My new M2

[Shooter115]

Pretty new to 3-gun but it didn't take long for me to realize my Winchester 1300 Defender pump was not going to cut it. After a bunch of research I drank the Benelli kool-aid and picked up a brand new 26" M2 Field with the comfort-teck stock for just under $1K. When I recieved it I took the stock gun out for some break in. Started out with about 75 misc. 3" shells, followed by 100 of my trap re-loads. Everything went without fail except a couple of the old 3" shells looked like a Roman candles when they went off and didn't cycle the gun. I'm guessing they had gotten drenched good out in the duck boat at some time or another. At least the wads cleared the muzzle, but not by much.

It's a solid gun, but definetly had some short-comings. The shell catch was rediculously stiff making any type of loading difficult, the lifter tried to rip my thumbnail off on my first attempt to load weak-hand and the trigger was poor at best. So here's what I've done so far to help it get ready for the upcoming 2012 season. Let me know if there is anything crucial I left out.

1. Did a mild relieving and polishing of the load area (Couldn't bring myself to go super crazy on a brand new $1000 shotgun)

2. Tweaked the shell catch so I could load it without cussing.

3. Cleaned up the trigger a little bit and lightened the pull a touch (could have gone a lot further, but didn't want to sacrifice reliability in any way)

4. Lifter is out to Jeff at C-RUMS to get welded as I speak

5. Installed a Nordic +7 tube and mag clamp

6. Stippled the grip and the forearm

7. Put a Hi-Viz triangle FO sight on

8. Modified the bolt for out of battery loading

I still have 2 things on the to-do list and that's the DMW speed bar and some Briley exteded chokes. I'll probably run the stock bolt handle for now to see how it works for me. I'm also not real worried about ghost loading with the 10 round mag capacity, unless someone informs me I should be. I do have a 10/22 sight I could dovetail in the rib, but I haven't shot a slug out of it yet to to see where POI is. Let me know if there is anything vital I left out to make a good 3-gun rig. I still have a few months to work on it before the snow melts here. Thanks

Edited January 15, 2012 by Shooter115

[Firemanama]

Pretty new to 3-gun but it didn't take long for me to realize my Winchester 1300 Defender pump was not going to cut it. After a bunch of research I drank the Benelli kool-aid and picked up a brand new 26" M2 Field with the comfort-teck stock for just under $1K. When I recieved it I took the stock gun out for some break in. Started out with about 75 misc. 3" shells, followed by 100 of my trap re-loads. Everything went without fail except a couple of the old 3" shells looked like a Roman candles when they went off and didn't cycle the gun. I'm guessing they had gotten drenched good out in the duck boat at some time or another. At least the wads cleared the muzzle, but not by much.

It's a solid gun, but definetly had some short-comings. The shell catch was rediculously stiff making any type of loading difficult, the lifter tried to rip my thumbnail off on my first attempt to load weak-hand and the trigger was poor at best. So here's what I've done so far to help it get ready for the upcoming 2012 season. Let me know if there is anything crucial I left out.

1. Did a mild relieving and polishing of the load area (Couldn't bring myself to go super crazy on a brand new $1000 shotgun)

2. Tweaked the shell catch so I could load it without cussing.

3. Cleaned up the trigger a little bit and lightened the pull a touch (could have gone a lot further, but didn't want to sacrifice reliability in any way)

4. Lifter is out to Jeff at C-RUMS to get welded as I speak

5. Installed a Nordic +7 tube and mag clamp

6. Stippled the grip and the forearm

7. Put a Hi-Viz triangle FO sight on

8. Modified the bolt for out of battery loading

I still have 2 things on the to-do list and that's the DMW speed bar and some Briley exteded chokes. I'll probably run the stock bolt handle for now to see how it works for me. I'm also not

real worried about ghost loading with the 10 round mag capacity, unless someone informs me I should be. I do have a 10/22 sight I could dovetail in the rib, but I haven't shot a slug out of it yet to to see where POI is. Let me know if there is anything vital I left out to make a good 3-gun rig. I still have a few months to work on it before the snow melts here. Thanks

Post some pics

[Shooter115]

I will as soon as I get the lifter back from C-RUMS. It's all tore apart right now.

[Shooter115]

I will as soon as I get the lifter back from C-RUMS. It's all tore apart right now.

Wow...I sent the lifter out on Friday via USPS to Jeff at C-rums to be welded. Already got a click-n-ship notification today that it's on it's way back. I'm guessing he had some done and just exchanged it when mine arrived. Even if that's the case, talk about great service and quick turn around. My thumb nail thanks you sir. I'll post an update with pictures when I get her put back together.

Edited January 18, 2012 by Shooter115

[Shooter115]

Got the lifter back from C-rums today and must say Jeff does great work. Getting the lifter welded, tuning the shell release and a little trigger work has completely transformed this gun. Being fiscally challenged I will admit taking the dremel and a hot soldering iron to a brand new $1000 shotgun was a little un-nerving, but in the end worth it. I now really love what I was concerned I was going to hate when I first shot it. It has to be 10x easier to load now than when I took it out of the box. Hopefully it's above zero tomorrow so I can go run some rounds through it. Anyways here's the new boomstick.

Update.....Well it's like -20 windchill temp today with winds gusting up to 50mph here in the frozen north, but I just went out and ran 75 trouble free rounds through the new stick. Couldn't help myself. Now I just need to thaw out. Pretty sure I'm done with the outside activities for the day

Edited January 21, 2012 by Shooter115

[caz41]

Can you elaborate more on what you did to the trigger

[Shooter115]

Can you elaborate more on what you did to the trigger

Hey Caz. All I really did on it was clean up the hammer/sear engagement surfaces a bit and took a tiny bit off the length of engagement. It was horribly rough out of the box with a big catch in it half-way through the pull. It's still not what I would call "awesome", but it's way better than it was. One could easily take a bunch more material off it to reduce the pre-travel and take some spring out to reduce the pull, but it's good enough for this shotgun, for me at least. There was another post on here somewhere (I think it was here, I could be wrong) with detailed instructions and pic's on how to do a full trigger job. Personally for me, I didn't think it was worth risking any reliability to have a "break like glass" trigger on a 3-gun shotgun. If it was my dedicated trap gun it would be a different story.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Shooter115

[havotec1]

You mentioned you tweaked your shell catch and it helped. Would you mind elaborating on what you did? I am thinking mine is super stiff. Thanks in advance.