Does anyone have a recommendation for a good gunsmith that will shorten a Benelli M1 Entry barrel from 14” to 10” and reinstall the front sight? I’ve contacted nearly a dozen smiths that advertise barrel work and not one can do this work. The M1 is a legit and stamped SBS, and I’m keeping the original barrel at the approved 14”, but I have a spare to cut.

Thank you!

You may want to give shotgunworld.com a try and ask your question there.

Vang Comp? They certainly cut barrels, but they say it's an add-on not a standalone service, but then say it's for customer supplied barrels.

Also maybe Agency Arms? They offer Benelli M1/M2/M4 build services, so maybe they can just cut a barrel.

Wondering what the hesitation is? Silver soldering the sight back on? That's not that difficult/. (heck I've done it lol)

I think you need an SOT (class 2) NFA manufacturer….that’s why other gunsmiths won’t do the work. It’s not that they can’t, it’s you have to be a manufacturer of NFA stuff to be able to build them. It’s another license that regular gunsmiths don’t want to shovel over another $500 a year just to do business…and all the NFA hassle that goes with it.

Thank you for the suggestions thus far. Why I don’t do it myself…my success rate on DIY projects is dismal. I don’t want to butcher the barrel just to still need someone more skilled to make it right…worth the pennies to get it done right.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
I think you need an SOT (class 2) NFA manufacturer….that’s why other gunsmiths won’t do the work. It’s not that they can’t, it’s you have to be a manufacturer of NFA stuff to be able to build them. It’s another license that regular gunsmiths don’t want to shovel over another $500 a year just to do business…and all the NFA hassle that goes with it.

There is no firearm being manufactured. The M1 is on an approved Form 4 for the factory Entry configuration (14” barrel). I have the second barrel to be shortened, and am looking to only send the barrel to a smith for chopping (not the entire SBS), and swap it back and forth the same a SBR 10.5” 5.56mm AR can have a 8” .300BO (or any other upper) swapped.

I would not do it myself. Most if not all Benelli shotguns use a industrial hard chrome lined barrel. Hard chrome is typically only .0027 - .0055 thick. However this can raise some issues.

1 It is brutal on tools.
2 It may chip chrome into the bore during the cutting.
3 It may delaminate some chrome into the bore with use.

quote:

Originally posted by Creeping_Death:


There is no firearm being manufactured. The M1 is on an approved Form 4 for the factory Entry configuration (14” barrel). I have the second barrel to be shortened, and am looking to only send the barrel to a smith for chopping ….

I get that. But like making a new set of baffles for a suppressor, or just one baffle that’s bent, the gunsmith may feel like he can’t do the work you want because he’s not an SOT.

Did you ask the people you have approached about why they won’t do the work? Is bet it’s for the very reason I mentioned.

I once had a gunsmith refuse to thread a barrel for a suppressor because he said he didn’t have the right license. When I asked if he could thread it for a muzzle device-he said he would do that. Don’t ask me-it’s retarded….but some of them are set in their ways.

Cas, I will remeasure but thank you for bringing the ring up. I’m wanting to mimic the “Hammer” M1’s made by a shop years ago, and it doesn’t appear they moved the ring…I would take a longer length to avoid moving the ring!

Jelly, thank you for bringing up the chrome lining consideration. I’m hoping to find a smith experienced with aspects such as the lining.

Mike, good point comparing this to the barrel threading. The only contact that said more than ‘we do not offer that service’ mentioned the ATF cracking down more and felt this was a grey area project. From our POV there ‘should’ be no issue with a job like this, but I see your point about why so many places are saying no!

Thanks again for everyone’s feedback, I’ll update this thread as the project progresses.

cas, OP is asking about a M1 barrel, not a M4. The single barrel ring shouldn't need to be altered. There's more than 4 inches of barrel ahead of the ring on a 14" M1 barrel... More like 5 or 6 inches.


He wants to make this, the so-called "M1K":

Wow. Scary. Doing too many things at once maybe.

Doing M4 (and M2) things I happen upon this thread and for some reason my brain said M4. Yikes. Might have been the 4 in 14, dyscalculia, my brain grabs numbers and shuffles them around. Occasional touch of dyslexia at times too, it's scary when what you've been seeing suddenly changes only when someone points is out.

As for chrome lined, Carlson's cut and choked one of my Benelli barrels, so it doesn't seem to be an issue.

You got it Rogue…the picture sums up what I’m after! The goal is to have it looking like the M1K pictured on the bottom, iron sight variety.

While not exactly what you want, I was going to suggest buying one of the used $275-ish M1 front sighted barrels on EBay, chopping it yourself to see if you like it. Then having someone put some kind of a bead on it.

But the flood of barrels from a few months back seems to have dried up, I see none now.