I just had a Benelli M4 come into my possession. I've been internet searching for several hours, and I believe the items in looking for have a good reputation. A lot of threads was reading were a few years old and was just wondering if anything has changed or newer items have come out to accomplish what I would like to do. Goals: achieve 922r compliance for increasing capacity, have the ability to attach a 1 and 2 point sling quickly, and add a flashlight for low light use.

It seems Freedom Fighter Tactical is top notch on many of their items. I'm looking at their full length titanium magazine tube, hand guards, and magazine follower. I've read that their hand guards had some quality control issues in the past but that has seemed to resolve.

1 and 2 point sling attachment are possible already with the shotgun, but I'm looking for the ability to quickly attach/detach say a Magpul MS style sling. The factory sling attachments aren't designed for direct attachment and I would preferably not have transitional sling pieces from the factory sling attachment to the Magpul sling as I see in a lot of pictures. I want them replaced.

Lastly, I'm looking for a solid flashlight mount. I initially was debating the GG&G flashlight/sling combo but envisioned a lot of hang up on the sling with it. It was only until recently I stumbled across Ava Tacticals flashlight mount. At $180-$200, I just want to make sure it's the best option out there. I did see some complaints about front sight glare due to its position. My other concern is limited field of view with a side mount versus under mount by that's probably petty since it's so far down the barrel.

Anything else I should be looking at? This will be my fun gun spare no expense within reason type shotgun as funds allow, so I want to do things right.

they say the rail is not mil-spec and beats up Larue mounts, no personal experience with that.  maybe consider upgrading the rail if such is the case.

Post a report how it does with Federal FliteControl ammo, at 25 yards and beyond, would be nice to know as one data point.

I added a titanium magazine tube that took off a half a pound. I use the field stock.

Is this the Walmart ammunition that I've read about that can be temperamental until the gun is broken in?

Congratulations on your purchase. I've been involved with the Benelli M4 since 2004 and have assisted with the design and construction of several aftermarket components. I've unfortunately bought most of the aftermarket components. Currently, this is my recommended upgrades for the weapon. It will ensure 922(r) compliance, make the weapon as light as possible, and retain the tool free disassembly.

Carriercomp:
Full length Titanium Magazine Tube (Takes forever to make, or buy second hand) Also a 922(r) part)
Magazine Follower (922(r) part)
Magazine Spring
Titanium/Steel Bolt Handle (Rare)

Freedom Fighter Tactical
Trigger (922(r) part)
Disconnector (922(r) part
Reproduction Handguards (922(r) part

Geissele
Hammer (922(r) part

Taran Tactical Innovations
Enhanced Shell Elevator

Dave's Metal Work
Oversized Safety with a lightened spring.

GG&G
Oversized Bolt Release

Impact Weapon Systems
MOE QD Sling Mount

BlueForceGear
221 Padded QD Sling

Ava Tactical
Light/Sling Mount

Surefire
Surefire Outdoorsman Body/Tailcap
Surefire 500 lumen head (buy it at IWC)

Scalarworks
RMR Top Rail

Trijicon
Trijicon RMR RM01 or RM06, 3.5moa dot size

Meprolight
Night Sights

Benelli
OEM Collapsible Stock

Limbsaver
More of a custom installation with a Noveske adapter plate, but well worth it.

Another step forward is to make the M4 a H2O+ model by sending it and all accessories to Robar to have it coated in NP3+. I'm doing a client's this week in this process. The only bad thing is it takes 3 months. I prefer to do the tear down and reassembly over letting their general gunsmith do it. That way you can ensure that all the small parts like screws and pins are also coated.

Agree on Robar and NP3.

Just a quick footnote, but Robar does not like customer-based disassemblies, apparently because in that case they cannot guarantee that it will be put together right without any missing parts. So they want to take it apart by themselves.

Someone needs to make a 13" field stock.

Probably wouldn't be super hard to chop a existing stock down an inch or so. There is plenty of room in there. I recall seeing a post somewhere where someone used some Marine grade epoxy to fill the top and bottom edge of the stock so they had somewhere to drill the holes for the buttpad screws. You could probably chop what you wanted off with a miter box pretty easily.

I've heard Robar say that as well. Most of the issues are around people not packing items very well. I sent the parts in hard plastic fishing box type containers inside bags. There is a concern about tolerance stacking, but I have not experienced it with NP3 or NP3+. I have experienced it with other coatings like Nickel Boron. The Nickel Boron added so much diameter to one of my M4's pistons, that I had to chuck them in a lathe and sand them down with extremely fine grit sandpaper to make them fit freely into the barrel assembly.


I did this set last spring for a H20. Picked up what the factory skipped, and had a bunch of accessories coated to match. This gun is in Australia now killing hogs in New Queensland with an invasive species eradication company. Not a single failure has been reported, and the M4 does very well at knocking bad piggies dick's in the dirt. The Trijicon RMR RO06 is quick.

Problem is as you shorten he stock the area of the buttons decreases.

Well I placed on order at FFT for 922r compliant magazine extension. I'm not 100% sold on putting a collapsible stock on or a red dot. Will adding a QD mount on a Scalarworks mount make cowitnessing with iron sights impossible?

If the magazine is an extension, not a full tube, it doesn't count towards 922(r) compliance.

Most picatinny rail mounts would interfere with the sight plain I think. Plus it isn't really an ideal position for the forward QD mount. The Ava Tactical mount will serve you well for a sling mount even if you have no intention of mounting a light.

Sorry, I stand corrected. I purchased a full length magazine tube $259 plus shipping later. I also picked up their follower and hand guard. I'm going to be honest and say that I don't like the quality of the forend. It doesn't appear to line up as there is at least an 1/8" inch gap when lining up the seams. We'll see what happens. I didn't realize a factory collapsible stock would require a fourth US part, so I may wait on doing that.

ETA: what exactly does the enhanced elevator by TTI do? Makes loading easier?

Glad you got the right magazine tube.

The FFT forend is hit or miss. I'm not sure if it is a result of the particular weapon or variations in the molding. I've had pretty good luck with them though. That may be all it is, is luck though. I'd look to see if there is something interfering on the front handguard hanger and see if I could massage the tab to fit it better.

Yep, you'll need a forth part. You'll need to go into the trigger pack for them. I've had excellent luck with about three dozen FFT trigger packs. I have never had one that needed any kind of fitting to make work. I will say I prefer the Geissele hammer after extensive field testing showed that it had the least amount of wear. I've written tutorials over at the Benelli forum to guide users through the trigger pack tear down process.

http://forums.benelliusa.com/showthread.php/32332-Benelli-M4-Complete-Trigger-Group-Assembly-Guide

The TTI shell elevator makes the weapon a little faster to load and less chance of getting the Benelli thumb. It's basically a production version of the old weld up jobs that people did in the past for competition shooting. I've never encountered the upgrade causing a problem that would preclude it from being on a defense shotgun.

Reply removed due to misinformation.

StrangerDanger, I'm in Phoenix. Do you know anyone here that can shorten an M4 field stock for me?

I'm not sure. I don't deal with gunsmiths down there too much. There are some do it yourself threads though. This doesn't look too hard to do:
https://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=6&f=1&t=236766

I'd put in a Limbsaver instead of the OEM buttpad.

I went with a Daves Metal Works tube & follower

http://davesmetalworks.com/m4.html

Has anyone come across a decent rear QD sling mount that is compatible with the factory pistol grip fixed stock? Most of my long guns are set up for QD. I have the AVA Tactical QD sling mount in front and now I'm just not seeing how I can anchor a rear QD sling mount.

Noveske makes a flush mount you can install in the stock.

They also have a plate to replace the stock sling mount...

http://www.noveske.com/products/benelli-qd-sling-plate

Nada-Nada is correct about the Noveske QD plate. I wrote up a how to post over at the Benelli Forum that shows how to replace the rear sling mount. It's kind of a pain in the ass to do.

http://forums.benelliusa.com/showthread.php/33262-Benelli-M4-Rear-Sling-Plate-Removal