Beretta 87 Target Range Report

[rockstar.esq]

I got a chance to shoot my new Beretta 87 Target today
Here's the url to get there, I don't know how to make a link and I wanted to post asap.

http://www.berettausa.com/product/product_pistols_main.htm

I bought it to replace my aged Buckmark which will find a new home with my buddy. I tried quite a few varieties of Aguila, CCI, and Federal ammo. All of the shots shot to point of aim. I was a little surprised at this because the pistol comes with two front sight blades and I swapped out the narrow one for the thicker one as soon as I got home. The only ammo that wouldn't feed reliably was the Aguila Sniper Subsonics which seems to be a function of the longer bullet getting bound up on it's way into the chamber. Although I had very little "formal" targeting, my best groups at 25yds were under 1.5" all shots were fired from a weaver stance offhand.
The 87 Target is a single action blowback pistol chambered in .22LR. It came with two magazines, a case, a lock and a cleaning brush. It's most distinctive feature is the muzzle weight which fits under the muzzle creating a very square muzzle. Another distinctive element is the picatinny rail running along the top of the boreline. One thing I think is interesting is the slide serrations which are located above and forward of the trigger. At first I thought it was awkward however after I considered that having a scope mounted would block access to the slide from the top, it became obvious that the best way to operate it is to grasp the slide serrations from below the bore. It works great and I'm really happy with the pistol.

So I decided to list out my take on it in terms of pros and cons

Pros:

6" barrel

The rear sight is very precisely made, the interchangable front sights are a nice touch

The grip feels like a "full sized" pistol

The exposed hammer is very cool

Very accurate

The muzzle weight makes rapid sight acquisition easy

The magazines are all metal

Feeding was flawless (excepting the SSS's)

The boreline feels low and centered

The magazines have large rubber bumpers allowing fast, sure reloads.

The trigger pull is very consistent

The trigger pull is very smooth and creep free

The slide is light which seems to make cycling faster than my old Buckmark

The slide serrations are above and forward of the trigger which works well even when theres a scope on it.

It will feed a fired case from the magazine (usefull for dry firing practice)

The bullets never contact the magazine which keeps them from getting battered.

Cons:

The magazines don't have a knob on them allowing the shooter to hold down
the follower to speed reloads

There is no overtravel adjustment (it needs one)

The brush that comes with it isn't long enough for the bore
(how dumb is that?):banghead:

The lock that comes with it doesn't fit through the mag well or the breech opening and the case won't close with a trigger lock on the gun.

There don't seem to be any holsters made for it.

The magazine lips are sharp which made those last 450 rounds tough to load!

It was pricey but I figure the amount of trigger time spent with .22LR's would make the investment more worthwhile than if I'd bought something I wouldn't shoot as much.

 

[Quinch]

my best groups at 25yds were under 1.5" all shots were fired from a weaver stance offhand.

I'd like to see that on Youtube!

 

[Cawdor]

A .22LR case can be used as a mag loader. Put it over the screw that holds the follower and press down.

 

[rockstar.esq]

Quinch thanks, I wish I had a camera running! Hopefully I will manage a repeat perfomance.

Cawdor I'll try your tip the next time I get out to the range, thank you.

 

[Shipwreck]

If ya dig around on the Beretta forum and on Google - there is someone who will do work on it - they can put a trigger in it for the overtravel. There is a smith that specializes in them, but I forget the name...

 

[rockstar.esq]

After thinking about it a bit, I've decided to try a tip I read from Massad Ayoob where he used a chair leg tip with an adhesive back applied behind the trigger. I've noticed that there are adhesive backed rubber feet that are small and discrete and they might work well. I called Beretta to ask them if they offered an overtravel adjustable trigger and the operator told me that they didn't and further, they'd void any trigger related warranty if I did anything to the trigger myself. He even went to the extent of telling me that my little stick on pad idea would void my warranty. I figure that if I use the pad and something goes bad, I'll remove the pad and they'd never know the difference. For what it's worth the guy at Beretta agreed that the pad wouldn't cause any harm to the pistol.