Browning BDA 380 or Beretta 94

[Ia.redneck]

Hi all, I know there is a wealth of experience and information on this forum. I have the chance to buy both of these used pistols for the same price. They both are in similar condition and they both are made in Italy, just look a little different. Both hold 13 rounds. I've been shooting handguns for a lot of years and would like to try a 380. Will be used mostly for plinking and fun shooting. Which would you buy and why? Oh, forgot to mention, all it will see is cast boolits. :smile:
Thanks in advance. Dale

[Para82]

Had a Browning BDA .380 years ago while stationed in Berlin along with a Browning HP. The BDA was a nice pistol and was pretty accurate if I remember right. I only used jacketed ammo mostly European stuff not any cast but it shot well and was reliable. Only problem I had was it was large for a 380 but on the flip side you got 13 rounds.I believe the BDA was actually a Berreta 84 with a Browning name. Would by another BDA to play with if the price was right.Still have the High Power by the way.Hope this helps you .
Para82

[pietro]

.

I liked the Browning version better mostly because the top of the slide wasn't cut away like the Beretta version, but also because it carried Browning's typically better/higher polished blueing.

Somehow it looked better to me - especially since I don't care for the M92 Beretta, of which the M84 is a mini-clone.



.

[Cosmiceyes]

I had the Browning 380,and enjoyed it immensely! Highly accurate,and flawless in operation. I had 3 clips which means I carried almost a whole box of ammo.
Beretta means having to polish,and smooth it out. It will always look as if it has less value due to it's poor finish on all parts. The only thing Beretta has going for it is a corrupt Military contract,which sent it sales soaring. Who they black mailed,bribed,or whatever was not for a superior weapon for the Military.So without that contract,and the many movies that put their gun in America's face,you would still see them imported on the low scale like Rossi aka Taurus,Star,Lama,Erma.

[tg32-20]

The Browning, you will be much happier in the long term.

The Browning 380 and HP I have shot flawlessly for over 30 years.

[Uncle Jimbo]

I have and shoot a Browning BDA. It is my carry gun. Yes it is bigger than most other makes of 380s, but it makes it better to hold on too. And if you have ever shot a Ruger LCP 380, you know what I mean.
Both the Browning and Beretta are pretty much the same and a lot of the parts will interchange. Never owned a Beretta 94 but have shot a couple, they are nice guns also. I don't think you would go wrong with either.

But if it was me, I would buy both and shoot them a lot and see which one I liked the best. The longer it took to decide, the better.

[Ia.redneck]

LOL!! Uncle Jimbo I like the way you think!!

[Cosmiceyes]

Hi all, I know there is a wealth of experience and information on this forum. I have the chance to buy both of these used pistols for the same price. They both are in similar condition and they both are made in Italy, just look a little different. Both hold 13 rounds. I've been shooting handguns for a lot of years and would like to try a 380. Will be used mostly for plinking and fun shooting. Which would you buy and why? Oh, forgot to mention, all it will see is cast boolits. :smile:
Thanks in advance. Dale
Then there is this SIG follow link for a very low price,and fit's in your pocket. No plastic frame either. Has me thinking hard right now.
http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=100001292

[Ia.redneck]

Those Sigs are wonderful little guns. A friend had one, it was very high quality.

[9.3X62AL]

I believe the SIG P238 is a locked-breech/toggle-link system like the 1911A1 and Colt Govt. 380s. This really moderates recoil.

I've owned 2 Beretta 84-Fs and 1 Beretta 81 (32 ACP variant). Unlike most 380s, all of these were large enough through the grips to actually hold onto while firing and control well. My objections to the pistols were not their characteristics--they all ran wonderfully. I didn't care for its weak-sistered cartridges for defensive work. Now, for plinkers or small game/varmint pistols, they would have been GREAT. They all went down the road after I snagged a Walter PP x 32 ACP that out-shot all of them. It still does, too.

[rintinglen]

I prefer the Beretta, as I like the Frame mounted safety much better than the slide mounted safety. I bought a Police Trade in 84f and have really been pleased with it.

Although there are now compact and sub-compact 9mms that are as small or smaller than the 84f, when it first appeared on the market, it was unique in providing high capacity and compact size, along with excellent reliability. A college buddy of mine bought one, and one day we shot 1100 rounds of surplus ammo through it without a single bobble that could be blamed on the gun. The Browning was built on the same template, allegedly by Beretta to Browning's specifications. The Browning has the Walther-type, slide-mounted safety which I do not find to be as easy to manipulate as a Browning-style frame-mounted one. Where I think they shine is for recoil sensitive (think elderly) people. The recoil is greatly reduced, and 13 rounds is not to be sneezed at.

[Outpost75]

.... only thing Beretta has going for it is a corrupt Military contract,which sent it sales soaring. Who they black mailed,bribed,or whatever was not for a superior weapon for the Military..

The military doesn't buy the "best" piece of gear, but is tasked by the GAO and Congress to buy the least expensive item which meets the requirements. Any corruption was not on Beretta's part, but by the Dept. of State and Congress, because buying the Beretta pistol was part of the deal negotiated to get NATO cruise missiles into Italy. I was there.

[Iron Mike Golf]

Then there is this SIG follow link for a very low price,and fit's in your pocket. No plastic frame either. Has me thinking hard right now.
http://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=100001292

If you buy one, I recommend replacing the sharp, plastic trigger with an aluminum Mustang trigger.

[9.3X62AL]

The military doesn't buy the "best" piece of gear, but is tasked by the GAO and Congress to buy the least expensive item which meets the requirements. Any corruption was not on Beretta's part, but by the Dept. of State and Congress, because buying the Beretta pistol was part of the deal negotiated to get NATO cruise missiles into Italy. I was there.

I never had any gas with the Beretta 92 or 96 pistols. A number of our deputies elected to carry these, myself among them. My last uniform duty pistol (2000-2005) was a Beretta 96 in 40 S&W, and it was lights-out reliable. The Berettas we had in service all ran quite well. The sole "fault" with the Beretta pistols was their size--they were the size and barrel length of a Government Model 1911A1, and most 9mm or 40 S&W pistols are sized at least 1/2" smaller in grip length and barrel/slide length but are classed as "full-size" pistols. I sold it upon retirement because the 96 was too big to conceal easily in my new full-time soft clothes mode.