I got my Nano on Thanksgiving Day and have just gotten back from MCFG where I made some noise in one of the pistol bays while the rest of the folks there were getting ready for FNS. The purpose of this trip was simply to test the reliability of what I hope to be my EDC pistol.
I had 200 rounds of WWB 115 grain FMJ ball (from WalMart and in the loose 100-round boxes) and a box of 25 Hornady Critical Defense 115 grain FTX to try out. All my shooting was done from the short table (7 yards, maybe?).
I had a friend with me as a guest (yes, he paid...) and we both took the Nano for a spin. Between the two of us we sent 61 rounds of the WWB downrange and I sent one magazine (6 rounds) of the Hornady downrange to see how the pistol ran with a popular SD load.
Put simply, the gun was 100% reliable for me. No failures of any kind with tight groupings centered about 3" from the bullseye and at 5 o'clock. I tried shooting from the bench and offhand and although the groups widened up offhand the pattern seemed to be lower right of POA again. Not sure if it's my trigger control or if this is where the gun shoots (lower right of POA). At least I can correct the windage with an allen wrench if the rear sight needs to be adjusted.
My friend's experience (and therefore mine) wasn't as good. The well-discussed failure to extract issue reared its ugly head three times for him, including on his very first shot. This is supposed to be an issue for Federal Champion ammo due to its very low power factor but I don't consider WWB a powder puff round either.
Beretta has been on record officially stating the Nano is designed for NATO-spec ammo and warning us who own the pistol that it may not cycle reliably with lighter loads. A lot of folks aren't buying this and cite examples of how their own pistols of various makes and models run reliably using everything from powder puff to +P loads.
I'm no expert in these matters but I expect anything I carry to be as close to 100% reliable as possible and I really thought I had a good thing going until I handed the pistol over for my friend to shoot. I simply don't know if it is coincidence or his technique (maybe he was limp-wristing?).
I still can't get a handle on what was happening mechanically but on all 3 occasions the pistol attempted to chamber the next round in the magazine with a spent casing still in the chamber. Does this mean the extractor claw was slipping off the cartridge rim as the slide cycled (does not seem possible) or is the extractor carrying the cartridge rearward as the slide cycles only to put it back in the chamber because the slide did not travel rearward enough for the casing to reach the ejector? And if the latter is true how is another round being stripped off the top of the magazine and jamming against the primer of the spent cartridge?
And come to think of it, my Kimber Stainless Pro TLE/RL II was stone reliable until I handed it to the same guy. Maybe I should call him Schleprock? (BTW the Kimber went back to its original owner; I needed the cash).
If anyone can lend some insight into all the things happening during the firing cycle and how a pistol could end up in this condition I'd really appreciate their insight. For now, the jury is out on this one until I get back to the range and (hopefully) see some improved reliability.
I had 200 rounds of WWB 115 grain FMJ ball (from WalMart and in the loose 100-round boxes) and a box of 25 Hornady Critical Defense 115 grain FTX to try out. All my shooting was done from the short table (7 yards, maybe?).
I had a friend with me as a guest (yes, he paid...) and we both took the Nano for a spin. Between the two of us we sent 61 rounds of the WWB downrange and I sent one magazine (6 rounds) of the Hornady downrange to see how the pistol ran with a popular SD load.
Put simply, the gun was 100% reliable for me. No failures of any kind with tight groupings centered about 3" from the bullseye and at 5 o'clock. I tried shooting from the bench and offhand and although the groups widened up offhand the pattern seemed to be lower right of POA again. Not sure if it's my trigger control or if this is where the gun shoots (lower right of POA). At least I can correct the windage with an allen wrench if the rear sight needs to be adjusted.
My friend's experience (and therefore mine) wasn't as good. The well-discussed failure to extract issue reared its ugly head three times for him, including on his very first shot. This is supposed to be an issue for Federal Champion ammo due to its very low power factor but I don't consider WWB a powder puff round either.
Beretta has been on record officially stating the Nano is designed for NATO-spec ammo and warning us who own the pistol that it may not cycle reliably with lighter loads. A lot of folks aren't buying this and cite examples of how their own pistols of various makes and models run reliably using everything from powder puff to +P loads.
I'm no expert in these matters but I expect anything I carry to be as close to 100% reliable as possible and I really thought I had a good thing going until I handed the pistol over for my friend to shoot. I simply don't know if it is coincidence or his technique (maybe he was limp-wristing?).
I still can't get a handle on what was happening mechanically but on all 3 occasions the pistol attempted to chamber the next round in the magazine with a spent casing still in the chamber. Does this mean the extractor claw was slipping off the cartridge rim as the slide cycled (does not seem possible) or is the extractor carrying the cartridge rearward as the slide cycles only to put it back in the chamber because the slide did not travel rearward enough for the casing to reach the ejector? And if the latter is true how is another round being stripped off the top of the magazine and jamming against the primer of the spent cartridge?
And come to think of it, my Kimber Stainless Pro TLE/RL II was stone reliable until I handed it to the same guy. Maybe I should call him Schleprock? (BTW the Kimber went back to its original owner; I needed the cash).
If anyone can lend some insight into all the things happening during the firing cycle and how a pistol could end up in this condition I'd really appreciate their insight. For now, the jury is out on this one until I get back to the range and (hopefully) see some improved reliability.
