This Benelli M3 is smarter than I am, apparently...

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1KPerDay

1KPerDay

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There's the silver "cocking indicator" on the right side of the triggerguard. Manual (online) says the hammer has to be cocked to perform certain functions and the indicator has to be in the down position. My question is this:

there are serrations on the bottom edge of the indicator... I assume it's meant to be pressed upward for some reason. With a loaded magazine, if you press the indicator upward a shell is released from the mag onto the carrier. However, I can't think of a reason why... the gun cycles the same way with a shell thus on the cartridge carrier as it does without... the shell in the chamber is ejected when you cycle the action and the next shell (either previously released and sitting atop the carrier or now released from the mag) is chambered as the bolt closes. What's the purpose for this feature?

I've read the "cartridge replacement" section of the manual and it mentions nothing about pressing the cocking indicator... it just says to press the carrier upward whle opening the bolt so you can eject the shell in the chamber without one being released from the magazine. You're supposedly now able to drop a different shell into the receiver... however the carrier is now in the way. If you try to press the carrier down, the bolt closes on your thumb. This doesn't feel good. :rolleyes:
 
You're not alone as I have no idea what it's for either.

I have an M2 also and don't like leaving it chambered due to my toddler son getting into everything. I instead prefer to leave the mag loaded then tap the whatsitcalled button so that a cartridge is sitting on the lifter. Cycle the bolt and it's loaded and ready for action. Once he has the muscles to retract the bolt on his own, I'll come up with another method.

Anxiously awaiting a correct answer on this topic.... ;)

Ed

BTW, I think Benellis manual is about the worst I've ever seen.
 
After typing out my response, I had to go get my M2 and mess with it. :D

The whatsitcalled button appears to be a bolt hold open when empty and a magazine release when loaded.

Ed
 
The whatsitcalled button appears to be a bolt hold open when empty and a magazine release when loaded.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... let me check.

Nope... on the M3 the bolt won't lock back unless the magazine is empty. And if the magazine is empty, it locks back every time you either pull the charging handle fully to the rear, or use the pump feature to retract the bolt (unless you hold down the bolt release button on the right side of the receiver).

I wonder if they simply included this on the M3 even though the design made it reduntant or something. Like it holds in another part or whatever.

I suppose as a cocking indicator it has some value... I'm just curious if it has any other purpose, or if there's any reason for it to release a shell from the mag with the action closed and the carrier down (which, as I said, happens anyway when you retract the bolt to chamber or eject a cartridge, and with the carrier UP for unloading without chambering, the cocking indicator does not release a cartridge from the mag... you have to do it manually). I don't get it. :confused:
 
I read that the weird control layout on the Benelli was due to Italian game law which is written to make life with non-traditional automatic shotguns harder.
 
I don't have a good answer for ya 1k.

What I can confirm is that when the bolt closes on your finger it does indeed hurt. ;)

Ed
 
I think I have the same thing on my Beretta AL391, and when you press that button after cycling a shell into the chamber, the next shell is ejected from the magazine and is staged underneath the bolt. This step would normally be performed as part of the action, but I was told by a Beretta Rep many moons ago, that pre-staging the second round takes 1 step out of the loading cycle and makes for a -slightly- faster follow-up shot.

Other than that, I can't vouch for its utility. When shooting skeet, I'll use it, but I couldn't swear to its effectiveness. I can't send aimed shots at a clay that fast anyway.
 
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Took out an M3 (early '90s) and pulled up the exploded view of the action after reading the initial post to examine and research. Haven't figured it out yet.
 
Czar, that's interesting. I'll have to try it out.

I did notice that when trying to go as fast as I could I was able to beat the action with my trigger finger... I have to sort of wait for it to cycle before pulling the trigger again (in semi-auto mode, of course). This is not shooting targets; just a back-to-back test with my 590 to see how quickly I could empty the mag. I was able to cycle my Mossy just about as fast as the semi-auto on the M3... mostly because the M3's recoil feels quite a bit more stout.
 
I don't know either.

But I know I sold my M1 Turkey gun because of that stupid button. Loading in the pre-dawn darkness, and then snapping on an empty chamber when the biggest Gobbler I ever saw came into the decoys!

Sold the Benelli and went back to my old A-5 Browning.

Even I am smart enough to operate the A-5 magazine cut-off in the dark!

rcmodel
 
I think the point is though, that Ive had the M2 for well over 10,000 rounds and I've never needed to know what the silly button was for :)
 
i think the serrations on the indicater are a holdover from the m1.on the m1 you have to push and hold down the button to manually unload the gun.this is unneccesary on the m3.to change a chambered round on the m3,hold down the bolt release and eject the round iirc
 
The manual says to change a chambered round you have to hold the carrier upward while ejecting the chambered cartridge.

But then the carrier locks in the upward position and prevents you from dropping another into the chamber. :rolleyes:
 
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