Dragonfly
Member
I started shooting in the mid-1980s, and while I could only afford a CZ75 back then as my 9mm pistol, I always thought that the 1970s and 1980s had so many unique and innovative pistol designs, like the Steyr GB, or the H&K P7, P9S and VP70. I’ve been lucky enough to pick up most those examples from back then and this one might be the one to complete my collection (and not a moment too soon, unfortunately).
The Benelli B76 certainly doesn’t get the attention of some of its counterparts like the H&K P7, and I must admit that other than it’s striking look I didn’t know that much about it. They were made from 1976 to 1990, and the models I was most familiar with was the standard model with fixed sights and a matte finish, and the Sport model, which had a blue finish, adjustable sights and an extended barrel with barrel weight. I didn’t even know this version—the B76 Target—was available. It’s the same size as the standard model but has the polished blued finish and adjustable sights of the Sport model.
The top of the slide is flat and is grooved. I think this is probably the most “stylish” handgun I own!
The controls are fairly standard with a couple of quirks—the magazine release is in the usual location, but is pushed forward instead in inwards. The safety is also in the usual place, but operates vertically instead of through an arc. Oddly, there is no decocker—this usually doesn’t bother me since this is a range-only gun of course but there’s another oddity I’ll mention a bit further along that presents a bit of an issue.
The single-stack grip is grooved on both the front and the back.
And speaking of grooves, the full trigger guard has an internal groove. Some H&K pistols have a similar (though smaller) groover, and I’ve read it’s to prevent a glove finger from being caught under the bottom of the trigger. On H&K pistols I found that the groove “bit” my trigger finger on recoil—we’ll see how this one fares.
The trigger is grooved has has the trigger bar attached to the left side. At the rear of the trigger guard area you can see an overtravel adjustment screw. I’ve grown to appreciate how much more pleasant a trigger can feel with low overtravel—it was one of my favourite features of the Gray Guns trigger I installed in my P226—so I was keen to learn of this feature on my new pistol. But, I’ve read that it’s possible to over-adjust the screw out too far to the point where the hammer won’t drop, and with no decocker there’s not way to lower the hammer and re-adjust the screw. I might just leave this one well enough alone. The double-action pull is very stout—maybe 15 lbs?—but the single action pull is a wonderfully light and crisp 3.5 lbs. (with a bit of the aforementioned overtravel).
The front sight is a very large blade with a large white stripe. It’s similar to the front sight on my P9S Target.
The rear sight has two smaller vertical white lines. It makes for a pretty good sight picture. It also provides a longer sight radius than the fixed sights of the standard model.
OK, so far there’s nothing really unusual about the pistol….maybe a few quirks but nothing to groundbreaking. Once the pistol is disassembled, though, things take a bit of an unusual turn. The pistol uses what Benelli called “Inertia Lock”; I’m not aware of any other pistols that use it.
You first start by removing the locking block (you can see it in the rear sight picture above) by flipping the little “wings” and removing it. The slide then slides off the front, revealing this unusual-looking arrangement.
You’ll see the fixed barrel, and, remarkably, a removable bolt, or breechblock.
The front of the bolt shows the extractor at the 12 o’clock position with the red “loaded chamber” indicator (although it’d be hard to see without getting awfully close to the muzzle).
The rear of the bolt reveals the secret to the pistol’s unique mode of operation. The two key parts are the black circular protrusion on the top of the bolt, and the keyhole-shaped lever at the rear. When the slide is fully forward, the locking block pushes this lever upwards, which cams the bolt down into the locking recess in the frame.
Here’s the locking recess—it’s the angled crosswise part of the frame between the ejector and the hammer (it’s shaded dark due to it’s angle). You can see the corresponding mating portion on the bolt in the picture of the bolt above—it’s the darker area at the bottom below the firing pin. When the bolt is cammed in place it’s locked.
Here’s a picture of the underside of the slide (one thing that’s unusual is that it’s pretty empty—this also makes it lighter than expected). At the moment the pistol is fired, the frame will start recoiling, but the inertia of the slide’s mass (its resistance to moving…think Newton’s first law) means that it takes a tiny bit longer to start moving, during which chamber pressure can drop to a safer level for ejection. Once the slide moves back the groove that runs side-to-side across the slide will engage the top of the bolt lever and pull the bolt upwards out of its locked position allowing it to move freely. The left-to-right grove with the semi-circular portion on the left end then engages the circular protrusion in the bolt and pull it rearwards to eject the case and pick up a fresh round. Wow! That was a mouthful!
Unusual operating mode aside, this is a very pleasant pistol to hold. The “Glock-like” gip angle feels very natural to me, and the single-stack grip is pleasingly slim. The target sights are easy for my post-cataract eyes to pick up, too. I’m hoping that the combination of the weight of the all-steel pistol (exactly 1000g , or 35.3 oz., according to my kitchen scale) combined with a low bore axis and lighter slide will make for low muzzle flip, too. I’m looking forward to taking it out!
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