Compact Beretta pistols for self-defense and concealed carry

Compact Beretta pistols for self-defense and concealed carry

One of the niches of short-barreled weapons in the civilian market are pistols intended purely for self-defense. You can protect your life, health and property with any pistol or revolver, the main thing is that the weapon is at hand in time and ready for use. However, there are separate requirements for weapons that are positioned as a means of self-defense, including the issue of quickly bringing them into combat readiness, safety of carrying, and, in fact, carrying itself.

In this article, I propose to get acquainted with the small-sized pistols of the Italian company Beretta, which are currently in production and are available, or will soon become available, for purchase.
Small pistol BU9 Nano

You should start getting acquainted with the small-sized pistols of the Italian company with new products that have just been announced. One of these new products is the BU9 Nano pistol. The manufacturer emphasizes that the main advantage of this pistol is not its dimensions or its design, which excludes any protruding parts, but the fact that the pistol is powered by 9x19 cartridges. Let’s look at the device in more detail.

The basis of the Beretta Nano pistol was the automatic action with a short barrel stroke. Everything is implemented exactly the same as in the “adult” versions of weapons. The coupling of the bolt casing with the barrel occurs due to the entry of the protrusion above the chamber into the window for ejecting spent cartridges. Disengagement occurs when the breech of the barrel decreases, which occurs due to the interaction of the figured cutout in the boss under the chamber and the axis of the lock.

Speaking of the contactor. In order to reduce the size of the weapon and minimize protruding parts on its surface, it was decided to abandon the design of the contactor in the classic version. Now, instead of turning the contactor by the lever when disassembling, you need to perform the same procedure with a screwdriver. In principle, such a decision is completely justified, provided that the pistol will not be fired often, and accordingly it will require maintenance less often.

If we talk about weapon controls, there are only three of them on the sides of the pistol: a slide stop button, a magazine eject button, and a small button for releasing the firing pin from pre-cocking.

The sights of the BU9 Nano pistol are presented entirely and with a front sight, which can be replaced with similar ones, but with light-accumulating elements more suitable for use in low light conditions. What’s most interesting is that, with such compact dimensions, the pistol can be equipped with a laser target designator. True, the target designator will be of a special design and no less special price. Before sales of this pistol began, the price for this laser laser was almost $160, and this was with a 24% discount. The design of the gun allows you to change its individual components completely independently if they fail. The plastic frame of the weapon can also be replaced; it is expected that there will even be a frame option in a brutal pink color.

The trigger mechanism of the pistol is striker-fired, with additional cocking when the trigger is pressed. The force of pressing the trigger will be less than 3 kgf, the trigger stroke will be about 6 millimeters. Safe handling of the BU9 Nano pistol is ensured by an automatic safety device in the form of a key on the trigger.

If we talk about the dimensions of the weapon, it is 25 millimeters thick and 120 millimeters long. Although this is not indicated on the manufacturer's website, the barrel will apparently have a length of 54 millimeters. Nothing is known about weight yet, unless we take into account assumptions based on similar weapons from other manufacturers.

A standard pistol magazine will hold 6 rounds of 9x19 rounds, plus you can add one round in the chamber, provided the weapon is relatively safe in design. In addition, this will make the pistol always ready for use, which is important for self-defense weapons. In addition to the standard magazine, there is an extended-capacity magazine for 8 rounds, with a characteristic “toe” for the little finger rest.

Overall, the BU9 Nano pistol seems quite interesting, especially as a self-defense weapon chambered for 9x19. In this pistol, one can clearly trace the use of certain developments of the company from the APX pistol, which participated in the competition for a new short-barreled weapon for the US Army. And although the pistol is not a “record holder” in any of its parameters, it should find its buyer.

Beretta Pico pistol

A much slimmer pistol from Beretta is another new product, the Pico pistol. The thickness of this weapon model is only 18 millimeters, although it is already powered by the .380ACP cartridge.

The design of the weapon differs from the previous model primarily in the trigger mechanism. In the Beretta Pico pistol it is simpler, only double action without pre-cocking. Ensuring the safety of handling weapons is limited only by the large force of pressing the trigger, which does not have an automatic safety device.

The weapon's controls, like those of the Nano, are few: on the right side there is a fairly large slide stop lever, and the magazine eject button is made in the form of a slider at the base of the weapon's safety guard. The contactor, as in the previous gun, is controlled using a screwdriver.

Sights are presented entirely with a front sight and, interestingly, this pistol can also be equipped with a laser designator. True, in this case, this will require replacing the entire frame of the weapon with a frame with a built-in laser pointer. An interesting fact is that a frame with a laser target for a Beretta Pico pistol costs much less than just a laser designator for a BU9 Nano pistol.

Despite the relatively weak ammunition, the designers used an automation scheme not with a blowback, but using recoil energy with a short barrel stroke. This solution allows you to stretch out the moment of recoil, which is only a plus given the small size and weight of the weapon. In addition, thanks to this solution, the pistol itself will not experience critical loads when firing, which means its service life will be quite high.

The pistol is fed from single-row magazines with a capacity of 9 rounds.

Beretta Px4 Storm SubCompact pistol

This pistol needs to be highlighted separately, since it is based on one of the most interesting developments of Beretta - the Px4 Storm pistol.

Unfortunately, due to its size, the pistol lost the main feature of its older brother - automatic locking of the barrel bore when turning the barrel, but this did not stop the pistol from being quite interesting.

The automatic weapon in this case is based on the use of recoil energy during a short barrel stroke with locking with a protrusion above the chamber and a window for ejecting spent cartridges. The trigger mechanism of the pistol is double action. The weapon has a duplicate safety switch on both sides; the magazine eject button can be moved to the left side of the pistol. But the shutter stop lever is installed only on the left side.

Despite the fact that the pistol uses a fairly common automation system, this weapon compares favorably with other models of pistols, with similar weight and dimensions, and very low recoil. The secret of the low recoil is the barrel, which is quite heavy for such a weapon, which in the first fractions of a second of the shot moves at a lower speed than other subcompact pistols. At the same time, the weight of the bolt casing allows the weapon to maintain high reliability in operation.

This pistol is also distinguished by the fact that it can be adjusted to the size of the shooter’s palm with special pads on the back of the handle. And such an opportunity is not often found in compact class weapons.

Sights are represented by the same rear sight and front sight with white dots. The rear sight and front sight are removable and can be replaced with ones more convenient for the shooter.

This pistol should rather be considered not as a compact model for self-defense, but rather as a compact model of a pistol for practical shooting.

Tomcat and Bobcat pistols

These pistols are representatives of Beretta's oldest line of compact pistols, one might even say that they have become classics. Fundamentally, the pistols do not differ from each other, the only difference is in the shape of the safety bracket.

Previously, this was a whole line of compact weapons in various calibers and options, but now there are only two chrome-plated pistols left.

These pistols are powered by .32ACP cartridges from magazines with a capacity of 7 rounds.

The simplest automation is a blowback shutter. The trigger mechanism is a single action trigger.

An interesting feature of this weapon is the magazine eject button, which is located on the lower left side of the pistol grip. Despite its compact dimensions, the pistol has an adjustable rear sight, but it is not possible to replace the sighting devices, as with modern weapon models.

It is also interesting that the barrel rises up with its breech for cleaning, which is not often found in pistols.

By modern standards, these pistols can hardly be considered a full-fledged means of self-defense, since the cartridge is quite weak and will not be able to stop an attacker in some cases, although a hit, whatever it may be, will not go unnoticed.

New Beretta Pico ultra-compact pistol

At the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association of the United States in Houston, Texas, a new pistol, the Pico Beretta, designed for concealed carry, was presented.
Beretta calls its Pico pistol “ultra-concealed”, and in the truest sense of the phrase, because its widest part is only 18 mm (0.71 inches). And that's really not enough.

To prevent the pistol from clinging to items of clothing in a confined space, the weapon has rounded edges. The bolt stop is recessed flush with the body.

One of the features of the new pistol is the ability to use both .380 ACP and .32 ACP cartridges, and you can very quickly change calibers.

Regardless of caliber, the barrel deflects only 1.4°. This increases the reliability of cartridge feeding. In addition, such a small barrel deflection significantly reduces recoil.

The Pico clearly stands out in the ultra-compact .380 ACP pistol market. This new weapon has already been designed with many ready-to-use features, color options and accessories.

Like the Nano pistol from the same company, the Pico also allows you to change the pads from the bottom of the body. The overlays are made of polymer in black, purple, white, pink and brown.

The frame contains the fire control system and the firearm's serial number. This is the only part of the pistol that is controlled by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). The owner of the pistol will be able to buy as many pads or other components for the same frame.

For Pico Beretta, they produce covers with a built-in module with a red laser designator or flashlight. Laser and light modules have been manufactured. The basic model of the pistol is supplied without additional pads. In the future, the user himself will decide how exactly it is worth modifying the design.

The pistols will go on sale with two types of magazines: one that does not protrude beyond the grip and the other that is a finger longer than the grip (with the same number of cartridges). Regardless of the caliber you choose, the magazine capacity is 6 rounds. The magazine release button is located on both sides of the case.

The sights are a little larger than other mini pistols, but can be easily replaced if desired. The rear sight can be adjusted horizontally. Pico produces tritium sights that are clearly visible in the dark.

The bolt and body are made of stainless steel. The body has an additional anti-corrosion coating.

Double action trigger type trigger. The set also includes a zippered case.

is developing special .380 ACP caliber ammunition for this pistol (although this weapon works reliably with any cartridges of this caliber). Also, they are already producing a holster specifically for Pico.

There are only two holsters offered on the site. One of them is a belt with a leather covering on the back side and a plastic body based on acrylonitrile. The holster is equipped with a steel clip to attach the pistol to the belt. Currently, only the right-handed model is available on the site. The price is $39.

There is also a pocket holster made of soft nylon, again for right-handed people only. Price $25.

Beretta Pico pistols are manufactured in the United States and will go on sale in August. The suggested retail price for this pistol will be $399. Once it goes on sale, it will be possible to talk about the price in stores. We believe that for the end buyer the price will be about $350.

Of course, you should test this weapon in person before purchasing, however, the Beretta Pico certainly looks interesting. Integrated light and laser modules are a real plus for concealed carry weapons.

Of course, both calibers (.380 ACP and .32 ACP) are not very suitable for self-defense, but still they are better than just words as a defense. The pistol is incredibly compact and will definitely be popular.

• Overall length: 5.1′ / 130 mm
• Barrel length: 2.7′ / 70 mm
• Overall Width: 0.725′ / 18mm
• Grip width: 0.725′ / 18 mm
• Overall height: 4.0′ / 100 mm
• Sighting line length: 3.3′ / 84 mm
• Weight: 11.5 oz / 326 g. including empty store

Ukrainian Association of Gun Owners