New to the Benelli inerta shotguns

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Willie Lowman

New member
So I decided to get a new buckshot distribution system the other day.

I bought a Benelli M2 Tactical on gunbroker.

While I wait for it to be shipped to my LGS I have been reading about the M2


From one video I have watched, it seems possible to cause malfunctions by holding the gun too tight. This is with low brass game loads anyway.

I also see people recommending changing out the shell lifter to a Taran Tactical one.


What else should I know about the M2?
 
I’ve owned seven different Benelli shotguns over the last twenty + years. I’ve not owned the M2, but all the rest were inertia guns. I’ve NEVER had one that didn’t cycle due to not having a good grip on the gun. I’ve shot hundreds and hundreds of rounds goofing around shooting from the hip on skeet fields and sporting clays fields and never had any problems related to the system being sensitive to grip. I have had them fail to cycle if left to get too dirty before cleaning. Even that didn’t happen very often. I watched Tom Knapp put on demonstrations different times and he shot a lot from the hip and he never had one not cycle. If it were me, and it isn’t, I’d try the gun out as received before starting to change out parts.
 
+1

Only other comment I'd make is find some other means of keeping reloads handy than mounting them on the receiver.

I own a Benelli M2 Tactical also, and its an awesome shotgun. But it can be finicky with respect to adding weight (in my experience).

I added a nice aluminum side saddle mount holding six shells from Mesa Tactical, and the resulting weight gain caused cycling hiccups using several different loads.

I removed the side saddle reload mount and the problems disappeared.

Not saying everyone will have this issue, but I did - and like NoSecondBest said, you'd be well advised to try the gun out as received before adding or changing out parts.
 
Ive had an M1 since the late 80’s. Ive run it thru mtp thousands of rounds, both teaching and taking classes. I used an issued one for a bit on duty (14”).

Neither of them like low weight birdshot loads. If i feed it 1 1/8 oz loads, it works fine. Mine have been FLAWLESS with full power buck or slugs. Remington had a 8 pellet “low recoil” OO Buck load that would not function. But that was a 1 oz load at about 1100fps. Just not enough oomph to cycle
 
I have a couple of the older M-1 hunting versions for years. Essentially the same gun with a different stock and some cosmetic features. I had a broken ejector on one that had to be replaced. Other than that both have never malfunctioned no matter which shells or how it was held.
 
it seems possible to cause malfunctions by holding the gun too tight.
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Maybe it's possible but, given my experience and those of my fellow water fowlers, I find it hard to believe. I'm sure you'll find your new Benelli completely reliable no matter how you hold it (unless you limp-wrist it :)).
 
In concept, it's the opposite. If you don't hold an inertia tight enough/put on a too absorbent pad, there isn't enough force for the system to work.

Haven't come across too tight being an issue.

Interesting
 
It is not just Bellini or Beretta. It is all inertia guns. I have owned both over the years and a Presently own two of them and a Stoeger OV condor that you hear internet complaints. These are contributed to very light loads or the shooter throwing the gun up to soon. However I have never personally ran across the issue.
Just had the Stoeger OV inertia out the other day and was shooting a 12ga with a 20ga insert in the lower barrel with light 20ga loads and no problem. I think the issue is very rare. but I guess under the right circumstances it could happen. Typically in a defense situation you will be shooting Buckshot which is a heavier load.
I prefer the inertia system, fewer parts and easier to clean. The M1 is a really nice shooter, still own one and he has done me very well over the years.
 
I shoot an M2 in 3Gun and was sponsored by Benelli for a few years. Been through their course, modified a lot of them as well.

With loads that have low energy, yes, if you shoulder them too rigidly, you can cause a malfunction. Yes, if you shoot them too fast, you can drop the hammer while the bolt is in a bounce and result in a dead trigger. Both are conditions I "can" create but neither are conditions you will ever have with standard pressure buck, slugs or hunting loads in normal use.

As for the TTI lifter, unless you are going to be twin or quad loading, no need. It is a modified lifter to aid in that process. I was the first person in the US to twin load, and then quad load, at a major three gun match, so kind of know about the genesis of the mods. Most of Taran Tactical mods on the M2 are from input from myself and James Casanova when he was running Carbon Arms with me.

We changed the sport of 3Gun with twin and quad loading and sometimes some of those mods spill over into tactical or hunting applications. Most of the mods though, are of little to no benefit for the HD or hunting applications.
 
Finally got my M2. Took it out yesterday. It worked flawlessly for the first 25 rounds. I then tried hip firing it and the bolt did not cycle all the way back. It was far enough to eject the fired shell but not to pick up the next one. I had a very tight grip on the gun but it was apparently not enough.

Thing is, I went and saw Tom Knapp shoot years ago. He was using a Benelli shotgun. He was firing it upside-down over his head. There is no way he could have had as solid a grasp on the gun but his cycled 100%

What the heck?
 
I warned you about limp-wristing it :). The solution would seem to be to hold the gun tighter-but then, some folks in this thread have reported that you can hold an inertia-based action too tightly to your shoulder. I'm not sure what the happy "medium" is, if there is one. As I said previously, I've never had my Benelli Super Eagle shotgun malfunction no matter how tightly I was holding it.

Go Chiefs!
 
Sell it and go with the more reliable gas system. It's a real option given people would buy it.

Beretta 1301 with the "Blink" system is just as good if not better than the "Argo" from the M4. I think the 1301 is the go to now, particularly given low price.

Hinterland has a 21" comp 1301 for $1,100.

I love mine :)

Despite everything I read, it actually appears gas systems are MORE reliable. Particularly on the Argo or Blink system, they run really clean which is the only problem of a gas system that cycles all loads (which the 1301 does).
 
The Argo system, is, to me, still the best system for shooting a wide variety of power levels. But the M4 is insanely expensive and difficult to modify. The Remington Versamax (and V3) uses the Argo and most samples run great. But, the Remington QC is an issue. I never saw two that were exactly the same. In most cases I could polish, bend, modify them if there was an issue, which maybe 10 to 20 percent had one of more of.

My aversion to the 1301 was the location of the shell release. I've seen it tripped accidently and cause major issues. A lady in one of my classes chipped her front tooth when a shell came flying out and hit her in the mouth. There is a mod that can fix that, but I have not shot one with that mod. I can run them fairly fast and I do think they fit well in the window for most people.
 
Sell it and go with the more reliable gas system. It's a real option given people would buy it.
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I just paid $1400 for this M2. M4s are going for $2000+ I am sure they are great but I think I'll stick with my M2 for financial reasons.

I ran 50 heavy game loads through it today. Fired 10 from the hip and a few one handed from the hip. Reliability was 10 for 10 as long as I kept both hands on the gun. Not so great one handed, I had one failure to feed out of 3 shells... but I wasn't expecting much...
 
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Willie Lowman said:
Finally got my M2. Took it out yesterday. It worked flawlessly for the first 25 rounds. I then tried hip firing it and the bolt did not cycle all the way back. It was far enough to eject the fired shell but not to pick up the next one. I had a very tight grip on the gun but it was apparently not enough.

Thing is, I went and saw Tom Knapp shoot years ago. He was using a Benelli shotgun. He was firing it upside-down over his head. There is no way he could have had as solid a grasp on the gun but his cycled 100%

What the heck?
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Tom Knapp's guns were highly modified to stock. It depends on what he was doing with them as to how they were set up. My M2 has a reduced power recoil spring and runs like a sewing machine, but I won't shoot anything Magnum or 3" in it set up this way. It has a little polishing here and there as well.

When you get 1000 rounds through it, then that specific scenario, it will run because the recoil spring will be broken in.
 
I just paid $1400 for this M2. M4s are going for $2000+ I am sure they are great but I think I'll stick with my M2 for financial reasons.
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I'd stick with it for more than financial reasons. The M2 is one of, if not the best tactical auto-loading shotguns on the market. Most of the ones that are competition to the M2 are copies. For a while Breda was the new hotness and dozens of the people I shoot with ran out and bought one...most of those Breda shotguns are in closets and those folks are back to shooting M2s. There are a dozen shotguns that the same thing has happened with. I've got a few (and sold more) that I ran out and bought in the same manner.
 
I have a Benelli M1 field gun and a Berretta 1201FP for home defense. While I have never tried firing Lucas McCain style from the hip, I have not experienced any kind of failure on either. I have never mounted any accessories on them because I always heard they were sensitive to added weight.

Both have been used with birdshot, but the 1201FP stays loaded with 00 Buck.
 
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