Florida-based European American Armory gave the country a taste of old-school Beretta Cheetah clones last year and has tripled down in the offerings for 2024. 

The original Cheetah line, in .32 and .380 ACP, was a hallmark in the 1970s and 1980s when it came to small, well-crafted, and utterly reliable hammer-fired carry pistols. Sadly out of production for a generation, EAA reached back into yesteryear in 2023 for the Girsan-made MC 14T, which recalled the tip-up barreled Beretta Model 86 but with a host of improvements to the dated design. 

New for this year is the Girsan MC 14 BDA as well as the MC 14 G84, with the alphabet soup made clear when you realize the former pistol is an ode to the old FN 140DA/Browning BDA 380, while the latter is a salute to the long discontinued Beretta Model 84 – both .380 ACP double-stacks that use the same 13+1 round magazine pattern as the MC 14T. 

Both new models sport a lightweight forged alloy frame, a double-action/single-action trigger with a manual ambidextrous safety lever, and three-dot sights. Available in both an all-black or two-tone Cerakote finish, they have an ask of $360 to $381, with the two-tones running higher. 

Guns.com had a chance to catch up with EAA at the 2024 NRA Annual Meetings in Dallas last week to lay hands on these new .380s. 

Article by Chris Eger and Alexander Reville, Photos and Video by Don Summers.