The Gun Digest® Book Of
BERETTA
Pistols
Massad Ayoob
©2005 Gun Digest
Published by
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Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2005924818
ISBN: 0-87349-998-0
eISBN: 978-1-44022-424-9
Edited by Kevin Michalowski
Designed by Sandi Morrison
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
1 Magnificent Mouse Guns: The Smallest Beretta
2 Beretta’s .22 Caliber Fun Guns
5 Model 92: The Flagship of the Beretta Fleet
6 The Beretta 92/96 Combat Compacts
9 Beretta Cougar 8000 and 8048
10 Beretta’s Big Blasters: The .357 and .45
17 Careful Customizing Can Make Your Beretta Better
18 Selecting Ammunition For Your Beretta
19 Beretta Field Performance: An Update
20 The Epiphany of the Beretta
25 The Beretta in the Training Environment
About the Author
Massad Ayoob
Massad Ayoob got his first Beretta pistol at the age of 12 and has been shooting them ever since. He has shot them at local matches and at the Nationals at Camp Perry, and taught their use around the world. He is the developer of the StressFire shooting system incorporated into U.S. Army combat pistolcraft doctrine.
The long-time handgun editor of Guns magazine, law enforcement editor of American Handgunner, and associate editor of Combat Handguns and Guns & Weapons for Law Enforcement, Ayoob has served as a sworn police officer for more than 30 years and has been head of the firearms committee of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers since 1987. In 1998, he was named the Outstanding American Handgunner of the Year. He has won numerous state and regional handgun championships, and held two national titles, being one of only a handful of confirmed Four Gun Masters in IDPA. Ayoob currently divides his time between New Hampshire and Florida.
Acknowledgments
Some information has been given to me “off the record,” and therefore will not appear in this publication unless the verification comes from another source. For instance, I won’t name the executives at other gun companies who privately admitted to me that they knew damn well that Beretta had won the U.S. military contract fair and square.
Some input has been given “not for attribution.” This means a promise to the speaker that his or her identity will not be revealed. If that compromises credibility, so be it. Let the reader be the judge of the information.
I would like to thank the many executives at Beretta, past and present, who kindly shared information with me. They include Cathy Williams, PR manager extraordinaire; Gabriele de Plano, Jeff Reh, Todd Green and Brian Felter. And to the many I can’t name, you who know who you are, I am also grateful.
I would like to thank Ernest Langdon, who knows more about winning combat pistol championships with Berettas than anyone else because he has done it more than anyone else. Ernest’s work is also the gold standard for combat Beretta pistolsmithing, and his comments