Please educate me on the Beretta 87 Target

[Peter M. Eick]

I have been thinking about one of these for a while and finally handled one today. Nice, fit the hand well and had truly excellent sights. The grips were a bit thinner then my 84F but all it all it really held well. I can see the issue with racking the slide. You sort of have to pinch it ahead of the trigger guard to do it, but that is no big deal to me.

I sold off my Ruger MK 1 Bull barrel, and now I am sort of missing a nice semi-auto 22 for plinking at the range. I don't want another Ruger, the browning did not fit well, Had a 41, and I don't cotton to plastic guns, so the neos et. al. are out. Thus my interest in the 87 target. It looks like a great gun for just punching paper at the range.



So what is the good and the bad of the gun? If you have one, have you shot it much and what do you think of it? Any recommendations other then more mags?

 

[eerw]

some good information at RimfireCentral.

Everytime I go to the gunstore..I have to handle the 87T...it is a good feeling gun and points well for me..but so far..have not justified the costs of another .22..

maybe someday..

 

[browningguy]

The 87 Target is one of the best mid priced .22's around, the only way to do significantly better is spending a grand for a Pardini or Morini in my opinion. I still shoot my older M.76 quite a lot and it's still extremely accurate. I think they rate up there with the Early High Standard target models, which you could also find used in the same price range.

Downside - sometimes it's hard to find spare magazines for a reasonable price.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I recently read a rave review of the 87 T in which the "author" mentioned the five-pound trigger pull in passing. Ludicrous.

 

[Doogle]

I have owned a Beretta Model 87 target for approx 2 years...>

...and over 4,000 rounds so far. The more I shoot the pistol the more I like it. The grip is indeed quite slim which is one of the reasons I got it. It feels somewhat akin to a 1911 in this regard. I have found the pistol to be very reliable and certainly more accurate than me offhand! The barrel shroud is light alloy but does add suffcient weight forward to help facilitate in rapid fire.

The blued steel frame has held up very well cosmetically, but the alloy shroud does mark more readily. The trigger on my example is good, light and crisp. I have shown the pistol below with a red dot sight mounted, but I do most of my shooting with the open sights prefering the thinner front sight of the two provided. Scope rails are intergrated into the top rib and there is also a bottom rail extension. I wouldn't mind trying some different grips. The standard hard plastic grips are OK, but just for a change the wood ones would be interesting , (the Beretta wood grips are priced ridiculously high, though). The pistol comes sipplied with two 10-round magazines.

​

Field stripping requires an allen key (provided) to remove two screws under the front rail extension.

​

 

[Shipwreck]

Awesome pics!

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Thanks for the updates and information. I did hit rimfire central and there was a lot of positive information there. Also Mas has a writeup in Nov 2005 guns magazine on it where he complains about the trigger but the rest of the gun is good.

So far no one seems to have a serious gripe with the gun, so I think I will hit the Glocktalk rimfire forum for a bit more information and just go get one. I have a beretta 96 and a eaa 10mm witness that are just taking space in the safe and they should cover a big chunk of the costs of the gun.

Thanks for the advice and information. I sold my MK1 Bull barrel a while back and found that I miss having a 22 lr semi for just target practice.

 

[41mag]

Nice pics of a nice gun!

Welcome to THR Doogle!

 

[Doogle]

The trigger complaints seem to mainly address the overtravel...>

...and it definitely has a fair degree of overtravel. Beretta appear to have decided to simplify the Mod 87T from the previous Mod 89 which had an adjustable trigger. On the matter of creep and trigger weight there seems to be a variety of opinions on the Mod 87T, which may indicate a variety in the shooter's expericence, or indeed, variations in the triggers as issued from the factory. Mine has certainly garnered good comments concerning the trigger from those who have shot it. The overtravel does not bother me, even in rapid fire. It may well bother others.

41mag: Thanks. I've read THR for some time but only posted today.

 

[Pilot]

A friend of mine has the Model 89 which looks very similar to the Model 87 Target. He has not been able to get it to group well. The trigger is not on a par with a target .22. It sits in his gun safe.

 

[eerw]

does anyone know what the pull weight of the 87T is ?? can someone guage theirs...thanks

 

[nbkky71]

In case you're interested, there's one on sale for gunbroker

http://gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=38984684

BUY IT NOW is $485 and his reserve is $420. Bo box/paperwork and only one magazine though

Not a bad price...

 

[Ultima-Ratio]

Hi Peter-

The model 87 I shot liked Wolf Match Target and managed inside an inch at 50yds from the bench using a Trijicon Reflex sight.
As mentioned the trigger is a bit much but crisp at about #4lbs.
I found the gun a tad smallish compared to the Rugers MK2s...the MK #3 hunter is sweet but as usual needs a trigger job..

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Well I sold a few dust collector's from the safe today so tomorrow I will go down and look at the 87t again. One of our local dealers has an 87t, an 89, a bunch of hi standards and rugers so I should be able to find a mk1 replacement I can enjoy.

I will let you know what I figure out. (the 87t is on the top of the list though).

 

[Feral_Goz]

87 Target was the first handgun I bought. Ended up buying two (one for me and one for the better half).

It took a fair bit of time and cussing to strip it the first time. After removing the two screws for the counter weight, trying to remove the counter weight took a fair bit of effort. The fit was so good, you wouldn't have throught that it could be removing. Wiggling it left to right eventually got it off, then I was quite successful in launching the guide rod across the lving room .

Have lost track of the number of rounds sent down range. Main problem I came across was the bullet wax building up around the slide release. End result was that the slide wouldn't lock back on an empty mag. Pay extra close attention to the slide lock now and it has worked properly since.

One of them has developed a problem where an empty case gets caught during extraction between the top of the slide and the next round. Haven't quite worked out what is happening here. Have done a through strip down and clean and replaced the extractor and spring. Have just replaced the recoil spring so I need to get back to the range and see if it still jams up.

Installed in one of the 87's a BSA Red Dot. It balances really well and is quite accurate and fun to use. The thinner grip suits a smaller hand too. The best way I found to rack the slide is to place your left hand under the slide and grasp it with your thumb and first two fingers. Takes a while to get used to, but ends up being a quite natural was of racking the slide.

Feral_Goz

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Please refer to the post on the 87t "impressed with the 87t".

Thanks for the help.