I'm going to come out and say it: I tend to like unpopular guns. I don't know if it's my nature of not wanting to go with the flow or a subconscious yearning to see an underdog succeed. In any case, I am more apt to give an internet maligned gun a fair shake even if I end up having to eat crow and admitting that, yes, some guns just do suck as bad as their reputation.
How does the Nano stack up? I'll get to that in a minute after I give my reasons why I bought the thing in the first place
Just skip past the part between the asterisks if you want to get to the meat of the mini-range review.
*******
About 2 weeks ago I had decided that I was in the market for a single stack CCW. I've tried carrying big guns for years, and I just can't find a way that works for me. Likewise, I do have a few pocket .380s that I choose only when nothing else will work. I had initially gravitated toward a .40, but I had to be honest with myself...40's coming out a slim lightweight gun are punishing at worst and not fun to shoot at best. I've got a .357 snubnose if I want to feel my wrist jarred violently with lots of report.
I had originally thought I was going to go with the internet darling M&P Shield. I have a Bodyguard .380, and I love it for what it is. Sadly, none of the M&P triggers do it for me. I like the gun, but it wasn't quite Goldilocks enough.
I had thought about checking out the Nano for a long time. I must have read no less than 20 articles dating from pre-release to as late as a month ago. As a Beretta fanboy who likes the look and feel of the Ray Gun/Hair Dryer PX4 Storm line and prefers the 92FS over a 1911 any day of the week, the sleek lines of the Nano have caught my attention for a couple of years now.
To some, the Nano is a fugly little Glock clone, a gun carved out of soap and left to melt in the shower for a couple of days, top heavy and just...weird. I'll give you that. It's not everyone's cup of tea. For me, however, the Nano an attractively odd pistol of Italian flair. Form following function following form. I've always kind of dug the concept as a gun designed to be a smooth point and shoot self defense pistol. If the 92fs is just a gorgeous Italian woman with curves in all the right places, the Nano is a fashion model. She's not there to be beautiful, she's there to make the clothes look good. The Nano is a pistol devoted to keeping everything simple and streamlined.
So I was still feeling very conflicted between a Shield and the Nano. My brain told me Shield, but my heart bleeds Beretta blue. Yesterday I was walking through the ammo section of the local Academy Sports and meandered over to see what they had on display. I knew that the Nano was on sale this week for $379. Not a bad price, but only $20 cheaper than the Shield, and I could get it for a better price. I'm eyeballing along when I see a red $349.00 sitting under a Nano marked "CLEARANCE". Now, $349 has my interest. It came with a Dark Earth frame (I would call it more of a sewer mud color, but I actually rather like it over Olive Drab or pink) which I guess isn't a big seller. After handling one new in the box, I took it a sign the Universe was telling me to go with the Beretta, and plunked down my money...well, I plunked down my money and spread it over a couple of credit cards to hide it from my wife, but none of you would know anything about that
*******
Here's a stock pic since I can't seem to remember my photobucket password
OK, boring exposition over: A little quick and dirty on the build quality.
Well, it's built like a Beretta. It's not the lightest slim 9 by any stretch, but it's got the same over all construction fortitude of a brick outhouse. Even the walls of the polymer frame would not flex under my most exaggerated death grip. They're quite thick. The chassis (the "gun" of the gun), is stout stainless steel with some really beefy springs on it. The stainless slide probably doesn't sport the most durable coating on it, but I don't see that as an issue. Corrosion shouldn't be a problem with even the most minimal of care. As has been mentioned before, it was allegedly designed around the .40, so for a 9mm it's a tank.
"Alright, enough with the blah blah blah, Chatty Cathy. How'd it shoot?"
In a word, better than I thought it would (OK, that's 6 words, but brevity isn't my schtick). The only prep I did to the gun was to clean it, lube the rails a bit, and manually cycle the action about 300 times last night. I won't go into the take down as that is neither here nor there. It's not the most convenient, but we're not talking about detailing a gun in the middle of a warzone. I can take the 2 extra minutes it requires to take it apart in front of my TV.
If you read most of the early reviews of the gun on the net, you'll hear about multiple jams and FTFs or ejection issues. Most of the time they will site where Beretta mentions that 115gr ammo shouldn't be used, and that 124gr or higher is preferred. That may well be true, but I read the manual twice, and unless I missed it it says nothing about what weight of bullet to feed it. So being the cheap SOB I am, I bought two kinds of budget 115gr ammo to supplement the brace of random junk and boutique 9mm rounds I had kicking around in my ammo tin.
The results: Sorta mixed but mostly positive
When I hit the range I brought with me a random assortment of 9mm ammo. I had about 100 rounds of Blazer Brass 9mm fmj, about 20 rounds of various premium jhp/poly tipped/short barrel engineered stuff weighing between 115 and 124gr, 50 rounds of 115 gr fmj Monarch (Academy's brand) with brass casings, and 50 rounds of Monarch 115gr fmj with lacquered steel casings.
I'll admit, the Nano was not a huge fan of the Blazer Brass, but neither am I. I usually buy Federal for plinking, but I'm out. Of the 60 or so rounds of Blazer I put through it, I probably had 4 feeding issues. I had expected that to some degree. Blazer doesn't seem to have as much oomph as other brands. The feeding issues never jammed up the gun. A tap and rack always cleared it. The downside to needing to do this that when you are sporting a magazine with only 6 rounds in it, you're cutting down on much needed firepower in a big way shucking out a viable cartridge.
Next up was the Monarch Steel. Ugh, what garbage even at less than $10.50 a box. I didn't have a single feed or ejection issue, which surprised me, but the primers wouldn't go off. It's Russian made, and that stuff tends to be stiff. Even my SIG P250 had a hard time. Luckily, it has second strike capabilities, and the ammo finally went off without needing a THIRD smack. I'm tempted to try Tula in the Nano next time, but I will bring along a hammer fired 9mm just in case it doesn't cooperate. It's probably not worth the headache to screw around with steel cased ammo when brass is only a couple bucks more.
Next was the Monarch Brass. This is Serbian made, and doesn't have the plasti-goop all over it like the steel stuff. Still, it's only $12.50 a box. Not bad for current 9mm prices from a box store. 50 rounds, 100% reliable. Not a hiccup, not an issue. Cycled just fine and was plenty accurate. I actually went back and bought a couple more boxes to keep on hand since I know the Nano will eat it. Hey, I'm all for plinking/practicing for cheap. I'm going to run a couple hundred of just this brand through it next time to see if I can get a failure of any kind. I'm rather pleased I didn't need to buy $17 124gr fmj just to get the gun to work
Finally, the premium stuff. It should be no surprise as there were no issues at all. Fantastic performance of 100% and accuracy. When I become 100% confident with it, I'll probably be picking up some of the high end stuff to keep in the mags when I carry it. It's not really a range toy after all. When it gets strapped on for business, I'm going to feed it good stuff.
Speaking of accuracy: This little bugger can shoot
I was at a DNR range with 25 yards being the closest target they "allow". I didn't shoot from the bench because, well that's a silly way to measure a "Get off me!" gun. Standing with two hand grip (shooting both right and left handed), I was keeping most of my shots on an 8x11 piece of paper. Its not going to earn me a spot on Top Shot, but for maximum combat ranges, that is what I would call minute of bad guy.
When I would sneak closer (shhhhh. Besides,the range was totally empty today, and I've seen a DNR officer coaching his girlfriend from 10 yards while people waiting to use the range before
) the grouped tightened quite a bit. Double and triple taps were a couple of inches apart and pretty much where I wanted them. Like most people, the 8 round mag is more comfy to shoot, but the 6 round didn't bother me much. I'll keep the 8 rounder in when I'm wearing a jacket, and the 6 rounder when I need to keep it a little more concealed under a tee shirt.
The trigger isn't going to be for everyone. I happen to like it, but if you like your Glocks touching off at 3.5lbs, you'll think the Nano sucks. It's got a trigger that is positive but positively long as well. Honestly, it was quite a bit like my P250's DAO, and that is one of the reasons I brought it with me to test out the Nano. That said, I think it's a positive for a gun that is designed to be concealed deeply. Being a revolver guy, I like that I have give the trigger a good squeeze to get it to light off the round.
Bore axis wise, it's pretty dang high. On top of that, the snag-free sites sit rather low. When you aim the gun, you have to get it up to your eye pretty high. You look more like you are sighting down a 2x4 for straightness rather than pointing a weapon. It works fine for me though. Another byproduct of the high bore, lighter weight, and powerful round is that the frame rubbed a hot spot on my thumb's knuckle. I haven't decided if a different holding technique will fix this issue of if I should just stop being a pansy and let a callus build up.
In short, I'm actually quite pleased with the Nano. It might be that I was expecting the worst, but it appears that if my particular example is a reliable sample of how the gun is leaving the factory it's turned out to be a pretty reliable little shooter over a couple hundred rounds of various ammo types.
I will echo that I wouldn't trust my life to it if it's stoked with 115fmj, but if you are going to carry a 9mm for SD, why would you do that anyway? All of the boutique loads fired 100%. Even at that, my gut is telling me that in another 200 rounds, it will probably feed anything that doesn't have a primer made out of Russian concrete.
Is it for everyone, nah. Is it probably the BEST pocket 9 out there, not really. I think the Shield probably a more surefire choice if you like the M&P line. But I think the little Nano has a lot of pros going for it, and if you ask me, it points well, is accurate for its purposes, and I just think it looks cool
It might be one of the best gun purchases I've made in some time.
Thanks for slogging through my rambling.
How does the Nano stack up? I'll get to that in a minute after I give my reasons why I bought the thing in the first place
Just skip past the part between the asterisks if you want to get to the meat of the mini-range review.*******
About 2 weeks ago I had decided that I was in the market for a single stack CCW. I've tried carrying big guns for years, and I just can't find a way that works for me. Likewise, I do have a few pocket .380s that I choose only when nothing else will work. I had initially gravitated toward a .40, but I had to be honest with myself...40's coming out a slim lightweight gun are punishing at worst and not fun to shoot at best. I've got a .357 snubnose if I want to feel my wrist jarred violently with lots of report.
I had originally thought I was going to go with the internet darling M&P Shield. I have a Bodyguard .380, and I love it for what it is. Sadly, none of the M&P triggers do it for me. I like the gun, but it wasn't quite Goldilocks enough.
I had thought about checking out the Nano for a long time. I must have read no less than 20 articles dating from pre-release to as late as a month ago. As a Beretta fanboy who likes the look and feel of the Ray Gun/Hair Dryer PX4 Storm line and prefers the 92FS over a 1911 any day of the week, the sleek lines of the Nano have caught my attention for a couple of years now.
To some, the Nano is a fugly little Glock clone, a gun carved out of soap and left to melt in the shower for a couple of days, top heavy and just...weird. I'll give you that. It's not everyone's cup of tea. For me, however, the Nano an attractively odd pistol of Italian flair. Form following function following form. I've always kind of dug the concept as a gun designed to be a smooth point and shoot self defense pistol. If the 92fs is just a gorgeous Italian woman with curves in all the right places, the Nano is a fashion model. She's not there to be beautiful, she's there to make the clothes look good. The Nano is a pistol devoted to keeping everything simple and streamlined.
So I was still feeling very conflicted between a Shield and the Nano. My brain told me Shield, but my heart bleeds Beretta blue. Yesterday I was walking through the ammo section of the local Academy Sports and meandered over to see what they had on display. I knew that the Nano was on sale this week for $379. Not a bad price, but only $20 cheaper than the Shield, and I could get it for a better price. I'm eyeballing along when I see a red $349.00 sitting under a Nano marked "CLEARANCE". Now, $349 has my interest. It came with a Dark Earth frame (I would call it more of a sewer mud color, but I actually rather like it over Olive Drab or pink) which I guess isn't a big seller. After handling one new in the box, I took it a sign the Universe was telling me to go with the Beretta, and plunked down my money...well, I plunked down my money and spread it over a couple of credit cards to hide it from my wife, but none of you would know anything about that
*******
Here's a stock pic since I can't seem to remember my photobucket password
OK, boring exposition over: A little quick and dirty on the build quality.
Well, it's built like a Beretta. It's not the lightest slim 9 by any stretch, but it's got the same over all construction fortitude of a brick outhouse. Even the walls of the polymer frame would not flex under my most exaggerated death grip. They're quite thick. The chassis (the "gun" of the gun), is stout stainless steel with some really beefy springs on it. The stainless slide probably doesn't sport the most durable coating on it, but I don't see that as an issue. Corrosion shouldn't be a problem with even the most minimal of care. As has been mentioned before, it was allegedly designed around the .40, so for a 9mm it's a tank.
"Alright, enough with the blah blah blah, Chatty Cathy. How'd it shoot?"
In a word, better than I thought it would (OK, that's 6 words, but brevity isn't my schtick). The only prep I did to the gun was to clean it, lube the rails a bit, and manually cycle the action about 300 times last night. I won't go into the take down as that is neither here nor there. It's not the most convenient, but we're not talking about detailing a gun in the middle of a warzone. I can take the 2 extra minutes it requires to take it apart in front of my TV.
If you read most of the early reviews of the gun on the net, you'll hear about multiple jams and FTFs or ejection issues. Most of the time they will site where Beretta mentions that 115gr ammo shouldn't be used, and that 124gr or higher is preferred. That may well be true, but I read the manual twice, and unless I missed it it says nothing about what weight of bullet to feed it. So being the cheap SOB I am, I bought two kinds of budget 115gr ammo to supplement the brace of random junk and boutique 9mm rounds I had kicking around in my ammo tin.
The results: Sorta mixed but mostly positive
When I hit the range I brought with me a random assortment of 9mm ammo. I had about 100 rounds of Blazer Brass 9mm fmj, about 20 rounds of various premium jhp/poly tipped/short barrel engineered stuff weighing between 115 and 124gr, 50 rounds of 115 gr fmj Monarch (Academy's brand) with brass casings, and 50 rounds of Monarch 115gr fmj with lacquered steel casings.
I'll admit, the Nano was not a huge fan of the Blazer Brass, but neither am I. I usually buy Federal for plinking, but I'm out. Of the 60 or so rounds of Blazer I put through it, I probably had 4 feeding issues. I had expected that to some degree. Blazer doesn't seem to have as much oomph as other brands. The feeding issues never jammed up the gun. A tap and rack always cleared it. The downside to needing to do this that when you are sporting a magazine with only 6 rounds in it, you're cutting down on much needed firepower in a big way shucking out a viable cartridge.
Next up was the Monarch Steel. Ugh, what garbage even at less than $10.50 a box. I didn't have a single feed or ejection issue, which surprised me, but the primers wouldn't go off. It's Russian made, and that stuff tends to be stiff. Even my SIG P250 had a hard time. Luckily, it has second strike capabilities, and the ammo finally went off without needing a THIRD smack. I'm tempted to try Tula in the Nano next time, but I will bring along a hammer fired 9mm just in case it doesn't cooperate. It's probably not worth the headache to screw around with steel cased ammo when brass is only a couple bucks more.
Next was the Monarch Brass. This is Serbian made, and doesn't have the plasti-goop all over it like the steel stuff. Still, it's only $12.50 a box. Not bad for current 9mm prices from a box store. 50 rounds, 100% reliable. Not a hiccup, not an issue. Cycled just fine and was plenty accurate. I actually went back and bought a couple more boxes to keep on hand since I know the Nano will eat it. Hey, I'm all for plinking/practicing for cheap. I'm going to run a couple hundred of just this brand through it next time to see if I can get a failure of any kind. I'm rather pleased I didn't need to buy $17 124gr fmj just to get the gun to work
Finally, the premium stuff. It should be no surprise as there were no issues at all. Fantastic performance of 100% and accuracy. When I become 100% confident with it, I'll probably be picking up some of the high end stuff to keep in the mags when I carry it. It's not really a range toy after all. When it gets strapped on for business, I'm going to feed it good stuff.
Speaking of accuracy: This little bugger can shoot
I was at a DNR range with 25 yards being the closest target they "allow". I didn't shoot from the bench because, well that's a silly way to measure a "Get off me!" gun. Standing with two hand grip (shooting both right and left handed), I was keeping most of my shots on an 8x11 piece of paper. Its not going to earn me a spot on Top Shot, but for maximum combat ranges, that is what I would call minute of bad guy.When I would sneak closer (shhhhh. Besides,the range was totally empty today, and I've seen a DNR officer coaching his girlfriend from 10 yards while people waiting to use the range before
) the grouped tightened quite a bit. Double and triple taps were a couple of inches apart and pretty much where I wanted them. Like most people, the 8 round mag is more comfy to shoot, but the 6 round didn't bother me much. I'll keep the 8 rounder in when I'm wearing a jacket, and the 6 rounder when I need to keep it a little more concealed under a tee shirt.The trigger isn't going to be for everyone. I happen to like it, but if you like your Glocks touching off at 3.5lbs, you'll think the Nano sucks. It's got a trigger that is positive but positively long as well. Honestly, it was quite a bit like my P250's DAO, and that is one of the reasons I brought it with me to test out the Nano. That said, I think it's a positive for a gun that is designed to be concealed deeply. Being a revolver guy, I like that I have give the trigger a good squeeze to get it to light off the round.
Bore axis wise, it's pretty dang high. On top of that, the snag-free sites sit rather low. When you aim the gun, you have to get it up to your eye pretty high. You look more like you are sighting down a 2x4 for straightness rather than pointing a weapon. It works fine for me though. Another byproduct of the high bore, lighter weight, and powerful round is that the frame rubbed a hot spot on my thumb's knuckle. I haven't decided if a different holding technique will fix this issue of if I should just stop being a pansy and let a callus build up.
In short, I'm actually quite pleased with the Nano. It might be that I was expecting the worst, but it appears that if my particular example is a reliable sample of how the gun is leaving the factory it's turned out to be a pretty reliable little shooter over a couple hundred rounds of various ammo types.
I will echo that I wouldn't trust my life to it if it's stoked with 115fmj, but if you are going to carry a 9mm for SD, why would you do that anyway? All of the boutique loads fired 100%. Even at that, my gut is telling me that in another 200 rounds, it will probably feed anything that doesn't have a primer made out of Russian concrete.
Is it for everyone, nah. Is it probably the BEST pocket 9 out there, not really. I think the Shield probably a more surefire choice if you like the M&P line. But I think the little Nano has a lot of pros going for it, and if you ask me, it points well, is accurate for its purposes, and I just think it looks cool
It might be one of the best gun purchases I've made in some time.
Thanks for slogging through my rambling.
