At IWA 2018, Benelli showed their new 2018 concept gun called Puma. They have also released some images of this gun on their social media pages. The Puma is a semi-automatic rifle chambered in .223 Remington. It is based on Benelli MR1 rifle. Now, this is not a pre-production prototype and the chances are good that it won’t be ever manufactured. It is precisely what it is called – a concept gun.

Benelli has been introducing such firearms for many years now. I think the idea behind these concept guns is to receive feedback concerning some exterior design solutions and predict the market response if they incorporate these features into the future new firearms. This strategy probably allows them to ensure the market will like any particular design element and minimizes the risks of bad reception from the potential customers.

At IWA 2018, Benelli introduced two versions of the Puma concept gun. The black version has a longer barrel, no muzzle device and a top Picatinny rail section. The multi-color iteration of Puma has a shorter barrel, a muzzle device and no top rails.

Most likely, the Puma rifle has the same mechanism as the Benelli MR1 and only differs from the base rifle by the exterior design of the receiver, grip, handguard and stock. The stock represents a mix of classic and tactical styles. It is a telescoping one, however, the grip is angled and should have the feel of holding a classic rifle stock rather than a pistol grip. The front portion of the magazine well is enlarged and has a texture resembling large serrations which must make the magazine well a better gripping point. Note also that the grip, lower portion of the handguard and the front wall of the magazine well have the same texture.

Benelli MR1

Benelli Puma

If you want to see the Benelli concept guns of previous years, click here.

What do you think about the design of Benelli Puma? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Images from www.benelli.it, www.kalashnikov.ru