I think there is a fair amount of hype on the part of Benelli that sets some unreasonable expectations. The literature says that the engineers have created the "softest kicking shotgun on earth". The comparisons are made to other shotguns in the SBE "Class", but they don't say if they are comparing it to inertial or gas designs. All in all I think its more do to expectations. Afterall, its a "shotgun", and describing recoil as "soft" just doesn't seem to fit. If you shoot a 12 gauge, you're going to feel it.