Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Drilling and tapping a Benelli receiver

I need a Benelli m2 receiver drilled and tapped. My two local Smiths both don’t want to do it, saying the receiver is too hard to drill and tap. I know it’s possible to do it, as I’ve seen guys that have had it done. Any thruth to that, or are they just not wanting to do it. Any special bits, or techniques to doing it? Any help would be appreciated.

I’d try carbide endmill for drilling and spiral point tap.

Don't know about the carbide end mill as it is not likely you'll find one in tap drill size. If the receiver is hard start with a carbide center drill and drill until the diameter of the hole just exceeds the diameter of the tap thus producing a small countersink. This will ensure that the drill doesn't have to deal with the hardened skin though a carbide drill may not be a bad idea. A spiral point plug tap and tapping fluid to start the threading process and if it is a blind hole a bottoming tap are the tools you'll need. A word about taps, there is a tap manufacturer by the name of Reiff and Nestor, they have been in business since 1908 and produce the highest quality taps available. They cost somewhat more than other manufacturer's taps but the advantage is this, R & N control the tooth to tooth spacing of their taps more closely than other manufacturers. The result is a tap that requires noticeably less effort to use, a critical factor when tapping #6/#8 holes in hardened gun steel. Try a side by side comparison in a scrap piece and you'll see how much easier the R & N tap cuts. Use a new tap for each job, the cost is well worth practically eliminating tap breakage. Good luck with your job.

It's aluminum...nothing special needed. I had mine drilled and tapped without any issue.

I realize it’s aluminum, but Benelli supposedly drills and taps them before they harden them. My buddy tried to get one done about 4 years ago. The smith called him back and told him to come pick it up, he had already broken 5 bits and wasn’t wasting one more on it. I’m guessing that was mostly the fault of the smith, but there must be something to it. Just looking for the best way to go about it.

They're either bullchitting you or are idiots. It's an aluminum receiver. It has to be tapped behind the barrel where the receiver is somewhere in close proximity to .160 thick. I did mine in my mill and it took about 20 minutes start to finish.

A regular high speed steel drill will cut it like butter.

Rob Roberts did my M2 so it can be done

OR... you can buy a Burris Speedsight (Fastfire III) and simply install it via the stock shim..

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...ith-integral-stock-receiver-spacer-mount

Is it possible that a hard anodized surface is defeating those drill bits?

If that's the case, I would think a glass cutter could be used to break that surface coating. Just grind the cutting wheel on the point to be drilled. We use this technique to drill some hard stuff.

You can scrape the hard coat off with a pocket knife, so I don't see how it could possibly be too hard for a drill bit.

Butter............... a sharp HSS center drill followed by a sharp HSS twist drill WILL cut it like butter. It's literally a 20 minute job.

I checked them once before and couldn't find taps in the 'standard' sizes that gunsmiths use; ala 6-48, 8-40 etc... Every one I looked at stopped at 6-40 and 8-32..

Local hardware stores wont have 6-48 or 8-40 taps. You can order them from Brownells.

My Benelli Super 90 Montefeltro was simple to drill and tap. As someone else mentioned stay in the thicker portion rear of the barrel extension.

God Bless, Louis

I had mine drilled and tapped just like the factory, with 2 over the barrel extension and 2 at the rear.

Just put a Fast Fire III on it with a Speedbead - problem solved.

No thanks. Been there, done that. Didn’t care for it all on a pistol grip turkey gun. Just didn’t work. Buddy had the same issues, hence the desire to have it drilled an tapped. We got it done without issue. All that remains it to get it dialed in and then wait for the season to get here. Thanks for the help fellas!

Did it require a diamond tap?