Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles My thoroughly untactical shotgun (pic heavy)

At 53" long this rig surely ain't built for "close quarters battle", but if I ever caught some bad guys out in the open.....shame on em. I put this together for 3 Gun, starting with a Benelli M2 with a 28" barrel and thought some of yall would enjoy seeing how it turned out.

3 Gun rules can vary a lot depending on where you're at but for the most part where I shoot you can have nine rounds in the gun to start the stage. But after the stage starts you can load as many as you want. Most guys build 21"ish shotguns with mag extensions that allow them to hold nine rounds. But since I was starting with a 28" barrel I decided to take full advantage of the length and added a Nordic Components +9 tube, bringing my total mag capacity to 12 rounds. Since I can start with nine rounds, after the start I can charge the shotgun and then load four rounds before I even start shooting if I want (all of my shell holders are in multiples of two or four, so making the tube capacity an even number made sense). Around here the shotgun stages are never in really tight spaces so the 28" barrel and 12 round tube will give me more of an benefit in capacity than it will cost me in length.

I ordered the Nordic kit that included the tube, end cap, barrel nut and spring. I also picked up their low drag follower. The tube is machined to fit a barrel clamp if you want to use one (the tube is reversible so the clamp can be mounted slightly closer or further away from the barrel's end, depending on what you want). With a tube this long I did decide to use the clamp. When you're done with your shotgun on a stage you leave it barrel down in a plastic barrel, so dumping this thing in a barrel pretty hard without a clamp would likely bend the tube pretty quickly.



I replaced the stock bolt handle with a larger model from Nordic also. With the new handle I definitely won't miss it, and can even charge it from underneath with my left hand if I wanted to. After adding the extended bolt release and maybe the Matchsaverz too, the bolt handle becomes more necessary.





My neighbor D&Td my bolt release for me and I added an extended pad. I really didn't need it (didn't need to bolt handle to be honest) but I figure if I'm spending all this money, I might as well spend a little more. The bolt release is Nordic also.

In the picture you can also see the Matchsaverz doohickey. It's only on there with velcro right now, I haven't decided if I'm gonna keep it. The idea is that if you run empty and need just one more shot you can slide that shell right into the ejection port with your left hand and have one more shot super fast. It does work, I just don' t know if I'll keep it or not. It permanently mounts with a bolt / nut through the forearm.



The only modifications that were really necessary are welding the lifter and (to a lesser extent) opening up the loading port. The shotgun part of 3 Gun is really just a loading race. It doesn't matter how fast you can shoot, if you can't load you're screwed.

Jeff Cockrum at C-Rums is THE guy for welding lifters. Instead of sending mine to C-Rums I dropped the receiver off with Trapr Swonson at Red Neck Tactical. Trapr already had the a welded lifter and just traded it out for me. He also opened up the loading port and polished the shell catch and lifter. I put juuuuuuust a slight bend to the shell catch so that shells would feed more easily too.

The difference in the lifter and loading port is pretty obvious and it definitely shows when you're trying to load quickly. I can actually fit my entire thumb into the port / tube without it snagging on anything. The stock lifter will eat your thumb up if you're not careful.





[img]http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/...3-11620-0000185A02ABE819_zps24035c87.jpg[/img]

If you're looking for any parts like these you can order directly from Nordic or C-Rums obviously. But I also really recommend https://www.theshooterssource.com and http://www.shootersconnectionstore.com I've used them both for this build and other things and have always had great customer service from them. Trapr doesn't have a website but he can be reached on facebook or on the Brian Enos forums (I think he's BigBrownDog) or I can help you get in touch with him.

Thanks for posting that. I need another thing to do like I need a hole in my head but 3 Gun has caught my attention. I was looking at the 24 and 26 inch M2's and thinking about them for hunting and 3 gun mods (extension could be removed)....you went all out with the 28!

I've turned my 28-in. Beretta Xtrema2 into a super-long blaster with aftermarket parts, then did a 21-in. M2 for a snow goose control hunt last spring.

Used both on the hunt and the Benelli was more wieldy. Have even thought about turning in my issued 870P and just taking the Benelli to work with me.

Haven't done the lifter or loading port mods yet, and appreciate info you posted.

I built up my 870 and started practicing the loading. After some reading I ended up buying a Beretta 1301 Comp to avoid some of those customization ideas. So far I just added a +5 tube but I would have to measure the OAL of any longer to stay within our new goofy laws. I shot the Beretta in one match so far and it is a nice unit for 3 gun. Both thoroughly untactical shotguns as well...

I was laughing.