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20 Coolest Pistols Beretta Has Ever Produced – The Italian Stallions of Handguns

It’s a little known fact that Beretta is the oldest firearms manufacturer that is still operating today.

Established in Italy in 1526, Beretta got its start making arquebus barrels that were among the earliest types of firearms. The company has supplied arms for every war fought in Europe since 1650.

Beretta now produces a number of handguns that are depended upon as sidearms by armed forces, law enforcement, and civilians alike all over the world.

Today, we’re going to focus on the twenty coolest pistols that Beretta has ever produced:

1 – Beretta 21A Bobcat

Beretta 21A Bobcat
Image Credit: Invaluable

The Beretta 21A Bobcat is one of Beretta’s tip up barrel designs, meaning that the barrel literally tips upward when you push the lever on the side of the frame. This allows you to eject a spent shell casing or to insert a new round without ever needing to rack the slide, which is difficult to do because of the small size of the gun. The Bobcat is chambered in .22 LR and .25 ACP and has been produced since 1984.

2 – Beretta 3032 Tomcat

Beretta 3032 Tomcat
Image Credit: Goodland Guns

Introduced in 1996, the Beretta 3032 Tomcat is a lot like the Bobcat, only it’s slightly larger and designed to fire the more powerful .32 ACP round. Both the Bobcat and the Tomcat are good choices for shooters who have weak hand-strength but desire a compact semi-automatic pistol since they don’t need to rack the slide to load the weapons.

3 – Beretta 418

Beretta 418
Image Credit: James Bond Wiki

The Beretta 418 in .25 ACP was the original James Bond gun in the Ian Fleming novels. Bond carried the 418 with a skeletonized grip until he replaced it with the Walther PPK in 7.65mm in the novel Dr. No. The 418 is a single action pistol that was a great choice for pocket carry in its day. It was produced from the mid-1920s to the mid-1950s when it was replaced by the Beretta 950 Jetfire.

4 – Beretta 70 Series

Beretta 70 Series
Image Credit: James Bond Wiki

The Beretta 70 series served as the successors to the Beretta M1934 and M1935 pistols until they themselves were succeeded by the Beretta Cheetah series in the mid-1980s. The 70s were single action only pistols with an open barrel design that later became characteristic of the Beretta 92s and Cheetahs, and they were offered in .22 LR, .32 ACP, and .380 ACP.

5 – Beretta 950 Jetfire

Beretta 950 Jetfire
Image Credit: Humisec

The first of the tip-up barrel designs was the Beretta 950 Jetfire, which replaced the Beretta 418 in the mid-1950s. Available in .22 Short and .25 ACP, the Jetfire was designed to be a very reliable pocket pistol and has also been a common gun in film and TV show productions. It ceased production in 2003, but used models available for good prices are easy to find on the used firearms market.

6 – Beretta 8000 Cougar

Beretta 8000 Cougar
Image Credit: Invaluable

Produced from 1994 to 2004, the Beretta 8000 Cougar series were innovative when they hit the market due to their rotating barrel design. This design means that the barrel literally rotates from recoil and allows the slide to travel rearward, which helps to tame recoil in the process. A 9mm Cougar pistol, for instance, generates less recoil than the 9mm Beretta 92 despite being a smaller and lighter handgun. The Cougars were available in 9mm, .40 S&W, .357 SIG, and .45 ACP.

7 – Beretta 92S

Beretta 92S
Image Credit: Firearm Central Wiki

The 92-series in 9mm Parabellum has long been Beretta’s flagship line of handguns. It all started with the original Model 92 in 1976, which Beretta quickly upgraded to the Model 92S. The Model 92S is virtually identical to the original 92 except it has a slide-mounted safety and dococker lever, which was added at the request of Italian law enforcement agencies (the 92 had a frame mounted safety with no decocker lever). Both the 92 and 92S have a heel push button magazine release like you’ll see in the above photo.

8 – Beretta 92SB

Beretta 92SB
Image Credit: Commando Wiki

The Beretta 92SB was released in the early 1980s as an upgraded 92S for the United States military, which was seeking a new 9mm sidearm to replace the venerable Colt M1911A1 .45 ACP pistols. The 92SB had several improvements including ambidextrous safety/decocker levers, moving the magazine release to the more traditional location behind the trigger guard, and a firing pin block to reduce the chance of an accidental discharge.

9 – Beretta 92FS

Beretta 92FS 2
Image Credit: Range USA

The Beretta 92F was released as an improvement of the 92SB; it came with a squared off trigger guard (which is the biggest visual difference), a curved base at the grip, and a Bruniton finish that offered better resistance to rust and corrosion than the blued finish of the 92SB. Later, the 92F was upgraded to the 92FS, which has an enlarged hammer pin. The 92FS was given the designation as the ‘M9’ and was selected as the U.S. military’s new sidearm, a role it enjoyed until 2017 with the adoption of the SIG Sauer P320. It has remained in continuous production ever since.

10 – Beretta 96

Beretta 96
Image Credit: 365+ Tactical Equipment

The Beretta 96 is the .40 S&W version of the Beretta 92. They were initially popular with law enforcement, but Beretta has discontinued most models due to the waning popularity of the .40 round. The gun in the above photo is a Beretta 96A1, which is currently the only variant of the 96 still in production. It comes with a Picatinny rail and rounded trigger guard; the 9mm version is the 92A1.

11 – Beretta APX

Beretta APX 2
Image Credit: Bass Pro Shops

The Beretta APX was released in 2016 as Beretta’s first modular pistol design, which means that the serialized firing chassis can be moved between different frame sizes. The APX competed in the U.S. military trials to replace the M9, and despite performing well it ultimately lost to the SIG P320 (M17/M18). The upgraded APX A1 was released in 2022. The APX is available in 9mm, 9x21mm IMI, and .40 S&W.

12 – Beretta Cheetah 81/82

Beretta 8182
Image Credit: American Rifleman

The Beretta Cheetahs (or 80-series) was released in 1976 as the successors to the Beretta 70 series. The .32 ACP variants are designated as the Model 81 (double stack) and Model 82 (single stack). The gun in the above photo is a Model 81. Early models of the Cheetah series had a rounded trigger guard and blued finish like you’ll see in the above image as well.

13 – Beretta Cheetah 84/85

Beretta Cheetah 84
Image Credit: The Range of Richfield

The .380 ACP variants of the Beretta Cheetah series are the Model 84 (double stack) and Model 85 (single stack). The gun in the above image is a Model 85. The later models of the Cheetah series like you’ll see in the above photo as well upgraded to a squared trigger guard and the tougher Bruniton finish that Beretta also applied to the 92FS.

14 – Beretta M1934/M1935

Beretta M1934M1935
Image Credit: Alexander Historical Auctions

The Beretta M1934 (.380 ACP) and M1935 (.32 ACP) were compact single action pistols that Beretta produced as sidearms for the Italian military in the World War II era. They were later replaced by the Beretta 70 series. The gun in the above image is a Model M1935. In the 1962 film adaptation of Dr. No, James Bond (Sean Connery) is forced to trade in his M1934 for the PPK, even though in the novels the Beretta he used was the Model 418.

15 – Beretta M1951

Beretta M1951
Image Credit: Reddit

The gun that would eventually develop into the Beretta 92 was the Beretta M1951, which has a very similar profile when you look at the two guns side-by-side. The M1951 is a single action 9mm pistol that was heavily influenced by the locked breech design of the Walther P38. It was produced until 1980 when it was replaced by the Model 92 series, but an Iraqi-made version known as the Tariq is still in production today.

16 – Beretta Pico

Beretta Pico
Image Credit: Shooting Illustrated

The Pico is a very small and flat pocket pistol in .380 ACP that Beretta produced from 2013 to 2020. The Pico was meant to compete with other .380 pocket pistols such as the Kel-Tec P-3AT, Ruger LCP, and Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380. The Pico was available in several colors, including flat dark earth, purple, pink, and blue.

17 – Beretta Px4 Storm

Beretta Px4 2
Image Credit: Backcountry Sports

The Beretta Px4 Storm was released in 2004 as the successor to the 8000 Cougar series. Like the Cougar pistols, the Px4 Storm features a rotating barrel design that helps to mitigate recoil, but has a lighter polymer frame and a futuristic-looking appearance. Px4 pistols are available in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP and are still produced today.

18 – Beretta Px4 Storm Compact

Beretta Px4 Storm Compact
Image Credit: Academy Sports

The Px4 Storm Compact is a smaller version of the full-size Px4 designed for concealed carry. Unlike the full-size counterpart, the compact model is only available in 9mm and .40 S&W and not in .45 Auto. The Px4 Storm Compact is still in production.

19 – Beretta Stampede

Beretta Stampede
Image Credit: Gun Deals

The Stampede is Beretta’s take on the Colt Single Action Army revolver, otherwise known as the Peacemaker. Unlike the Colt, however, the Stampede utilizes a transfer bar safety mechanism that is similar to what is found on the Ruger Vaquero revolver. Stampede revolvers are no longer made but can be found on the used market for good prices. They were produced in a wide variety of barrel lengths in the .45 Long Colt and .357 Magnum calibers; the example in the above photo is a .45 LC.

20 – Beretta U22 Neos

Beretta U22 Neos
Image Credit: Safeside Tactical

The U22 Neos is a semi-automatic target pistol in .22 LR. First introduced in 2002, the Neos was heavily inspired by the venerable Colt Woodsman pistol despite having a much more modernized appearance. Beretta also makes a ‘carbine kit’ for the U22 that comes with a stock and longer barrel that can be affixed onto the pistol.

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