I was originally interested in this pistol because of a miscalculation on my part. I thought it was smaller. I was looking for a back-up pistol that held more rounds than other .380 autos. What I discovered is that the Beretta 84FS Cheetah is very close to a full-size pistol. I would classify it as a compact. Although I had expected the grip to be thicker and longer than other .380's, it is actually close to that of the M92. Nevertheless, it was a great pistol. It was well balanced and in single-action mode the trigger was short and crisp. I only shot it out to 10 yards but at that range it was very accurate. There are, however, a few negatives. The recoil was snappier than any other .380 auto I'd ever shot. I found the double-action pull to be long, stiff, and very harmful to that all-important first shot accuracy. Lastly, you can't fire the weapon without the magazine in. I like the idea of being able to stuff a round into the chamber and have at least one shot, magazine or not. What if I don't have a magazine? I now have an expensive rock to throw at you. I found this to be a liability, although in the modern world this will probably never be a real issue.
By
Erro from
New Mexico