The Benelli Sport II is a lot like the Montefeltro. Its cycling mechanism incorporates a recoil spring that operates through the grip against a hinged bolt extension. An inertia spring between the bolt head and the bolt body is compressed 4mm upon firing by the inertia of the breech. As the shot charge leaves the barrel, it overcomes breech forces to unlock the rotating bolt head and let the back-thrust of the fired case complete cycling against the recoil spring. No need to adjust the gun for different loads.

I'm probably not the best person to test a Benelli shotgun because I've been so fond of the Montefeltro. Delightfully slim for an autoloader, the cleverly designed Montefeltro is a study in simplicity and grace.

Benelli's inertia system eliminates the fouling problems of gas guns. And the fixed-barrel design handles a wider variety of loads than traditional long-recoil mechanisms.

The instruction pamphlet--thicker than my local phone book--tells you in six languages how to assemble the gun, though it's really intuitive. One thing you might not expect is its two-part receiver. A black steel top slips onto a brightly finished alloy base. Because the bolt head engages a barrel extension, the receiver top is little more than a dustcover. The bolt and recoil-spring rod slide into place easily.

A cartridge drop lever above the guard shows a red dot when it's down and the hammer is cocked, as it must be for loading. The Sport II's bolt stays open, and the follower is locked when the drop lever is up. You can push it up manually. The bolt release is a checkered button in a predictable place, forward on the right side of the receiver.

The two-part receiver is easily disassembled without tools, exposing a cam-operated, rotating bolt head that operates against an inertia spring.

The barrel is hammer forged and cryogenically stress-relieved. The bore is chrome plated and the rib easily removable. The four choke tubes supplied are very long and easy to install and switch. Porting aft of the muzzle reduces barrel climb and speeds repeat shots while reducing recoil.

The buttstock features replaceable shims between grip and receiver so you can change drop and cast. As the gun came from the box, I found the drop spot-on for field shooting; however, my eye lined up too far to the right, so a cast adjustment was called for.

The stock is of rather plain-grained walnut but neatly checkered and smoothly finished. Its gel buttpad is comfortable in recoil. The sighting plane draws my eye to target, and I like that rib. I don't care for the rakish triggerguard or the thick, plated trigger that bottomed out my scale at 72 ounces.

I fired 2 3/4-inch shells with 1 1/8-ounce lead loads and 1 1/8-ounce charges of steel. Then I tried 3-inch Remington Hevi-Shot loads hurling 1 1/2 ounces of shot. The Sport II functioned without a sneeze, even when the loads were mixed in the magazine. A glance through the barrel afterward left me wondering who'd cleaned it–very little residue on that chrome.

Poor planning left a friend and me without clay targets for a shooting session, so we tried the Benelli on tossed cans and shotshells. These can be more challenging than you might think from a low-gun position because they spend little time in the air and almost none of that on a lazy arc. We had no trouble popping the soup cans more than once. We did notice, however, that the 3-inch loads hammered our cheeks.

There's a lot to like about the Sport II. It's a goose gun that a chukar hunter could love. Disassembly is a cinch, but you won't have to do it often because this gun stays clean. I'd like a slim, steel trigger with a lighter, snappier trigger pull. And a more conventional guard bow would be nice. Also, there's no need for such long barrels. The receiver is long, too, making for a gun that likely won't zip into any of your cases. The plastic clamshell case provided is great for travel but requires disassembling the gun (an easy solution would be to offer a 26-inch-barrel option).

With a retail sticker of $1,400, the Benelli Sport II won't fit every budget. But for those who want a lithe, trouble-free auto that doesn't look like every other shotgun on the block, it should suffice.