Benelli Super 90

[pajohnohio]

I have a Benelli M1 Super 90 for tactical/home defense. I just took a Tactical Shotgun course at The Tactical Defense Institute located in Southern Ohiowww.tdiohio.com and the gun performed flawlessly. I had a flashlight mounted to the underside of the extended magazine and still had no problems. There were no other M1s, but there were a couple of M2s there. The M2s failed many times, mainly with extraction. The consensus was that due to the inertia system of the Benelli autoloader, added weight such as side saddles and such, prevent the Benelli from operating 100%.

I am not sure this is correct evaluation of the problems with the M2.

However, I like the idea of a side saddle for the extra rounds and wondered if anyone has heard of such a thing affecting the performance of this high quality weapon?

I wrote to the folks at Benelli and two weeks later, I am still waiting for a response.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Chuck R.]

I’ve got a Benelli M1S90 also, it runs with light loads while wearing a buttcuff ammo holder and a light. So about the same weight as with a sidesaddle.

I’ve never tried a sidesaddle, just don’t like the looks/feel of one hanging off my gun. There’s a lot of reports around of Benelli’s not running with light loads with a bunch of accessories strapped on. So there might be something to it.

Another possibility is that they tightened down the sidesaddle bolts enough to pinch the aluminum receiver slightly.

Chuck

 

[hksw]

How the inertia system works is under normal recoil, the impulse pushes the shotgun rearward. The rotating bolt (head) is held in place locked into the barrel extension by spring pressure applied by the bolt carrier (body) and the recoil spring. Upon firing, the entire gun except, more or less, the bolt carrier moves rearward. The bolt carrier, being somewhat stationary for a very short period of time, rotates the bolt to unlock it and then experiences the recoil, after compressing the bolt/bolt carrier spring, and starts to move rearward with the rest of the gun.

In order for the bolt carrier to work properly, the gun must see a specific minimum amount of rearward movement generated by the recoil. If it the gun sees less than this amount, the bolt carrier will not fully compress the spring, not fully rotate the bolt, and/or not move back fast enough to extract and eject the hull.

The speed of the gun moving rearward is dependent on the amount of recoil and the weight of the gun. If the recoil generated by the cartridge is fixed, adding weight to the gun will slow down the rearward speed of the gun. (Conversely, if the gun's weight is fixed, less recoil from less powerful rounds will provide less speed.) Tacking on accoutrements like side saddles, lights, lasers, vertical grips, etc. adds weight to the M1 (and M2 and M3) and will slow down the gun's recoil speed and probably cause malfunctions during extraction/ejection.

 

[Terrierman]

Adding too much weight to the inertia action Benelli will definitely affect reliability. Which is why the M4 is a gas operated gun. The question is what is too much weight and the answer apparently has a little variation in it...

 

[Gixerman1000]

The Inertia Driven system is sensitive to the added weight from accessories mounted to the shotgun, Benelli recommends a load of 1-1/8oz at 3 dram eq or more, light target or tactical loads may or may not function reliably especially if there is added weight to the shotgun and it can also be sensitive to how firm or lose the shotgun is held when being fired, like in shooting off shoulder or with your shoulder/back to a wall.

The M4 uses the ARGO (auto-regulating gas-operated) system, unlike the Inertia Driven system, the ARGO system will pretty much cycle everything other than non-lethal and it will do so no matter how it held or how much extra weight is on the shotgun.

I like my M4 more than any shotgun I have ever shot.

 

[hksw]

The bolt carrier, being somewhat stationary for a very short period of time, rotates the bolt to unlock it and then experiences the recoil,...

I correct myself. The bolt head does not unlock at this time but actually is held firmly in place with the extension.

 

[mete]

Yes , lights and other gadgets can cause malfunctions of the M1 90 !!!

 

[richardschennberg]

I removed my sidesaddle and added an extra shellholder to my belt. It only matters with slightly reduced powder loads, but I also want 100% reliability with typical 12 gauge loads.
Richard
Schennberg.com

 

[BillL223]

I shoot a Benelli in 3-gun and tactical shotgun matches. My usual starting configuration is a full 8 round magazine and one in the chamber. I always have two shells in a carrier at the ejection port. I also have an 8 round side saddle. I rarely load this to capacity as I reload off my belt but add loads to the side saddle for long courses and sometimes when switching from slugs to shot in one stage. The key, in my opinion, is to avoid light loads. I shoot minimum 1-1/8 oz x 3 dram equivalent loads. I have found "Tactical" or low recoil slugs to be not quite 100% and load Lyman 525 gr slugs @ 1250 fps. I run standard 00 9 pellet buckshot when required. I've seen "Tactical" buckshot fail to knock down some steel.

 

[HMMurdock]

I'm curious if ammo selection had anything to do with it? Were you using the same type of ammo? The extra weight may have figured in, but the M2 is supposed to be more tolerant than the M1 (or so I have been told), but if they were using extra light loads in their semi auto they will undoubtedly have extraction problems. An M1 with heavier loads will outperform an M2 with the lightest of loads any day.

Question to anyone with the Benelli M4 --I know they are nice, but are they worth the price tag? I mean, yeesh!

TRL