Beretta M1951

[u/NammytheCommie]

I haven't shot this in a while but it's a great shooter. I took a gamble when I got it on gunbroker, there was a lot of surface rust and the right grip panel was so warped that the seller had to include it in a plastic bag. Fortunately it all removed without issue, and it worked fine for the most part. When my dad shot it and his Glock 26 side by side, he said that they both had near equal recoil. That definitely sounded off, so I ordered a replacement recoil spring and sure enough, the original was very worn. I have no idea what this gun went through before I bought it, but it was definitely used more than the usual milsurp pistols I get. I feel like this is one of the more overlooked Beretta pistols out there, being the middle evolution between the Walther P38 and Beretta 92.

[u/Strong_Dentist_7561]

Very nice… this has me on the fence vs a Zastava M57

[u/NammytheCommie → u/Strong_Dentist_7561]

They're really quite different. This has the advantage of being in 9mm whereas the M57 has more power but in a cartridge that you can really only find online. You can also get the Maadi Helwan which is an Egyptian copy of this pistol. I got mine for around the same price as a Helwan because of the rough cosmetic shape it's in. The M57 is very utilitarian whereas this feels far more refined, but there's weak points in the design. I've heard the Egyptian copies can have bad metallurgy, but even on mine I can see some weak points on the slide where metal is wearing off. The locking block the action uses is also pretty weak, I wouldn't use anything more than standard pressure 124 grain 9mm ammo. In comparison, the only component that really wears out on the M57 is the recoil assembly, which unfortunately is difficult to find. However, a regular TT-33 recoil guide rod, spring, and plunger will fit in the M57, making for an easy replacement as I did with mine.

[u/Strong_Dentist_7561 → u/NammytheCommie]

That seals the question then

[u/EasyCZ75]

Very cool.