Florida-based European American Armory has something a little different for the personal defense market with the new MC 14T pistol.
Made by Girsan in Turkey and imported by EAA, this compact .380 ACP is trim, with a 4.5-inch barrel leaving it with an overall length of 7.54 inches. Meanwhile, the unloaded weight is listed as 25.8 ounces.
The EAA Girsan MC 14T uses an alloy frame with a steel slide and barrel. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Using a simple straight blowback action, it is chambered in .380 ACP and uses a double-action/single-action trigger with a manual frame-mounted safety lever.
At first look, the MC 14T appears to be a clone of the original circa-1970s Beretta Cheetah series, now a classic. However, you will note that the EAA carries an M1913 Picatinny accessory rail on the dust cover for mounting lights and lasers – a feature never cataloged on any old-school Cheetah variant.
The EAA Girsan MC 14T, left, compared to a Beretta Cheetah. Note the Girsan is slightly longer, and we'll get into that. Of note, it uses the same magazine as the double-stack 13+1 round magazine of the Beretta 84.
This extended barrel length is to allow a "tip up" barrel easily actuated by a one-push lever on the right-hand side of the frame.
This action allows the user to load and unload the pistol's chamber directly without having to rack the slide and is pitched as a simple fix for users of low hand strength.
For the gun nerds out there, Beretta briefly made a tip-up .380 Cheetah, the Model 86, but it was a single stack, and due to its rarity, collectors tend to drive prices on those into the $1,500 region.
This is comparable to Beretta's pipsqueak mouse guns, such as the Model 21A Bobcat shown here in .22 LR.
You could, of course, load the MC 14T in a more traditional sense by racking the slide on a loaded and inserted magazine, but beware that the recoil spring is fairly stout and, coupled with the short rear slide with shallow serrations, may not be an option for everyone.
Surface controls are primarily on the left-hand side, with a slide catch, magazine release, and flip-up manual safety lever. There is no decocker lever.
Meanwhile, the safety lever is mirrored on the right-hand side.
The MC 14T feels like a compact in the hand, but its height and length keep it out of the realm of pocket carry.
And it is about the same size as the larger end of the micro 9mm striker-fired pistols on the market, seen here compared to the SIG P365 XMacro and the Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro.
We found the EAA Girsan MC 14T, when loaded with 14 rounds of Federal Punch 99-grain Hydra Shok Deep – a healthy dose of self-protection ammo – to weigh 30.6 ounces. Also, note the lanyard ring, a throwback likely due to the Cheetah's extensive use as a police sidearm in Western Europe.
The DA/SA trigger of the MC 14T feels much like that on a Beretta 80/90 series pistol with a comparatively long take-up in double action to the wall and a very short reset to give the user a single-action trigger.
Double action was a not-too-terrible 7.5 pounds on average, while the single-action trigger was a much more satisfying 4.7 pounds with a very short reset.
Sights are a basic three-dot with a fixed front dot and a theoretically drift-adjustable two-dot rear.
The accessory rail is both good and bad in a sense, as it spoils the use of Cheetah-pattern holsters for those looking to carry the MC 14T, but on the other hand sets up the gun for better use in a home defense role.
The grip panels are listed as "composite" by EAA and have deep thumb groove scallops. We didn't try to swap these out with those for a Beretta 84, but odds are they'll probably work. Coupled with vertical grooves in the front and rear of the grip frame, the MC 14T has decent ergonomics.
The MSRP of the EAA Girsan MC 14T starts at $498, with variants available in all black, black and gray, dark earth, black and gold, and all gold.
So how does it shoot? Well, so far, we have 100 rounds through it, so stay tuned and we'll be back with a full review as we up that count past the 500-round mark.
