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Posted: 9/9/2011 2:29:46 PM EDT
I shipped my Benelli M2 to Jeff Cockrum at C-RUMS LLC last week and he received it on Saturday, 9/3/2011. I wanted the lifter welded up and an extended bolt release installed. Jeff told me that he was attending the upcoming Ozarks competition and that there was a chance that he would not be able to get it back to me until after that was over, so possibly 3 weeks or so. Instead, my M2 shipped back out from his shop on Tuesday, 9/6/2011 (the day after Labor Day) and I received it from FedEx this afternoon. The turnaround time from C-RUMS was absolutely amazing. I don't know how I could have asked for any better service than I received from Jeff and his company. 
Big old  to Jeff at C-RUMS!
Here is a little before and after. The before pic was not intended to show the lifter specifically, but most of you know what a stock Benelli lifter looks like. Before: 
Uploaded with ImageShack.us After: 
Uploaded with ImageShack.us |
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very nice.
I just updated my m2 with an urbino stock and c-rums work has been on my list for some time. I want the lifter welded up, I have an arredondo bolt release to install, and I'd like the bolt modified to ghost load. I've seen a few reports that the welded up lifters can be a bit too heavy for the spring that moves it and cause feed issues. Does Jeff do anything to mitigate that potential problem? Let us know how it runs! |
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Jeff "tunes" it while it's there. I'm not sure what all that entails (if anything, really), but he does test shoot the thing before he sends it back to make sure that it runs. That's why he prefers that you send him the complete gun rather than just the receiver.
I've loaded it a few times now to enjoy the lack of thumb pinching and it hand-cycles rounds just fine. I can't wait to go shoot it and see for sure. I should have the opportunity next Friday, and if I get to shoot then, I'll post back with the results. 
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| I'd like to give a +1 to Jeff at C-RUMS. Initial contact and pricing information was returned less than 24 hours from my first e-mail. I only sent my lifter and bolt to him. The lifter was to be welded up and the bolt was to have the ghost load mod and something else which escapes me at the moment. Both were returned promptly and functioned flawlessly. I'd recommend C-RUMS without hesitation. |
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Did he lighten the bolt? Can't tell from the photo. No he did not. My original intention with this shotgun was not to modify it at all except for possibly a magazine extension. I'm not 3-gunning with this thing (yet  ), and it's mainly intended for sporting clays, so I wanted to leave it basically stock. However, all it took was one outing with it for me to realize that the lifter had to be welded up. It amazes me that Benelli has not addressed this. It seems to be such a common complaint, and based on my experience with the stock lifter, I think it's a design flaw––it really shouldn't pinch the shit out of your thumb like that. But, we have guys like Jeff to correct that for those of us who love the weapon system otherwise. I really liked the idea of the extended bolt release, and since I was shipping it off anyway, I went ahead and had that done, as well.
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forgive my lack of semi auto shotgun ownership(yet!) but it appears that welding the lifter entails adding additional material to make sure your thumb doesn't get caught is that about right. Sorry about the run on sentence. Yeah, the stock lifter with its little half-circle cutout leaves enough space in the port that when you finally click a shell into place in the magazine tube, your thumb gets pinched between the base of the shell and the forked end of the stock lifter. Depending on how big your thumbs are (mine are relatively small), it can really get pinched in there good! It pinched me pretty bad and really required a decent yank for me to get my thumb back out, which hurts it more. Like I said in the previous post, I really think this is a design flaw on Benelli's part. So, welding up the lifter adds material to the end of the lifter to fill in that half-circle hole and make the end smooth rather than forked. Once it's done, all it really does is make loading the shotgun go like it should go. It's just like loading an 870 now. If you've never loaded a stock Benelli and load one with the lifter welded, you would think, "so what?" But, after experiencing "Benelli thumb," it loads like a dream now. Jeff will also open up the loading port, lighten the bolt, modify it for ghost loading, and other mods I don't remember. I really didn't want to go that far with this thing so I stuck with the mods that I decided were necessities for me.
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Did he lighten the bolt? Can't tell from the photo. No he did not. My original intention with this shotgun was not to modify it at all except for possibly a magazine extension. I'm not 3-gunning with this thing (yet ), and it's mainly intended for sporting clays, so I wanted to leave it basically stock. However, all it took was one outing with it for me to realize that the lifter had to be welded up. It amazes me that Benelli has not addressed this. It seems to be such a common complaint, and based on my experience with the stock lifter, I think it's a design flaw––it really shouldn't pinch the shit out of your thumb like that. But, we have guys like Jeff to correct that for those of us who love the weapon system otherwise. I really liked the idea of the extended bolt release, and since I was shipping it off anyway, I went ahead and had that done, as well.Not a design flaw, the idea of the lifter being shaped like that is to help guide the shell into the chamber. It's not obvious while it is in the down position, but in the up position it makes sense. |
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Quoted:
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Did he lighten the bolt? Can't tell from the photo. No he did not. My original intention with this shotgun was not to modify it at all except for possibly a magazine extension. I'm not 3-gunning with this thing (yet ), and it's mainly intended for sporting clays, so I wanted to leave it basically stock. However, all it took was one outing with it for me to realize that the lifter had to be welded up. It amazes me that Benelli has not addressed this. It seems to be such a common complaint, and based on my experience with the stock lifter, I think it's a design flaw––it really shouldn't pinch the shit out of your thumb like that. But, we have guys like Jeff to correct that for those of us who love the weapon system otherwise. I really liked the idea of the extended bolt release, and since I was shipping it off anyway, I went ahead and had that done, as well.Not a design flaw, the idea of the lifter being shaped like that is to help guide the shell into the chamber. It's not obvious while it is in the down position, but in the up position it makes sense. Interesting. I'll take your word for it since mine's welded up now, I can't tell! Could it really be that necessary with all the welded up M2s out there that run with no problems? And still, with all the complaints about "Benelli Thumb," could they not alter the design such that reliable feeding is still facilitated, but you get to keep your thumb too? The amazing pinch that I got on my thumb from loading this thing, and the fact that it is such a common complaint, still suggests a design flaw to me. And if the definition of "design flaw" does not actually account for this type of issue, at the very least it is a "design shortfall" or "design shortcoming" or something like that.
As far as cost is concerned, for the welded up lifter, the drill and tap of the bolt release, the Nordic enlarged bolt release part, tuning and test firing of the shotgun, and return shipping totaled $110. Here is a list of most of the common stuff he does. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Did he lighten the bolt? Can't tell from the photo. No he did not. My original intention with this shotgun was not to modify it at all except for possibly a magazine extension. I'm not 3-gunning with this thing (yet ), and it's mainly intended for sporting clays, so I wanted to leave it basically stock. However, all it took was one outing with it for me to realize that the lifter had to be welded up. It amazes me that Benelli has not addressed this. It seems to be such a common complaint, and based on my experience with the stock lifter, I think it's a design flaw––it really shouldn't pinch the shit out of your thumb like that. But, we have guys like Jeff to correct that for those of us who love the weapon system otherwise. I really liked the idea of the extended bolt release, and since I was shipping it off anyway, I went ahead and had that done, as well.Not a design flaw, the idea of the lifter being shaped like that is to help guide the shell into the chamber. It's not obvious while it is in the down position, but in the up position it makes sense. Interesting. I'll take your word for it since mine's welded up now, I can't tell! Could it really be that necessary with all the welded up M2s out there that run with no problems? And still, with all the complaints about "Benelli Thumb," could they not alter the design such that reliable feeding is still facilitated, but you get to keep your thumb too? The amazing pinch that I got on my thumb from loading this thing, and the fact that it is such a common complaint, still suggests a design flaw to me. And if the definition of "design flaw" does not actually account for this type of issue, at the very least it is a "design shortfall" or "design shortcoming" or something like that.As far as cost is concerned, for the welded up lifter, the drill and tap of the bolt release, the Nordic enlarged bolt release part, tuning and test firing of the shotgun, and return shipping totaled $110. Here is a list of most of the common stuff he does. Agreed. I can't see it being necessary with all of the welded up lifters out there. Maybe it is a design flaw in the sense that it could have been done better, but it was done for a reason. That price seems very reasonable.
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