This past April, in the rolling hills of West Virginia at Prospect Hall Club, a quiet but consequential change in shotgun design was on display. Benelli USA Vice President of Marketing Tim Joseph stood beside me after introducing something that, at first glance, looked familiar—but carried implications for how shotguns may perform in the years ahead.
The focus? A barrel. But one with properties unlike any other in Benelli’s lineup.
Benelli’s A.I. System
Benelli’s Advanced Impact (A.I.) barrel and choke system, now featured in the 2025 Super Black Eagle 3 semi-automatic series, is the product of long-term internal development. Unlike conventional barrels, the A.I. barrel incorporates a proprietary internal profile that deliberately expands and contracts along a set geometry as the payload travels through it. Think of it as a total reimagining of the internal bore profiles and choke system.
The result is a tighter, more stable shot column that exits the muzzle at higher velocity. Ballistic gel block testing by Benelli shows up to 50% greater penetration over standard barrels. In some tests, pellet density in the target’s vital zone increased tenfold—particularly at longer ranges where traditional patterns degrade. “The further the shot travels from the muzzle,” Benelli marketing literature says, “the greater the difference from standard barrel ballistics.”
To accommodate the internal shaping, the A.I. barrel has a slightly larger outer diameter. It also pairs with an extended choke tube, designed specifically to work with the barrel’s geometry. This integrated system governs how the shot string behaves from ignition to impact—not just controlling spread, but also conserving energy and improving pattern uniformity over distance. In slow-motion footage of the tests captured with a high-speed, 50,000-f.p.s. camera, some individual pellets can be seen trailing directly behind others—essentially drafting in their wake, much like the slipstream technique used in motorsports (think “Days of Thunder”).
A Proven Platform, Evolved
The A.I. barrel is housed within Benelli’s flagship semi-automatic scattergun: the Super Black Eagle 3. This model is built around the company’s inertia-driven system, a mechanical action that doesn’t rely on gas pressure and requires no tuning between loads. It cycles everything from light 2¾-inch field shells to heavy 3½-inch loads with consistent reliability. Some examples in the field have reportedly fired more than 500,000 rounds without mechanical failure.
For 2025, the A.I.-equipped Super Black Eagle 3 is offered in a range of finishes, including corrosion-resistant Cerakote and Benelli’s own BE.S.T. (Benelli Surface Treatment), which carries a 25-year anti-corrosion guarantee. Configurations include camouflage for waterfowl hunting, as well as matte synthetic options better suited for upland or range use.
As for ergonomics, they are unchanged from the standard Super Black Eagle 3. The gun includes Benelli’s Comfort Tech 3 recoil reduction system, an enlarged bolt handle and release for operation with gloved hands, plus a wider loading port for faster shell insertion.
Benelli began limited rollout of the A.I. system in a few competition shotguns in 2024. Now, it’s available more broadly: beyond the Super Black Eagle 3, the barrel is also appearing in the Ethos Upland, Cordoba and Performance Shop SuperSport lines. In some of these, the A.I. barrel is also paired with the BE.S.T. finish for extended longevity.
Benelli’s A.I. system doesn’t rely on electronics or external add-ons. Instead, it represents a shift in internal ballistics—optimizing the internal shape of the barrel itself to influence what happens once the trigger is pulled. It’s an engineering change, not a cosmetic one.
A.I. In The Field
Field testing often separates real innovation from the theoretical—and at a recent Benelli media event at Prospect Hall Club in Kearneysville, West Virginia, the new Super Black Eagle 3 with the A.I. barrel system did more than just hold up. It impressed.
Over the course of two days that included both sporting clays and pheasant hunting, the A.I.-equipped Super Black Eagle 3 12-gauge consistently delivered performance that stood out—especially at distance. For ammo, I was shooting Federal loads, including Hi-Bird (5 shot, 2¾ inch, 1¼ ounce, 1,330 f.p.s.), High Over All (7.5 shot, 2¾ inch, 1⅛ ounce, 1,200 f.p.s.) and Upland Pheasants Forever (6 shot, 2¾ inch, 1¼ ounce, 1,500 f.p.s.), along with some of Fiocchi’s Shooting Dynamics (7.5 shot, 2¾ inch, one ounce, 1,250 f.p.s.).
I started on the sporting clays course, a rolling setup through woods and fields that simulated the types of shots you’d expect to encounter in real-world wingshooting. That’s where the strengths of Benelli’s A.I. barrel system became immediately noticeable.
On difficult crossing targets traveling 40 yards and beyond, the denser patterns produced by the A.I. barrel-and-choke combination gave the impression of more margin for error. When I broke long targets that I thought I’d missed, it became clear: more pellets were staying in the column and holding energy farther downrange. There’s a consistency to how the Super Black Eagle 3 A.I. patterns with these barrels, and it shows up in the breaks—less fringe hits, more center-punch results.
The gun’s balance is another high point. Despite the slightly heavier A.I. barrel and extended choke, the Super Black Eagle 3 still swings cleanly and handles its heft well. That’s particularly valuable in sporting clays, where repeatable mount and follow-through are critical. Transitioning between targets felt fluid and intuitive, and felt recoil was impressively manageable—even when cycling heavier loads.
The next day, we transitioned to a pheasant hunt on a beautiful West Virginia morning. Here again, the A.I. system proved its worth. I made one clean shot on a rooster that flushed hard and kept going, bringing it down at about 45 yards (I may or may not have been looking at my phone). In that moment, it wasn’t just about reach—it was about the confidence that when the shot was taken, the payload would get there with enough pattern density and retained energy to be effective, thanks to the Benelli A.I. system. That’s what this barrel system does: it extends your effective range without making you overthink anything.
It’s also worth noting that the Super Black Eagle 3 handled flawlessly throughout both days. The inertia-driven action cycled everything I threw at it without a hiccup. In muddy fields and dusty shooting stands, the action stayed clean and crisp—no gas ports to clog, no adjustments to worry about. That kind of mechanical reliability matters when you’re transitioning between types of shooting on the same gun.
In competition shooting, where most performance gains are generally measured in fractions, the A.I. system feels like a whole-step improvement—especially for those who shoot often at the edge of their effective range. Whether breaking long crossers or folding late-flushing pheasants, this version of the Super Black Eagle 3 delivers more consistency where it counts: on the target. Benelli is investing in the future of A.I. as well. The company’s next step is to produce more detailed insights into shot strings and highlight the advantages of its Advanced Impact barrel and choke technology.
SPECIFICATIONS
The Benelli Super Black Eagle 3 A.I. semi-automatic shotgun is offered in both 12-gauge and 20-gauge models. Pricing starts at $2,599 for Cerakote options, with BE.S.T.-treated versions beginning at $2,999.
