Type Semi-automatic pistol Designed 1976 Produced 1976–90 | Place of origin Italy Manufacturer Benelli No. built ~10,000 | |
The B76 is a pistol manufactured in Italy by Benelli.
Design
First manufactured in 1976 the Benelli B76 is a locked-breech, fixed-barrel pistol, that works thank to a unique "inertia lock" system, as explained in U.S. Patent 3,893,369. In this system, the gun has a bolt provided with ribs extending transversely to the bolt axis and adapted to engage in and disengage from corresponding mating grooves in the receiver, and a locking lever that links the bolt with the slide, that acts as a bolt carrier. Upon firing, while the pistol recoils in the hand of the shooter, the inertia of the slide make so that it mantains its position relatively to the receiver, forcing the bolt ribs in the corresponding grooves via the locking lever, and so mantaining the breech positively locked. As soon the recoil movement of the pistol in the hand of the shooter slows down, the slide tends to continue its rearward movement, so retreating in repect to the receiver. By doing so, the locking lever does not force the bolt in it's locking recesses any more, and the bolt is free to recoil as well, pushed by the residual pressure of the gasses in the barrel, with enough force to complete the shooting cycle.
Manufacture has been discontinued at the end of the '80s.