Beretta Nano? thoughts?

[Capt. Ct.]

I decided to trade in a couple revolvers for a flat 9mm. Kahr cm9 was my intended pistol. They said they didn't have any but wanted to push the more expensive pm9. It took the guy a full minute to get the slide back. He handed it to me and after looking it over I tried to pull the slide back and push down the slide release lever. No luck. I gave it back to him. Yes I know all about tight tolerances and lubrication but this is ridiculous. I had a P9 Covert before and had no such problems. Only problem I had with it was a KB That's a story for another time.
Now I look at the Shield. I like it a bunch but I want something that I can pocket carry on rare occasions. Can be done but is more of a belt or IWB pistol. PPS Is also in the running. Nice. Sig 938 would be perfect but the price $749 plus $60 a pop for mags is a bit much.
The Nano is priced right. Something about it that I liked. The trigger wasn't bad for a dao. I could hit with it about as well as my G-26. It is flat with no controls sticking out to get in the way. I bought it. Put 75 rounds of mixed ammo through it with no problems. Yes, I need a couple more range sessions to see how reliable it is going to be. I agree with all criticism about the top heavy feel long trigger and such but hey, I just like it. That's all. A PPS or one of the others is not far away.

 

[flphotog]

I actually found a PPS a couple weeks ago and love it. It will be my EDC once my Panther Concealment holster gets here tomorrow to replace an LC9. I also looked at the nano when I couldn't find the PPS but didn't like the trigger very much. Also I didn't like the take down or that the slide lock was not accessable externally. The bottom line is that I'm glad I waited.
Also now that the Walther, S&W split is complete, the general consensus is the the Walther availability sound be improving.

 

[gym]

The idea is to get to the closet if necessary, where the long guns are, "same room". On the street the nano would possiblly be enough, "again" depending on the incident, I would prefer a 45 as my main weapon all of the time.
The nano in my pocket and a 1911 or XDS in a iwb holster.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

I really love my Nano! It's been my primary CCW since March of this year. I like basically everything about it. With the 6 round mag (carried +1) I can easily conceal under just a T-shirt. I've got a little over 1,000 rounds thru it with no failures with any kind of ammo. IMO the trigger is really superb- it's a bit heavy but smooth with no stacking and a very clean break. With my Nano I easily outshoot my boss and his Sig 1911 (NOTE: I'm a lot better shot than he is!). One great feature is the ability to change the sights with just an Allen wrench. I added a pair of Trijicon night sights in about 3 minutes. The lack of any controls save a bang-switch makes it very simple to use and very slick to carry, nothing to catch or snag. Everything is nicely melted.

Most of the time I carry it with the extended 8 round mag (also run +1). I should note that I copiously tested the gun to verify reliability when carried +1 and it's been perfect. The longer mag makes the gun shoot nearly like a full sized pistol while sacrificing just a little bit of concealability.

I split my time between the Nano and an HK USPf9. In the hottest weather (like now) I mostly run with the Nano. When I can get away with a T-shirt & an unbuttoned overshirt I carry the USP. In either case I carry in a Garrett Industries Silent Thunder IWB. Most of the time I carry a spare mag the same place regardless of the gun (horizontal mag carrier worn at 11:00, just to the right of my left pants pocket). This way, no matter which gun I have there's some consistency in the way I carry.

Overall I have no complaints. The Nano always goes BANG! and is easy to shoot. I always have at least what's in the gun and one reload, so a minimum of 15 rounds of 147gr Federal HST.

If I knew I was going to be in a gunfight that day, I'd stay home! Or try to have a rifle or shotgun. Barring that I'd rather have the USP9 with 31 rounds of HST. But better the Nano on my belt than the USP9 or USP45 Tactical sitting at home.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I would opine, based on one I looked over at a gun show, that between the grip shape and the tall slide, it just didn't feel "right" in my hand. I realize this is not based on actually shooting it and is highly subjective. I really don't like its lack of an external slide stop.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Friday I stopped in the LGS for a Coffee and to shoot the breeze (it's a hangout for some local shooters).

First thing the manager said when I came through the door is, "Check this out." It was a Nano. I hadn't had any interest in the gun because I already had a couple shields, four LC9's, and a few more 9mm small guns.
But it took about two minutes to decide I'd try the Nano. $459.


I heard the Nano had some failures to extract/eject problems in the past but I thought I'd see what happens.

I will run a lot of ammo through the gun but so far I've only shot about 60-70 rounds. Three different reloads and WWB. All were 115grain FMJ bullets.

One reloaded lot is loaded pretty light. Four magazines functioned OK except one fired case was ejected but the slide did not come back far enough to pick up the next round. The rest of this light load functioned fine.

Everything else functioned fine.
I've got a bunch of other practice and defense loads to try yet.

The gun is about as simple as a semi auto pistol can be. No external (thumb) safety, grip safety, etc.
No external slide catch/release. The slide locks back on a empty magazine.
The take-down for cleaning take 10 seconds if you are slow.

The trigger pull is LONG, as it should be with this kind of gun. But it's not bad and can be gotten used to in about fifty rounds or so.


I also heard the gun is somewhat inaccurate.
From the first, I saw the gun is very accurate for what it is.
I'm still having trouble shooting because of bum shoulders but there's no doubt that at 7-10 yards the gun will easily empty the magazine into a cloverleaf hole if the shooter does his part.



So, so far I'm impressed with the gun
Let's hope it doesn't take a crap in the next thousand rounds.

 

[gym]

That's the color combo, I am getting. May add the NS or laser. Looks like it's accurate enough for a carry gun, or you are.

 

[M2 Carbine]

It just happens to be what the store got in but I kind of like it to.
I may be getting tired of black.

 

[gym]

It will be my first non black, or steel gun, handgun, in 43 yrs. I saw that Baretta has just come out with a new "Pico", 380/32, in Blue Purple Sand and White aside from Black. It's a marketting stratagy to serve the "seniors" with arthritic conditions as well as women. They make a 32 caliber barrel for the gun, which is 14 ozs, and uses the same mags for both cartrages. As you age,"according to their literature" the 380 may become too snappy, and then you just pop on the 32 cal barrell for less recoil. Their Ad says the "tip up barrel," only moves a few degrees, thus elimiting recoil and the possibility of FTF problems. We will see if this works, but apparantlly I read that the gun was too far into production when the 380's started to drop off in sales, so they released it anyway.
It looks like a smaller Nano, almost exact. May make a good backup gun with 6+1 and 7+1, in 380 or 32.
Also a lighht and a laser along with NS, will be available near the release date, so it's built into the frame, I like the light and Night sight aspects, "makes it a little unique".

 

[Pilot]

I am leaning towards a Shield, or P938 in a sub compact 9MM. The Nano seems OK to me though, I just don't like the long trigger pull.

 

[M2 Carbine]

I am leaning towards a Shield,

I have the Shield in 9mm and 40 S&W.
Excellent guns. (if you can find one)

A number of people, including woman have shoot the 9mm Shield and all like it.

I don't keep track of rounds but the 9mm has been shot a good bit, with a lot of different loads, with no problems at all.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

I want to pick up a spare frame for my Nano. The FDE looks pretty sweet to me.

 

[bob1285]

Beretta nano

I bought one in Dec of 2012. at 1st I really tried to love this gun. by Feb 2013 it had broken a rear sight.just from recoil ..sent it to factory 5 wks later never fixed it. at end of May 2013 gun FTE and would stovepipe rounds every other mag. Sent to Factory 4 weeks can back fixed...end of June Gun stovepipes every other round now. Not happy with this gun I gave up on it an d bought a Springfield XDs 45....Awesome gun!!!!! I don't think I will be buying any more Beretta products.

 

[M2 Carbine]

I'm still shooting the Nano.

This morning a (experienced shooter) lady friend came to my place to shoot the 9mm Shield and Nano.
She liked the Shield better than the Nano.
Another lady will be shooting tomorrow. I'm betting she will also like the Shield over the Nano.

The trigger pull is LONG, as it should be with this kind of gun. But it's not bad and can be gotten used to in about fifty rounds or so.

I've been shooting the Nano a fair amount now. I'm beginning to dislike the too long trigger pull.

I haven't shot the Shield since before buying the (2) Nanos.
After shooting the Nano this morning I shot the Shield. I about couldn't believe the difference.

I decided I'll have to do something about that trigger if I'm going to keep the Nanos.

 

[Sam1911]

I got to shoot a pal's Nano yesterday. It seems well-made and is quite small.

I fired 6 rounds and it failed to eject once, causing a stoppage at around round 3.

The trigger pull was fine, but the RESET was a total deal-breaker. Trying to fire it quickly in a stage/scenario it was quite frustrating to have to pogo the trigger all the way out to try and find the reset point.

I'm not sure who this gun is "aimed" at, exactly, but I wouldn't ever want to carry something with such a non-intuitive trigger that functions so differently from all my other handguns. It quite seriously turns the gun into a single-shot until you remember to come all the way off and find the reset point.

 

[Ruger Redhawk]

I've had a Beretta Nano for almost a year. It's only had a couple hundred rounds through it. I had a couple FTE at the very beginning. Since then it's fired flawlessly. I haven't carried it yet and don't know I ever will. I do like it but I shoot my other guns better.I have a CM9 Kahr and it's lighter and shoots pretty good. The Nano weighs more. Would I buy another Nano? Probably not. I'm not saying it's a bad gun, it's just not what I was hoping it to be.

Without the magazines the Nano is almost 6 ounces heavier then the CM9.

 

[Schwing]

I love almost anything Beretta so it really pains me to say this but I am not a fan of the Nano. As others have already stated, it doesn't have the same flawless functioning track record that you normally expect from them.

I looked at one when they first came out. I loved the look of it, the size and the weight but it just felt wrong in my hands. I have pretty small hands and it still felt too small to handle with any proficiency. I know this is common with pocket sized pistols but I have owned a few over the years and none of them were quite this bad.

I met in the middle and came home withe the 9mm PX4 storm sub compact. Believe it or not, it makes for a good pocket carry and is really easy to conceal in a holster as well. The weight..... well lets just say it is a little heavier than the nano.

 

[F-111 John]

I'm not sure who this gun is "aimed" at, exactly, but I wouldn't ever want to carry something with such a non-intuitive trigger that functions so differently from all my other handguns.

Operates just like my J-Frame or any other revolver in double action.

 

[Sam1911]

Eh, but not, somehow. Just a strange, indistinct, long trigger. I love revolvers and shoot them at speed quite frequently. They're better than this.

 

[RustHunter87]

update

Did not realize this thread was still alive!
I ended up finding a CM9, which was one of my original choices anyway.
So I picked up the Kahr a few weeks and haven't looked back, its smaller lighter and cost less than the Beretta, I love it.
I did some reading over at Kahr talk and followed the advice for new guns.
I got a second mag for it, and so far it has been 100%, no failures of any kind with just under 200 rounds threw it!

I would still like to shoot the Beretta, but not going to go out and buy one right now.

 

[gym]

I went with the Kahr PM9. No regrets