Beretta Unveils The New 80x Cheetah .380 and 92XI 9mm Pistols, A300 Ultima Patrol Shotgun

By
Dan Zimmerman
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53

 

Beretta 80x Cheetah .380

From Beretta . . .

Beretta 80x Cheetah Pistol, Cal. .380

BERETTA IS BRINGING BACK THE CLASSIC 380 WITH EXCEPTIONAL COMFORT & STYLE.

The 80x Cheetah reimagines the legendary platform, with a new sleek design and enhanced features. Ergonomically redesigned for modern day carry, the 80X Cheetah includes a smaller Vertec style grip profile, the X-treme S Double/Single trigger, skeletonized hammer, a 13+1 round capacity, and comes optics-ready out of the box.

Beretta knows the importance of training when concealed carrying and has made a carry gun that is actually comfortable to carry and enjoyable to shoot. With an easier-to-rack slide, lightened recoil from tuning of the slide weight, spring rates, and chambering in 380, the 80x Cheetah is designed with an enhanced fit and style for elevated speed and control.

For those looking for something different, the 80x Cheetah comes in a premium assortment of color options with limited edition multi-tone variants and market-leading finishes.

Before we made it the most comfortable and controllable pistol available, we made it a Beretta. The Beretta 80x Cheetah – Style in EVERY detail.

Beretta 92XI 9mm

Beretta 92XI Pistol, Cal. 9mm

Introducing the new frontier for the 90 Series – the 92XI. The 92XI brings the long-awaited frame mounted safety to the standard 92 family of products, as well as a single action only variant and various ergonomic enhancements. The frame mounted safety offers an ambidextrous solution, bringing the safety lever more in reach with natural ergonomics.

The 92XI features the X-treme-S single action only and flat faced trigger, performance DLC coated trigger components and a lightweight skeletonized hammer, allowing for a crisp trigger pull with the option to go cocked and locked.

The 92XI carries forward the Vertec style frame, both high and low-capacity magazine options, a fiber optic front sight for faster sight acquisition, and the option for MRDS optics mounting making this a high performing, reliable choice for personal defense and competition.

Available in a new line of colorways with standard and limited edition variants, the long-awaited 92XI brings classic design with modern innovation.

Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol shotgun

Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol Shotgun, 12 Ga.

ULTIMATE RELIABILITY AND CONTROL

Elevate your tactical set-up with the new Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol – engineered to be ultra-reliable and easy to manipulate. Featuring the classic mechanisms of the venerable A300 platform, this new tactical shotgun includes enlarged controls, an enhanced loading port, a thinner forend design with multiple M-Lok and QD sling mounting points, and a 7+1-shot extended magazine tube secured by a custom barrel clamp with integral M-Lok capability.

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53 COMMENTS

    • Yes. Direct blowback 380 pistols recoil more sharply than 9mm locked actions, negating the only potential benefit of carrying a 380 in a handgun this size. I’d rather burn 100rds through an LCP than a PPK, 84, etc.

      • Everything is a tradeoff until it isn’t. A good start for making decisions is to frame a problem as a series of logical tradeoffs (general design principles) and see how a given product compares to the theory. It doesn’t always produce right answers, but it often makes it very simple to cross obvious Wrong Answers off the list:

        .380 kicks less than 9mm Generally true, but absolutely incorrect here as you said. I just watched TFB’s pre-SHOT video where a salesman repeated this (a blatant factual falsehood in this case) without the interviewer even questioning him.

        Blowbacks are cheaper than more complex locked-breech actions Not this blowback! 1.5-2x the price of competing locked pistols (or four blowback Hi-Points, if you prefer).

        .380s are more compact and concealable than 9mms Except a Cheetah is the size and weight of a G19 and has a grip (the part that counts for concealability) a hair fatter than a 2011 (double-stack .45ACP)!!!

        Nevertheless, it will appeal to people who blindly equate “harder to make and more expensive” with “quality” despite it being objectively inferior to competitors in every practical way.

        • @Umm… “ in every PRACTICAL way.”
          I would strongly disagree. Our list of PRACTICAL metrics does NOT include NATURAL POINTABILITY. Better understood as a flowing type of natural accuracy that follows your arm and hand’s pointing movement.
          Our older son is an instinctive pistol shooter. His Mom ❤️ regularly puts me to shame on the bow range. If she had more than a functional interest in handguns, the Combat Pistol League would tar and feather me before exultingly naming my replacement.
          We speak at length about correct repetitive practice, dry firing and proper grip. What if the grip self-aligned the pistol? The “Perfect Grip”?
          As you grab it in haste, it self aligns in your hand? We would pay handsomely for that magical improvement, No?
          Case in point: My Schofields wear dual palm swell custom Hogue wooden grips. They are deadly accurate weapons BECAUSE of their POINTABILITY. We should change the way we evaluate sidearms that enhance our survivability in “sloppy” situations.
          Namely, we should rigorously explore the ergonomic metrics of our firearms when choosing which one to enter into an intimate and life-saving relationship with.

        • Anything with a 18-degree grip angle has NATURAL POINTABILITY.
          Glocks with a 22 degree grip angle do not have NATURAL POINTABILITY.
          A 1911 will automatically point at a criminal in any situation.
          Try it sometime, a 1911 with a 18° grip angle will always point at a criminal.
          Years ago they used to use it in police line ups.
          It was better then modern DNA tests and then Glock ruined it.
          Glocks will point at anything given their inherent inaccuracy.

        • NATURAL POINTABILITY

          Sure, but as Nicky N joked, that’s completely subjective. Some can’t get enough of the “Luger-like” pointability of the Glock, while others find it throws them way off. Some glorify the “natural pointability” of pistols most don’t find that way at all, simply because they’ve been accustomed to training with them throughout a career – so with the caveat that people with different hand sizes, shapes, grip strengths, backgrounds, etc. prefer different grips, we’re back to performance.

          I have a pistol that many describe as naturally pointable, and it fits me like a glove. It wouldn’t matter if it shoots heatseeking missiles, though, because it won’t conceal worth a damn under the clothes I wear 90% of the time. And even with two extra rounds and 3x the ME per shot, it’s only a hair bigger in the butt than the Cheetah.

    • I’d reserve judgement on anything M-lok. Flannel Daddy’s been complaining of using it on scattergat’s lately, but hasn’t voiced any reason I know of.

      Revisit our conversation the other day. Revealed a bit around the original situation in the abstract you’d find interesting.

      • You can also get “Seven plus rounds of ‘oh hell no’ priced at about” $200 with a Mossberg Maverick 88. I’d rather have the Beretta shotgun, but the Mossberg works fine for the cheap and the broke. 😉

  4. They should make a new design that doesn’t have plastic so we don’t have to keep buying their 40 year old designs that they keep revamping for us.

  7. Is the Cheetah a tip-up barrel like the old Cheetah (and current Tomcat / Bobcat)?

    For people with limited grip strength, that’s a good design — no racking needed at all to load/unload.

    • Just have to be cautious and read thoroughly re ammo choice for the 32acp (not sure on others)

    • “For people with limited grip strength, that’s a good design — no racking needed at all to load/unload.”

      The downside is, if it’s like the 21A Bobcat, it’s straight blowback, no extractor. A misfire or dud round and you have to dig the rim of shell out with a fingernail, and then re-rack to get one in the pipe.

      Oh, and a racking motion is required if you don’t drop a round in the chamber manually.

      Otherwise, I really like my 21A Covert with the factory threaded barrel. I have a clone of the little ‘Pill Bottle’ wipe can currently in NFA jail, waiting for it… 🙂

  8. The SAO 92 is interesting. Where’s the rest of the APX lineup? Why no different sizes and calibers like before? Don’t tell me all that hype was only for a slightly revised full size striker-fired 9mm.

    • That’s the thing that caught my eye, they started off with “manual safety” and my first reaction was “why would you do that to a DA/SA?” Starting out with SAO makes more sense in the marketing department IMO.

  9. I bought a 92X last year, the decocker only model. It was a jam-o-matic. It would extract but not load. After multiple cleanings and polishings of the feed ramp, and a thousand rounds of various 9mm grain weights, it finally works properly. Likewise, reviews for the pistol are mixed: quality control problems on the barrel and the extractor, among other issues.

    I still wouldn’t trust my life to it. I only keep it because it is the only 9mm I own. I should have bought a Glock 17. Cheaper and more reliable.

    • Johnny LeBlanc:
      I bought a 92X in April of 2021. Converted it to decocker-only (using the Beretta kit) before I even took it out to the range. It has functioned flawlessly from day one.
      You should have returned yours to Beretta for repair instead of going through all of that rigmarole on your own. That’s what you paid for. Anyway, it’s nice to hear that the gun is working correctly now, which is a good thing. The 92X really is a good pistol, one of the best I’ve ever owned.

  10. The 80X looks exactly like my 84FS with different grips and a Picatinny rail and is $800

    The problem with the double stack Cheetahs is they are a little big and heavy for summer carry, basically you can get a plastic 9mm or .40 that is the same size and holds more ammo. If you want to add an optic to a .380 pistol these pistols are very accurate but you are going to have to buy some “boutique” .380 ammo in +P to have any real “stopping” power.

    On my 84FS I added LOK Grips and that’s about it. The two dot sights are the same as a M9 and very accurate to about 50 feet. The trigger is fine out of the box and the hammer looks identical.

    I used to carry a Cheetah 85 single stack when I worked in a very nasty neighborhood in Chicago in the ’90’s. I actually bought it from a cop who thought I was nuts to not be armed. He was and still is a big Beretta fan and his service pistol was a 92. The 85 fit perfectly unholstered (there weren’t any back then) in jeans with a belt with a T shirt one size up then I normally wore. It was better then nothing.

    My 84FS is art and is one of the guns that most people are drawn to but in this day and age it is a gun that really has no purpose. Like most Cheetahs it came with magazine safety so that’s a question, does the 80x have what I consider a nuisance mag safety which I was able to disable in about 5 minutes?

    $800 + the price of a cheap optic equal pass, this is a 84FS with a different slide, grips and Picatinny rail.
    While 100% reliable, there are better and much cheaper guns for self defense.

    • The 84FS in Nickel is one I really wish they still made. It isn’t something I would ever carry though. But I would certainly buy it.

  11. WOW! Very nice, good to see they modernized the 84. The SAO looks fantastic. And good to see a tactical A300.

  12. Nice lineup, though it seems a little odd to make a .380 pocket pistol “optics ready.” Gonna put an RMR on it? The red dot would dwarf the pistol!

    • Well it’s made for the mini red dots, but the other factor is that this is certainly not a pocket pistol.

  13. the only thing more awkward looking
    than a beretta 92
    with a red dot on it
    is ANY HI-POINT EVER MADE

  14. The Cheetah is in a similar size range to the modern Micro9, seems a shame not to chamber it in 9mm. The first company to come out with a quality p365-p365xl sized DA/SA 9mm with 10 or 12 round capacity is going to corner a fair sized chunk of the concealed carry market.

    • The Cheetah is pretty close in size to a Glock 19.
      It also weighs about the same.
      https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?55770-New-Beretta-80X-Cheetah/page6&s=22add1a93b2afe25d04b56e0f888aee7
      While I like the original Cheetahs, this one doesn’t have the same character.
      I personally think it’s Berettas way of making a classic more modern.
      That always isn’t a good thing.
      Plus you can have 16 rounds of 9mm or 13 of .380.
      I have boxes of Underwood in .380+P to make up for the anemic USA loads.
      At $800 I feel this new Beretta isn’t worth the price.
      At $1200 I have never carried my 84FS, range use only.
      You will buy a safe queen and keep it because in 2 years they will stop making them.
      Again.

  15. I had a .380 that looked pretty much like this one. It was made by Tanfoglio I think, it jammed a lot. So I’m not buying another one.
    Colt Pony was cool

  16. A brother in law of mine years ago asked me what I thought of this handgun. This was back before Beretta junkified the gun with cheap castings and plastic parts.

    I told him that the only excuse for a .380 auto was one that was small enough to easily conceal and in this regard the Beretta failed big time. When you can these days actually by a 9mm that is way smaller than this .380 Beretta it shows the stupidity of people who would even consider buying it, especially the latest variants that have been junkified to cut costs and increase profits.

  17. I love my Cheetah. I prefer the rounded trigger guard of the pre-decocker models, but they’re all awesome.

  18. Makes sense that they moved the safety to the frame since they already make the Performance model this way. Good option for anyone that can’t reach the slide mounted safety/decocker. I don’t have an issue reaching the safety lever but it is easier with this new model. The RDO Centurion decocker only model I have with a Vortex red dot runs nicely and is in rotation with a tuned up 92A1.

  20. I like the idea of more hammer-fired alloy framed pistols, but IMO they took everything that made the Cheetah beautiful and turned it into a blocky, angular… thing.

    Good on Beretta for not creating another compact poly framed striker fired 9mm, but man that thing is hideous compared to the Cheetahs of old.

    Still, if I see one in the wild, definitely gonna take a look at it.

  21. I hate to whine in public, but my strong side(right) wrist is badly damaged. My motorcycle crashing style is to hold on regardless and fly it all the way to the point of impact. The fact that I have a “Crashing Style” at all may qualify me to cut to the front of the Darwin Awards line.
    I’ve carried Combat Commander most of my life, now a Colt Defender Lightweight. The recoil impulse creates some very distracting pain.
    The siren song of the 85/80x is flatly, POINTABILITY. Not a metric that is spoken of much, but a fundamental concern to me. I consider it #3 behind RELIABILITY and ACCURACY. Accuracy assumes an excellent trigger, IMHO.
    The company that brings forth a hammer fired pointable pocket rocket with my three metrics may even replace my Micro 9!
    I do agree that it should be a parabellum, and a single stack for sure. I haven’t looked at the little Sig 938(?) yet to see if it fits and points for me.
    Maybe pointability is subjective for most, but it seems generally accepted that Berrettas are tops at it.

  22. @NickyN & Umm..
    Methinks I have even one MORE failure mode going here…U wuz railing more on the Azumithal uncertainty of gripping the weapon more than the elevation. Old Slab Sides has been a great companion, but takes more Discipline to hit with than the Model 84 that I have never yet owned.
    And you are right, Umm…, we are all very different. My right wrist is a mess.
    Got my son a Taurus Beretta 92 clone and later a Sig Pro. 92 clone had the quality control of a Fiat 600 and the Sig may actually have been a rebranded Lorcin, I dunno. Other son was a Marine Small Arms Instructor and even he couldn’t make it hit.
    Both heaters were voted off our private island. Maybe I’m in line for an HK 30 (SK?). Time to sell another kidney…

    • If I read you correctly as valuing natural pointability and not overly concerned with compactness, the EAA / IFG Witness is fairly far from the organ-selling end of the price scale👍

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