Higgins,
Here come all the negatives on the Beretta. What did I tell you?
It is not myth that Berettas blow up and severly injure the shooter.
WR, lets be honest, with enough digging we can find examples of every model of firearms on the market that have "blown up and severely injured the shooter". This is not a phenomena singularly associated with the Beretta. I'm certain that with some research, you could find examples of Hi Powers blowing up and injuring the shooter as well. But then you wouldn't want to do that would you because you like the Hi Power. I would challenge anyone to document (that means find definitive proof) as many cases of Beretta slide separation as possible with any type of ammo (including the subgun ammo used in the military failures). I'd be willing to bet you'd have a hard time documenting even double figures (Broken Arrow can probably help us on that, he's done as much research as anyone on this BB).
Under stress you can forget about hitting anything with it unless you are shooting across the bar room table.
This would be true for a shooter who has not learned trigger control. Anyone who practices with a DA/SA can shoot it just fine. Ernest Langdon happens to do OK with his Beretta wouldn't you say?
The Beretta feels about as well balanced as a electric hand drill.
Wild Romanian left out part of that sentence. What he wanted to add was "TO ME". There are a lot of people on this BB who seem to be very good about deciding how everything should feel for everyone else. As for myself, and many others, the Beretta feels about as good as a handgun can feel.
As for Beretta accuracy, anyone would be able to find individual examples of any handgun that will outshoot another. Hell some people run across Hi Points that outshoot a Les Baer. It simply comes down to the individual firearm. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the Beretta's overall are more accurate than the Hi Power (they probably aren't), but to say all Beretta's are 3 inchers is untrue.
The High Power has a steel frame and the High Powers made before 1993 all had finely fitted forged steel frames.
Tell me their isn't a hidden meaning in that statement. What are the Hi Power frames AFTER 1993 made with? Cheap cast frames?The Beretta's "cheap aluminum frame" will outlive probably 98% of their owners. The other 2% may shoot enough to possibly wear one out -- then, when and if they do, Beretta will replace it.
Frame strip down: The Browning is much easier and much less prone to damage when stripping the frame. No cheap aluminum frame that is easily damaged and no cheap sheet metal roll pins holding it together.
WR knows as well as everyone here that 99% of handgun owners will never strip the frame of their auto. Even if they do, if you are careful and don't take a ball peen hammer to it, you aren't going to damage it.
The Beretta standard model is a huge pistol. The Browning is much slimer , much more concealable due to its slimmer slide and shorter butt.
Yeah, here is the size issue just like I said it would come. Did you read the initial question Wild Romanian? He said he is going to use it as a HOUSE GUN. That means he can wheel in a Howitzer. If the gun fits his hand, size is irrelevant in a house gun.
Resale value on a High Power is much greater than the Beretta.
That statement takes the cake, write a huge paragraph about how the Hi Power is much better than the Beretta, then tell the guy its resale value is better? I'm sure Higgins is going to do a bunch of research on which gun is better with the intent of buying it only to sell it in a couple of months.
So you may be stuck with buying the Beretta anyway. Hope this helps you make up your mind. I hope you do not have to learn the hard way W.R.
So tell us, Oh Wise and Omniscient WR. What is "learning the hard way"? There are probably more Beretta's in more people closets who are tickled to death with them than there are people who even know what a Hi Power is.
Higgins,
I own a Beretta Elite II and it is one of my favorites. It will shoot much more accurately than I can hold it ( I know, I tested it off a rest), has a great trigger, has a radiused backstrap so the grip is more forgiving for those with small hands, standard capacity (high cap.) mags are readily available and inexpensive, and it looks as good as any handgun I own. Best of all, it is 100% reliable. If you intend to use it as a house gun though you may want to change the sights. It comes with Novak black on black sights and you'd probably want to switch them for night sights or at least white dots.
I'd encourage you again to simply buy what you like. As I said before, the Beretta detractors will come out of the woodwork to list the terrible things about it. I don't have a thing against the Hi Power and intend to get one soon. It is a great gun.
As someone else mentioned, if you like the Browning, you may want to look at the CZ75B. It would be much less expensive than either the Hi Power or the Beretta and has much of the same qualities of both. It is accurate, very reliable, standard capacity mags available, and most find them to be as pointable and ergonomic as the Hi Power.
Buy what you like and enjoy.
Shake