I like the Benelli SuperNova. I think it’s a great shotgun that could have set a new standard. The use of polymer, the long pump, the magazine cutoff, its optics-ready design and more set the SuperNova up for success. It competed well in a field of guns designed in the 1960s and 1950s. So why didn’t it ever really take off? Because Benelli didn’t support it, but Mesa Tactical does, and I’ve recently fixed my biggest issue with the SuperNova via the Mesa’s Urbino stock.
The big problem I had with the SuperNova’s stock was its length of pull. Why Benelli, a modern shotgun company that makes great products, sticks to stock with a 14.5-inch length of pull is beyond me. All the Novas have it, but the SuperNova is the only one that’s fixable. The Nova and Nova 3 have stocks that can’t be removed. Luckily, the SuperNova doesn’t.
Mesa Tactical’s Urbino stock has a 12.5-inch length of pull, which is considerably shorter. That allows for smaller to average-size people to use the gun with ease, making it easy to manage, especially for defensive use.
Breaking Down the Urbino Stock
The 12.5-inch length of pull is the big change, but there’s more to the Urbino. It’s a pistol grip stock, which you’ll either love or hate. I prefer a traditional stock, but ultimately, the pistol grip stock isn’t going to make the gun less effective.
The Urbino allows you to attach a cheek riser to get a higher cheek weld, which can be useful when using red dots. We also get a multitude of attachment points which make using modern slings much easier to use overall. There’s a loop, a QD port, and a standard sling swivel attachment point.
The Urbino stock is made from injection-molded glass-filled nylon. It’s durable, but also lightweight, and helps keep the gun balanced. The pistol grip is broad and reminds me of the SAW grip, a grip I love for reasons I don’t quite understand. It’s also rubberized to help reduce wrist fatigue.
You can order the Urbino stock with a Limbsaver recoil pad, but I used it as-is. I prefer the gun with a shorter stock than with a more recoil-absorbent, but longer butt pad. Recoil pads are great, but I like to establish a good push/pull.
The Install
Installation could be straightforward, but Benelli doesn’t make it so. Removing the factory Benelli SuperNova butt pad is a little tricky. It clicks in place rather than screws in. A quick YouTube video how-to helped me. Then we need to remove the factory stock, which is pretty easy.
My Benelli SuperNova has a rod designed to mount the seemingly impossible-to-find Benelli factory collapsible stock and the rod can’t be removed. Not all Benelli SuperNovas have this rod. If your Benelli has the rod, you need to use a 10mm drill bit to drill through an internal portion of the Urbino to install the stock.
It’s not that this was difficult, it’s just my drill wasn’t charged, I couldn’t find my 10mm bit, and it frustrated me. After drilling, it was just a matter of tightening a bolt and installing the recoil pad. My quick before-dinner project extended into dinner time, but it finally got done.
To the Range
With the stock installed and some full-powered buckshot, I went to the range and kicked it off. Luckily, it didn’t kick back all that much. The shorter stock allowed me to square up behind the gun and on the target. That increases my ability to control recoil and manage the shotgun platform.
I can also engage in a stronger push/pull that mitigates felt recoil, being able to pull the gun into my shoulder and more easily reach the pump in a squared-up shooting position.
This also makes the gun easier to manage going from the low ready to ready and the high ready to ready positions. Especially the high ready, since I don’t have to shove the gun way forward to find the back of the stock.
The stock provides a good cheek rest without the riser if you’re using iron sights. It’s comfortable, but well-suited for pistol-height red dots or the factory ghost ring sights. The Urbino stock makes a big difference in the general usability of the SuperNova.
Going Short
As I said, this stock fixes my problem with the SuperNova. Shortening the stock completely changes how the gun handles and my ability to shoot fast, shoot straight, and control the gun. For home defense use the shorter stock makes it way easier to maneuver around a home. Even the ability to go from a low or high ready to a shooting position with ease is valuable.
The Urbino is a quick fix that makes a drastic improvement. The SuperNova is a good shotgun, but it becomes an excellent shotgun when equipped with the Urbino stock. Just so I’m not underselling the Urbino stock, I want to say it’s the best change I’ve made to a gun in a long time. It’s $135 very well spent.