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Bill Goldstein, an authority on self-defense for senior citizens, strongly recommends the Model 86 for its easy-handling features.

While the author prefers the more powerful Berettas at his hip and in a tactical thigh holster, he admits the shootability of the Model 86 .380 he is holding. Note the group in the target …

… which was fired as fast as he could pull the trigger.

Barbara, a senior citizen with arthritis, is a deadly shot with her Beretta 86, finding it the easiest pistol to operate efficiently.

This Beretta Model 86 gave decent accuracy at 25 yards with cheap Blazer ammo, which it fed perfectly.

The Third Wave

In the early 1980s, the 70 series and the pioneering Model 90 both gave way to what became known as the 81 series, though it has also been called the 80 series. With some refinements these are the .380 Berettas that are with us today, along with their .32 and .22 caliber companion guns, in the current Beretta catalog.

This generation saw the return of the open-top slide, the departure from which had not been a hit for Beretta with the Model 90. A frame-mounted manual safety, similar in shooter operation to that of the first-generation Model 92 9mm, was installed. The 81 series also had a magazine release button in what combat shooters considered the appropriate location, behind the trigger guard on the frame.