Target Sports

AIR PISTOL REVIEW: BENELLI KITE

Created on 30th June 2009

Mick Gault gets to grips with this Italian match air pistol - and even wins some competitions with it

AS MANY readers will know, I have been shooting the Morini electronic air pistol for several years now, and recently I have been seeking a replacement. Before the last Commonwealth Games in Sydney, Australia, I tried the Hammerli AP40. Although this trial lasted about six months, for me the grip angle was not quite right. I went back to the Morini for the Commonwealth Games and have been using it ever since. Luckily, however, Paul Cutts (Diverse Trading), the importer of the Benelli pistol and an old friend of mine, came up to me and offered me a pistol on the proviso that I shoot with it, and then put my thoughts down in the form of a report. Who was I to turn that kind of offer down? Of course I accepted, on the grounds that the report would be an honest one, be it good or bad - as the country's leading air and free pistol shooter, I take my responsibility towards other shooters extremely seriously.

The Benelli Company hales from Italy, and my fellow shooters who use shotguns tell me that Benellis are a fine piece of equipment to have. My own first experience of Benelli was in the good old days when we could use .22 standard pistols. At that time, I was using Hammerli 280s, but I remember going to a World Cup and seeing the new Benelli pistol. Its quality and simplicity struck me, the trigger having only two moving parts. The price was about £1,000 - out of my league at that time!

Overall view

My first impression of the Benelli was positive. The case is silver in colour, and has a curve in its body. It is secured by two combination locks, with the word Benelli emblazoned on the case in red lettering. Upon unlocking the case and opening it, I found the pistol cushioned in black felt-type material and plastic. My pistol came with one long air cylinder and one medium air cylinder. The length of the air cylinder affects the balance of the pistol, and there is also a very short cylinder available for those who prefer the balance of the pistol brought further back towards the grip; this would make the pistol quite suitable for a Junior shooter. Also supplied was a sturdy air adaptor that looked very similar to the ones supplied by Morini.

The pistol can be purchased with four different length air cylinders, depending upon your preferences for weight and balance. According to the handbook, the long cylinder weighs 0.270kg; the intermediate 0.245kg; the medium 0.225kg; and the small 0.175kg. If you add this to the weight of the pistol - 0.800kg - the total weight ranges from 0.975kg to 1.070kg (2lb 3oz to 2lb 6oz). Extra weight can also be added to a device that clamps onto the trigger guard, and there's a weight which can be fitted onto the barrel.

The tool kit and instruction manual were hidden under a flap on the lid of the case - a hiding hole which other pistol manufacturers do not provide. This was a really nice touch, ensuring that the manual can stay with the pistol - no more leaving the manual at home when you need it!

The tool kit is extremely basic. Four Allen keys and a natty-looking screwdriver tool are supplied. There is no recoil absorber, as fitted to other pistols, but it does have a vented barrel (holes to you and me) and a very nice compensator. The grip is first class, but as with all grips some work may be required to get it to fit your hand.

I didn't need the instruction book, as loading the pistol was quite self-explanatory; pulling back on the cocking lever exposes the breech, allowing a pellet to be put into the pistol. My first few shots were down to the lower left on the target - the sights obviously needed adjusting. This was a bit of a mystery, but the instruction manual explained that the lever must be lifted to adjust the sights. After clicking the sights in the right direction I started pasting the 10-ring out - not bad for a pistol straight out of a box. Adjustments to the trigger and to the grip were all that was needed to personalise it.

Frame

The pistol body is made out of what seems to be a light alloy, and is extremely well-machined. At first glance, everything about the pistol appears soundly made and very competently engineered.

Sights

The foresight is a standard metal post, and comes in two sizes: a 4mm and a 5mm blade. The blade is held in place by a small locking screw which screws into the top of the compensator. The foresight itself can be placed in three different positions on the compensator, altering the sight length to the user's satisfaction.

The back sight is quite a complex mechanism, and adjustments are available for windage; elevation; back sight gap width; and depth. Elevation adjustments are made using one of the specialised screws located on the top of the back sight. To operate these screws, put your thumb onto the top of the screw and move the adjustment flap backwards. There will be a small click, and then the adjustment flap can be raised to a right angle, giving a lever to hold and turn. To alter elevation, turn the screw towards the plus sign to raise your shots and towards the minus to lower them. Each click of the screw will move the point of impact by 2mm at 10m.

Altering the specialised screw on the right-hand side of the back sight carries out windage adjustment. There are two arrows on the top of the back sight, which indicate which way to turn the screw to alter the shot-fall. I found these indicators confusing, and in my opinion a simple L and R would have been better. Turning the screw clockwise makes the shots go towards the right, and vice versa.

Back sight depth adjustment is carried out by loosening the grip and exposing the back sight again. To the right of the back sight width screw you will find a small lever; pushing the lever to the plus sign increases the back sight depth, while pushing in the opposite direction decreases it.

The width is adjusted by turning the screw towards the minus to reduce the width, or towards the plus sign to increase it. I discovered a problem with this adjustment, as the back sight blades would not open up enough for me to see my ideal sight picture. I took the pistol to an engineer to have this machined out. The engineer simply exercised the screw, and sure enough the back sight opened up to my satisfaction. However, I doubt very much that if I fitted the 5mm foresight I would be able to see my ideal sight picture. The back sight blades may need to be engineered to give more adjustment; although they close right up, they do not open up enough.

The sights are robust, however, and give a good deal of small adjustments; for example, one click windage = 1mm at 10m and one click vertical = 2mm at 10m. The method of adjusting the sights took a little getting used to but I soon got the hang of flipping the adjusters up and there's no need to remember to bring the screwdriver. The only improvements I would like to see are greater sight width being made available, giving the user more choice, and the windage figures being changed from the arrows to something more definite.

Trigger

The trigger on this Benelli is extremely sweet, and has all the usual adjustments - for example, first-stage pressure and second-stage pressure; first-stage movement; trigger reach; and trigger stop. The trigger is one of the finest I have felt in many years, and is comparable to the Morini electronic trigger in its feel. It is many years since I have owned a pistol with a mechanical trigger, and I was simply amazed by how crisp the trigger felt out of the box.

The handbook, which is written in six languages, explains the trigger adjustments very well. There is just one adjustment which I am not sure about, called a trigger support. Having tried this screw, it seems to be a fine sear adjustment. One of the handiest features of this pistol trigger unit is a fine first-stage adjustment, which can be altered with the grip fitted. This could be useful for people who like to keep to the edge of the 1,000g weight limit. If the trigger fails in weapons control, this handy little adjustment screw can be moved very quickly so that the pistol would pass.

All the other controls for the trigger adjustment are very well laid-out, and by using the handbook the trigger can be modified very easily. One small phrase which has been lost a little in translation is what we would call the sear, known in the handbook as second-phase travel. The trigger shoe itself can be simply adjusted for reach by loosening the trigger attachment screw on the side of the trigger shoe. The trigger shoe can also be rotated in a clockwise and anti-clockwise direction. The trigger is first class, and simple to adjust using the handbook, with the fine first-phase pressure adjustment being a very nice touch.

Dry-fire mechanism

As with all good-quality air pistols these days, the pistol is equipped with a dry-fire mechanism. This mechanism is a lever on the right-hand side of the frame. In the live-fire position, there is a red dot in view on top of the dry fire lever. The mechanism cannot be engaged until the pistol is cocked. Once the pistol is cocked, push the red spot end of the lever into the frame (which makes the front of the lever stick out from the body). The pistol is now ready to dry-fire. As it's a manual trigger, you must cock the pistol every time you wish to dry-fire. To turn off the dry-fire mechanism, cock the pistol and push the end of the lever that protrudes from the body towards the frame. This results in the red spot becoming visible again. The pistol is now ready to fire a live round.

Loading the pistol

For loading, the pistol features two large ‘wings', one on either side. This will be useful for both right- and left-handed shooters. Lifting the wings towards the rear sight, you will feel some resistance. Continue lifting through the resistance, and you will hear a click; this is the pistol cocking. Pulling the wings back exposes the breech of the barrel. The pellet can simply be laid into the exposed groove on the breech. Closing the wings pushes the pellet into the barrel, and the pistol is ready to fire.

The grip

The grip is a well-fitting wooden semi-orthopaedic type made by Kinn Griph, which is held onto the pistol by an Allan screw located on its base. The grip supplied for me was a standard medium size; this needed very little adjustment to fit fully. The grip has no adjustment for rake or cant, which is a little disappointing for a pistol of this quality; however, I found the pistol pointed well for me without the need for these adjustments.

Conclusions

Overall this is an excellent piece of work: the pistol gives extremely good value and quality for your hard-earned loot. I have used it over the past few months and it has never let me down. It's even won a few competitions!

So now to the nitty-gritty: this Benelli is well worth considering as one of the cheapest match grade pistols in the shop. The NSRA has the pistol on its website for £790, which makes it over £200 cheaper than some match pistols. The Kite is well-engineered and well-equipped, and can be put into the same class as the Morini, FWBs and Steyrs of this world. Indeed, I have seen this pistol in use in international competition, and have been well and truly beaten by its user! If you want to get to the top in the shooting world, this piece of equipment will not stop you.

Technical Specification

Model: Benelli Kite
Calibre: .177
Weight: (without cylinder) 800g
Total length: 433mm
Line of sight (mm): 365/350/335
Barrel length: 240mm
Trigger action: mechanical, adjustable, selector for blank trigger action
Price £790
Optional Extras: Interchangeable air cylinders