Removing the Beretta Cheetah Magazine safety

[hAkron]

I recently purchased a Beretta 85FS Cheetah for my wife (not really the place to give a review, but let me just say I'm impressed with how well this gun shoots, and how well my wife shoots it). I was disappointed that this gun came with a magazine safety/disconnect. While cleaning it yesterday I discovered how easy it is to remove. Sorry for the crappy cellphone pictures.

***NOTE, THE USEFULNESS OF A MAGAZINE SAFETY IS DISPUTABLE, BUT MODIFYING ANY OF THE SAFETY FEATURES OF ANY GUN WILL HAVE AN EFFECT ON THE WAY THE GUN OPERATES AND MAY RUIN THE GUN, OR LEAD TO INJURY OR DEATH. THE PICTURES BELOW ARE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE NOT MEANT AS ENCOURAGEMENT TO CHANGE THE FUNCTION OF YOUR GUN. IF YOU FOLLOW THE INFORMATION BELOW YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN PERIL***

Here is the Brownells parts schematic for reference - http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=0/sid=892/schematicsdetail/82FS-83FS-Cheetah-85FS-Cheetah

First I field stripped the gun and removed the beautiful wooden grips.

This first picture shows the magazine inserted. The black bar is held in place to the gun over a round protrusion of the sear pin on the lower grip area and held against the gun with a spring. When there is no magazine inserted in the gun the bar lowers and blocks the trigger bar. Inserting a magazine raises the mag safety bar and gets it out of the way of the trigger bar


Step one is to remove the leg of the mag safety spring from it's perch on the magazine safety



and remove it completely from the gun



Now gently move the top of the mag safety clear of the trigger bar (up and off) then slide it down so that the larger part of the hole can fit over the button on the sear pin and set it aside



Now re-assembly the gun. If you must test fire it before putting the slide back on to test functionality, you will need to capture the hammer with your fingers. It is not a good idea to let the hammer fall on a gun with the slide removed.

Obviously, this magazine safety removal is fairly easy, but I document it here so that people interested in this model of gun, but turned off by the idea of a magazine safety can see what is involved with it's removal before making a purchase decision.

 

[blackwalnut]

Re: removing the mag safety..where is the wisdom?

I lost interest in this forum and consequently dont visit it often. Your lack of wisdom in removing the mag safety and then tellling people that they should know this when considering the purchase of a Beretta Cheetah is ridiculous and dangerous. This is the kind of YAHOO crap that just drives me away. Yes, Im sure your saying "So What!"

I suppose your one of thousands of Americans who fire their pistols with one round in the chamber and no magazine. I have never understood what the problem is with a mag safety for certain people. Its probably some more gunwriter inspired objection or a Jeff Cooper thing or whatever.

I suppose the moderator will chew me out unfairly over my comment especially when they should not let you post this or anyone elses unsafe and bad ideas.

 

[hAkron]

You are entitled to your opinion, and I welcome your comments even if they don't agree with my opinion. There are a few reasons somebody might want to remove a magazine safety on a carry gun. Here are the reasons why i don't like them - It's a potential point of failure and one more thing that could go wrong in a defensive situation. If the magazine release is bumped the gun is rendered inoperable, at least with the mag disconnect removed the round in the chamber will be fireable. I don't think it's the case with this weapon, but in some instances the mag disconnect adds additional weight to the trigger pull.

I do not see a lot of benefit to the magazine safety. You would have t break at least 3 of the 4 rules of gun safety before the magazine safety saved you from an unintended discharge. I would be interested to hear why you feel they are a positive addition to a gun.

Lastly, lots of people simply do not like the magazine safety and would probably pass on buying an otherwise fine weapon just because it had one. According to this month's issue of Shotgun News, all hand guns to be tested and made legal in California, unless grandfathered in by being renewed, will need to be equipped with a magazine safety and a loaded chamber indicator and that is the real reason this gun has a mag disconnect, not to keep anybody safe.

To your point though - I agree whole heartedly and even stated in my disclaimer that it's not wise for anybody to modify any of the safety features on a weapon without fully understanding the impact. I posted this information for adults who I hope can make informed reasonable decisions.

 

[xfyrfiter]

I removed the mag safety on my Ruger SR9, and it made the trigger feel and work soooo much better, it was like a whole new pistol.

 

[velocette]

I removed the magazine disconnects in all of my Browning Hi Power pistols.
IMHO, the mag disconnect is an answer looking for a question. Added complexity, added weight and dubiously useful.
There is a reason that most autoloading pistols do not have a mag disconnect.
The reason that some do is directly connected to some government beaurocrat excercising the intelligence of his backside.

Roger