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Benelli Thumb Saver

The Benelli M1 Super 90 is an excellent shotgun, and I love mine. It is reliable, and points well. For me however, it had one painful problem. The shell carrier has a pickle fork design and a bit of space at the end. Almost every time I loaded the shotgun my thumb would get trapped between the shell carrier and the last shell loaded. This was very painful. I have talked to other Benelli owners, and this seems to be a problem for some, but not others. None-the-less it hurts and does not make for fast reloading. The following picture show the modification I made to my shell carrier.

These plans are free for non-commercial use and are offered with no warranty or other claims expressed or implied. Ken Reed, 10/15/2005.

The Benelli Thumb, pinched by the shell lifter.

The original pickle fork design and the thumb pinching space.

A small piece of 16 gauge steel ready for welding to the shell carrier.

After welding and an hour of filing and shaping. More to go.

Finished, and I haven't caught my thumb while loading since.

Lesson learned. The extended shell lifter was causing failures to feed
with 2.75" lightly loaded shells. It turns out the extended shell lifter was
lifting the shell farther forward of center than it used to in the standard
configuration. I was able to keep the extended piece by curving it down
so that it is not used to lift the shell. Too much bend though keeps shells
from going into the magazine tube.