Shotgun Review: Benelli's ETHOS BE.S.T - Revolutionary Benelli Surface Treatment
The constant nightmare facing waterfowl hunters - rust and corrosion. Time and time again we have to strip down and deep clean our shotguns hoping we don't miss a spot sometimes causing irreversible damage.
At long last a truly viable, permanent solution has been presented by Benelli with their recently released ETHOS BE.S.T model.
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Before getting into Benelli's proprietary BE.S.T treatment let's dive into the ETHOS itself.
The ETHOS shotgun line has proven to be an elegant and reliable shotgun winning numerous awards from several firearm publications worldwide and incorporating Benelli's latest innovations, refinements, and design superiority. At the center, like so many of Benelli's finest, is the renowned Interia Driven System.
The advantages of the Interia Driven System are numerous, it eliminates the need for adjusting at all while maintaining a very simple design consisting of three main parts: bolt body, inertia spring, and a rotating bolt head. It goes without saying that when it comes to speed, reliability, and cleanliness, gas-operated systems cannot compare to the Interia Driven system which is known to be able to fire 500,000+ rounds and still function without flaw.
Onto what makes this ETHOS model special. After 10 years of research and testing, Benelli finally released their revolutionary Benelli Surface Treatment (BE.S.T.), a new proprietary finishing technology, preventing rust, corrosion and abrasions.
In essence, it is a hybrid Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) technology that applies a protective coating to every part possible. Those parts being the barrel, barrel extension, bolt, bolt handle, extended choke, safety, stud, trigger and trigger pin.
The specifics are best said by Benelli, "PVD and PECVD processes utilize electricity, radio frequencies, and plasma in a high vacuum environment to deposit a solid coating that precisely and uniformly covers the treated parts... Diamond-like carbon particles are applied using nanotechnology, resulting in an exceptionally hard surface that is difficult to scratch, and won’t ever rust or corrode. The graphitic components of the coating layer also greatly reduce the amount of oil and maintenance required."
While many will say that these technologies have been used in the industry for some time now, applying these coating to shotgun barrels have never been practical till now. Typically, the deposition process of applying the finish would be at high temperatures. It goes without saying that treating the barrel at such a temperature would ruin the ballistic properties of the barrel and weaken it overall. Now comparing the industry standard to the BE.S.T finish, Benelli's engineers created a process that allows the treatment to be done at low temperatures allowing them to maintain the perfect ballistics of their Crio-treated barrels.
For those doubting if the finish really is all that, all the numerous parts treated with BE.S.T have been immersed in saltwater for several months with ZERO signs of rust or corrosion. Not only that but Benelli, confident in the treatment they developed, is backing parts treated in BE.S.T. with a 25-year warranty.
Topping it all off , Benelli's new process produces no emissions or waste, poses no health or safety risks to operators and is environmentally friendly.
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