Carrier latch on Benelli

drmitchgibson · Apr 11, 2011

I got a Benelli SBE to use for 3Gun, and loading shells is so tough it can only be described as stupid. So use this link to make yours worthwhile. I know I will.

http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/87374-benelli-m2-tweaks/

Much easier than dealing with bulk metal removal, too, and dramatically less risky for those of you who aren't metal workers. Cheers.

jtischauser · Apr 11, 2011

Cool thread! I am about to embark upon a pictorial of opening up the loading port. I will hopefully post pics by this weekend.

mike cyrwus · Apr 12, 2011

How bout I start a thread detailing all the things I do to benellis and provide step by step detailed photos?

brandt9913 · Apr 12, 2011

mike cyrwus said:
How bout I start a thread detailing all the things I do to benellis and provide step by step detailed photos?

No one wants to see your collection of fleshlight pics. Make sure your upload the correct photos.

steak · Apr 12, 2011

mike cyrwus said:
How bout I start a thread detailing all the things I do to benellis and provide step by step detailed photos?

That would be cool! Wait, are you being sarcastic?

ocphy · Apr 12, 2011

mike cyrwus said:
How bout I start a thread detailing all the things I do to benellis and provide step by step detailed photos?

:mellow:

Wall · Apr 12, 2011

mike cyrwus said:
How bout I start a thread detailing all the things I do to benellis and provide step by step detailed photos?

Honestly Mike, I see these threads as boost in business for you. Where do you think everyone who tries these "EASY" mods are going to take their guns to repair the damage they create? Granted you may lose a little business to some of the people who are mechanically inclined enough to pull it off. But I think you'll see alot more of the ones who are going to try it & screw it up. These will most likely be the folks who wouldn't normally pay to have it done, but since they saw how to do it themselves at home, they'll give it a shot.

mike cyrwus · Apr 12, 2011

STEAK said:
That would be cool! Wait, are you being sarcastic?

haha!
Yeah, just a little!

jtischauser · Apr 12, 2011

mike cyrwus said:
haha!
Yeah, just a little!

I thought you did your loading port openings on the mill? That makes a much cleaner more professional job as compared to my scratched and uneven file/dremmel job.

mike cyrwus · Apr 12, 2011

It was a sarcastic joke people! unwad your panties cause mine never were!

and Mitch has a SBE which needs to keep sheels from slamming out of the mag tube under 3.5" mag loads.
That said, Mitch's got girly thumbs, cause it wasnt that bad to load.

jtischauser · Apr 12, 2011

Why is Mitch shooting 3.5" mag loads? My Benny Hill tuned lifter up and decided to dump all it's shells randomly once. KurtM retuned it and it's good to go. I'd let a professional play with that shell catch. It's tough shooting an all shotgun stage when you have to load one shoot one for 35 rounds cause your ammo won't stay in the tube.

Wall · Apr 12, 2011

Jesse Tischauser said:
cause your ammo won't stay in the tube.

There's a shot for that

Spiff · Apr 12, 2011

mike cyrwus said:
It was a sarcastic joke people! unwad your panties cause mine never were!

and Mitch has a SBE which needs to keep sheels from slamming out of the mag tube under 3.5" mag loads.
That said, Mitch's got girly thumbs, cause it wasnt that bad to load.

Yeaaah, I've only been loading my unmodded one for a year now.

Makes me wonder what it'd be like if it was opened up and the shell catch modded.

drmitchgibson · Apr 14, 2011

A little reshaping of the latch isn't a biggie. I do this stuff all the time, but when I'm doing it I'm usually getting paid to do it to life support equipment. I was concerned about bending it due to the hardness of the steel, but I think it will be fine, and that maybe some reshaping is in order. I definitely should have gotten a lathe when I was single and without children. You can make a saddle attachment akin to a mill bed and mill things with it, if you know WTF you're doing.

I've got to work on a research paper until tomorrow night, at which time the work will begin. I'll post an update when things are smooth.

drmitchgibson · Apr 16, 2011

I reshaped the lower corner of the shell stop portion of the carrier latch, and polished it with some 1200 grit silicon carbide electro-deposited sandpaper. I also rounded over the end a bit, to provide for free insertion of the cartridges, but went a little far on the rounding-over/bending the latch end work, as when I launched the lower back to simulate recoil, the cartridges blew into the carrier. So, I filed a small flat (maybe .150")on the side of the shell stop portion that the shells sit against, but did not run it into the rounded and polished tip. Which worked extremely well, and the gun loads like a hot ***** on Saturday night. The only negative was while I was reproducing recoil, I decided to hammer the buttstock into the workbench a bit, to better simulate having it shouldered, and while doing so, I grabbed the open end of the mag tube (to keep the shells from flying out), which cut a fine slice into my palm when the butt crashed into the bench face.

It also seems like the mag spring could be weaker, but I haven't seriously practiced loading shells at all, so I'll wait on that one.

Now, to go shoot this thing, and maybe get a choke and wrench.

jtischauser · Apr 16, 2011

Cut the mag spring down to 14".

drmitchgibson · Apr 16, 2011

Jesse Tischauser said:
Cut the mag spring down to 14".

Are you serious? Man, that seems short. 14" overall?

That aside, I just shot the SBE at H&H, and it was perfect. I am as impressed as I can possibly be with Benelli's design. Whoever designed should have gotten a serious award.

And the flat rake I filed on the shell stop isn't .150", it's more like .080".

jtischauser · Apr 17, 2011

Dr Mitch said:
Are you serious? Man, that seems short. 14" overall?

That aside, I just shot the SBE at H&H, and it was perfect. I am as impressed as I can possibly be with Benelli's design. Whoever designed should have gotten a serious award.

And the flat rake I filed on the shell stop isn't .150", it's more like .080".

Sorry I should have been more clear. 14" sticking out past the end of tube. I usually take the end cap off and lay the tape measure up on there and snipe at 14". I have gone A's short A's 10" but that last shell kinda just limps out of the tube at that length.

drmitchgibson · Apr 18, 2011

I forgot to mention that I had to re-orient the extended carrier release. It was bolted on backwards. This gun ran like a champion through it's test firings and in the 3Gun competition at OKCGC. On a segue, the OKCGC is WAY nicer than I imagined. I will be applying for membership in the coming year, AND the succeeding years.