I have an Italian 96fs and a 96G Elite. Both are extremely reliable, my FS has gone bang every time I pulled the trigger, and it's closing in on 10K rounds. When my Elite was new, it would only work well with full power loads, as it was a little tight. Since the break in, it's been flawless with everything I've fed it. The blued barrels are chrome lined, the stainless ones aren't (BTW, the only blued parts on this gun are the barrel and grip screws). My Elite is very accurate, with the right load, I can get 25yd groups just under 1.5" off of sandbags. the Beretta is a very large pistol. If you have small hands that is definately a con, for me is is a pro. The standard slide is not as good at controlling the recoil of the 40 s&w as the heavy slide of the Boarder Marshal/Elite models, and I've heard the recoil of the Centurian can be harsh. All around it's a great pistol.