For a long time, I considered writing an article called “Don’t buy the Benelli M4,” to deal with my frustrations with the design. The micro-sized controls, the neutered five-round tube, the difficult and expensive-to-find three-position stock, and the fact that Benelli hasn’t changed the gun since 1999.
I’m a long-time Benelli M4 owner, and as much as I love the gun, I’ve been frustrated by Benelli seemingly forgetting they make the world’s best combat shotgun, but only in a neutered form for the American public. My frustration has finally been relieved with the release of the Benelli M4 EXT.
I stand by my comment, don’t buy a Benelli M4, but I’ll counter that with the argument, buy the Benelli M4 EXT. The Benelli M4 as a design didn’t have many, if any, operating issues. Sure, it was a bit heavy, but it was designed to meet a requirement designed by the Marine Corps.
The problem was related to American firearm laws. A little something called 922R kept it from reaching its full seven-round, adjustable stock potential. This new release from Benelli is coming 922R compliant and out of the box ready with an adjustable stock and seven-round capacity.
The new M4 EXT comes in H2O Marine Finish, Multicam black, and FDE. Benelli was kind enough to send me the new M4 EXT for test and review.
The Unleashed M4 EXT
Replacing the neutered five-round tube with a seven-round tube was a wise move. It appears to be a two-piece tube, but I’ll take it. The original M4 was a five-piece tube with this odd, space-filling extension that did nothing.
The stock is adjustable, but is essentially a Gen 2 of the original three-position stock. This stock integrates five positions for length-of-pull adjustments. It’s no longer a twist-and-extend design; it’s now a press-a-button-and-move-it-back-or-forth design.
The shortest position puts the stock too short to use, but makes it easy to store. The second-to-shortest position is a bit problematic. Due to the ramping up stock design, you can’t use your iron sights with the stock in the second shortest position, but could use an optic.
The gun comes with two sling swivels installed on QD cups. It’s easy to slap a sling on and call it a day. The front sling keeper is a modern design of the original M4 sling mount.
Benelli also replaced the near micro-sized bolt release with a much larger button. It’s easier to press and doesn’t take pounds of pressure focused on a tiny dot to get the bolt to slam home.
These are relatively minor changes, but were absolutely necessary for a premium-grade shotgun. On top of these changes, we get the standard, awesome Benelli M4 design.
The gun comes with ghost ring iron sights with an optics rail. The sights are metal and adjustable for precision use. The M4 EXT comes with same forward polymer handguard of the original design, and the oversized rubberized grip of the original collapsing stock.
Under the M4 Hood
The M4’s claim to fame was its use of a short-stroke gas piston system called the ARGO. ARGO stands for Auto-Regulating Gas-Operated. The ARGO design uses two stainless steel pistons designed to use gas from fired shots to cycle the rotating bolt.
The goal of the ARGO system is to produce a simplistic gas system. It’s insanely simple compared to other gas systems and uses only four parts total. The ARGO makes the gun a little front-heavy and a bit unbalanced, but it’s not a bird gun, so it doesn’t matter.
The ARGO system and the M4 were purpose-built as tactical shotguns. It’s not a sporting gun adapted to tactical use.
Taking the M4 EXT To the Range
To say I was excited to shoot the Benelli M4 EXT is an understatement. I spent a lot of money and time making my original M4 into this gun. The M4 EXT gives you the Benelli M4’s full potential right out of the box.
I brought a mix of birdshot, slugs, and various types of buckshot. Interestingly enough, it seems like the Benelli M4 EXT comes with an improved choke instead of a cylinder bore design. It’s got adjustable chokes, so you can swap easily enough.
This did produce great groups with 00 Buckshot. Some surprisingly tight. However, the improved choke doesn’t work well with Flitecontrol wads and created a larger-than-usual pattern with those rounds.
I swapped the Improved choke for a cylinder and Flitecontrol proved to be the tightest patterning load, bar none. With the cylinder bore choke in play, I fired a few slugs at 50 yards with excellent accuracy. Even out to 100 yards, I could reliably land Federal Tactical slugs on an IPSC-sized steel target.
Riding the Thunder
One of the things the ARGO system does best is reduce recoil, and its weight helps with reducing muzzle rise. Shooting the M4 with standard 2.75-inch rounds is downright pleasant. I conducted several ready-up drills and double-tap drills, including a go at the Lucky Gunner Home Defense Shotgun Test.
This test is provided numerous times with Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. For the first time ever, I shot the Home Defense test cold and scored Advanced in every category.
This meant one shot at 15 yards in less than 0.6 of a second. Two shots at 10 yards in less than 1 second. Retrieving the gun, charging it, firing three rounds, and reloading two rounds in less than seven seconds.
The final stage is shot from a compressed firing position. You fire two rounds, take a step back, shoulder the gun, and fire a final headshot in less than 1.75 seconds.
I credit this success to the lack of recoil offered by the Benelli M4. It’s soft-shooting and easy to control, making accurate follow-up shots easy to do. With a good push/pull in place, the sights barely moved between shots.
Going Fast
The ergonomic improvements are also an excellent credit to Benelli and their gun design. I like the fourth position on the stock. This gives me the just-right length of pull for my arm’s length.
The big bolt release is super handy for emergency ejection port reloads. The sling points are also outstanding, and a sling makes it easy to engage in a good push/pull.
One downside to the Benelli M4 EXT is the somewhat smooth polymer handguard. I think the handguards can make use of heavy stippling to provide a better grip. As it got hot, my hands started sweating, and this makes it harder to hold onto.
The M4 EXT is a drastic improvement on the M4, and I’ll probably swap the forend for a Briley or Mesa Tactical model with M-LOK slots and a few grip panels.
I fired 400 rounds of birdshot, 105 rounds of buckshot, and five slugs. I had three malfunctions with birdshot, specifically Federal Top Gun. With that said, I purchased this ammo for an extremely low price because it was storm-exposed.
It’s been kind of a mess in a few semi-auto shotguns and will probably just be pump gun food from now on. I didn’t have any malfunctions outside of the 75 rounds of this storm-exposed ammo I shot. I fired a lot of other Federal birdshot, and it all worked without a problem.
The New M4 EXT
The M4 EXT is the gun I’ve always wanted Benelli to produce. I think it’s a proper release of the M4, and it’s finally reached its true potential. You don’t have to try and scrap a secondary market for parts or pay a fortune to upgrade your gun.
The M4 EXT is a proper tactical shotgun right out of the box. That proper tactical shotgun has an MSRP of $2,599, so it doesn’t come cheap, but nothing with Benelli comes cheap. I’m happy to see Benelli take the M4 platform seriously and provide an American audience with an unneutered M4.
