Question

It seems impossible to define PUT when I use Html.BeginForm to submit a form whilst updating an item. Is this correct?

Answer 1

Yes, this is correct. Browsers only support GET and POST for sending forms. You could use AJAX though:

$.ajax({
    url: '/action',
    type: 'PUT',
    data: { param1: 'value1' },
    success: function(result) {

    }
});

And if you want to AJAXify a form submission you may take a look at the jquery.form plugin.