Couldn't resist adding another Beretta to the fold

[sigp220.45]

I did a thread about a Smith 639 9mm I picked up at a police supply place selling evidence guns from Washington state. I got this one at the same place.

They sent out an email the night before with prices and descriptions - four pages worth. They had a 1969 Hi Power for $300 and that was my main target. It was old retired me and four guys who took their marked units there when the doors opened.

There were guns everywhere but the blue steel and wood grips on the HP stood out. I snagged it up and heard a groan from the uniformed guy behind me. That's what he gets for not shoving an old geezer out of the way.

It was reblued and missing its rear sight. I have a nice one already, so I set it down and it was immediately snatched up.

I spotted more wood amongst all the black plastic and got the 639. By now more voracious cops had showed up. I knew there was a Beretta Model 85 hiding somewhere. I finally found it on a rolling cart full of Sigmas.

I love Berettas. I have a couple of other Cheetahs - a .32 ACP Model 81 and a .22 caliber Model 87. This one found a new home.

It was in good shape, with a couple of evidence room scars on the trigger guard that should clean up with an anodizing touch up pen. It even had a magazine, which many of the evidence guns didn't. It was made in 2005.

It shoots fine. Despite being a .380 it managed to get through 50 rounds with no malfunctions (if I knew how to insert an eye-rolling emoji, I would do so here). Here it is with its big brother.

The only complaint is between the heavy recoil spring (its a blowback) and the small area to grip the slide it can be hard to chamber a first round. After that its all good.

 

[dr. mordo]

Very nice. I'd be all over an 85 at the right price. These days Berettas always seem overpriced - for example, for the last couple of years I've been seeing Bobcats consistently in the $300-400 range.

They are nice guns, but that's too rich for my blood.

Congrats!

 

[fmflorida]

Very nice Beretta.

Im actually going to pick up a 92FS tomorrow at some point if I can sneak away.

Been wanting one for a while and my LGS finally got a new batch of them in!

 

[sigp220.45]

Very nice. I'd be all over an 85 at the right price. These days Berettas always seem overpriced - for example, for the last couple of years I've been seeing Bobcats consistently in the $300-400 range.

They are nice guns, but that's too rich for my blood.

Congrats!

This one was $250, but the evidence guns are usually priced low. The PDs don't pay for them of course, and they trade them to the cop shop for credit towards vests, leather gear, and uniform items. Low overhead.

 

[31FordA]

That's a great deal on a nice Beretta. There are some great deals to be found in evidence room guns. I got my P229 .357Sig as a evidence room trade in for $350 out the door. There are some treasures to be found among the beaters.

 

[.38SuperMan]

Picked up my first Beretta about a month ago. It's an early model 84 that was an import from Israel. It's in very nice shape with only very light edge wear. It had smooth wooden grips that I replaced with some checkered walnut grips from Altamont. I replaced the recoil spring with a 15# and added two more Magazines.

Ive now put close to 400 rounds through it without a single malfunction. Accuracy is quite good. My only complaint is sights. I did a white outline on the rear and put a spot of fluorescent red Birchwood Casey on the front. Huge improvement!

I'm really quite pleased with it and plan to carry it some.

Nice pistol you got!

 

[Ματθιας]

Nice! One thing about Berettas is that racking the slide is smoooooth, like it's riding on ball bearings.

 

[Wyo]

I have an older Model 84 with the 13 round magazine. I like it fine and it's extremely reliable, but I've always thought I would rather have the slimmer Model 85 like yours. I'd say you got a heck of a deal there. If I ran across an 85 at that price I woulda been all over it!