TESTED: Benelli Nova 3 Tactical 922r Shotgun

As a ready-to-go defensive shotgun that is super light, heavy on features and ergonomics, and priced under $800, Benelli’s new Nova 3 Tactical 922r is one pump gun you need to check out

by Rob Reaser

I must admit that I don’t experience many “oohs” and “aahs” and raised eyebrows anymore when I crack open a new gun box. Thus, when I picked up Benelli’s all-new Nova 3 Tactical 922r shotgun last week for testing, it was several days before I even opened the shipping box, let alone the product box. That’s because I’ve started to liken most defensive shoguns to polymer striker-fired pistols.

When you’ve seen one, or several dozen…

Nova 3 Tactical 922r: The Big Picture

Well, my languid anticipation was quickly displaced with an “ooh!” and a raised eyebrow, maybe two, once I pulled the Nova 3 Tactical from its plastic sleeve.

The first thing that hit me was the shotgun’s featherweight heft. I’m talking serious light weight. A quick check on Benelli’s website for the specs revealed an average weight of 5.9 pounds. To verify, I dropped the gun onto my shop scale and got a 5 lbs., 14 oz. reading. Right on the money.

We all understand that, compared to a finely tuned and ergonomically driven semi-auto, a conventional 12-guage pump’s shoulder wallop is somewhat proportional to its weight. The lighter the weight the harder the felt recoil. Now, that may be a deciding factor in a field gun, where you’re punching small game and flying critters over the course of a day. For a defensive gun, though, recoil matters only in relation to how quickly you can recover your sight picture for follow-up shots. If you are in a fight, a shotgun’s felt recoil likely won’t even register with all the adrenaline flowing and your mind being focused on more substantive problems…like staying alive.

Much, or perhaps most, of the Nova 3 Tactical’s light weight comes courtesy of Benelli’s new Poly-Mod platform.

The Poly-Mod system, which is integral to the Nova-series shotgun’s third-generation makeover, combines the receiver and stock into a single, monolithic construction. The foundation is a skeleton framework with a corrosion-proof polymer overmold. As you can see, the receiver/stock transition is seamless since it is all one unit. This design delivers optimal strength and rigidity while reducing weight and eliminating receiver corrosion and rust potential.

To the Details

The next characteristic that immediately jumped out at me was the shotgun’s ergonomics — specifically, the feel of the grip and forend.

The grip is absolutely exquisite in my hand. Its wrist is slender, allowing for a full and comfortable finger wrap with medium-sized hands. That goes a long ways for weapon retention and operational control. The grip angle is also quite acute as it drops to the cap. You can almost see (and feel) shades of the classic 1873 SAA revolver plow handle grip in the profile. Again, this design promotes a positive lock with the firing hand and good trigger finger reach.

But an even better promoter of grip retention is Benelli’s Ergo-Evolved Diamond Grip texturing. Here, horizontal voids combine with what looks like an old-style treadplate texture pattern to keep lateral and vertical hand slippage in check.

That same treatment carries forward in the complex forend design. As you can tell, there’s a lot going on here, and it’s all for the good.

The texturing pattern is the same as that of the grip, except where the grip has lateral voids, the forend has lateral ribbing. If you have a shorter reach, there is ample acreage for a solid grip at the rear half of the forend. Those with longer arms will enjoy the same excellent traction along the front half of the forend but also a deep finger relief that really lets you dig in. Muzzle control is as good as it gets because this design makes swinging the gun to engage multiple targets smooth and precise, and ensures you maintain a positive, no-slip grip while running the action.

Dual M-LOK slots are found on either side of the forend, giving you options for placing your forward sling mount or a light. There are also two M-LOK slots on the bottom of the forend.

Similarly, both sides of the stock include quick-detach sling swivel cups. This arrangement, combined with the M-LOK slots on either side of the forend, allow left- and right-hand shooters to set up their two-point sling configuration in the optimal position.

In short, the Nova 3 Tactical needs no “aftermarket upgrades” to provide for these fundamental defensive shotgun accessories: sling and light.

Before we move off the furniture, check this out. The Nova 3 Tactical comes with a magazine cutoff button at the bottom of the forend. Depressing this button while simultaneously moving the action rearward allows the chambered round or fired hull to be ejected from the chamber without releasing the next round from the magazine and onto the elevator.

What’s the big to-do about that, you ask? Two things: one is concerned with safety and the other with tactical loading.

If you need to unload the shotgun and already have a round in the chamber, the cutoff button allows you to shuck the round out of the chamber and then close the action without chambering the next round. You can then unload the magazine by manually depressing the cartridge/shotshell retaining lever inside the receiver and removing the shells one at a time.

The tactical benefit of this system is that it allows you to quickly transition between loads without losing an unfired round — a serious consideration in a fighting shotgun.

Say you have just fired a round or two of buckshot and it’s not getting the job done. You need to drop in a slug for your next round. By using the magazine cutoff button, you can eject the (assumably) empty hull from the chamber and insert a slug round directly into the ejection port. Compare this operation to a semi-auto shotgun or a pump-action that doesn’t have this cutoff feature. In those instances, you would need to insert the slug round into the magazine tube, then cycle the previous round (which had already been transferred to the elevator) through the chamber and back out before the slug would chamber. Now you are in a gunfight and you just ejected a live round onto the ground. You’re down a shot. Not good.

The Nova 3 Tactical, though, does provide the personal defender with some added leverage in the ammo department courtesy of its extended magazine. Two of the 922r models — 21501 and 21506 — are offered with a +3 magazine extension, giving these guns a 7+1 capacity when loading 2 3/4-inch ammo.

Feeding the Nova 3 Tactical is facilitated by a beveled loading port. Shotshells funnel into the port with ease during fast reloads while the elevator edging is smooth to prevent ouchies. Just be sure not to catch your thumb between the shotshell brass and the shotshell retaining lever and the loading process will be quick and painless.

We’ll always argue for a red dot sight on a defensive shotgun for the simple fact that a red dot ensures super-fast sight picture acquisition and it works across all lighting conditions. To that end, the Nova 3 Tactical comes with a Picatinny rail mounted to the top of the receiver.

If you want to keep your gun on the low-tech side, go for it. The shotgun comes fitted with a windage- and elevation-adjustable rear ghost sight. This sight features a polymer base along with side extensions to protect the ring from accidental impact.

Although I initially installed an Aimpoint red dot on the gun for illustration purposes, I ended up removing it and using the ghost ring sight for range testing. The open sights easily zeroed Fiocchi’s Defense Dynamics Low-Recoil rifled slugs, putting the 1-ounce flying battering rams right into the X-ring.

Up front is the same raised front sight post as found on Benelli’s M2, M3, and M4 Tactical shotguns. It is a stout piece that delivers quick sight alignment for close-in work and a crisp focal point for longer-range engagement with slugs.

Operational controls are basic fare for a pump-action shotgun — trigger, safety, and bolt release lever. No complaints to lodge against the trigger. Yeah, I’ve shot smoother ones on defensive pump-actions, but to go further than that would be nitpicking. The bolt release lever is in a good position, being on the right side of the trigger guard and prominent enough to find in a hurry. The crossbolt safety is reliably effective, although my test model proved harder to push in than I would like. Probably just needs bit of working in.

On the Range

As anticipated, the Nova 3 Tactical proved to be agile on the range thanks to its remarkably light weight. The gun is easy to carry slung and quick to get on target. Test day was not exceptionally hot and humid, but I was sweating. Still, the Ergo-Evolved Diamond Grip texturing and well-thought-out furniture profile kept the gun solidly locked in my hands.

One presupposition that immediately fell to the wayside on the first trigger pull was the expected hard recoil. I said earlier that a gun’s weight has a direct influence on felt recoil. I expected a fairly hard slam into my shoulder when zeroing the Nova 3 Tactical with Fiocchi’s 1-ounce slugs. Didn’t happen. I’m not saying it was a creampuff push, but it was nothing like I anticipated. Benelli literature doesn’t say much of anything about the gun’s recoil pad or if it comes with any special construction, but I can tell you that it is plenty “cushy” relative to most defensive pump-actions, so I’ll give it credit for good recoil management.

In addition to slugs, I ran several different #00 buckshot loads through the gun from Fiocchi, Hornady, Winchester, and Federal Premium. The first three performed nearly identical in terms of pellet spread coming out of the 18.5-inch cylinder bore barrel (I installed the included cylinder bore choke for testing, replacing the factory-installed modified choke). Average 10-yard spread was 5.145 inches, which was in line with previous testing we’ve done with other shotgun makes. The Federal Premium with FLITECONTROL wad, however, blew the bell curve to smithereens. The spread at 10 yards was a scant 0.867 inches. I kid you not.

We’ll give a full rundown of defensive shotgun load testing in a couple weeks, so stay tuned.

But back to the Nova 3 Tactical 922r. This is a defensive shotgun worth its salt at $749. It is easy to maneuver, enviously ergonomic, backed with Benelli’s global reputation for quality and dependable performance, and requires zero upfitting or modifications to outfit it for serious defense work.

Benelli Nova 3 Tactical 922r Specifications