Beretta Nano 9mm Range Report

**Bucks_Man** · December 30th, 2012, 09:40 PM

I picked up a new Beretta Nano 9mm over the weekend and I thought I'd report back on the performance of the Nano at the range today. It was quite cold (33 degrees and windy) and the ground around the range was a combination of snow and ice.

I started with some 124gr fmj Winchester and polished off a box of 50 with no problems. I then went with 25 rounds of 147gr Winchester jhp again with no problems. My carry round was next, a 124gr Federal HST jhp, only shot 6 rounds but no problems. Against the manufacturers wishes, I went with 115gr Federal fmj and got 24 rounds down range before I encountered a FTE. As documented with this gun, the extractor failed to pull the spent casing out before trying to jam another round into the chamber. Thinking maybe I limped it a little, I went another 12 rounds before having another FTE, then another 2 rounds later. I finished out the box of 100 rounds.

Just to check myself, I went through another 18 rounds of 147gr Winchester jhp with no problems.

In all, the gun performed flawlessly with the ammo recommended by Beretta (124gr or higher) and I could not isolate why the three rounds out of 100 of the 115gr fmj had FTE's. It was cold, I had fired over 100 rounds before I had the FTE and my hands were ice by that point. Also, the grip only allows 3 fingers at most so there is a bit of a hammering effect on your palm from the recoil. It is possible I limped it a little and combined with the smaller weight bullet, had the FTE.

If my local shops had more 124gr fmj on hand, I'd have no problem using that for practice in lieu of the 115gr.

As for accuracy, I was hitting about 2" low on the first few shots but then was able to compensate and took the center out of the bulls eye for most of the follow up. I did seem to favor the left of the center more so than the right but I found that adjusting my left hand hold fixed that. The small grip surface on the Nano took a little to get used to but I felt quite comfortable as I went on.

The pistol has very little recoil, more of a smacking effect on your palm than any attempt at muzzle climb. I did notice a tendency to twist left if I relaxed my left hand hold too much. I tried both a left hand support on the grip over my primary righthand hold and also one incorporating the trigger guard. With the short barrel, I did not feel comfortable holding my support hand out over the trigger guard and found my hand interfered with my trigger finger so I went back to the more traditional left hand support hold on the grip.

The trigger is nice, with the little split safety down the center that depressed very easily when squeezed. With no external safety, I didn't have to mess around with dry presentation while flicking the safety like my full size pistols. Right out of the holster, the gun was ready to fire, with a long clean trigger pull and a nice crisp release point. The trigger was on par with most double action pulls but not as long as others.

I like the Beretta Nano, the single stack is very concealable and the size of the gun is roughly in line with my hand. It weighs about 1lb+ammo and the 6+1 capacity is good for a small carry concealable weapon. The grip is a bit to get used to after coming from full size pistols and in firing 6 or 7 shots in a row, you can feel the effect on your palm pretty quickly. I ordered some Talon rubber grips that I should have in a few days and I will report any improvement on the overall effect of adding the grips.

Take down was simple with a decocking button (or you can just pull the trigger like a Glock) and a simple turn of a take down button. The slide comes off and the spring is easily removed exposing the barrel to come out. Cleaning takes all of 5 minutes and the gun pops right back together.

**photoshooter** · December 30th, 2012, 10:06 PM

Good review, thanks. I haven't gotten mine to the range yet but I was already familiar with the 115gr ammo issue. I picked up some 124 and 147 to break it in. I also got the Talon grips which seem to help my grip.

**MagRelease** · December 30th, 2012, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by Bucks_Man

I picked up a new Beretta Nano 9mm over the weekend and I thought I'd report back on the performance of the Nano at the range today. It was quite cold (33 degrees and windy) and the ground around the range was a combination of snow and ice.

I started with some 124gr fmj Winchester and polished off a box of 50 with no problems. I then went with 25 rounds of 147gr Winchester jhp again with no problems. My carry round was next, a 124gr Federal HST jhp, only shot 6 rounds but no problems. Against the manufacturers wishes, I went with 115gr Federal fmj and got 24 rounds down range before I encountered a FTE. As documented with this gun, the extractor failed to pull the spent casing out before trying to jam another round into the chamber. Thinking maybe I limped it a little, I went another 12 rounds before having another FTE, then another 2 rounds later. I finished out the box of 100 rounds.

Just to check myself, I went through another 18 rounds of 147gr Winchester jhp with no problems.

In all, the gun performed flawlessly with the ammo recommended by Beretta (124gr or higher) and I could not isolate why the three rounds out of 100 of the 115gr fmj had FTE's. It was cold, I had fired over 100 rounds before I had the FTE and my hands were ice by that point. Also, the grip only allows 3 fingers at most so there is a bit of a hammering effect on your palm from the recoil. It is possible I limped it a little and combined with the smaller weight bullet, had the FTE.

If my local shops had more 124gr fmj on hand, I'd have no problem using that for practice in lieu of the 115gr.

As for accuracy, I was hitting about 2" low on the first few shots but then was able to compensate and took the center out of the bulls eye for most of the follow up. I did seem to favor the left of the center more so than the right but I found that adjusting my left hand hold fixed that. The small grip surface on the Nano took a little to get used to but I felt quite comfortable as I went on.

The pistol has very little recoil, more of a smacking effect on your palm than any attempt at muzzle climb. I did notice a tendency to twist left if I relaxed my left hand hold too much. I tried both a left hand support on the grip over my primary righthand hold and also one incorporating the trigger guard. With the short barrel, I did not feel comfortable holding my support hand out over the trigger guard and found my hand interfered with my trigger finger so I went back to the more traditional left hand support hold on the grip.

The trigger is nice, with the little split safety down the center that depressed very easily when squeezed. With no external safety, I didn't have to mess around with dry presentation while flicking the safety like my full size pistols. Right out of the holster, the gun was ready to fire, with a long clean trigger pull and a nice crisp release point. The trigger was on par with most double action pulls but not as long as others.

I like the Beretta Nano, the single stack is very concealable and the size of the gun is roughly in line with my hand. It weighs about 1lb+ammo and the 6+1 capacity is good for a small carry concealable weapon. The grip is a bit to get used to after coming from full size pistols and in firing 6 or 7 shots in a row, you can feel the effect on your palm pretty quickly. I ordered some Talon rubber grips that I should have in a few days and I will report any improvement on the overall effect of adding the grips.

Take down was simple with a decocking button (or you can just pull the trigger like a Glock) and a simple turn of a take down button. The slide comes off and the spring is easily removed exposing the barrel to come out. Cleaning takes all of 5 minutes and the gun pops right back together.

I'm going on about 300 rounds of problem free shooting of 115gr FMJ in my $340 Ruger..... just sayin'

hahaha

**Bugman916** · December 30th, 2012, 11:29 PM

Thanks for the review. Covered all the points that were pertinent .. at least to me. +1 for your effort

**imp81318** · January 2nd, 2013, 09:18 AM

Nice review, thanks. I've looked at the Nano several times, and every time it comes back to the same problem for me - I do not like the lack of a slide release. Having to drop the mag to release the slide seems like a pain to me.

**Bucks_Man** · January 2nd, 2013, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by imp81318

Nice review, thanks. I've looked at the Nano several times, and every time it comes back to the same problem for me - I do not like the lack of a slide release. Having to drop the mag to release the slide seems like a pain to me.

Thank you, it does take a little to remember but it's almost second nature now.