Beretta 81 spare magazine?

Status
Not open for further replies.

cluttonfred

Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
1,322
Location
World traveler
I just ordered one of the Italian law enforcement trade in Beretta 81s that have become available recently, but I am having a hard time tracking down a spare magazine. This is the 12-round .32 ACP pistol in the Cheetah series. Anyone know of a source at a reasonable price? Cheers, Matthew
 
I bought 3 converted Beretta 84 mags from Robertson Trading Post. The first batch didn't work in my gun but the second batch works great so far. I haven't loaded any ammo in them yet but that's coming this week or next.
 
As soon as the 81's hit the market I went looking, and found one on GB. However, others did the same, and there aren't any more to be found. As has been mentioned, some have used modified 84 mags, with varying success.

I am guessing that one of two things, or possibly both, will happen in the future:

1) Beretta will import a bunch of new ones to meet demand, and/or

2) Someone will find a batch of used ones and import them.
 
Thanks, all. Oddly, Beretta Europe has them in stock for €34.90 ($38.63) but won't ship them to the USA, and Beretta USA has them listed for $48.50 but out of stock.
 
I recommend you and others contact mag manufacturers (Mec-Gar, Promag, etc) like I did in the hopes that they might roll some out in light of the influx of Beretta 81 pistols.
 
I recommend you and others contact mag manufacturers (Mec-Gar, Promag, etc) like I did in the hopes that they might roll some out in light of the influx of Beretta 81 pistols.
Mec Gar has stated on another forum that they cannot produce new Beretta 81 mags in quantities large enough to offset cost of manufacture and I imagine that'll be the same for other companies. The only options now are surplus 81 mags or modified 84 mags, which MecGar does currently make.

I'm sure in the future we'll be seeing some how to videos on youtube of what needs to be modified on 84 mags to make work in the 81.
 
I should have bought some modified Model 84 magazines while Robertsons had them. They seem to be sold out.

Luckily the Model 81 is just a range toy for me. If I only have one mag, I will probably survive.

I also have a Model 84. The rounds are pretty close in size. The 32acp being semi-rimmed makes its rim about the size of a 380 rim. I may try my unmodified Model 84 magazine just to see how it works. If it functions okay most of the time, that might be good enough for a spare "just in case" range magazine.
 
I should have bought some modified Model 84 magazines while Robertsons had them. They seem to be sold out.

Luckily the Model 81 is just a range toy for me. If I only have one mag, I will probably survive.

I also have a Model 84. The rounds are pretty close in size. The 32acp being semi-rimmed makes its rim about the size of a 380 rim. I may try my unmodified Model 84 magazine just to see how it works. If it functions okay most of the time, that might be good enough for a spare "just in case" range magazine.
If my conversations with RTG are any indication, they seem to have a machine - or at the very least a template - to modify magazines. They have given me every indication that they intend to make more. I'm not sure how long it takes to modify the mag itself but I'm sure that's nothing compared to acquiring the magazines in quantity.
 
I ordered spare magazines for the BERETTA model 81 from the BERETTA website. New guns has recently been imported, so they have mags for it.

Jim
 
what's weird to me is they imported a bunch of police pistols but guess the police didnt carry extra mags. :)

would seem there should be a bunch of mags sitting somewhere overseas.......wonder if they cant bring them in legally or they dont exist?
 
Ah, it was out of stock when I looked, they must have received a new shipment. $48.50 plus shipping is a bit much for a spare magazine for a $235 gun, but I may bite the bullet. (See what I did there?) ;-)
 
Mec Gar has stated on another forum that they cannot produce new Beretta 81 mags in quantities large enough to offset cost of manufacture and I imagine that'll be the same for other companies. The only options now are surplus 81 mags or modified 84 mags, which MecGar does currently make.

I'm sure in the future we'll be seeing some how to videos on youtube of what needs to be modified on 84 mags to make work in the 81.

I really wanted one of these pistols. But the mag situation put me off. I spoke to the people from MecGar at the NRA thing in Fort Worth this month.

They told me the same thing they told TTv2. They would have to create new tooling, mold for the followers and so on. Mags would run well over $100 each for them to even start to break even.

One would think that the agency that previously owned these pistols had more than one mag per pistol. I wonder what happened to them?
 
I suspect that this is just a question of Beretta USA getting a shipment of 81 mags over from Europe. They are still in stock on the Beretta Europe site. I don't know about the dispostion of the used spare magazines, there may not have been many if these were prison guard pistols. FWIW, Wikipedia tells me that the current Italian civilian Polizia Penitenziaria (Penitentiary Police) was formed in 1990 to succeed the military Corpo degli agenti di custodia (Corps of Custodial Agents) and it wouldn't surprise me if these little .32s have been sitting in a warehouse since the transition. Any photos I found of Polizia Penitenziaria show them with Beretta 12 SMGs and 92 pistols.
 
Last edited:
Looking at the results cleaning the mags that came with the pistol as well as the internal condition of the pistol itself I strongly suspect one magazine was all that was ever needed and it was loaded on the Barney Fife protocol. My example seemed to have been almost never fired and I found what had to be the remains of a lunch in the magazine.
 
I have quite a few pistols that only have one magazine. I have never had a problem with just keeping the one magazine loaded.
A .32 acp isn't what many people would conceal carry to protect them selves and 12 rounds is enough to last through any possible encounter.

I have several pistols with multiple mags and don't ever recall the need to use the second one.
 
I figure one magazine is good enough for a range toy. I'd prefer to have two, but they'll probably start turning up again at some point.
 
Look for Robertson trading post on Guns America. They have modified 84 mags which work well. I bought 3. Mine were among the first ones they sold, and I had to do some fitting, but now they work just fine. I have heard the later ones work fine without having to mess with them. They say these mags will be back in stock late September. They also hold 14 rounds instead of 12.
 
Is anyone here using one of these import 81's as a primary weapon? Or, are most all of you treating yours as a range toy?

If the latter, then even if your one magazine goes missing or gets broken, you could put it in the safe until you can obtain a replacement, whether new, surplus, or modified from an 84.
 
Look for Robertson trading post on Guns America. They have modified 84 mags which work well. I bought 3. Mine were among the first ones they sold, and I had to do some fitting, but now they work just fine. I have heard the later ones work fine without having to mess with them. They say these mags will be back in stock late September. They also hold 14 rounds instead of 12.
They have them as of today. I bought one.
 
Thank you very much Isudave. Robertsons didn't have them listed on their home website or on Gunbroker, but they did have them on Guns America. I just now ordered three. Hopefully they are really available. If not, NBD.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top