This is the RETAY 84FS, probably one of the more iconic BERETTA 84 FS / CHEETAH replicas available on the market and certainly was one of the first to hit the local market here.
This specific colour variant has a milky white finish known as "matte chrome", a chrome w/out any sheen / does not refract light off of its finish.
Key Features;
- Compact pistol, all metal design.
- Replica of an iconic firearm
- RETAY branded
- 8+1 Magazine capacity
- Stiff magazine spring
- Coarse traditional diamond checkering on the grip stocks. Affords quite a bit of traction to bare hands
- Slide produces a realistic sound when racked
- SA / DA
- Ambidextrous frame-mounnted safety
- Good quality duty-grade blank gun
- Shipped w/ a flare tip adapter, bottle brush for 9mm bore and 5ml of lubricant.
These RETAYS really have set the benchmark for what a basic and proper blank gun ought to be, w/out a doubt. Not necessarily the cheapest, but rather a case of "pay a little more, get a little more" - this "little more" usually means "a couple of years more"
This pistol does grip neatly and tucks away into one's hand. The coarse diamond checkering does grip does lend alot of traction to one's hand, likewise, features a bit of heft that alot of people do like, lending a "realistic" feel to the pistol. The magazine is a single stack 8+1 shot capacity, thus allowing for a narrower / flatter handle.
This pistol is Single Action as well as Double Action, meaning the hammer does not have to be cocked for you to toggle it. You can decock the pistol safely w/ a cartridge chambered and as such, can discharge the pistol in Double Action just by pulling the trigger hard enough. It might otherwise already be apparent, but, a double action trigger pull is considerably heftier than a single action trigger pull.
The cocking serrations on the slide are low profile (10mm) and 40mm in length. They are slanted / forwardly angled w/ 1.8mm wide grooves. Depth on them is about half a milimeter. The slide does rack w/ reasonable ease, although, it might not be too woman-friendly. We have found that alot of women experience some difficulty racking the slide on this pistol. However, compared to the funky way you'd swop the magazine on the P114, we'd say that this pistol might be a better option.
As for the magazine - the follower, floorplate and baseplate are all polymer, as is the case w/ most Turkish-made blank firing pistol. The magazine body is shaped sheet steel and is magnetic. The baseplate does jut forwardly, acting as backstop for one's hand, to prevent it from slipping off /downwardly.
In terms of cartridge cycling - the hard magazine spring allows for more reliable cycling, especially for rapid firing, is it will index your cartridges one after the other faster. The ejector butt sits to the left rear, biasing the casing ejections rightwards, however, when fully engaged, the breech is fully exposed, minimizing the risk of ejection-related jamming. The extractor levers aree a twinned stack of claws, increasing the probability of a successful grapple-and-pull, inn the case of cartridges that may have a damaged / folded rim.
The magazine release button is a rounded, raised tab that is near-horizontally serrated and is sufficiently raised out for you to toggle w/out needing to move your hand much around the handle. It does appear ambidextrous, although, to toggle its side for LH shooting, you'll need to remove the grip stocks, the magazine ctch lever along with its spring and reinstall it from the other side, although, if you've never done something like this before, then bbe aware that it could be a bit of a mission.
As for the field strip - the lever on the RH face of the pistol is rotated into the 6 'o clock position, withdrawn from the pistol frame, whereafter the slide can be hitched off the pistol frame. Just mind the field strip lever, the blowback rod and the blowback spring, that you don't lose any of these components.
Otherwise, as we always say here in the office - RETAY is the NIKE of the blank gun world and with good reason as well.
Technical Specifications;
| Replica of | BERETTA 84 FS |
| Calibre | 9x22mm P.A.K |
| Venting | Front |
| Pepper cartridge compatible? | Yes |
| Dimensions (mm)
Length;
Height;
Width; |
170
128
28 (handle)
|
Weight (grams)
Unloaded;
Loaded (full) |
744
788 (8x OZK, 9x22mm P.A.K) |
Trigger Action
| Single Action / Double Action, Semi Auto. |
| Firing method | Hammer fired
|
| Magazine capacity | 8+1, single stack
|
| Composition | Metal frame, metal slide, steel controls
|
| Safety | Ambidextrous frame-mounted safety lever that toggles in unison. It is stepped both at the bottom and the top, to make toggling the lever easier.
|
| Ease of Field Strip | 7/10.. Some of the blank guns that are replica of modern pistols, field strips easier. Though for an 84 FS replica, this pistol does strip and reassembly back together easily.
- The lever on the RH face of the pistol should be rotated into the 6 'o clock position, withdrawn from the pistol frame completely, thereafter the slide can hitch off the rear. |
| Lanyard loophole | No
|
| Removable gripstocks | Yes. Button head phillips drive screws w/ moderate coarse threading, retaining a set of lower profile harder plastic gripstocks that are coarsely diamond checkered. The are quite nice and usable, compared to what some other manufacturers put on their vintage-replica blank pistols. |
| Magazine Release | Traditional |
| Underbarrel Picatinny Rail | No, vintage pistols typically do not feature accessory mounting rails. |
Please have a look hereunder, at the product walkaround video;
