Gun

Benelli Raffaello Crio

I was in America recently, in the company of a group of fishing and hunting enthusiasts. In between lying to each other about the size of trout we had caught, the talk got round to shotguns. These guys were fairly typical of the breed, their guns were seen as tools that would shoot clays one day, upland game another and ducks in season. They were unsentimental about their guns, looking primarily for reliable performance in all conditions. They all loved Benellis, the Italian autos being seen as sweet handling guns that just did not go wrong and would tolerate the greatest abuse without complaint.
It's a reputation enjoyed by the Urbino-based company in many markets around the world and the Benelli range has a loyal following in Britain but, surprisingly, the guns have never really made any great impression in the target shooting sector. In part this is down to marketing priorities, but I have long felt that Benelli products deserve to be better known among clay shooters. With the launch of the new Crio, they may have the gun to do it.

Semi-auto specialists Benelli have added a new model at the top of their range. Richard Rawlingson looks to see if there is substance beneath the stunning styling.

Technical Overview
The heart of the new gun is the familiar Benelli fast cycling 'rotating bolt' operating system that has proved so effective over the years. It is a brilliantly simple design, reducing moving parts to the bare minimum and doing away with valves, sealing rings and washers - all the things that break or clog up on gas-operated automatics. Benelli actions seem impervious to the build up of fouling, mud and general debris and keep on going. They are also very versatile, coping with all normal 12 gauge ammunition right up to 56 gram magnum loads and all cartridge cases from 65 to 76mm.
Cleaning is a fast and simple operation, made even easier on this model by the removable top half of the receiver, a feature seen before on top of the range models. Stripping the gun down takes just a few seconds and there is none of the tiresome poking around in gas ports to worry about. It may be a simple process, but my American friends seem to think even that much attention a waste of time. One claimed never to have cleaned his gun, despite frequent soakings on the marsh, without any malfunctioning. (This approach is not recommended!)
The main interest in the Crio however comes from the barrel and an innovation that gives the gun its name. Benelli is the first - and currently only - gun maker in the world to apply cryogenic hardening techniques to its barrels on an industrial scale. This technique, widely used in precision engineering applications such as the aerospace and automotive industries, involves rapid and extreme cooling of the metal after heat treatment, using liquid gases such as nitrogen.
Heat treatment of gun parts is a vital part of the manufacturing process, providing surface hardening of the metal while giving the elasticity needed to withstand the stresses of firing. The heating process produces changes in the atomic structure that are made permanent by cooling. For those of you of a technical bent, it is all to do with the transition from a substance called austenite - a solution of carbon in iron - to a hardened state called martensite.
Normal cooling procedures do not fully achieve this transition, but cryogenic hardening gives a more complete process. The result is steel with higher stability, increased surface hardening and lower internal stress. Benelli say that the process will give barrels with a much longer useful life that are more resistant to corrosion and also easier to clean, because another benefit is a decrease in the friction coefficient of the metal (things don't stick to it so easily).
More interestingly, they claim cryogenically hardened barrels should give more consistent results because they react in a more regular and predictable way to expansion caused by the heat of many shots being fired. Changes to patterns or point of impact should as a result be minimised.
The same treatment is also applied to the choke system, called Criochoke. The choke tubes are long (70mm) and very thin walled - some of the most impressive factory chokes I have seen. They are designed with a very gradual taper on the theory that this produces the least amount of pellet deformation and again more consistent patterns.
Completing this veritable cornucopia of technical innovation in barrel making is the use of the interchangeable carbon rib, first seen on Benelli's Centro model. This has a dramatic effect on total barrel weight and also allows ribs to be changed to suit personal preference or for different purposes (three different types are available). Continuing the interchangeable theme, all barrels are interchangeable between receivers.
Back at the receiver things are fairly conventional. Loading is through the usual port in the underside, with the bolt handle and operating button where you would expect to find them. There is a magazine cut off lever and the safety catch can be adapted for right and left hand use.

COSMETICS
There has been a veritable outbreak of styling in the Italian gun trade over the past couple of years, with Beretta (Benelli's parent company) leading the way. The semi-auto market has been particularly busy in this regard, with the likes of Beretta's Urika and the snazzy Fabarm guns to the fore.
Not to be outdone, Benelli have gone to town with a piece of industrial sculpture that I think is stunning. It may be pushing things too far to claim Cubist influences as the press blurb does, but I love the combination of simple, bold lines and the plain brushed aluminium finish used on the receiver. It is unmistakeably Italian and reminiscent of some of the current car styling from Fiat and Alfa Romeo. The automotive reference is appropriate because even the gun case has been worked on by the styling gurus, a combination of wedge shape and circles that looks like a drag racer in outline.
Even the trigger guard continues the theme of curves and angles, as does the shaping of the chequering on stock and fore end. The test gun had a pleasant piece of American walnut and the expected matt lacquer finish.
Benelli autos have always been much slimmer of profile than gas guns, not having to accommodate bulky valve mechanisms in the fore end and this is the sleekest looking yet. It's a cracker.

ON TEST
Those sleek lines result in light weight. As tested, with a 28 inch (71cm) barrel fitted, the gun weighs around 3.1kg (under 7lbs). That weight is also nicely distributed Ð another benefit of not having valves and pistons hanging out ahead of the leading hand. The balance point is about halfway along the length of the ejection port. The 28 inch barrel is incidentally the longest available (the alternative is 26 inches), but remember that is equivalent to around 30" in an over-and-under.
Low weight and good balance usually translate to fast and fluid handling and this is exactly what you get with the Crio. It really gets on to the target in a hurry, but there is enough length out in front of the hands to prevent it becoming too whippy. As with most autos the single barrel makes the gun feel very 'pointable'.
Stock drop is variable from 36 to 55mm, using the spacers provided and spacers can also be added between the stock and the slim rubber recoil pad to extend the length from the factory set 360mm.
My biggest gripe is with the grip shape. For all the company may claim ergonomic principles have been applied in its design, I found it too tight in radius and very cramped. I do not have particularly big hands and those who do may find it even more uncomfortable. It also seemed to create a strange angle between the trigger finger and the trigger blade.
Semi-automatics are not generally renowned for the quality of their trigger pulls and the new Benelli is not going to change that perception. It is adequate, exhibiting a fair amount of creep, but at just over 5 lbs it is not excessively heavy.
The relatively light felt recoil of Benelli guns has always surprised me. Theoretically they should be at a disadvantage when compared with gas-operated automatics in this department - which is of course a prime reason for many to go down the auto route in the first place. In fact earlier tests shooting one back-to-back with a typical gas gun has shown them to be remarkably soft on the shoulder. Having read Dr. Birch's erudite piece on the subject last month, I think the answer may lie in the way the energy used in cycling the bolt changes the recoil 'signature' to make the perception less dramatic.
That said you cannot escape the fact that this is a 7lb gun. Whilst Benelli may happily claim that it will cycle loads up to 56 gram, whether you would actually want to do so is an entirely different matter. In the cause of research (is there nothing I won't do to bring you the facts?) I did try a couple of 50 gram magnum loads found lurking at the back of a drawer. The subsequent headache lasted two days and my dentist is buying a new BMW on the proceeds of the repair work needed to my teeth. Stick to normal clay shooting loads and you will have no problems.
Erring on the side of caution, Benelli claim unadjusted cycling only on loads between 28 and 56 grams. In fact I tried this gun with several different 24 gram loads and found no problems with them. Only some subsonics caused it to falter and this test stumps most autos of whatever design. Other than that it cycled perfectly and I had not a single jam during my test session.
What an interesting gun this new Benelli is. It looks great, handles beautifully - that grip apart - and is excellent value for money. Can it break into the clay market? Ironically the lack of pounds and ounces may just be the thing that holds it back; it might just be too light for many. On the other hand youngsters and ladies who struggle to cope with 8 lbs or more of over-and-under could find it just the ticket. On looks alone it deserves success, but yes there is substance beneath the style.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Beechwood Equipment 01932 847365