beretta 86 cheetah

The Beretta 86 Cheetah is a semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by Beretta.

History

First appearing in 1986, the Beretta 86 Cheetah differs quite a bit from other Cheetah pistols as it has a tip-up barrel and lacks an extractor. The idea behind this design is to allow people that are too weak to manipulate the slide to make use of the tip-up barrel to load and unload the pistol.

Specifications

Unlike the FS variants of the Cheetah, the model 86 lacks a decocking device, as it is possible to tip the barrel up before manipulating the hammer and safety. The frame is made out of aluminium alloy while the slide and barrel are made out of carbon steel. The barrel is hard chromed for a longer service life. To load the pistol one inserts a full magazine, then one turns the barrel release lever on the right side of the frame a 180 degrees, once the barrel is up one inserts a live round and then pushes the barrel down, last the barrel release lever is turned back to locked. There is no need to rack the slide and while this method of loading is slow for the first shoot, it requires much less force than on a standard blowback pistol. There is also no extractor that could be damaged.

Intended market

The Beretta 86 Cheetah was designed as a backup pistol, for individuals needing a self defense pistol and for South American markets where owners may not puchase pistols of a more potent caliber.

Design advantages

Very reliable, compact, light, accurate and affordable.

Limitations

As there is no extractor, in case of a dud round of ammunition, one has to tilt up the barrel to removed that round with the fingers, then tilt it back into position before racking the slide to load a fresh round. The power of the .380 ACP ammunition is limited.