REVIEWS
Benelli With A Twist
The Italian shotgun giant enters the centerfire rifle market with a unique autoloading sporter.
|
|
American shooters have long known Benelli of Brescia, Italy, as a manufacturer of some of the world's most prestigious shotguns. Now comes Benelli's first rifle, the R1, a centerfire autoloader styled as an elegant European-fashion sporter with many of Benelli's signature design features from its shotgun line, and chambered (initially) in .30-06 and .300 Winchester Magnum.
On the European market this new gun will be known as the ARGO (Auto-Regulating, Gas-Operated), which also provides a clue to its operating mechanism. In the U.S. it will be distributed as the R1 by Benelli. By whatever name, the rifle handles and operates like no other rifle in its category.
Semiauto centerfire sporters fall into two basic groups. Broadly described, there are, first, those derived from military designs and retain military-type features and appearance, such as the many variants of the AR-15, M14 clones like the Springfield Armory M1A, scaled-down M14 lookalikes such as the Ruger Mini-14 and Mini-30 and various "black rifle" models from manufacturers such as Heckler & Koch and Steyr.
The second group is not directly derived from military designs, having an outward appearance much more in accord with conventional sporting rifles. As a consequence, such rifles have not been subjected to the great amount of appearance-based legislative restrictions as the other group. Rifles in this second category also tend to be available in more powerful chamberings than the predominately small/medium-bore military-based designs, and they tend to come with lesser-capacity magazines (three or four rounds).
Well-known examples include the venerable Remington Model 742 and Model 7400, and the Browning BAR--now joined by the Benelli R1.
LIGHT, STRONG AND RELIABLE
If you're familiar with any of these other guns, one of the first things you'll notice when you pick up an R1 is that it's distinctly lighter--about a quarter-pound less than a Remington 742 and almost two pounds lighter than a Browning BAR. Comment, and the Benelli engineers will smile, as one of their primary assignments in developing the R1 was to maximize strength while minimizing weight. This was accomplished by using non-steel materials (aluminum and polymers) for all non-stressed parts.
For example, the R1's lower receiver, which merely houses the trigger group mechanism/magazine and supports the upper receiver, is aircraft-grade aluminum, as are the trigger guard and magazine cap. The upper receiver and locking bolt, and all other critical parts are steel.
On the side of strength, the design goal was to create a semiauto action that would lock as solidly as a manual turnbolt. The result employs rotating locking lugs at the front of the bolt--as used in various Benelli recoil-operated autoloading shotguns--and similar to features on the M1 Garand and the Remington 7400. When locked, three large lugs on the R1 bolt engage recesses machined into the barrel extension. With the bolt closed, a chambered cartridge casehead is enclosed by three layers of steel: the counterbored boltface, the chamber wall of the barrel and the front of the upper receiver that surrounds the barrel shank. The chrome-plated bolt features a spring-loaded, plunger-type ejector and claw extractor.
The R1 mechanism is gas-operated--certainly not new in concept, but executed differently than on other systems. The gas port in the R1 barrel is much closer to the breech than is typical on other gas-operated rifles. As a result, the propellant gas enters the operating chamber at a notably higher pressure and temperature allowing for an increase in reliability (according to Benelli) because propellant fouling in the mechanism accumulates at a notably slower rate.
