Doves fly furiously against an azure slab of Patagonian sky like bees from a hive hit by a baseball. A hunter steps among brightlycolored shells that cover the field like a plastic quilt as his gun slices the air like a maestro's baton. Cartridges are slammed into the chamber with the delicacy of a jackhammer and then fired in numbers that outpace the mind's capacity to count.
      Welcome to Argentina's wing shooting, where demands on the sportsman are equaled only by the stress on the gun.
      Although preferred because of reduced recoil, autoloaders can be susceptible to several problems resulting from the ravages of thousands of rounds of inferior ammunition. High-volume shooting of such rounds causes the build up of powder residue, which can lead to malfunctions.
      Another problem with lesser quality ammunition is that the cartridge may not ignite quickly or the powder may not burn completely. Gas guns work on a precise timing sequence; any slight deficiency can lead to flawed operation and sustaining such abuse can lead to gun damage.
      Beretta has built a new series of autoloading guns, the Teknys, that overcomes the negatives that plague most autoloaders during high-volume Argentinean wing shooting. The Teknys also is designed to set the highest standards for performance and elegance.
     The foundation of the Teknys is the gas operation system of the 391 Urika that features a unique gas cylinder and a self cleaning piston with an exhaust valve that

automatically expels the excess gas of the most powerful cartridges. This ensures the capability of shooting, without any adjustment, loads from light 3/4 ounce to the most powerful 3 inch loads.
      The exhaust valve assembly remains attached to the gas cylinder, allowing easy and quick disassembly and reassembly.
      The Teknys boasts a jeweled bolt and a streamlined deep-relief satin nickel receiver that is virtually impervious to scratching, wear and rust plus facilitates quick shouldering and target acquisition.
      An enamel inlay-green or blue, depending on the model-flows from the rear of the receiver to the top section of the pistol grip. Unaffected by age or temperature, the patented elastic Gel-Tek Recoil pad offers a polymer shell and a non-toxic inert silicone gel core that reduces felt recoil by distributing it over the entire pad surface.
      The stock is X-TRA Wood, a beautifully upgraded piece of semi-gloss walnut. It is specially treated for dramatically increased weatherproofing and scratch resistance, far surpassing the protective qualities of traditional varnish finishes.
      The Teknys comes with five color-coded extended 'Victory' Mobilchoke tubes made of anti-corrosion steel that can handle both lead and steel shot. Conveniently, these chokes are interchangeable with other Beretta automatic, S x S and 0/U Mobilchoke shotguns.
      The trigger plate is made of high strength fiberglass-reinforced technopolymer that has self-cleaning properties, high absorption of recoil