New find...1980 Beretta 84 Cheetah

I have a surplus Beretta 84F that is one of my favorite summer time carry guns.

Nice!

Grunt, how do those two (CZ and Beretta) compare?

I don't just like that gun. I love that gun. I have a Browning DBA from the same era. Great shooter and good looking doing it all day.

I would love mine more if i could convert it to 9mm rather than the 380.

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They are nice guns. I got a surplus one (dirt cheap) with a well-worn finish. It still shoots great.

cmcgehee, beautiful find. World class pistol.

Robert101 said:

I don't just like that gun. I love that gun. I have a Browning DBA from the same era. Great shooter and good looking doing it all day.

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I got one also. Just replaced the springs, works flawlessly again.




Robert, does your slide have 3 different gun companies printed on it?


Mine has Browning, FN and Beretta all marked on the slide.




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Nice!

Grunt, how do those two (CZ and Beretta) compare?

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Well, they both are quite accurate and both have been 100% reliable. What I give the edge to with it comes to the Beretta is in the magazine release. The CZ is ambidextrous but the grip panels prevent you from using your thumb ala-1911 style and you have to resort to using your trigger finger to depress the magazine release. Even then, the CZ82 has a reputation for having a magazine button that is not always easy to depress to drop the magazine. The CZ on the other hand has the advantage of being far easier to disassemble ala PPK style. Remove the magazine, pull down the trigger guard, run the slide back, lift up and off the barrel. The Beretta is a bit more complicated in that you have to lock the slide open, depress the takedown button, rotate the disassembly lever, pull the slide off the frame, remove the recoil spring and guide then pull out the barrel and assembly is a little more tricky to make sure the barrel is in the correct position as well as making sure the recoil spring guide is correctly seated before you can rotate the disassembly lever back after depressing the disassembly button.
The other advantage the CZ has (to me) is the ability to be carried cocked and locked. My Beretta is the 84F model so there is no provision to carry it cocked and locked. Now to others that prefer a DA trigger, the Beretta may be a better choice as the safety lever is in actuality a decocker. There is no provision for cocked and locked carry but you can safely decock the Beretta without touching the trigger whereas the CZ requires you to press the trigger and ride the hammer down like decocking a cocked revolver. So really, it boils down to which way to you like to carry and if you prefer DA for the first round, are you comfortable with thumb decocking the CZ?
Now my CZ is a surplus CZ82 in it's original 9X18mm Makarov caliber. It's slightly more powerful than the 9X17mm .380 ACP of the Beretta but ammo can be harder to come by especially when you are talking about quality defensive ammo. However, I use 95 grain Hornady Critical Defense ammo in my CZ and Makarov that is easy to find over at Gander Mountain in Fargo. The .380 ACP is easier to find in several loadings so while it may be less powerful, finding decent defensive ammo is easier and has a better selection.
Both have their pros and cons and you have to decide what is important to you. Both being surplus pistols have a similar price tag although my CZ came with a pretty cool flap holster that doesn't even really look like a normal holster although I can't say I've ever used it...but I got it. LOL Either way, you aren't going to go wrong with either pistol.

I would love mine more if i could convert it to 9mm rather than the 380.

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Yeah, never gonna happen. The Beretta 84 is a blowback design and the 9mm is just too powerful for the design. If you wanted a blowback 9mm, you are pretty much limited to he High Point and H&K VP70z.

Goodness, cm! That is a beautiful, classic pistol.

Thanks for the summary, Grunt.

Congrats on your find.

May I ask what you paid for your Cheetah? I already have a stash of 380 ammo and would like to know what a good price would be for one.

THANKS!

cmcgehee

I had one just like it many years ago. Great gun but a little too wide in the grip for concealed carry. Thought it made for a decent home defense gun and used it in that role for quite a few years.

I have always wanted one in each flavor. One in .22, .32 ACP, .380 ACP and .380 ACP with the tip up barrel. Maybe someday when I run across a large sum of money. Nice pistol you have there!

My Cheetah is an 85,,,

My Cheetah is a used model 85,,,
I paid $395.00 for it about 4 years ago.

Then I went absolutely insane,,,
And bought a brand new 87 to go with it.



The 85 lives in my briefcase.

Aarond

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I keep mooning over the ones on Gun Broker that look about like Tallball's and go for $275 to $300....but then I get to thinking about shipping and transfer prices and talk myself out of it.

Plus there is that whole "Pig in a Poke" thing and I already have too many cats around here.

I am guessing one could strip the old bluing off the slide and barrel (vinegar maybe), do a light buff and reblue them, possibly with say Ortho blue or some other cold solution.

Then I suppose if one stripped the grip frame to bare naked and spritzed it with aircraft stripper and then painted it gloss black with a rattle can that they might not look bad at all.

Well new grips maybe.....

Still all and all one or two like Tallballs that are cosmetically challenged but work well would not be bad at all.

Still love my little 1934.....but 1934 was a while ago in terms of designs for a safe carry gun.

-kBob

I won my Model 84 for a bid of around $230. It has functioned perfectly.

I also have a CZ83 in 380acp. I like its trigger better and am slightly more accurate with it. They are both good pistols.

cmcgehee

That's a fantastic price on such a nice looking Model 84! And got a Bianchi holster with it too...you did really well with this acquisition!

I picked up one just like yours a couple years ago for $365 with 2 mags and a beretta postal rug. Ran it a little while ago and it ran so well! Nice weapon. Enjoy!