johnson184 Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Going to start hunting down a Benelli M2, but I was wondering what barrel length you guys recommend. Probably going to send it to Taran as soon as funds allow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 24" or shorter. As the barrel gets longer, slug accuracy decreases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 ??? I haven't seen that to be the case. At least in the Benelli line. You might have to tune for POI/POA but many a 28" gun will easily do head shots at 50 yards. This isn't a broad brush statement, it is a wide roller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 ??? I haven't seen that to be the case. At least in the Benelli line. You might have to tune for POI/POA but many a 28" gun will easily do head shots at 50 yards. This isn't a broad brush statement, it is a wide roller. Without a doubt Kurt. Same M2 receiver, same ammo, in a rest, just a barrel swap. 18", 21", 24", 26" and 28". The longer the barrel, the more open the group with a pretty significant change between 24 and 26" especially with low recoil loads. With 1 ounce slugs at 1500+, the difference is small. With 1150 fps 1 ounce slugs at 50 yards, the groups with 26" are almost twice that of the 21" barrel. With the Stoegers, less pronounced, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Well, I would recommend you retry your experiment NOT IN A REST. The internal ballistics do change over the course of barrel length, but I would tell you right now your seeing the outside influence of the rest, NOT the barrel! You can brace it over sandbags, but you still need to hold it like you normally would, I.E. hand on fore end, shouldered the same as you would shooting off hand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 I confirmed the test results standing on my two legs with a normal hold. POI changed, but group size, while a tad larger, was statistically unchanged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 And is this a test sample size of 1? Of the 7 open Benelli I have built around the 28" ported and non ported barrels all would easily hold a 4" group at 50, 2 of them exhibited one large hole group in the 2" range. Your 8th may be the statistical anomaly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Sure Kurt, I probably don't know how to set-up and run a scientifically valid test. I'll just go back to doing testing for people who pay me lots of money to do tests and stop helping shooters with tests I know to be accurate, which I do on my own dime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Well played sir, well played. I'll just go back to playing with rocks, and rocket fuel. I do think however that you have caused a market drop in longer barrel prices, which can only help those that find them more useful than thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striped1 Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 While these two, who know a metric shit ton more about benelli's and shooting than I do flick each other, I would decide what tube length you want to run and let that at least inform your decision. I went with a 24" barrel and a 10 round RCI tube and after my first match put a +2 extension on it so I can drop a quadload (if you have seen me load, it is as likely dropped on the ground as in the gun. So know the tube sticks out about 8" beyond the end of the barrel. Other than a small weight savings I could have just gone with the 26 or 28". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phong Nguyen Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Who has Benelli M2 24" Fields in stock as I haven't seen them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amccallister Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Bud's Gun Shop shows them in stock. Use the "make offer" option for a better deal, I bought mine from there for about $1125-$1150 if I recall correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phong Nguyen Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Awesome, thank you! My Beretta 1301 has been really good to me so thinking about picking up an M2 to have it all TTI'ed out, just to have another good shotgun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amccallister Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Awesome, thank you! My Beretta 1301 has been really good to me so thinking about picking up an M2 to have it all TTI'ed out, just to have another good shotgun. Good plan, I have an M1 and an M2 worked over by TTI. They are both great shooters, and look pretty awesome to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarpau Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) I personally prefer the 26" barrel. Just like the swing and balance better than the shorter barrels I've tried (tried them all) both of my M2s have had no issues with slug accuracy or group sizes. Edited August 24, 2015 by sarpau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnson184 Posted August 24, 2015 Author Share Posted August 24, 2015 Well darn, I was all set to get a 28" with a 3 + 9 extension, but now I'm not sure. I gave Taran Tactical a call today, and they recommended I send them a 24" M2 with a maximum of 10 shotshell capacity being needed. I forgot to ask them why that barrel length though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnson184 Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 Any chance someone has pictures of their M2 with magazine tube extensions? Trying to gauge how much longer a 10 shot or 12 shot magazine tube is compared to a 24", 26", or 28" barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleaay78 Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Any chance someone has pictures of their M2 with magazine tube extensions? Trying to gauge how much longer a 10 shot or 12 shot magazine tube is compared to a 24", 26", or 28" barrel. A Nordic +6 tube (9 total) is even with the end of the barrel on a 24" M2. The +7 tube (10 total) is even with the end of a 26" M2 barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnson184 Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 Any chance someone has pictures of their M2 with magazine tube extensions? Trying to gauge how much longer a 10 shot or 12 shot magazine tube is compared to a 24", 26", or 28" barrel. A Nordic +6 tube (9 total) is even with the end of the barrel on a 24" M2. The +7 tube (10 total) is even with the end of a 26" M2 barrel. Awesome, really appreciate that info. Just curious... what length tube is everyone running for 3 gun in your area? Seeing quite a bunch of 12 shell tubes lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleaay78 Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Any chance someone has pictures of their M2 with magazine tube extensions? Trying to gauge how much longer a 10 shot or 12 shot magazine tube is compared to a 24", 26", or 28" barrel. A Nordic +6 tube (9 total) is even with the end of the barrel on a 24" M2. The +7 tube (10 total) is even with the end of a 26" M2 barrel. Awesome, really appreciate that info. Just curious... what length tube is everyone running for 3 gun in your area? Seeing quite a bunch of 12 shell tubes lately. I run a 14 round tube in 3-gun. I'll be using a 12 at the World Shotgun Shoot in Italy next month because of tighter walls and ports. 12 is the norm here, I'm in central Texas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnson184 Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 Any chance someone has pictures of their M2 with magazine tube extensions? Trying to gauge how much longer a 10 shot or 12 shot magazine tube is compared to a 24", 26", or 28" barrel. A Nordic +6 tube (9 total) is even with the end of the barrel on a 24" M2. The +7 tube (10 total) is even with the end of a 26" M2 barrel. Awesome, really appreciate that info. Just curious... what length tube is everyone running for 3 gun in your area? Seeing quite a bunch of 12 shell tubes lately. I run a 14 round tube in 3-gun. I'll be using a 12 at the World Shotgun Shoot in Italy next month because of tighter walls and ports. 12 is the norm here, I'm in central Texas. Thanks for the info! What barrel length are you running? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunCat Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Any chance someone has pictures of their M2 with magazine tube extensions? Trying to gauge how much longer a 10 shot or 12 shot magazine tube is compared to a 24", 26", or 28" barrel. Of course the mag tube length does not have to match the barre length, but to give you a visual here's this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleaay78 Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 Any chance someone has pictures of their M2 with magazine tube extensions? Trying to gauge how much longer a 10 shot or 12 shot magazine tube is compared to a 24", 26", or 28" barrel.A Nordic +6 tube (9 total) is even with the end of the barrel on a 24" M2. The +7 tube (10 total) is even with the end of a 26" M2 barrel. Awesome, really appreciate that info. Just curious... what length tube is everyone running for 3 gun in your area? Seeing quite a bunch of 12 shell tubes lately. I run a 14 round tube in 3-gun. I'll be using a 12 at the World Shotgun Shoot in Italy next month because of tighter walls and ports. 12 is the norm here, I'm in central Texas. Thanks for the info! What barrel length are you running? 26" on my main gun, my backup has 21" barrel and 12 round tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A5H556 Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Any chance someone has pictures of their M2 with magazine tube extensions? Trying to gauge how much longer a 10 shot or 12 shot magazine tube is compared to a 24", 26", or 28" barrel. Here's my 28" M1 with a Nordic +9 (12 rounds): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkim Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 24" or shorter. As the barrel gets longer, slug accuracy decreases. You guys both know a hell of a lot more about shooting than I do, but I live in a shotgun restricted deer hunting state. I have been shooting slugs through my guns chasing accuracy for the better part of 30 years. I shoot a rifled barrel setup with a 6x scope and can get an 8" at 200 yards. 2" at fifty is disappointing. What I learned is that the slugs walk predictably as the barrel heats up and distorts. I allow as much time as possible between slug shots so that the barrel cools. I have been able to heat it up and track them and even track them back to closer to the cold shot, allowing several minutes between to cool down. It's annoying as hell. Anyhow, point is that it's the coefficient of thermal expansion causing uneven heating of the steel and moving the POI. Its still applicable to your vent rib barrels. The longer the barrel, the more the uneven thermal expansion will move your poi. If it distorts by a % of the length, which barrel will have a greater linear distortion and therefore a greater radial distortion from cold zero? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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