Benelli R1 30-06 topped with a Leupold VXIII 2.5-8X36… does it get any better than that? I don’t know.
But I shot a box of 180 Remington Core Locked through this combo on the Range.
The Benelli R1… what can I say… it is light and well balanced, shoulders like a dream and the recoil is very modest. Shooting rapid off-hand it comes back on target very, very quickly with very little muzzle jump for a rifle of this weight
From the Bench it shot a sub MOA group very easily… three shots inside 20 seconds starting with a cold barrel… this auto loader is just as accurate as the Sako and Tikka bolt actions I have tested with factory loads. I wonder what it would shoot with premium or hand rolled ammo.
The detachable Mag is very ergonomic and fits firmly in the rifle with no chance of it falling out. The trigger broke cleanly at around 3 pounds and did not need any work at all. I found I had to reach for the trigger on the bench but it was fine off hand,
The safety is very stiff and I found it a reach for my twisted and broken fingers as it is positioned forward on the large trigger guard
The Leupold VXIII 2.5-8X36 was a treat… it was dark and misting/raining for most of my shooting this morning and the low light ability of this scope was very obvious. I was having trouble finding the holes through the Simmons spotting scope on 20X but could see them no problem with the Leupold on 8X
The adjustments on the scope were exactly 1/4 minute @100 yds with positive hand turned click and easy to read turrets and I only needed to adjust once to bring it home.
The scope itself is extremely light and was superb choice for this rifle. I would add the rainguard filters if it was my own rifle other than that I have nothing bad to say about this combo.
If you want a top drawer semi-auto and scope combo this is one of the best.
Firearms Training & Hunter Education
