Benelli Nova caliber 12/89: the star among Bolt Action shotguns

Benelli Nova caliber 12/89: The Benelli Nova is a shotgun that can be used both by hunters and by the police. The use and installation of plastic parts guarantees this shotgun greater longevity and resistance to atmospheric agents.

The Benelli Nova is a pump action or slide action shotgun. Perhaps not everyone knows that Nova, in astronomy, is a star that is able to increase its brightness by 100.000 times in a few hours. This super magnum from Benelli is imbued with new technological solutions, with the aim of offering the market a very competitive product capable of competing especially with US manufacturers, who have always dominated the pump action shotgun market.

Let's see how the Benelli Nova is made. The carcass and the stock were designed using a three-dimensional Cad program: both derive from a monolithic block of injection molded high-resistance technopolymer (i.e. by injection), composed of fiberglass, a material resistant to atmospheric agents, to attack from solvents and chemicals and harder use. Many know that plastic took a long time to enter the world of shotguns, but for some years it has become increasingly present.

In any case, metal does not abandon us, quite the contrary. The steel armor was obtained through molding and welding and is incorporated into the technopolymer casing. The latter is characterized by some holes that ensure complete and indissoluble adhesion of the plastic material and by others threaded and prepared for the assembly of optical bases. On the casing there are the guides for the sliding of the shutter and, in the top, the element that carousels the movement and rotation of the head.

The union between the casing and the magazine tube was obtained through a threaded channel that fortifies an area highly subject to the stress of the shot. The tank has a capacity of 3 super magnum or 5 standard rounds, but with an extension you can even reach 6 +1 rounds (76 case). Obviously for the Nova there is a two-shot reducer for any length of ammunition. Carcass and stock do not have elements of continuity. The stock is hollow and can accommodate a recoil reducer of the hydraulic type or with mercury or heavy granulates. This device makes the effect of the energy delivered by the most powerful 12 gauge ammunition available on the market more bearable.

In addition, the Nova has a thick soft butt plate simply fixed with an undercut and easily replaceable with others of different sizes. The sides of the carcass are separated by a longitudinal line and the two sections have a slightly rounded and convex surface. The handle is pistol grip and has a variable orientation grip with deep grip grooves, in order to allow it to be firmly grasped: the design recalls the armadillo armor plates. The design of the forend is also deliberately reminiscent of the horse's mane.

The latter has been designed for maximum fluidity of movement and is very elongated, allowing a good grip for any arm length. The fore-end has been decorated with deep horizontal depressions, offering a secure and uncertain grip. In order to avoid crushing and annoying "pinching" of the hand, the long opening rod surmounts the casing, while, in the front part, a prominence prevents the finger from being crushed during the closing action. The entire bolt carrier assembly has been machined from case hardened steel, and is burnished with a matte anticorrosive finish. All other metal parts of the shotgun undergo this same opaque protective treatment. The barrel is not very different from that of the Benelli automatics. There is the possibility to mount the 470, 500 or 610 mm slug or the Varichoke (with internal or internal / external interchangeable chokes) of 610, 660 or 710.

Integral attachments have been positioned on the stock and on the cap, suitable for removable shirts. For longer barrels, the rib with 8 mm ventilated ramp with jumpers is equipped in the muzzle with a metal bead front sight and an intermediate sight in addition to the front one, which allows rapid and instinctive collimation. The rotating head bolt slides inside a steel armor reducing barrel wear to zero.

The sliding of the bolt group is managed by the relative straps, in turn directly connected to the forend on which the user manually decides the operating cycle of the firearm, such as feeding the cartridge, cocking, closing the combustion chamber, and , after firing, opening, extraction, ejection of the cartridge case. The movement is very smooth and the operation is perfect, with no danger of twisting or jamming.

The closure is ensured by the two bolt wings which engage in corresponding mortises in the breech of the barrel. The forend is connected to the bolt carrier by means of two twin cocking braces and the bolt rotates by interaction between a transverse pin and a cam track machined on the bolt shank itself.

The shutter unit cannot be dismantled with the exception of the firing pin and the spring. The rotating head cannot be separated from the body, but the firing pin and the relative antagonist spring can be extracted after removing a cross retaining pin of the firing pin.

Safety is ensured by three devices: a lock that acts if the weapon does not close perfectly, a disconnector that forces the trigger to be released to fire the next shot and a crossbar that interposes to the trigger. The trigger has a short stroke and guarantees positive and constant resistance to the shot. The Nova can fire all kinds of cartridges, with which it always ensures regular shot patterns.

The Benelli Nova is a shotgun designed for both hunting and law enforcement, depending on the barrels you choose.