I just got a like new Benelli m2 with 21” barrel, +5 Nordic tube, TTI loader gate.

The feed port is barely polished but the tube spring is stiff as hell, to the point where even the first round is tough to jam in.
I’m thinking the spring may be too long but figured I’d ask before trimming off coils .

I’ve used other people’s benell m2/m4s before and quad loading them empty had barely any resistance so I’m thinking there’s something not right with this spring.

With the cap off the end of the tube how far does the free length spring stick out? Should be 12" max.

It’s right at. I checked the tube by fully disassembling the whole gun and found no burrs or knicks. The follower is red aluminum, I’m unsure if stock or something else.  It feels like it’s binding up somewhere, but can’t for the life of me figure it out. I’m going to take it Monday to a pro shop that does a lot of competition firearms and see what they find.

12-14 inches above the top of the extension end-cap should be right.
Springs are cheap, buy several from Brownell's, go to the range, clip a coil. Cap it, load it up, see how it functions. Experiment, longer/ shorter and find the sweet spot for you and your gun.

Compare your spring to those of the other M2 you've shot. its a bit of trial and error.
If you run a too short spring so it feels really easy to load, you risk shell feed issues. I ran into this when I first began tuning my M2.

Obviously too long gets really stiff once you get close to a full tube but shell feed is very reliable.
So maybe work out/practice load with a stiffer spring to ensure reliability.

Thanks , I will. I’m also looking at shaping my comfort tech stock a bit for a better grip. I’ve got half a thumb on my dominate hand which makes traditional grips tough since I can’t get the same purchase as I could before.

In looking at the mechanics,it seems the recoil tube is really the only thing inside the stock that could impede shaping but it’s position shouldn’t be in the way.

Essentially I’ll mold it like a McMillan bolt action rifle grip a bit lower and more 90 degree for the fingers.
I’m going to talk with the Jeremy west since he’s local and builds guns about it and get firsthand confirmation it’s possible. As well as some polymer instruction for cutting the underside of the grip where the fingers wrap and growing it out there.

I’m retired so I got time to monkey with it.

I was looking for a product I’d seen before that was moldable for AR grips. It was only in tan and used for building out a grip for precision shooting. But can’t recall the name or where I saw it at.

If your shell latch is stock, make it look like this.



A stock one...

nordic has a formula on their website