The butt is fitted with a soft polymer pad (impressively, these are available not only in different lengths but in right and left handed versions as well!). This includes a variety of anti-recoil features. This interesting gun also has an unusual ‘ComforTech’ stock. All Benellis score in this department because their unusual operating system does not require too many parts forward of the receiver block. The M2 which hits the scales around the 7 pound mark feels quite lively for a semi-automatic. My preference is for something longer, but this design does keep the weight down. The forend of the M2 is unusually short as well. My preference is for a flat rib – I like my eye to be led to the target without any distraction – just as if I am pointing a finger. The rib of the test Benelli is slightly raised and made of conventional steel (some model have carbon fibre ribs). It makes sense, but I doubt if the difference is that significant, although there is no doubt that plastic residue can be a real problem in some guns. They further claim this reduces friction and the build up of lead and plastic residue. Benelli believe their high tech sub 300F freezing process reduces metal stress and enhances surface finish.
The chokes, five of which come with the gun, are treated in the same manner (they are of long pattern and have a more gradual constriction than the norm as well). The hammer-forged, 3” chambered, 28” barrel is stress relieved, most unusually, by cryogenic freezing. The test gun has a one piece alloy action design - some Benellis have a sliding top cover like an old SLR or AK. I won’t be giving too much away if I note my belief that the Benelli is the finest field semi-automatic yet conceived, but the Beretta still floats my boat for clays. Because no gasses are bled off from the barrel in a Benelli, it does not crud up as fast as most modern semis. The mechanical design is inertia rather than gas operated (like a Beretta or most modern semi-automatics). The Benelli, meantime, is notable for its especially rapid cycling. It certainly looks businesslike.įrankly, I don’t much care what a gun looks like, if it works well – deep, dark and dangerous, or purple spots… it does not matter much to me as long as I can win competitions or shoot birds successfully with it. To use the vernacular of the US gun trade, it’s a ‘black gun’ – meaning its black actioned with a synthetic polymer stock.
Few semi-automatics have a better reputation than those made by Beretta and Benelli (who are now part of the same group). I campaign with one (indeed, as I write this, I have just returned from a successful sortie with my venerable, 32” barrelled, Beretta 303). Readers of this magazine will well know that I have a soft spot for a good semi-automatic.
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