Need info on shotgun customizations
 

I need some info on customizations for shotguns for something I'm writing. After playing too much S.W.A.T. 4, I began wondering whether the Benelli Nova Tactical in that game, if fitted with the 3-round tube magazine extension, could still mount a bayonet. To my knowledge bayonets are usually mounted underneath the barrel, but the 3-round magazine extension would block this on the Benelli Nova Tactical. Would it be unsafe to mount a bayonet on the tube magazine extension instead (much as it would block a weaponlight in the handguard)? Or would one have to use a side-mounted bayonet on the barrel instead? How much would it cost to fit some bayonet lugs for a side-mounted bayonet on such a firearm?

I'd also like to know how difficult it would be to convert a semi-automatic shotgun with a tube magazine, such as the SPAS-12, to accept a detachable box magazine. On a strange note, Hitman: Blood Money lets you apply both a side-mounted shell holder and the "feed from a box magazine" conversion to the ingame SPAS-12, though in real life you'd only use the first to help load a tube magazine more quickly and wouldn't need one if you switched to detachable box magazines.

Finally, the civilian model of the M4 Super 90 offered by Benelli USA has a 4 + 1 shell capacity on their catalogue, but the fact that the tube magazine still reaches the end of the 18.5-inch barrel puzzles me. Is the tube solid past a certain point? If it is solid, does that mean you can't add a tube magazine extension without illegally modifying the shotgun? And why didn't Benelli just shorten the magazine tube so there is less "dead weight" on it?

My sleep depraved brain can't work hard enough to help with the first questions but to answer your last one about the Benelli M4, they built two versions, the civilian 4+1 with a magazine tube that tapers into rings and then continues as dead weight. This is likely so it's still asthetically pleasing. The military/police model has the complete high-capacity magazine tube that features no tapering rings.

Thanks for the info for that question. Maybe when you're better-rested you can answer some of my other questions?

Okay, now I'll address your other two questions.

Mounting a bayonet on a magazine tube extension is probably not wise, because that tube was not built to hold a bayonet sturdily enough for you to stab anything with it or apply such for to it, it's would likely cause it to bend or break, which would obviously mess up the functioning. Mounting it side-ways on the barrel seems more do-able, although it would look terrible, and really, why on earth would you need a bayonet on a SuperNova? Shotguns with bayonets have that added extension that infuses into the heat shield, like on a Trench shotgun. If such a devise could be modified to mount on a SuperNova (which I'm not too sure about), you might be able to pull it off. As for how much it would cost to mount bayonet lugs or to customly fit that Trench mount to it, that's really depending on which gunsmith you see, and if they'd even say it's worth doing.

As for modifying a mag-tube shotgun to take detachable magazines, I imagine that would take professional gunsmithing or some sort of conversion kit.

After seeing the Bushmaster Carbine with a side-mounted bayonet in the "Planet Terror" entry on the database, I began wondering if the side-mounted bayonet would be possible on shotguns or other long arms. Before that point I'd only seen the standard underbarrel mount or the kind you stick right on the barrel itself.

I'm interested in mounting a bayonet on a Benelli Nova Tactical (not the SuperNova model) because the gun lacks effective mass (unlike a 9-pound M1 Garand) if you have to use it as a club in a melee situation, and with a bayonet you can defend yourself more effectively. I'm looking into a side-mount for the bayonet since with a tube-magazine extension in the way you can't use the standard under-barrel mount. There's something else I'm planning to use the bayonet mount for in what I'm writing as well, but that's for later.

Hitman: Blood Money was normally good with blocking incompatible upgrades for your weaponry (such as allowing either jungle-style magazines or a drum mag for your M4A1 in that game, not both) but it seems they forgot that if you are using a detachable box magazine for your shotgun, you don't need a shotshell holder on the side of the weapon anymore.