In 1911 Teresa Benelli invested in her 6 sons to begin an auto Service company. Eventually their services expanded to include servicing motorcycles and even building their own. In 1967 they acted on their love of hunting as well as their belief in the semi-auto shotgun by developing firearms. They did this by teaming up with Bruno Civolani the developer of a revolutionary new action and patenting the "Inertia Driven" mechanism.
Many Benelli shotguns utilize a unique inertia operating system developed by Bruno Civolani. In 1999 Benelli introduced the Benelli M4 Super 90, an unusual gas operated semi-automatic shotgun intended for military and law enforcement use.
The Benelli Super Black Eagle, a favorite of waterfowlers, was one of the first semi-automatic shotguns capable of firing the 2.75, 3, and 3.5 inch shotgun shells. The Benelli Nova (pump action), M1 Super 90, and a customized M2 Field were used by Tom Knapp during his shooting exhibitions wherein he frequently shot down several hand-thrown clay targets while still in mid-air, setting a world record in October 2004 when he destroyed 10 such targets with 10 shots in 2.0 seconds, with all the targets still airborne.
