FIRST TEST: Benelli M4 EXT Defensive Shotgun

Meet Benelli’s new M4 EXT 12-gauge semi-auto…combat-forged DNA for the homefront

by Rob Reaser

Like so many of you who take more of a no-frills, grounded approach to defensive firearms, I tend to lean toward military standards that have an exhaustive and proven record for reliability and dependability. My favorite pistol? The MILSPEC 1911 .45 Auto. Rifle? The AR-15…MILSPEC-configured, of course. Pump shotgun? The Mossberg 500 is what sits by the bed.

Go ahead…call me boring. I don’t care because none of these guns will fail me in a sticky situation. I may stumble, but my guns won’t.

But what about a semi-auto shotgun?

I’ll take a semi-auto shotgun over a pump-action every day. They are simply faster for me to handle efficiently and effectively.

The gold standard in military semi-auto shotguns is Benelli’s military M1014. Do I have one? No. The reason is that they have never been made available for sale to the civilian market. Sure, there are the Benelli M4 Tactical and M1014 Tactical variants, which are based on the military M1014, but there’s a catch; both variants have only been offered with a 5-round-capacity magazine and the stocks — whether standard or skeletonized — are fixed length with no adjustability for length-of-pull. Call them “military M1014 light.”

How so? The key differences between the military M1014 and the civilian M4/M1014 variants include ammo capacity and stock adjustability. The military M1014 has a 7+1 capacity (vs. 5+1) and an adjustable-length skeletonized stock (vs. fixed length). The fact that Benelli has never made the military M1014 available outside of the armed services or law enforcement agencies has always irked me.

Well, I am irked no more because finally Benelli is finally offering the civilian M4 with…drum roll…a 7+1 capacity and an adjustable skeletonized stock.

Enter the M4 EXT

Benelli is calling this new series the M4 EXT. “EXT” stands for “extended.” The extended nomenclature comes from, naturally, the extended magazine tube and the extendable stock. Pretty simple.

Like its M4 siblings, the M4 EXT is a 12-guage semi-auto shotgun sporting an 18.5-inch barrel and a 3-inch chamber. It is built with the same battle-hardened DNA as the military M1014, so it gives up nothing in terms of performance and capability despite its civilian designation.

That, of course, begs the question: why did Benelli create a new M4 series rather than simply bring the military M1014 to the civilian market? Good question, for which I have no answer, but I’m sure the PTBs at Benelli had solid reasons.

One thing you’ll notice here is that the M4 EXT is available with a Multicam Black finish. This finish covers the receiver and the barrel. Along with Multicam Black, the M4 EXT is offered with H2O and Flat Dark Earth Cerakote finishes, so the colorways really expand with this new shotgun.

As with all M4 shotguns, the M4 EXT boasts the Benelli ARGO system. This is a twin-piston gas system developed to cycle a broad range of defensive loads, hence the acronym (Auto-Regulating Gas Operated). The pistons drive the bolt rearward with no linkage required while the gas ports, positioned just ahead of the chamber, make for cleaner operation.

Being an auto-regulating gas system, the ARGO design ensures that the shotgun will cycle with a diversity of loads. Why not use Benelli’s Inertia Driven system instead? Because inertia-action shotguns can be sensitive to changes in a gun’s weight and the military required that the selected shotgun cycle reliably with add-ons such as lights and optics regardless of the ammunition deployed.

Providing the enhanced shotshell capacity is a full-length magazine tube, just like the military M1014. The civilian M4 Tactical models, by contrast, utilize a magazine tube that also extends the cap to the muzzle, but this is a “faux” full-length tube because the capacity is pinched off at five shotshell lengths.

As mentioned, the M4 EXT includes an adjustable stock. Depress the button on the left side of the stock and choose between five different lengths-of-pull. Integrated into the stock are two QD sling swivel pockets plus a sling loop at the bottom of the stock. This gives left- and right-hand shooters plenty of options for their sling arrangement. A super-plush rubber recoil pad brings up the rear.

Operational controls on the M4 EXT are familiar to those in the know of Benelli M4s, with one important exception. For the M4 EXT, Benelli introduces a significantly larger bolt release button. It sits proud of the receiver and has a generous surface area, making it easy to hit with gloved hands or when performing emergency reloads.

The shell lifter, or carrier, is of a single-piece design accented in bronze. The loading port is well proportioned, making for ease of loading. Although the lifter looks like a real thumb pincher, I never experienced an ouchy during loading. I will say, though, that the tension on the carrier latch is a bit stiff, so it takes a good push on the shotshell case head to get the rim past the carrier latch. You must also push fairly hard on the carrier latch to manually remove shotshells from the magazine.

One of the many high-water marks of the M4-series shotguns is their stout open-sight design. The rear sight is tank-like in its construction, with “wings” on both sides to protect the ghost ring peep from hard impacts. The sight is, of course, windage- and elevation-adjustable, and features two white alignment dots flanking the peep.

Up front, a simple white dot post is positioned on a pedestal mount that also offers impact protection.

If open sights aren’t your thing, no problem. The M4 EXT comes with a Picatinny rail so you can easily add an optic. You can also opt for an aftermarket system, like the Mesa Tactical SureShell Carrier and Reflex Mount. This is a fantastic upgrade, providing your optic and ammo expansion solutions in one upgrade.

Another feature found on the M4 EXT, as well as all M4-series shotguns, that I really appreciate is the pistol grip. This is one of the most ergonomically functional grips out there, in my opinion. The rubber exterior grips like nobody’s business to bare or gloved hands. This, combined with the ample ribbing and squarish profile, is a big assist for weapon retention and manipulation.

Range Time

I spent most of a day burning through several boxes of #00 buckshot to get a feel for the M4 EXT…and it was nothing but fun. Testing included timed drills with IDPA silhouettes targets and small 16-oz. water bottle “adversaries” — mostly at 15 to 20 yards distance. Why such small targets? It’s a product of my archery practice. If I can train to hit small targets at longer distances, then anything short of that will amount to layup shots in a crunch.

The M4 EXT handles like a dream. Outfitted with a full 6-shot shell carrier, optic, light, seven rounds in the mag tube and one in the chamber, the gun weighed a hefty 10 pounds. That can be a lot of gun to manage on the move for some, but the payoff is easy manners on the recoil impulse.

All that weight did, though, slow down my reaction time on the buzzer just a tad compared to, say, the Mossberg 940 Pro Tactical SPX I’m currently running. As they say, there’s no free lunch. Yet overall, the M4 EXT is a superb-handling shotgun once you spend some time with it. My big thing was to get used to the pistol grip, as I tend to favor a standard stock with a slender wrist. Ejection port reloads took some time for me to get accustomed to due to the manipulation with the pistol grip. The larger bolt release, though, covered many sins.

As for accuracy, the gun hit where I aimed and did so with authority. I’m not as fast on the trigger as some seasoned shotgunners (not a big fan of seeing how fast I can miss); however, by the end of the day, the sight picture came more quickly, and split times dropped respectably.

Summary

For those of you who have been longing for a full-feature M4 that finally brings to the game a 7+1 shotshell capacity and an adjustable stock, the M4 EXT is here. Benelli has set the MSRP at $2,599, so this is a significant buy-in, but this is only $300 north of the current M4 Tactical and M1014 Tactical. Are the extra on-board firepower and custom fit enhancements worth the scratch? I’d say so.