January 23, 2024
By Dale Evans
Benelli just announced their patented Advanced Impact system that helps push shotguns beyond their known boundaries, and we had a chance to have a first look. This new and innovative shotgun technology helps improve the terminal performance of smooth-bore platforms to achieve greater velocity, increased range and harder impacts on target. Named Advanced Impact (A.I.) technology, the modern barrel design delivers shot downrange faster and harder, with a denser pattern than the traditional design.
The key to Benelli’s A.I. technology the company’s redesigned ballistic contours integrated into the barrel. Combined with new, proprietary Crio chokes, the A.I. barrel technology increases shot speed up to 4% faster with 6% more energy at one meter past the muzzle. Doesn’t sound like much? Consider at 60 meters, that velocity is now 42% faster, with 77% more energy than your standard barrel/choke combination. This means harder hits on those flaring geese, hung-up gobblers, or speeding clays that are going away at long range.
One aspect to really point out is how Benelli’s Advanced Impact system will help with performance of both lead and steel shot. It’s well-known steel pellets have a lower density than lead, causing steel shot to have a larger surface area to match volume. This in turn results in faster loss of velocity as it leaves the muzzle that slows even more significantly in flight. Benelli has shown through testing that steel shot performance is significantly improved at longer distances, resulting in tighter, more uniform patterns and harder-hitting shot.
I recently had the opportunity to see these firsthand in my home state of Montana, for a late-season goose hunt. With less-than-ideal conditions and wary birds, we had a tough hunt as the flocks did not want to fully commit to our spread. Countless times we were forced to take passing shots at greater distances than we would have liked. With typical shots at that 45 yard or farther range, I can honestly say this new barrel technology was the reason we left with a limit of late-season geese. We crumbled multiple birds at longer distances.
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Benelli will be first introducing the Advanced Impact technology in three Performance Shop ETHOS-series models: Performance Shop ETHOS Supersport A.I., Sport A.I., and Cordoba A.I., BE.S.T. For more information on Benelli’s new Advanced Impact barrel technology, visit BenelliUSA.com .
