Beretta 80X Cheetah Review: Good Kitty Or Damn Pity?

Beretta’s 13 round,.380 ACP Cheetah guns were once arguably the best concealed carry pistols available. But that was many, many years ago. The market is dominated today by smaller, lighter polymer handguns that have similar 9x19mm capacities. It’s important to note this early on because the new Beretta 80X Cheetah wasn’t designed for everyone. The 80X is compact, but not small. That says a lot about its philosophy. It wasn’t made to be the most concealable weapon you could carry, but to be the most shootable one you could still conceal. The revamped Cheetah is a much more comfortable gun to hold for those who struggle to hit targets with small guns that fit in your palm. Its.380 ACP cartridge and metal frame also help to keep the recoil low. The 80X Cheetah was dismissed by many as a carry gun simply because it isn’t a 9mm. However, Beretta believes there is a market for this model. I think this is mainly for shooters with smaller hands, people with hand strength problems and concealed carriers that don’t practice with a smaller weapon enough. It’s always a good thing to practice with your carry gun as much as possible, but some people can’t or don’t want to. It’s more valuable to carry an 80X Cheetah if you can make more accurate shots with it. Spoiler alert: I was largely impressed with my 80X Cheetah, but I also found a major issue. After we’ve discussed everything the pistol did right, we’ll discuss what it was. The 80X Cheetah is packaged in a plastic case with a cablelock and two magazines. There are many subtle changes that can be appreciated, besides the obvious ones like the optics ready slide and accessory rail. The white 3-dot sight is excellent, and the new Vertec grip angle feels very ergonomic to me. I also think the DA/SA DA/SA was one of the best triggers I’ve ever shot. And this from someone who usually doesn’t care about triggers. The 80X is optically-ready, but the plates are still not available. The addition of a red-dot will only enhance the pistol’s shootability once they are available. It has a short reset so it is easy to fire fast. When the hammer decocks using the lever the travel of the double action pull is reduced. It is the best way to carry a gun because you get the safety and the double-action trigger, but with only half the travel. Some have described the blowback action as snappy. However, I found it to be softer than other pistols that I am used to. The grip is large enough to accommodate my entire hand, and the flat trigger guard allows me to use the index of my support hand to gain extra control. This technique is largely forgotten, but I still prefer it with certain pistols. The 80X is one of them. I felt that this method provided me with better control than the traditional two-hand grip, given the pistol’s smaller size. The author found that, due to the pistol’s small size and the recoil spring’s relative weakness, it was very easy to rack the slide and perform press checks. This ease of use is another reason the new Cheetah would be a great choice for someone who has weaker hands. The design lends itself well to mechanical accuracy and Beretta reengineered its magazine to feed hollow-point ammunition more reliably. This is important for a defensive pistol. The fit and finish of the 80X is excellent, and it was almost flawlessly reliable when I fired 200 rounds of Magtech FMJ 95-grain ammo through it. The BadAs far as the 80X Cheetah reliability is concerned, it was almost flawless. I never experienced a failure to feed, eject or double-feed. To explain, let’s go back to SHOT 20203, when the 80X first was announced. You’ll find that many gun writers, including myself, initially reported that the new Cheetah could be carried cocked and locked. Why did we believe it? It feels like it should. This is because when my pistol’s safety lever is in the middle position, it is very strongly engaged between safe and fire. The red indicator dot can only be partially blocked when the lever is in the middle position. The slide cannot be manually cycled. If you move the lever above this position, the hammer decocks, the dot is fully covered and trigger is disengaged. The 80X Cheetah in its “middle security position”. According to what other 80X owners have said about their Cheetahs there appears to be some inconsistent manufacturing. Some owners report that their hammer does not fall when the middle position is engaged. Others have reported that it will. It is undeniable that the pistol’s safety has a distinct middle position, despite what the official literature claims. It was not a good experience. While it prevented the slide from being manually operated, it didn’t stop the hammer from falling and the gun from firing. This was discovered by accident at the range when I engaged the middle setting halfway through a magazine. When I fired my test pistol in this middle setting, the case did not eject. The slide also became severely jammed. The cause of the problem was obvious–the slide had gotten pinned under the safety lever. I could tell by the worn-away finish on this area. I was able to free the slide only by pressing the safety lever on the edge of the table. Here you can see that the slide got jammed underneath the lever after the gun was fired with the safety set to the middle position. Beretta’s Pistol Manager responded to my concerns regarding the repeatability of the malfunction and how it might be accidentally induced: Could you elaborate on why you would shoot the gun while the safety was partially engaged? I don’t get why you would do it and expect the gun to function without jamming. I would agree on the surface. The manual states that the 80X is not safe until the lever has been fully pushed up. The 80X Cheetah that I tested did have a “jam immediately” setting. All it took was a small flick of my thumb to activate it. It’s possible that someone could do this in a gunfight. Knowing that, I would never be able to fully trust the 80X Cheetah. At least not with the specific gun I got to test.Parting ShotOverall, I really enjoyed my time with the 80X Cheetah, and I was expecting to be enthusiastically recommending it as a carry gun to anyone interested in a supremely shootable little pistol.Unfortunately, however, the issue with the safety is too glaring of a potential reliability problem for me to be able to recommend it as a defensive piece. I would still recommend shooting a.380 at a range if you want to, but be careful not to shoot it in the middle of the safety position, in case it behaves like mine did. If you’re adamant about carrying one, be sure to keep an eye out for user reports. Another Beretta representative confirmed that the behavior of 80X Cheetahs on the market varies in regards to this issue. This leads me to believe it will be fixed eventually. If that happens, it will make a good carry gun.Beretta80X Cheetah Black Specifications:Caliber:.380 ACPCapacity (Unloaded) : 13 + 1Overall Length : 6.8 InchesOverall Heights : 4.9 InchesOverall width : 1.4 InchesBarrel length : 3.9 InchesWeight: 25 OuncesMSRP : $799More handgun reviews:NEXT: Download Your Free Storm T The target grids and bullseyes are measured in MOA. Subscribe to the Gun Digest newsletter and we will send you your print-at home target pack immediately. Enter your email below.