Benelli Ethos: Good, the Bad, the Ugly
This year, at least in the arena of autoloading shotguns, the Benelli Ethos has generated more commentary than anything else in the category, even though the “Benelli Raffaello Power Bore 12” isn't strictly new, just new to the U.S. It has been loudly introduced with various collections of large black cats, motorcycle sketches, violins, and costumed batgirls. Most of the banter you'll hear is that it is a strikingly handsome shotgun compared to most Benellis and also that it costs way too much.
The general problems (or considerations) with Benellis, in general, have long been 1) they kick too much, 2) they cost too much, 3) you can't just ease the bolt into battery (enabling the “Benelli Click”), 4) you can't unload them quickly, 5) they are too hard to load (“Benelli Thumb”), 6) they are ugly, and 7) they don't do well with light loads, In the Ethos, all of these issues have attempted to be addressed with the exception of number two.
THE GOOD The shell-handling, particularly the ease of unloading has been improved, just as it was in the Vinci. The Vinci still loads more smoothly.
The very light shell reliability has been improved, no question, although shooting 7/8 oz. as a hunting load makes little to no sense.
It is a very good looking shotgun, lacking the horrible fake plasti-wood dipped finishes that are impossible to touch up or match.
THE BAD The retail price points of $2200 and $2000 open up many other options and get close to good O/U territory.
The Benelli options are historically pricey and sometimes just not available. The notion of an interchangeable rib sounds good, but they aren't available and the price will likely be nose-bleed.
This follows the modular Vinci approach where a new buttstock (pistol grip), extra pads, a higher capacity tubular magazine are all wallet-flatteners, if you can find them. The only listed Ethos hardware options at the moment are just choke tubes.
The felt recoil has not been dramatically reduced with the “Progressive Comfort System” that is said to weigh less than the wood it replaces, adding no unwanted weight to the back end.
THE UGLY The Ethos begs to be offered in 20 gauge, where loading difficulty is far more prominent, and the entire line of Benelli inertia guns (excepting the Vinci) can benefit from better shell handling, a bit larger bolt release, a better magazine cap, and absolutely certain reliability with at least 1 oz. loads. While the Ethos discards the “inline action of the Vinci,” it puts the safety within easy reach at the back of the trigger guard, and slims up the forearm.
The ugly isn't about the Ethos, it is more that that the Ethos suddenly makes several other Benellis seem either obsolete, pricey, or ugly. It does the same for some other Beretta family models, making the A400 Xplor Action (above) looking like a gun to avoid, if it wasn't already. The following Benelli models remain current:
Performance Shop SuperSport Starting Price $2,949
Performance Shop Cordoba Starting Price $2,829
Legacy Sport Shotgun Starting Price $2,439
Vinci SuperSport Shotgun Starting Price $2,199
SuperSport Shotgun Starting Price $2,199
Cordoba Shotgun Starting Price $2,099 Vinci Cordoba Shotgun Starting Price $2,069 Legacy Shotgun Starting Price $2,039
With the basic Ethos at $1999 MSRP, the nickel at $2199, all of the above models (that lack several key features of the Ethos) are suddenly a really, really hard sell. It looked to me like Benelli has essentially killed off at least eight of their current models. As it turns out, though, the Ethos has revealed itself to be a hard gun to love, and the "Progressive Comfort System" would have been more aptly named "Progressive Discomfort." See: http://randywakeman.com/ReviewBenelliEthos12GaugeAutoloader.htm .
Copyright 2014 by Randy Wakeman. All Rights Reserved.
