Beretta Pico Range report

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Whirlwind06

New member
I picked up a Beretta Pico over the weekend, went home a field striped and cleaned and lubed it. I put a small amount of grease on the slide rails and the barrel, pretty much what I have found works for the various Kel-tecs I have owned. I also loaded both the mags and locked the slide back and let them sit in the safe over the weekend. Don't know if that made a difference but figured it couldn't hurt.

Got it to the range on Monday, I had already shot a S&W model 19 snub, a Beretta 84F .380, and a Beretta PX4 Sub compact 9mm (50 rounds each). So I'm sure my arms and fingers were feeling a bit fatigued I saved this gun for last thinking that it would be not fun to shoot, like the other pocket .380s I have owned or shot. Plus breaking in a new gun can be frustrating.

The first 20 or so rounds I had a lot of FTEs so I thought I was in for a long afternoon of clearing jams, but I was determined to get a 100 rounds though it, to have a good start at breaking it in. I had read that the Pico doesn't like target rounds and runs better with HD rounds. I don't have the budget to run 100 SD rounds though it right now, so I had 50 WWB and 50 Blazer brass (saving my brass already) after the first 4 or 5 mags it smoothed out and it ran another ~80 rounds though it without one hiccup. My trigger finger was getting tired from the 10 lb pull but it kept going! The last 2 mags were Hornady Custom XTP to verify if they would feed and function. Again no problems.

Recoil was very mild, compared to others I have shot so I had no problem running a 100 rounds though it (other then finger fatigue). It sits high in my hand or it seems to, maybe that is just how it looks. Mild recoil means it will get range time and I won't be dreading it. I doubt I'll run 100 rounds at one time again, but I can see running 50 with no problem. I'm already gathering the items I need to reload .380, so I won't be buying factory target ammo except as an reason to get brass :)

Some pics:

What came in the box:


This was the last target set about 15 feet or so, with about 30 rounds fired. Accuracy seemed good for what it is, while breaking it in I was more interested in function. Sights are very good and easy to pick up. I'll work on getting one ragged hole at a later date :)


All in all very happy with my purchase.
 
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Nice review. I like what I'm hearing from owners about the Pico. From inspecting it in person, it's clearly a very well-built, high-quality gun. The fact that Beretta says it's fine to shoot the "+P" .380 loads from Underwood and Buffalo Bore in the Pico is also a positive. (I believe standard-pressure Critical Defense is seen as the best .380 mousegun load presently, but it's nice to at least have the option to go with something hotter if a better-performing +P round is introduced.)

I'm about at the end of my rope on finding a suitable .380 pocket pistol. My Kahr P380 would be perfect if it only worked. The LCP is reliable, but it doesn't work with my large hands/long fingers. I've fired and examined every other .380 pocket gun out there (haven't fired the Pico), and I'm not satisfied with any of them.

There are definitely things I would change about the Pico -- trigger pull weight and ridiculous serration height being the main ones -- but it fits reasonably well in my hand (if not as well as the P380), and the reliability appears to be there.

I've seen a few folks say that the trigger lightened up a bit after a few hundred pulls. I'm curious as to whether that turns out to be your experience.
 
Thanks, I would think it will lighten up a bit. I did notice that it's a heavy pull but seems to have a shorter pull length then other DAO pocket guns I have tried.

I also see that in the parts diagram that the hammer spring has an inner and outer spring set up. I might try removing the inner spring as a test sometime. I haven't searched to see if anyone has tried that, but that may increase the felt recoil. Being a true DAO the slide is working against both the hammer and recoil springs, which I would think has some effect on felt recoil.
 
I saw one the other day at the shop and was taken aback by how small it actually was. My wife wants one with a white frame.

Thanks for the review.
 
anyone have a side by side size comparison to the kel-tec and similar guns? I'm interested in the fact of there being a .32acp version.
 
Whirlwind06 said:
I also see that in the parts diagram that the hammer spring has an inner and outer spring set up. I might try removing the inner spring as a test sometime. I haven't searched to see if anyone has tried that, but that may increase the felt recoil. Being a true DAO the slide is working against both the hammer and recoil springs, which I would think has some effect on felt recoil.
Click to expand...

I saw someone elsewhere mention that they were going to try this, but I can't remember where, unfortunately. Probably on the Beretta Forum.

I know that a writer for TTAG took out the smaller recoil spring and said that, with weaker ammo, brass started ejecting a normal and consistent distance and direction while the gun was still new. Since Beretta says it's fine to use the extra-hot .380 loads, removing the smaller hammer spring certainly isn't going to damage the gun with standard ammo. I'd be very interested in seeing if primer ignition is negatively affected on (1) Winchester or Federal ammo and (2) ammo with harder CCI primers, like Speer Lawman FMJ. That's assuming, of course, that taking out the smaller hammer spring brings down the trigger pull weight some noticeable amount.

What I can tell you for certain is that the hammer spring group is the main culprit behind the stiffness of the slide. Just put the bare slide on the frame (no barrel, guide rod, recoil springs) and test the effort required to cycle the slide by hand, and you'll see that it's the hammer spring providing the bulk of the resistance to rearward travel.
 
JERRYS. said:
anyone have a side by side size comparison to the kel-tec and similar guns? I'm interested in the fact of there being a .32acp version.
Click to expand...

Below are the most useful direct comparison photos I was able to dig up. This brief Youtube video is also very helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_qJTG02bA. In the first 1:33, he holds the Pico side-by-side with the S&W Bodyguard .380, the Ruger LCP, and the Kahr P380.

The Pico is impressively thin. The thinness makes it especially impressive to me that, unlike most of the other .380 mousegun manufacturers, Beretta says it's fine to run Underwood and Buffalo Bore through this little thing.


Taurus TCP vs. Beretta Pico

First three from TTAG:







Beretta-Pico-vs-Taurus-TCP.jpg



Ruger LCP vs. Beretta Pico

Beretta-Pico-vs-Ruger-LCP1.jpg



Glock 42 vs. Beretta Pico

Beretta-Pico-vs-Glock-421.jpg
 
Nice pix Austin TX and thanks OP Whirlwind for the review.

How is control with the short grip? Sounds OK. An LCP without the mag base grip extender always feels like it wants to jump out of my hand.
 
Tried the Pico. Fit and Inox finish is nice. Slim design is nice. Sights are nice. 'Cept they were low by 3 inches. Fixable but gotta send it back for that. Slide was stiff and therefore had trouble cycling a round in from the magazine before firing. Guess how that played out during the firing of the firearm? Several FTE/FTF's. Fixable but gotta send it back for that. What's not fixable? Just about every other pocket .380 is easier to manage and more comfortable to shoot - ('cept the NAA Guardian.) What else is not fixable? The absolutely horrible trigger. Without a major design rework my prediction is that the Pico series is DOA.

I own 6 other Beretta pistols and will no doubt add more to the collection in the future. But the Pico won't be one of them.
 
I am going to tell you about my experience with the Pico. First I should tell you that I am old. When I was in the army they issued me a pike and told me to stick anyone on a horse that looked like he was going to run over me. A little exaggeration maybe but not much.
First thing I noticed was I could barely get the slide back. I then loaded some Perfecta ammo ,95 gr fmj. The first round i fired I noticed that the recoil was quite pleasant. Pulled the trigger again and got a click. My first thought was a misfire so waited a bit and tried again. Just a click. So fought the slide open and the empty case came out. So tried it again and again (4 agains actually). Not only was it not ejecting the cases but I don't even think it was even extracting them! So loaded up some Federal 95 gr fmj. My first shot was a stove pipe so at least it was extracting them. I then decided that I could get along with only one recoil spring. Once that was done no more fails to eject. However, the Perfecta cases were dropping right at my feet. Also the slide could be pulled back reasonably although still stiff. (My 1911 is much easier even so).
The next problem was the trigger pull. Both length and weight. I have quite small hands but my trigger finger would go in past the first joint. I couldn't get the trigger back far enough to to fire with my finger in that far so moved my finger out to the pad which worked but after 45 rds. I was developing a blister on the bottom of my finger. The accuracy was pretty fair considering how much my hands were shaking by the time I got the trigger back far enough to fire.
The next problem was trying to get the mag to drop. They have a system where you can push a lever down on either side of the grip to release the mag But I found it impossible to do with my firing hand. I had to use my off hand on both mag releases to drop the mag. I could not think of a way to have a new mag ready since both hands were full.
I could go on with this saga but I am sure most people have given up reading by now.
I felt that if I was being attacked by a bg that if I didn't have a round chambered the best thing I could do throw the gun at him or her and run like the dickens.
I hope you findings are different than mine.
Sorry about the length but us old guys like to talk. Sourdough1938
 
May I suggest trying the Glock 42? Lots of minds,regarding .380 comfort and accuracy,have been changed by the G42. :D
 
thanks for the write-up. very interesting option that doesn't get much attention for some reason. surprising to see it side by side with the TCP, I had figured the pico would be a good bit bigger.

sourdough, that pico obviously needed to be returned to berretta, but I would like to hear larger sample of customer experiences.

well, I admit I didn't see the other negative post right above your with pretty much the same issues, have to check out customer reviews on Bud's and other big sellers and see if this is the norm. doesn't sound good especially when the Taurus, of all things, has almost nothing but positive reviews.
 
I ran another 30 or 40 rounds though it a few weeks ago, ran great. I'm not dismissing the reported problems but, I'm happy with mine so far. From what I have read it seems Beretta has made some changes based on problems that owners have had.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/12/jeremy-s/beretta-pico-update/

Initial consumer feedback has prompted Beretta to make a few changes during the assembly process. More and/or different lubrication is applied to specific places, most notably under the slide (the entire feed strip length), and the machine(s) that repeatedly cycle every single pistol off the line by racking the slide and pulling the trigger are now doing that racking a bit more vigorously and for a longer amount of time. This gets the pistol closer to “broken-in” and is why end users are having better success with models from after this change,
Click to expand...

I don't know at what point this happened, it would be nice to have serial number range. Mine was made in November of 2014, so maybe I have one that's been cycled more.

I agree that the mag release is a bit strange I use my weak hand to pull down on both tabs. So yeah it's not the fastest reload, but I bet I'm still faster than reloading my j frame. :) The up side of the mag release is that the chances of it being pulled while in a pocket holster is almost 0.

It's great that we live in a country that we have some many choices.
 
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