On Point Firearms have just started selling a great looking over-sized charging handle for the Benelli M1, M2, M3 and M4 shotguns. It is machined from aluminum and simply bolts onto the existing charging handle.
Benelli M4 with Extended Charging handle.
On Point are selling them for $30.
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Great looking is in the eye of the beholder. I think it spoils the lines of the gun
but then again I am not in a duck pond with heavy gloves on!
Can you say “3-gun”?
These should also work on the Beretta 1201. (Beretta owns Benelli, and the 1201 is basically a Benelli M1 variant.) When I had a 1201FP3, I used the Benelli/Beretta extended bolt handle from Dave’s Metal Works. The stock Beretta bolt handle is very small and is too close to the receiver. Before I made the swap, the sharp edges on ejection port would nick and cut my hand when I retracted the bolt.
Changing the bolt handle is a plug-in-play operation: just yank the old handle out of the bolt carrier and push in the new handle. The bolt handle has to be removed anyway when field stripping the shotgun in order to pull the bolt carrier assembly out of the receiver.
FWIW: The DMW bolt handle is less expensive and made of steel. I also recommend the DMW oversized safety button for the Benelli/Beretta.
That’s the thing that kills me about shooting as a hobby.
Everything’s so damn expensive. I mean, really, $30 for a knurled chunk of aluminum? If this was a part for a tennis racket or a pogo stick this would cost $1.50 and include free shipping.
Is it the cost of liability insurance that’s driving up the cost of gun parts?
Yeah, that thing needs some anodizing.
dave, maybe I am just used to the high prices but it seems like a good price to me. The thing with gun parts is that they are often made in very small quantities for specific models of guns. They are not mass produced like a tennis raquet spare parts.
Plus, anyone who has a basic understanding of economics knows that the price of something should have absolutely nothing to do with the cost of it. Price should be determined by the value it provides to the user / what the market will pay. The fact that the knob is a “knurled hunk of aluminum” has nothing to do with the price if the function it creates is worthwhile to a user.
You will need a knob like that if you take a tactical shotgun class. Mine still has the duct tape I wrapped around it to give it more surface area for select slug drills, and other fast manipulations. Time for an upgrade, I think!