Beretta Nano Review

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Good news: Beretta returned my Nano to the LGS today and I drove over to Sierra Vista and picked it up. Along with the Nano was a letter from Beretta in Accokeek, Maryland describing their repair:

"Replaced the extractor and polished the barrel's chamber. Test fired 18 rds.
factory black hills 115gr. JHP ammo no malfunctions. 02/06/13."

They also mentioned that all work performed is warranted for one year from date of service.

So I immediately loaded it up and stuck it in my new Beretta IWB. After doing so I found that, try as I might, I could not get my pants buttoned again.

Oh, well.

Anyway, will take it to the local outlaw range tomorrow and see what happens.
 
dbp, you mentioned that yours was a newer model and gave the serial number as "4XXX."

I'm confused. The serial number on mine is NU0147XX. Does yours not have
the NU01 in front of the 4? Can you list the entire serial number and just 'X' the last two digits?
 
dbp, you mentioned that yours was a newer model and gave the serial number as "4XXX."

I'm confused. The serial number on mine is NU0147XX. Does yours not have
the NU01 in front of the 4? Can you list the entire serial number and just 'X' the last two digits?
NUO433XX -- Sorry for the confusion. Given that yours is 14XXX and mine is 43XXX I just assume mine is a newer model.

I really like this pistol, but the FTEs have me concerned. I just don't trust it for carry at this point. I am going to try and put another 300 rds through it in the next week and see how it performs.

I hope your problems have been resolved.
 
Not a problem, and yes, they have been. If your Nano continues to have problems and is under warranty, you could do what I did: Have your lgs send it back to Beretta. In my case they replaced the ejector and polished the barrel chamber.

As for serial numbers - unless they are chosen at random, which I rather
doubt - your is definitely newer. If there have been subtle manufacturing changes between mine and yours, wouldn't it be nice if they would tell us what they were?
 
Not a problem, and yes, they have been. If your Nano continues to have problems and is under warranty, you could do what I did: Have your lgs send it back to Beretta. In my case they replaced the ejector and polished the barrel chamber.

As for serial numbers - unless they are chosen at random, which I rather
doubt - your is definitely newer. If there have been subtle manufacturing changes between mine and yours, wouldn't it be nice if they would tell us what they were?
As for serial numbers - unless they are chosen at random, which I rather
doubt - your is definitely newer. If there have been subtle manufacturing changes between mine and yours, wouldn't it be nice if they would tell us what they were?

That would be nice. I really want this Nano to work for me. Maybe it just takes 500 rds or so to break in.
 
I bought my Nano back in early October and its serial number is NUO244XX. That means they have been selling a lot of the little suckers! :eek:

When I first shot it I used the cheap Federal 115 FMJ ammo that they sell at WallyWorld and I had several failures to extract from both boxes that I used.

I did some research and found that there have been lots of problems with Nanos and the cheaper ammo you can buy at WallyWorld. Since then I have used only ammo I bought else where and in about 300 rounds or so of that ammo the only problem I had was a primer that did not ignite on the first hit from a box of WW white box 115 grain I bought at Gander mountain.

The little gun was designed to handle +P ammo so it will choke on cheap under power ammo. Use good ammo and you shouldn't have any problems.

Good Luck

JJ
 
Would you consider CCI Blazer brass or American Eagle both in 115 gr to be what you would consider "cheap,underpowered" ammo? I bought them both at LGS not Wally.
 
Jelly, I have had excellent results (300 rounds trouble free) using Monarch 115gr FMJ from Academy Sports and Outdoors. It is made by Prvi Partizan Uzice in Serbia, one of the largest ammo makers in Europe. This is inexpensive full powered ammo. I have never used Federal or WWB.
http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/s...bcs/l7ECvxFC/1S5m2lRDFcbgGQEy1SGicul6JCtVRZ/i

Right now if you can find 9mm ammo at Academy or Wally World you are extremely lucky. The hoarding is out of control. :banghead:
 
I did some research and found that there have been lots of problems with Nanos and the cheaper ammo you can buy at WallyWorld...
The little gun was designed to handle +P ammo so it will choke on cheap under power ammo. Use good ammo and you shouldn't have any problems.

I think you've further convinced me not to buy a Nano (which I pretty much had already decided for the lack of slide lock).
 
Just left the range. After putting 100 more down range I had no problems - no FTEs, nothing. I did change from the CCI Blazer to Federal American Eagle so maybe the ammo had more to do with the earlier FTEs than I thought. And today I was shooting some from weak hand so I don't think limp wristing was the earlier problem either. Anyway, if I can get a few hundred more down with no problems, then the Nano goes into carry rotation.
 
That's good news, dbp. Mine seems to work fine also since the repair and I'm shooting the least desirable WWB 115gr. from Walmart. Can't find any 124 gr. anywhere.

Earlier I mentioned the IWB holster I had purchased from Beretta and the fact that I couldn't get my pants buttoned. Turns out I have several pair (Carhartts, Levis,) that are a bit looser and IWB works with them. It conceals perfectly. It's also quite comfortable.
 
Nano65

From what research I have done ( sorry no links ) it appears that WallyWorld puts such a squeeze on its vendors, and not just for ammo, that the only way the vendors can make any profit at all is to cheapen their products that they sell to WallyWorld as much as possible. That means no QC hardly at all.

IIRC they really take a hard line on how much they will pay for any product they sell. Either their way or the Hi-way!

I bought what seemed liked a good electronic meat thermometer and not cheap and it broke after less than two months of use.

The only things I will ever buy from WallyWorld from now on is groceries. Nothing else!

Addendum. Please call me JJ, not Jelly. No big deal but I think JJ sounds better. :)
 
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JJ, I'm sure you are right about the squeeze Wally World puts on their suppliers. From about last January to June WW carried RWS 124 gr FMJ rounds but suddenly stopped when their stock ran out. I really like this ammo. It is made in Switzerland. I have since been able to find it at Sports Authority. Some ranges won't let you shoot it because the bullet has a little steel in it.
 
Today I went to the range and shot 100 rounds of Walmart WWB 115gr FMJ. I did that on purpose expecting problems. I also brought more expensive Speer Gold Dot 124gr HP +P.

To my surprise it ran the WWB with nary a hiccup. Also, I loaded both mags, then rapid fired, dropped the mag, inserted the second mag and rapid fired again. I did this several times and really heated up the pistol to see if it would malfunction. It didn't. Apparently the Beretta-installed new ejector did the trick. I never did have to shoot the hard-to-find Speer ammo.

Bottom line: It's back to EDC again.
 
A BIG Congratulations! Like to hear a story like that. The extractor probably really helped.
 
Apparently so. I handed it to our Ranger company captain, who is our firearms instructor and does our quarterly quals with our duty pistols. He'd never seen one before. He shot at one of our human silhouette targets at 25 yards and put all 7 rounds in the kill zone. He turned to me, handed back the Nano, and smiled broadly. "Nice gun," he said.
 
Good deal EX. I will try to get mine to FTE again as soon as I can find some 9mm ammo. Actually, I have 200 rounds left but want to spread that out a little.

Say, do you have any issues with your mag release? Mine will drop the mag fine when cold, but after a couple of mags fired I have a hard time getting it to release. When it does release it won't fall free and most times I have to pull it out with my non shooting hand. That has to be resolved!

Any ideas?
 
Is it for sure tempreature related, or could it bethe magwell is getting a little poweder residue on the walls?
 
Is it for sure tempreature related, or could it bethe magwell is getting a little poweder residue on the walls?
I don't see how it could be powder residue as I clean it thoroughly after every firing.

Are you thinking that it could be residue from just two mags that may be causing this? if that is so I would think everyone with a Nano would be experiencing the same thing.

This is a real pain at the range, but after thinking about it, I guess that if I ever do have to use it for SD I won't be firing any more than two mags anyway. Now if it got that tight after just the one 6 round mag, then that would be a major problem.
 
Say, do you have any issues with your mag release? Mine will drop the mag fine when cold, but after a couple of mags fired I have a hard time getting it to release. When it does release it won't fall free and most times I have to pull it out with my non shooting hand. That has to be resolved!

Any ideas?
Did you clean your mags before using them? Sometimes new mags (like new guns) are coated with a kind of protectant -- it's not a lube. It can dry up hard but then get sticky when it warms up again. Take your mags apart and clean them off with some Breakfree and an old toothbrush. Do everything: spring, follower, baseplate, inside and outside of mag body. At the very least, try doing the outside and see if that helps your drop-free problem. Couldn't hurt!
 
The mag casing is stainless steel and appears uncoated. So, then, how do I get the baseplate off without putting out one my eyes? I assume you push in the pin in order to slide off the baseplate. Which, I also assume, is under a lot of tension.
 
The mag casing is stainless steel and appears uncoated. So, then, how do I get the baseplate off without putting out one my eyes? I assume you push in the pin in order to slide off the baseplate. Which, I also assume, is under a lot of tension.

Actually, for the drop-free problem just cleaning the outside would be OK. But now that you mention it, the Beretta mags are pretty slick on the outside, so maybe that's not the problem.

Yeah, you've got it right about taking it apart. What I like to do is get a gallon-sized freezer bag and do the whole operation inside the bag. You can see what you're doing, and if anything goes flying, the bag will catch it.
 
After a closer look, the magazine is releasing just fine. It is just designed to such close tolerances in relation to the mag well that it is not dropping freely. I will try cleaning the exterior of the mag. Like you said -it can't hurt.

Also, I just reversed the mag release button, moving it to the right side. I was having trouble getting enough thumb pressure on it from the left side (medium small hands) to effect release. I'll try it from the right side for awhile.
 
I have a brand new Nano. Took it to the range this weekend. Had the following results:

Remington UMC 115gr. - Shot aprox. 75 rounds. It was flawless.

Winchester Ranger 124 gr FMJ. NATO milpec - 50 rounds flawless.

Winchester White Box 115gr BEB = would not feed more than 2 or 3 without a FTE. Was painful to watch.

Also, I didn't realize the rear site was adjustable. It must have been loose because it came off. I need to pick up a 1.3 mm hex wrench now to tighten it. My fault though because I didn't realize it needed to be tightened.

Also, it is a very accurate gun for the size. Trigger is squishy however its easy to shoot.

All in all, the verdict is still out.
 
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