Disappointed with the Beretta Pico

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gonoles_1980

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I had my wife pick out a 380 for Christmas. This gun is extremely difficult to chamber, I have trouble pulling the slide. It was extremely frustrating to my wife. The trigger pull is way too long (yes that is the safety), and you have to let it come to a rest, no rapid firing this gun.

It has two springs, inner and other that it hard. My wife is not happy with the gun. I guess if she wants something else, I'll take it. But I have never been interested in a 380.

Anyone else have the Beretta Pico, ideas on how to make pulling the slide easier?
 
have her hold the slide stationary, while pushing the grip outwards with the other hand..
 
Most difficult controls to manipulate EVER !

I couldn't even get the magazine to drop on the one I tried. Racking the slide is not easy I really had to muscle it.
 
have her hold the slide stationary, while pushing the grip outwards with the other hand..

If the gun that I handled at a LGS is any indication, she is still going to require substantial grip strength in whatever hand holds the slide.
 
Once you figure the magazine, it is easy to drop. Tarosean, that's how I am having her rack the slide. Hold it in her hand and push the gun. I think what I will do in the future is put in an empty magazine, rack the slide, it will stop open, let her load a full magazine and she can then easily load it.

The other issue is the long trigger pull, she is use to her LC9 which she can rapid fire with. If she doesn't let the long pull release all the way, the trigger doesn't engage.

I think I will help her break it in, but it needs to be easier to use for a self-defense weapon. Though I can get it setup for her initially and she can carry that way once she gets use to the trigger.

I think it is a pretty looking gun, and if I removed the inner spring it would probably be easier. I'll have her call Beretta and talk with them. Also, get one of the ladies at the range to work with her on it.

In the mean time she is stuck with her LC9 and the bigger purses.
 
C0untZer0 what do you mean 32 ACP? Are you saying the Pico can shoot 32 ACP? As I continue to work sliding the rack, I think the tension in the two springs is lossening some, I can rack the slide pretty easily now. My wife is still at half wife. If it wasn't for that, I would actually love the gun, nice look and feel.
 
You can send the Pico to Beretta for a free upgrade to the springs. The Picos now being shipped from the factory do not have the dual recoil spring and a lighter hammer spring. I think the Beretta website has the details on the upgrade.
 
i've recently taken a few new woman shooter friends to the range to shoot my 380's. Every time they hands down loved and purchased the Sig P238 for the very reason you are having. Also the recoil is very manageable (not like the P3AT I also have and they shot) and they are all pretty darn accurate shooting them as well.
 
Too bad you didn't post before you bought it -- I would have directed you to the 160+ page Pico thread on berettaforum.net:

http://berettaforum.net/vb/showthread.php?t=111214

The good news is that you can send it in for an upgrade.

Beretta may yet make this one good, but they sure bobbled the launch. First of all, it took almost two years for it to hit the shelves after they first announced it. Then it was released in a "not ready for prime time" condition. What were they doing for those two years?

People have mentioned the .32 version, which was supposed to be an option when the model was first announced. Nothing has been heard about it since then. If they release the Pico as a working .32, I may get one. It's a very pretty gun, unlike my Kel-Tec P32, which is ugly as sin. But I can rack it, and it works. :evil:
 
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Thanks guys, will be contacting Beretta for the upgrade. I thought my wife was going to get the Ruger, but she liked the looks of this one better. So that's what she got.

Update:
Checked the website and it is eligible for the upgrade.
 
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I thought my wife was going to get the Ruger, but she liked the looks of this one better. So that's what she got.

Reminds me of a story I read about a guy whose mother needed a riding lawnmower. He did extensive research on reliability, cut quality, transmissions, motors, warranties, etc. Armed with that information, he took his mom lawnmower shopping.

They drove up to the dealer and she pointed at one and said "I want that one." When he asked why, she said "Because it's pretty." :banghead:
 
Slide too stiff to rack, controls too difficult to use.... makes me wonder why she chose this one at the store to begin with...
 
Should have never made it out of the design stage. Horrible, horrible POS that I couldn't get the magazine to drop from or the slide to release.

The most confounding firearm I've ever fondled.
 
I like my Pico, but I had to learn how to handle it. It has very little recoil for a 380 this size. The biggest challenge was developing a stable grip. It is very thin and flat, so it took me a while to get used to it. Some like the trigger and some don't. I shoot revolvers mostly so the Pico trigger seemed natural to me. It has a constant pull weight from the first millimeter of travel to the last. The slide stop is not intended for manual use. You've got to pull the slide back to release it. It's definitely not like a typical semiauto.
 
Should have never made it out of the design stage. Horrible, horrible POS that I couldn't get the magazine to drop from or the slide to release.

The most confounding firearm I've ever fondled.
I've handled worse, but not from a major manufacturer who should know better.

I was tremendously unimpressed with the Pico I handled. The trigger pull was very stiff, the mag release was very hard to operate, the slide release was almost useless. The slide was very difficult to rack. It was very disappointing.
The slide stop is not intended for manual use. You've got to pull the slide back to release it.
That, at least makes sense. However, I get the impression from my experience that the trigger, mag release and slide are also not intended for manual use! :D
 
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I had a chance to shoot the Pico today. The trigger was really horrible. The Pico I shot needs to be sent in for whatever upgrades they are doing. My 5-shot group at 15 feet was about 7 inches and I was shooting low and to the left. I didn't have too little finger on the trigger, wasn't breaking my wrist down, my head wasn't drooping and I wasn't "slapping" the trigger. It just took a lot to pull that trigger. Another shooter fired 7 shots, had an 6-shot group that measured 8" and one that missed the paper, 3 of the shots were low left, 1 shot was way left, one shot was straight under the bullseye by about 4 inches - and this is at 15 feet.

I had some nice shot groups with my other guns afterwards so I don't think it was me.

I also was unable to drop the mag, it came out eventually with a LOT of pressure, (I had to put the pistol on the shooting bench and press on the mag release with my thumb)
 
Like many guns, the Pico is not for everyone.

Mine is eligible for the upgrade, but I haven't sent it in yet, and may not,

Before I took it to the range the first time. I disassembled it, cleaned and lubed. Then locked the slide back, filled both mags and let it sit in the safe for a week or 2,

The first time I shot it, it did not like 6+1 loading, the mag was very difficult to seat and it would jam on the 2nd shot every time. That was the only malf I experienced. Loaded 5+1, no problems at all.

I've found the best way to release the mag is by using your off hand to pull down on the mag release and let the mag fall into my hand.

As for racking the slide, I put 2 small strips of grip tape on the right side of the slide, didn't reduce the tension, but made it much better to keep a good grip on it.

The reason this gun is so tight is because it was designed for the hottest boutique loads available(+P). It makes the P3AT and LCP feel cheap and frail.

if shooting standard loads and practice loads, remove the smaller recoil spring.

I really like the Pico and sold off my LCP as soon as I felt confident that it would always go bang.
The LCP recoil always felt very harsh to me, some folks added the heavier recoil spring(Gallow Precision) to tame the recoil, making the slide as hard to rack as the Pico.

As for the trigger reset, I guess I shoot enough different types of guns, that I don't ride the reset (plus I was raised on revolvers).

Summary-for my needs, the Pico is the best small .380 for me.
 
I think it is going to make a much nicer .32 ACP than .380 AUTO.


That's not going to happen. May have been the original plan, but Beretta changed their mind on that, and the Tomcat is coming back.
 
I could live with the pistol being hard to rack because of stiff springs meant to handle hot 380 loads, but I couldn't live with the trigger the way it is now.
 
Beretta has a very poor track record with small guns. Both the Tomcat and the Nano suffered from slide and frame cracking issues, although the Nano was later fixed and is now reliable. Best bet is to just avoid them for subcompact pistols.
 
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