[DeepSouth]

Man, does it suck. I had my first encounter with them today. My brother was on his speaker phone and I was just listening in. By the time the phone conversation was over the guy had basically completely talked me out of ever buying one. He in a round about way said our products are flawless so any problem you have is either yours or the ammunition.

The problem was/is that the firing pin isn't always hitting the primer hard enough to fire the round. We have noticed that even when it does fire you can look at the primer and it is so slightly dented I am amazed that anything fired. The problem is fairly sporadic, it has only failed to fire 8-10 times in roughly 300 rounds, and I'll admit that isn't a huge problem....yet, but if you could see the primers you would be amazed they fired at all. He (the CS guy) flat out said he shoots skeet almost every weekend and 10 failures in 200 rounds is about normal. Me, I have never had a factory shotgun shell fail to fire, matter of fact the only things I have ever had fail to fire were some .22 bullets when I carried a NAA mini-revolver in my pocket, I believe they got wet.

According to the the CS rep. this is perfectly fine "A pretty good record" in his words, he said maybe if it is failing to fire 8-10 shots per box they would see a problem. "What will happen is you will send us the gun, our guys will shoot it 6-8 times, it will probably fire every time and they will look at me like what is wrong? Then we will send it back to you the same way we got it and you'll be out of your gun for 8 or more weeks."

He finally asked my brother "Well, what do you want me to do? How can I make you happy?" Now my brother, he ain't no gun smith, That question was like going to neurologist and getting asked "What you want me to do about it, After all I don't want you to die!"
Then the conversation went like "Well, could it be a week spring?"......."Well, that is really unlikely we use high quality springs that hardly ever weaken."..........."Maybe the firing pin is worn?" ........."No, that wouldn't do it, we use extremely hard metals for our firing springs. I've never seen one fail."........."A hammer in the trigger mechanism?"........"Well,....." you get the drift.

So I am a bit ticked off, and it ain't even my gun, just hate seeing my brother get the runaround from a supposedly high quality manufacturer.

Now that I'm off my rant I'll ask, Am I overreacting? Do you expect 10 failures per 200 rounds? What have your dealings with their CS been? Is 8-10 failures for 300 rounds "A pretty good record" for your Shotguns?

[quatin]

I've not shot more than 300 shotgun shells so I can't say, but if my rifle had ftf once every 30 rounds I'd be pissed. I think I've had 1 ftf in a centerfire cartridge in 400 rounds.

[Virginian]

Unpossible.
After the way most 'B' gun proponents go on about their guns, I am fighting to remember what my Momma taught me. "If you can't say something nice...." I will respect her memory.

[wyocarp]

I expect my guns to fire. I don't think it's being unreasonable. And instead of being nice for the sake of being nice, I'd rather you be honest.

[Snarlingiron]

Now that I'm off my rant I'll ask, Am I overreacting? Do you expect 10 failures per 200 rounds?

I have a Beretta A390 through which I have put thousands of rounds without a single failure of any kind. Beretta owns Benelli and their customer service is at least as bad or worse.

Point is 10 failures per 200 rounds is totally unacceptable. No one I know would put up with it. The guy you talked to is not only a jerk, he is lying. No one that shoots skeet regularly would accept that kind of performance. If this is the norm for Benelli (and I know it is not) believe me they would not have the popularity they enjoy.

It sucks to have to pay for service on a gun that is in warranty, but I'm thinking I would at the very least get a gunsmith to look at it.

Benellis and Berettas are both fine shotguns, and fortunately their quality is high enough that the owners seldom need their pathetic customer service.

[41magsnub]

No gun should have that rate of failure. I have yet to have a shotgun fail to fire in 20 years of shooting them and I'm working off stocks of older inherited ammo for the most part. That is what, a 5% failure? Would you want a gun that 5% of the time does not go bang in a home defense situation?

[Bob R]

If I had that rate of failure when I was shooting skeet every day, I would have not been happy.

That type of failure rate is unacceptable. Call back and talk to someone else, or go higher up the chain.

bob

[ReloaderFred]

It's totally unacceptable. I've talked to the Beretta reps at the SHOT Show and to put it mildly, they're jerks. The condescending attitude they display is just the opposite of most of the other companies. And these weren't the reps from across the Atlantic. They were from here.

Your brother needs to write a letter to the company, spelling out what you just described. A real letter, on paper, not an e-mail. If they won't take care of it, there are product liability lawyers who would be more than happy to write a letter for you.

I would hate to think that all the years I carried a shotgun in a patrol car, and depended on it with my life, that I could have expected a 5% failure to fire rate. No, that's not acceptable at all, and the guy was feeding you a line.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[DeepSouth]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks this is insane. I am still amazed at the patience my brother showed, he isn't normally a very patient person. I wanted to take the phone from and yell "FULL REFUND" when he asked "what can I do make you happy?"

[Grumulkin]

The problem is fairly sporadic, it has only failed to fire 8-10 times in roughly 300 rounds, and I'll admit that isn't a huge problem.

I would call that a huge problem. Neither I nor multiple guys I've ever hunted with or shot with have ever had a shotgun shell fail to fire at least while I was with them.

If I had been talking to that factory rep, I would have set him on his ear by phone. What an idiot.

I guess I'll stick with my Mossberg 500.

[627PCFan]

You didnt mention what model your having problems with. Ill assume that you are having trouble with a semi-auto. SBE's, can when new have an issue where the bolt wont completely lock up to the barrel and the hammer will fall when the trigger is pulled. Its known as the benelli click. I ran mine with no oil for the first 500 rounds, and then oil ever since. After 7k rounds, including cycling 1oz loads the only fail to fires I get are reload screwups of my own.

As far as customer service, cant speak. I havent had a glitch on any benellis I own.

[The Deer Hunter]

said he shoots skeet almost every weekend and 10 failures in 200 rounds is about normal.

Well then obviously he's doing something wrong, or his gun's broken.

I have a Benelli M1 Super 90 and it works basically flawlessly. I know what you're talking about though. My club ordered a lot of Estate cartridges and sold them to the members, and maybe 3 out of every 200 would ftf, but only with that brand, and that's with more than just Benellis. With premium ammunition like Remington STS, Winchest AA's, it's 100% reliable.



You didnt mention what model your having problems with. Ill assume that you are having trouble with a semi-auto. SBE's, can when new have an issue where the bolt wont completely lock up to the barrel and the hammer will fall when the trigger is pulled. Its known as the benelli click. I ran mine with no oil for the first 500 rounds, and then oil ever since. After 7k rounds, including cycling 1oz loads the only fail to fires I get are reload screwups of my own.

Yeah, sometimes the rotating bolt head isn't pushed forward with enough force to lock it, but that shouldn't happen if you're letting the bolt travel the entire distance. I can see how it would happen to a new gun rather than an old gun.

So I would do a couple thing:

Have your brother take it completely apart. Don't just take the barrel, bolt, and trigger assembly out and wipe it down, take the bolt apart and scrub the thing and the oil it.

Get a couple different boxes of different premium ammo, and shoot like a half a cases worth at the range. That should iron out any "new" wrinkles.

If you're still having problems get a new firing pin spring and maybe even a new firing pin. If neither or those work, call Benelli and tell them that you're gun isn't functioning properly. Benelli firearms are made with great quality, and generally function just as well.

Don't listen to some jerk that's getting paid like $6/hour at call centerm, because they don't care about you. Make sure you speak with a product specialist or a gunsmith or something. If you keep getting the run around, be firm and make your way up the call center ladder. Eventually you'll get to someone who can help you.

I would hate to think that all the years I carried a shotgun in a patrol car, and depended on it with my life, that I could have expected a 5% failure to fire rate. No, that's not acceptable at all, and the guy was feeding you a line.


Just to put emphasis on that you should not accept any kind of fail to fire rate of any kind. Any firearm, especially a $1200 shotgun, should fire 100% as long as it's clean and in good shape, using proper ammunition. Don't accept mediocracy, don't settle on "almost".

[TimM]

I am 43 this year and I have been shooting a shotgun (grouse, quail, rabbit, squirrel, skeet, trap and tactical) since I was 6 years old. I honestly don't think that I have had 20 FTFs in my life time.

[Howaido]

If it is a defense gun, I would sell it. I bought a benelli for a defense gun about ten years ago and sold it due to reliability issues. 870 now.

[DeepSouth]

I guess I should have stated the model, I was probably to busy beating on the soap box to think about the normal details. It is a Nova, and I'll say what I meant by sporadic was that this happened a few times together, then it shot a couple hundred trouble free rounds and decided to do it again right after a good cleaning. :confused: And I believe it has run a good many rounds since then with no problem.

[The Deer Hunter]

Maybe the bearing surfaces just needed some polishing ;)

I would still shoot a couple cases out of it to be sure. If it functions fine, but you're still worried about it's reliability sell it. Peace of mind is a virtue that is often overlooked.

[Gunnerpalace]

Am I overreacting?

As someone who has dealt with Dell and Meijer CS, you are fine,

Try again and if that does not work go the the Benelli forum and tell your story.

[DeepSouth]

Got board this evening and dug through my dog food bag I put spent shells in after a skeet shoot and I found one of the Nova shells to put beside a shell from my Beretta Xtrema. Couldn't help but end my ongoing rant without showing you guys a Pic. can you guess which is mine? And remember this is "Normal." I say,, BULL!

[Leaky Waders]

Yeah somethings definately not right about that gun based upon your story...I'm not a gunsmith so I can't intepret the pictures. (But, it looks like there's an obvious disparity in firing pin length/size/travel) Like some of the other posters above...I've been shooting shotguns routinely for > 28years now (damn I'm getting old) and have only seen one gun fail to fire one time.

I dont even recall the brand - it was a pump - that had been dipped in water by accident on an 8 degree duck hunting day. Everything was icy and frozen inside the gun. So that wasn't even the gun's fault, it was the handlers fault imho.

Dave's sticky gives a hedge % or 0.5 for a HD shotgun after shooting 200 shells.

I'd call them back and talk to them again, and try to be polite but speak to someone above them (ie manager or something) if they won't help you.

Also, if you purchased it via credit card their may be some kind of buyer protection inherint to the purchase.

Also...the gun dealer may be able to help you out.

Lastly, you may want to take the firing pin and bolt completely apart if you haven't already done so and make sure that there isn't some kind of sprue or something hanging things up.

[AKElroy]

I do not doubt your post, and the failures you are experiencing are not acceptable. There is clearly a first time for everthing, but in my experience with my Montefeltro 20, I can see why they are incredulous. This gun is flawless, even with 1500-2000 rounds between cleanings with nothing more than a boresnake through the tube. I doubt they have seen much of what you are experiencing. I have probably 15,000 rounds through this gun, and I have NEVER had a FTFire, FTFeed, FTEject. All factory loaded ammo, though---

[Markinthemills]

Hey guys, I'm DeepSouths brother, I just sighned up with The High Road today, and yes this is my gun he's talking about. Where my brother is right, I am no gunsmith but we have both been exposed to all sorts of firearms since we were children, we both know what normal is and we know what to expect from a given firearm. A thorough disassembly and cleaning of a shotgun is something we are very familiar with, and yes, we can put it back together too. So yes I was somewhat offended when the Benelli rep treated me like an idiot who only knew which end to point and what lever to pull to make it go boom. he did finally agree to send me the hammer spring and the firing pin spring. I can replace these myself and hope this will solve the problem, I still would have like to have been sent the hammer and firing pin as well (worried about wear on the striking surfaces there) but the rep assured me that those parts do not wear, imagine that, so if I do indeed have a problem it has to be the springs. I hope he's right.

[sohcgt2]

It sounds like the gun is new, If so I'd be inclined to return to the seller with both spent shells and have them either replace the gun or send it back for you. The gun clearly does not function as designed.

[Markinthemills]

No, I have to admit, I did buy it from a pawn shop. my thinking was that Benelli was such a reputable company that even if I did have some issues with it they would be glad to assist me any way they could. even if for no other reason than to protect thier reputation. This is almost certianly why the gun was pawned in the first place. They are agreeing to send some parts, they just want me to think that I'm a dumb a_ _ and there is nothing wrong with thier product. guess I'll just have to keep locking horns with them until this issue is resolved.

[shotgunjoel]

Howaido, I'd feel guilty selling somebody a defensive firearm that was unreliable. Do you really want them to wake up in the middle of the night with somebody crawling through their window, and the the you sold them goes 'click' and they get hurt/killed? Yeah, I think that I'd pass on that.

[sohcgt2]

I've had the missfortune of dealing with them and they do have a cockeyness. Which makes no sense because who calls customer service when they don't have a problem?

[Howaido]

Howaido, I'd feel guilty selling somebody a defensive firearm that was unreliable. Do you really want them to wake up in the middle of the night with somebody crawling through their window, and the the you sold them goes 'click' and they get hurt/killed? Yeah, I think that I'd pass on that.

I wouldn't keep it for SD purposes, even if it was supposedly "fixed."

[cal74]

I've talked to the Beretta reps at the SHOT Show and to put it mildly, they're jerks. The condescending attitude they display is just the opposite of most of the other companies.

Friend of mines Son bought a Black Eagle a few years ago, the barrel was bent and they tried to exchange it, etc. (Not sure about all the details anymore). Anyways, whatever Rep deals with South Dakota was a complete ass and lied about various things.

My friend who handles the billings and claims for a large trucking company (sues all the time for collection purposes) ended up sueing Benelli and won. Wasn't a high dollar case, but they got their money back for the gun and their expenses covered.

He was pretty proud of that and will never buy anything associated with them again and he buys and sells A LOT of fire arms.

[earlthegoat2]

As good as the Beretta and Benelli products are it is true they have no customer service to back it up. You would expect more out of your 1500 dollar Benelli. Many fine shotgun companies will gladly take your gun back for them to repair it. Some of them even offer a once a year cleaning and maintenance service free to the original purchaser for the life of the purchaser. The Beretta conglomerate is in serious trouble I am afraid. Luckily they make a good enough product that there will be minimal problems.

[willymike]

I own Beretta, Benelli, Stoeger, Remington, and Winchester shotguns. I've had to contact Beretta/Stoeger/Benelli (Beretta Holdings -- same company anyway), and Remington for customer service issues. Dealing with Beretta Holdings has always been a real pain. Just try and get simple spare parts like bolt charging handles, which are ususally out of stock. Turn around time is SLOW! Don't expect return calls even if they say the will do so. Frankly, their service is just outright poor.

It's a shame that Beretta/Benelli/Stoeger turns out products of excellent design, construction, and reputation yet when problems arise their attention to customer service is very lacking. The motto may be, "Performance worth the price", but their customer service is NOT.

Remington does have a good customer service department. I've never been treated with arrogance, turn around time has been prompt, and communications very good. I've never been unhappy with customer service from Remington.

I do not own any Ruger shotguns (only pistols), but Ruger is another company that has exemplary customer service.