How a Benelli B76 works

The B76 is a pistol manufactured in Italy by Benelli. First manufactured in 1976, the Benelli B76 is a locked-breech, fixed-barrel semi-automatic handgun. The B76’s trigger is of a double-action/single-action type and the firearm works thanks 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 which acts as a bolt carrier. Upon firing, while the pistol recoils in the hand of the shooter, the inertia of the slide makes it maintain its position relative to the receiver, constraining the bolt ribs’ motion in the corresponding grooves via the locking lever, and so keeping the breech positively locked. As soon as the recoil movement of the pistol in the hand of the shooter slows down, the slide tends to continue its rearward movement, so re