Guns 2012-08.pdf - Jeffersonian

To put the Nano’s size in perspective (center), it is shown here flanked by
the SIG P290 (left) and a Kahr CM9 (right), all 9mm. Photo: Massad Ayoob
Said Matteo, “We take these things
very seriously, as we care about the
quality cachet the brand enjoys,
but the reality is that a marginal
percent of guns experienced this
problem. CCW guns (as you know)
are more susceptible than their fullsize
counterparts to failures for a
series of reasons, but we wanted to
make sure that any Nano owner is
happy with their purchase. I think
we managed to do that and that
our customers are standing firmly
behind this product, as confirmed
by the fact we’re sold out of the little
gun for the next several months, and
we’ve had to almost quadruple our
production efforts to keep up with
demand (we’re now manufacturing
Nanos around the clock in all shifts,
at our Accokeek facility.)”
He concluded, “What I know off
the top of my head is we fired 1,000
rounds with no lube as part of a
marketing program, without a single
failure (I was personally present for
that) and I know engineering has
fired an impressive number of rounds
through it.”
Mr. Reconatini was also able to
get hold of an engineer’s report and
pass it on to me, which stated “We
have shot several NANO (sic), with
a variety of ammunition over 2,000,
3,000 and even 5,000 rounds each
without malfunctions.”
The other source I backtracked to
was the Internet itself. On one of the
Beretta-focused forums, a member
complained about ejection failures,
but then recanted. It seems he realized
on his own that he was limp-wristing
the gun, and once he started holding
it solidly, his reliability problems
disappeared.
Nano
Maker: Beretta USA
17601 Beretta Dr.
Accokeek, MD 20607
(800) 929-2901
www.gunsmagazine.com/beretta
Action type: Locked breech semi-auto
Caliber: 9mm
Capacity: 6+1
Barrel length: 3.07"
Overall length: 5.63"
Weight: 17.67 ounces
Finish: Pronox steel slide
Sights: 3-dot low profile
Grips: Integral fiberglass
reinforced technopolymer
Price: $475
Remora
Concealment & Security
P.O. Box 990340
Naples, FL 34116
(239) 434-7200
www.gunsmagazine.com/
remora-holsters
Another interesting study on
this is found at http://sigforum.
com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/430601935/
m/7100002072/p/21. The thread
was started by Mike Packwood,
a/k/a “Parabellum,” the owner
of SIGForum and former owner
of Smith-Wessonforum.com. No
punches are pulled on SIGForum, a
place that is not for the faint-hearted.
Packwood himself loved the gun. A
review of the Nano thread shows
at least one complainer said he had
sent the gun back to Beretta, but did
so without tracking (?!?) and when
Beretta’s Reconatini responded the
gun didn’t get to Beretta, remained
conspicuously silent. One needs
to take large grains of salt when
reading Internet postings about guns
from anonymous sources….
All I can tell you from this end is,
we put our test Beretta Nano into
lots of hands: big hands and small,
left hands and right, male and female.
We shot it deliberately limp-wristed
and from waist-level without arms
locked or weight behind it. We shot
it with +P+ and mild Winchester
“white box” (WWB), and even with
handloads that barely made the IDPA
power factor for 9mm.
We experienced no mechanical
malfunctions in the course of those
several hundred mixed rounds in the
hands of mixed shooters. The single
hiccup was a shooter induced error; he
accidentally hit the magazine release
button and dropped the mag. “My
bad,” he said, as he executed a taprack
and resumed shooting.
The 37 returns of Nanos to the
factory at this writing included
things like the sights being off for the
shooter (they’re easy to adjust and
even replace), and is still less than .6
percent of output. Our mechanical
malfunction rate was absolute zero.
I for one am not worried about the
Nano’s reliability.
Bottom Line
The Beretta Nano joins a growing
number of “slim-9s” designed for
concealed carry. It has the very useful
feature of stand-off capability, good
sights, a trigger you can live with,
and some other cool stuff. There’s
stuff this reviewer doesn’t like, but
your needs and parameters may be
different. If you are in the market
for a pistol of this genre, the Beretta
Nano is definitely worth a look.
WWW.GUNSMAGAZINE.COM 53