90. But...not all Super 90s were (are) M1s. There was (is) the M3 pump/auto. I guess they are all known as M1s, M3s, Tacticals, Sports, etc. without the Super 90 knowadays. The Tacticals, again nowadays, appear to be any M1/M3 with a magazine capacity over 3, regardless of stock configuration. Back in the not so old days, they use to be vertical pistol grip/5-7 round mag.

Feed/ejection failures, if the gun it kept clean, are usually attributed to low recoil. The Montefeltro action NEEDS recoil to operate correctly. If there is something that dampens or doesn't provided enough recoil, you might get failures. This could be caused by very light loads, side saddles attached to the receiver, not putting enough shoulder into it, etc.

Reading experiences from other posters indicate that the barrels of Benellis are on the thin side so drilling holes for compensators is not a good idea. (Never really considered it myself.)

Benelli is now own by Beretta. (As is Franchi.)

- Ron V.
 
Well, I just sent off $815 today for an M1 w/
PG stock and ghost sights, new in box. It seemed like a good price, especially since delivery is included. Now I'll find out just how reliable and accurate it is. How many rounds before I should consider it broken in and no longer subject to feeding failures?

Dick
 
Well, I laid down the $800.00 plus ttl the 1st time I had an M1-Super90 in my hands.
After 300 rounds of everything from #7 1/2 shot to 3 inch 00 buck, I can say I made the right choice. My other smooth bore is a Mossberg 590M, which I dearly love, had it for 12 years now without a single failure to function.

------------------
Liberty or Death......... without compromise.
 
Good choice, I also have a M1 Tactical and a Mossberg 590.

Beyond what's already been posted here, you can make your gun more reliable by not hanging all kinds of accessories on it. Inertia operated shotguns, like the Benelli and Beretta 1201FP, can start choking if you add an inordinate amount of accessories (you increase the mass, you change inertia of the gun) when used with low recoil loads (trap loads or tactical defense loads).

Back when Mark Penman's Laissez Firearm page was still up, he noted in his review of the Beretta 1201FP that if you added a Surefire Responder (weapon-mounted light) and a TacStar Sidesaddle, the gun would not operate reliably with low recoil loads. I decided to add a Surefire 617F Responder to my M1 Tactical and it has worked flawlessly with trap loads and Federal tactical buckshot and slugs. I figured I could do without the Sidesaddle, although I really would like to add one to my M1 Tactical.

Another thread here notes that special springs are available to those persons who absolutely must have a Responder and Sidsaddle -- and who use reduced recoil loads (i.e., police issue weapons). I haven't tried the spring but it's an interesting concept.

I have one of the last HK stamped M1 Tacticals -- CDNN was closing them out in November of 1998 (right before NICS went nationwide) for $689. That included ghost ring sights, factory 7 round extension and 18.5" barrel with three choke tubes. I should have bought two at that price. :(

Ron is right about the thin Benelli barrels - if you want your barrel Vang Comp'd, you'll have to jump through some additional hoops. Patternmaster (http://www.patternmaster.com) sells a screw-in choke tube that helps buckshot patterns without modifying your barrel.

HTH,

Justin

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Justin T. Huang, Esq.
late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
 
I did he "break-in" on my Benelli M1S90 by shooting 2 boxes of 3" magnum shells.

To date, and about 600 rounds later, I have never had a misfire/misfeed.

I did install a Pachmyre(sp?) Decellerator pad and an extension on mine as my arms are long. Even with the recoil pad, again, no misfeeds. This shotgun can really rock.

CMOS

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GOA, TSRA, LEAA, NRA, SAF and I vote!
 
Hey everyone, thanks for all the great info.

I just picked up my M1 tactical today. The manual says M1 super 90. It even looks cool sitting in the box. However, I'd like to put it together. Ummmmm where can I get M1's for dummies? I think this benelli should come with a video instead of just pictures
smile.gif
 
I just assembled my super 90 and I have 2 questions. I'm not that great with the terms for parts, so please bear with me

1. It only takes 2 shells. Is there something i can adjust on this to make it take the max of 5 or do i have to buy a 3 shell extender?

2. the front of the bolt carrier, where the extractor is attached, does not seem to close all the way in the bolt like an AR or AK. Is this how its supposed to be? Theres about 1/2 inch left to go before it would close it it could.

This shotgun looks so sweet. Its worth the money just looking at it. Is there anything I should check/double check? This is my first shotgun and would rather not kill myself if possible.
 
Your M1 comes with the three round limiter installed. Removing it will give you the full five round capacity.

I can't really picture, visually, your second question, so I'll leave that for someone else. My M1 really has no gap that I can see.

Good choice on your shotgun selection. I only own one also and it's the one you've got. A tip: Mine choaked horribly on reduced recoil ammo (although others have posted their M1's fly fine with it), but with full-power ammo, it shoots and cycles great.
 
ElementX,

I also own a M-1 tactical. In reference to your second question about the bolt make sure it's all the way forward. Pull the bolt and let it fly forward by itself. It should be all the way forward. If you slowly let the bolt move forward you'll notice that it's not fully forward as it should be. Hope this helps. Kind of hard to describe properly.
smile.gif
 
Concur with Sea Bass -- if you don't let the bolt fly forward, you will also have difficulty loading rounds into the magazine.

Not sure what you mean by the 0.5" gap between the extractor and the breechface -- if you're asking whether you should be seeing any "silver" when the bolt is fully closed, the answer is yes.

HTH,

Justin

------------------
Justin T. Huang, Esq.
late of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
 
what the bolt does is rotate and lock.
the bolt carrier needs to go forward under its own spring pressure to lock. if you ease it forward you can pull the trigger which will release the hammer. the hammer will fall but the bolt is not rotated and locked so the firing pin will not reach the primer.
thus you get nothing. again let the bolt carrier go forward under its own pressure and you will have no problems.
 
Again I must thank you all for answering.

I removed the limiter so now my benelli can take 5 rounds, though for some reason my thumb always gets caught when i'm loading it.

I checked the pictures at the benelli website and i can see that the "silver" part of the bolt carrier shows, so it looks like i assembled it correctly. I still havent shot it yet. I was concerned that it was not going all the way forward since i saw that silver part showing. I'm gonna take it to the range this weekend.

Thanks again, all of you are a bunch of help!!
 
ElementX--

I purchased an HK M1S90 some years ago. I had two failures during the break in period and none since. Here's a fun accessory -- the srew-in recoil reducer/door breacher. HK had one in their catalog when they imported the Benelli. It's a screw in extended choke tube that has a muzzle break on the end. It looks bad ass on the M1. It reduces muzzle lift to zero. Go on Brownells.com and search under Gunner's Choice. It will cost about $100, but it is worth it. You do have the M1 with the screw-in choke tube, right? Also, pick up shotgun news and go to the R Guns ad. They still sell the extended mag tube, complete with the longer mag tube spring. As long as you have the standard stock and not the pistol grip, you can install it without breaking any laws that I'm aware of. It will cost about $65. This is a MUST HAVE accessory. GET IT WHILE YOU STILL CAN. If you have the PG stock, still get it and install the limiter plug to keep legal. Be sure to also pick-up a Giles tactical sling or an HK tactical sling for the M1. This is an awesome weapon that will serve you well.
 
While we're talking about it, can anyone describe how the Benelli's inertial system works? I'm confused over how the bolt can lock up into the barrl extension the way it does, yet still be recoil operated.
 
ElementX,

Try what I do when loading. When I load, I have the gun upsidedown supported by my weak (left) hand about the middle of the receiver. The stock is under my right armpit. The middle and ring fingers of my left hand are long enough to reach the carrier. When I load a round with my right, just before I fully seat the round, I curl my left middle and ring finger onto the carrier holding it in the depressed position while my right thumb fully seats the round. When I pull my thumb out, the carrier is held in place by my weak fingers and it doesn't dig into my thumb.

Or, you could bend the first digit of your loading thumb a little and let the knuckle keep the carrier from digging into your thumb.

- Ron V.
 
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