Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Benelli Montefeltro?

I had a Pintail and liked it a lot, wish I had never sold it

Still got mine 20yr. veteran of the duck marsh. Duck guns live a hard life, but this one is still going strong. Great under rated shotguns

Got my new monte out for a pheasant hunt. I really enjoy it, carries well and I can hit stuff with it.

Nothing to do with a spring.

It happens because people don't know how to operate them.

While not the 12 gauge, I own a 20 gauge Montefeltro and used it heavily since 2002. There are occasions when the bolt can come out of battery and it is not, quote LFC: "because people don't know how to operate them".

When mearns hunting in some of the rougher heavy cover I will often open the action and let it snap back into full battery. It can be bumped by brush which moves the bolt is out of battery ever so slightly. When this happens pulling the trigger allows the next round to come out of the magazine. If it happens a quick cycle of the bolt will eject the unfired round from the chamber and the next round will be cycled into the chamber. I have managed to shoot flushing birds doing this but not every time.


Other than this minor issue this shotgun is tough and has endured many very rough mearns hunts including some spectacular falls. FYI a true mearns hunter becomes one when he has shot a bird while falling. <grin>
mearns country /Santa Rita Mts:



My friend has the Ethos. It seems to be machined differently and will usually go into battery just by letting go of the bolt handle even if it is barely out of battery, something the Montefelto doesn't do.

Two thoughts,,, if nothing more than a brush bump will unlock the bolt, then occasionally I would be giving the bolt handle a push forward to ensure it was still locked.

My first thought as well.

My particular shotgun won't allow a push forward that tiny bit. The rotary bolt won't cooperate. It requires either pulling it rearwards which rotates the bolt head a bit then quickly closing it or pulling bolt rearwards quite a ways and allowing the spring to slam it closed. I have lubed and cleaned the area of bolt and receiver and nothing makes any difference.

Makes sense...

The ones that I had trouble with, I feel was a weak spring. You could hold the gun in your hand vertically and if you snatched the gun up and back down one time the bolt would come out of battery. Jumping a ditch in the field, and those type things would produce the "click". At the time I did not know what was going on or how to fix it but all you have to do is Google Benelli bolt click and it comes up.
Yes I know it can be because you try and ride the bolt down in order to close it and this too will cause it, but that is not what was happening in my case.

No dog in the Benelli fight, but the guy shooting next to me yesterday had major “click” problems with his 20, even when releasing the bolt with the button and letting it slam forward. Actually, it started happening on the second shot, then wouldn’t fire the first. Between rounds he ran a snake through it a few times and it began working perfectly again. Maybe the chambers get gunked up, affecting bolt closing? Don’t know the guy well, so can’t comment on his maintenance.

I like these, might’ve bought one if I hadn’t run across a nice old Browning Gold Hunter first.

You don't see the Gold Hunter in 20 ga very much. I had a buddy that had one and he sold it to another friend of mine and he still has it. They are great guns and very soft shooting

I found mine in the floor rack of an LGS. Pretty much perfect, and clean inside, so very few rounds through it I suspect. I did a quick web check on value, and it was priced $200 or more under what I saw, so I snagged it.

Actually, I was hooked when I saw the “Made in Belgium Assembled in Portugal” on it. There was a nice Benelli 12 almost next to it, that caught my eye as well, but old guys like old stuff, and this one likes old Brownings, if 1995 counts as old.

Not trying to find out what you paid, but that did your web search turn up on value? Seems like my buddy paid $600 but I could be wrong on that

Web said close to a grand. I paid $750.

I’m only cagey about what I spend when reporting to the War Department.😱

Got ya, man they have gone up, I did not realize they were that high

Well worth it so far. Like you said, soft-shooting, runs clean, have had a total of one FTE so far in maybe 300-400 rounds (just a guess). Put 75 through it yesterday without a bobble. Speed feeds just like my A5.

I have heard that the Benelli Ethos has fixed the click problem. I don't have one, so don't hold me to it.

Yep Ethos doesn't have the issue. I posted that earlier on page 5.

Fixed a problem that does not exist? You know like others have implied on this thread.