The Beretta Nano: a Striker-Fired, Single-Stack Sub-Compact in 9mm, and .40 to Come

Guns & Ammo, and its sister publication, Handguns Magazine, have just teased the carry world with the release of a couple of photos of Beretta’s upcoming pocket pistol, the Nano.  No, not that Nano. The Beretta Nano.

As the concealed carry world grows greater every day, so do the impressive handgun options.  Beretta isn’t new to small guns, they’ve been making Bobcats and Tomcats for years, but this really is an entirely new world for them.  Their first isn’t audacious, but it does hold some mystery.

beretta nano pistol on a wood porch on top of ammo

On the surface, it looks a lot like a PX4 Storm sub-compact.  But that design, loosely modeled on (mostly just inspired by) the 8000 Cougar/PX4 Storm is a traditional hammer-fired DA/SA pistol.  While the appearance is similar, the function is totally different, it’s striker-fired.

There’s no traditional safety or decocker, rather a trigger safety like you see on Glocks, XD/XDms, Walthers, etc., and the only other external control is the ambidextrous magazine catch.

px4 storm

There isn’t a slide stop.  You load a magazine, you rack the slide.  The (not shown) lever is a take-down lever, and that’s where things get interesting.  Beretta mentions that this gun’s frame is internal, and rated for .40 S&W.  This isn’t a huge surprise except they’re not releasing a forty to start.  What’s got us worked up is the fact that a .40 caliber rating plus “Different frame sizes” can mean something exceptional: caliber conversion kits.  Modular carry, anyone?

sig p250 pistol

Like SIG’s P250, we think Beretta has an ace up their sleeve.  But unlike the P250, a striker-fired design means a much shorter trigger pull than the SIG’s long double-action trigger.  It may also mean double-stack grips, but that’s just raw speculation.  They’re not giving away any real specifics yet, other than it will be available come October, but we’re going to guess from the size of the ejection port and muzzle that it’s about five inches long, less than an inch thick, and a little over three inches high.

What really sets it apart from the Springfield EMP/Kahr/Walther crowd is its price: rumor has it, $475.

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