I came home from the Sika show with a much lighter wallet and amongst other things a new Benelli Lupo. So this is a quick review of that rifle, for those who don't want read much further, I say BUY ONE.
Any way the one I picked up is finished in whats called Elevate, Camo, 24" barrel the metal finish is what Benelli call their B.E.S.T finish in matt black. Calibre 6.5 Creedmoor.
I went for the Elevate stock finish because it was the only one which gave me the specs I wanted as well as the high comb which I also wanted. I could of gone for the Walnut stock, it is a thing of beauty, I am not sure how Benelli can do this at the price, but I would be too worried about dinging it.
Things I like:
The stock system with the Alloy bedding block is very well done, The adjustability for length of pull, length to trigger, cast, etc is excellent.
The Pistol grip fits the hand very well it feels like it would fit regardless of hand size.
The balance on the rifle is great, except when you add a suppressor to that 24" barrel, it then end up a little muzzle heavy.
The action is super slick, the bolt handle looks a little ugly but it really works well.
Nice to see a rifle where the OALL of the cartridge matches up well with the magazine length. With a projectile seated to about 1/2 mm of free bore there is plenty of space in the mag.
The trigger is an interesting design, it is a 3 level system with the main trigger weight screw on the middle lever and another lighter spring on the trigger shoe lever, so they sort of work against each other. with the main trigger weight screw turned right out the trigger broke very crisply at 1kg. I like my triggers a little lighter than this so off came the trigger for a quick look. I ended up giving that trigger shoe spring a very slight stretch which has brought the weight down to around 750 grams.
Things I'm not so fussed on:
The rear bedding screw goes in from the top, at the rear of the action. So it cannot be tightened with a normal screw driver or torque wrench, you need to use the supplied L shaped wrench. So not really possible to torque the rear bedding screw to the specified torque, I think the manual say 75 inch pounds.
I don't think we'll be seeing anything in the way of after market parts any time in the near future. What you have is what you've got.
The magazine needs to be inserted with a very positive whack with the palm of the hand. On the up side there will never be any question that the magazine is locked home but not so good if your trying to do it quietly.
I will taking this thing to the range on Wednesday to sight it in and sort out a load. I have high expectations.
Almost forgot. The scope I have put on is one of the new GPO Centuri 3-18 x 44 scopes. Also new from the SIKA show so it will also be getting its first outing.
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