# Benelli Kite

The Benelli Kite is a single shot .177 inch calibre pre-charged pneumatic air pistol designed for the 10 m Air Pistol ISSF shooting event. It is manufactured by Benelli Armi SpA of Italy.
The Kite was used by Francesco Bruno to win a gold medal in the Italian Championship 2008. It is also used by Tanyu Kiryakov, who won gold in the 10 m Air Pistol at the Olympic Games in Seoul 1988.

## Design details

Like all air pistols designed for the 10 m Air Pistol event, it has fully adjustable sights, a mechanically adjustable trigger (for stroke and weight of 1st and 2nd phase and trigger stop) and an anatomically adjustable grip available in three sizes and for left and right-handed shooters. The model pictured here is fitted with a stabilising balance weight, designed to further improve stability of the pistol during firing and to minimize recoil.
The barrel is manufactured by Lothar Walther with 12-twist right-hand rifling and 450 mm pitch. Air power is supplied from an under-barrel cylinder, available in four different capacities: long (300 shots), intermediate (230 shots), medium (180 shots) and short (80 shots). It uses atmospheric air compressed to 200 bars (20,000 kPa). A pressure gauge on the end of the cylinder allows for constant monitoring of the pressure.
The Benelli Kite features micrometric rear sight adjustment with four settings:
1 click = 1 mm windage (left/right adjustment) at 10 metres. 1 click = 2 mm elevation (up/down adjustment) at 10 metres.
The sight aperture is adjustable by lever and screw.

## Performance

The following tables show the results achieved by competitive shooters using the Benelli Kite in major competitions:

### Gold medals

| Competition | Location | Date | Competitor |
| Italian Championship Master | Bologna (ITA) | September 2003 | Alberto Cardinali |
| Italian Championship Student | Bologna (ITA) | September 2003 | Elena Ruan |
| European Championship | Gothenburg (SWE) | November 2003 | Mikhail Nestruev |
| Finnish Championship | Finland | 2004 | Teemu Lahti |
| InterShoot | Netherlands (NED) | February 2004 | Joao Costa |
| European Championship | Győr (HUN) | March 2004 | Mikhail Nestruev |
| ISSF World Cup | Munich (GER) | August 2005 | Mikhail Nestruev |
| Mediterranean Games | Almería (ESP) | 2005 | Francesco Bruno |
| Italian Championship | Milan (ITA) | September 2005 | Francesco Bruno |
| Finnish Championship | Finland | March 2006 | Kai Jahnsson |
| European Championship | Moscow (RUS) | February 2006 | Tanyu Kiryakov |
| Italian Championship | Milan (ITA) | September 2006 | Francesco Bruno |
| Italian Championship | Bologna (ITA) | September 2008 | Francesco Bruno |
| Italian Championship Juniores | Naples (ITA) | September 2008 | Andrea Scafa |

### Silver medals

| Competition | Location | Date | Competitor |
| European Championship | Győr (HUN) | March 2004 | Tanyu Kiryakov |
| ISSF World Cup | Milan (ITA) | June 2004 | Tanyu Kiryakov |
| ISSF World Cup | Fort Benning (USA) | May 2005 | Mikhail Nestruev |
| Internationaler Wettkampf | Munich (GER) | January 2006 | Tanyu Kiryakov |
| ISSF World Cup | Munich (GER) | May 2006 | Joao Costa |
| ISSF World Cup | Milan (ITA) | June 2006 | Tanyu Kiryakov |

### Bronze medals

| Competition | Location | Date | Competitor |
| ISSF World Cup | Granada (ESP) | October 2006 | Tanyu Kiryakov |
| European Championship | Winterthur (CHE) | February 2008 | Tanyu Kiryakov |