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Besides meeting Colion Noir and the Gunny, one of the other highlights of Media Range Day for me was getting the opportunity to get some trigger time on the Beretta ARX 100. I’ve been pining to add this plump little ball of Italian goodness to my collection ever since I first laid eyes on its full-auto cousin at NDIA 2012. Features include: Quick change barrel capability (no tools required, takes seconds); chrome-lined hammer-forged barrels; ambidextrous and redundant controls (safety / selector switches, bolt hold open latches, barrel release latches, magazine releases, etc., multiple ambidextrous sling attachment points; SCAR-like” 4 position collapsible folding stock, AR ergonomics and the ability to use standard AR-15 magazines . . .

After a mere two mags of trigger time, my initial impressions of this rifle remain highly favorable.   Despite having the silhouette somewhat reminiscent of a pregnant largemouth bass, the Beretta feels light and fast, and is incredibly well balanced.  The trigger is acceptable, if not noteworthy, and nice tight groups are easily obtained even shooting offhand. I’m looking forward to getting a hold of a T&E sample and really putting it through its paces.  Which leads me to the issue of availability.

Courtesy Joe Grine

The Beretta reps have told us that the ARX-100 will be forthcoming in second quarter 2014.  Of course, since they have been giving us rosy short term “just around the corner” predictions since 2011, its hard to know if it is really true.  In fact, hearing this tidbit of cheery news did make me think of one of my favorite songs from The Smiths, when Morrissey belts out the following lyrics:

Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you’ve
Heard this one before

Nothing’s changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
…Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love

Apparently, the whole “Obama got reelected / Sandy Hook” double whammy caused a delay in production, which had been expected to begin in late 2012.  OK, I get that.   Lets keep our fingers crossed.

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53 COMMENTS

  2. Is it pretty typical at SHOT show to hear nothing will be out until Quarter Two, or Three or late in the coming year?

    Seems to be a constant refrain.

    I’m wondering why they do not schedule things in such a way that it is available withing the day or week of shot, sort of/kind of what happens when Apple announces their “next big thing” … it is usually available within weeks of the announcement, not months or half a year or a year.

    Just curious.

    • That’s typical of most trade shows that I know of. See CES and E3, most if not all of the stuff they’re showing is not immediately available but on the near horizon.

      Apple has their own press event that they put on and they’re the exception rather than the rule.

    • Yes. +1 to AecDuck’s CES reference. Many of the things we saw this year aren’t coming out until fall. Christmas sales, yo. And this isn’t a new thing for 2014. Get some hype up early, maybe make some tweaks based on comments and speculation, ramp up production and stockpile enough to fit demand when you do a huge fall marketing push and get it out ahead of the holiday buying season. Not always, of course, but totally common.

    • It’s because trade shows are sales events. Part of sales is figuring out market interest – another part is stretching the truth. When a company uses line a couple of times for a product, it can be that no one is quite interested enough (yet) to dedicate a production line to it.

    • I had a lot of fun referring to my wife as “gravid” for about 9 months not too terribly long ago. Got LOTS of confused head tilt blank eye looks from people hahaha. (it does mean the eggs things, but it also simply means “pregnant”)

      • Gravid = heavy.

        That’s its literal Latin meaning. It also includes connotations of fullness, so it’s the perfect adjective to describe the state of being either literally or metaphorically pregnant or literally or metaphorically weighty (e.g., grave, gravity).

        Your pedantic word-nerd factoid of the day. 🙂

  5. Which is more unlikely:winning the Mega Lotto, or seeing an ARX100 and KelTec RFB on sale in the same store at the same time?

  6. Did you…..? Yes, you did just put a Morrissey song in a gun blog.
    What’s worse, me recognizing it or it’s appearance?

    We are all doomed………!

  7. Amazing how the bloggers here on TTAG and over at Firearmblog failed to inquire with Beretta on their hold ups on two firearms that have been delayed since last year.

    • It would not shock me if MD’s gun law changes caused them to cease new investment in their plant for a while.

      • yeah, but the ultimate FU to maryland was that their lobbyists carved out the law so their new rifle was saleable in MD… so long as the OAL is over 29.5″ I think. Gotta love maryland… its only a public safety hazard if its made out of state.

        • MD’s law should let the ARX (and other Beretta products) slide, but my understanding is that it was less Beretta’s lobbyists and more the MD politicians who wanted a continuing amount of donations from Beretta that made it happen, as Beretta had actively testified against the law(s) in question in general.

    • The Beretta rep said that the whole “Obama Re-election / SandyHook” feeding frenzy caused them to keep production capacity dedicated to existing product lines.

  8. Awesome rifle.

    But I’ve been checking out these reviews from SHOT, but I still have yet to see my new MP40 in .22lr from GSG. Where is that review?!? please?

  9. Kudos to you for The Smiths reference, Joe.
    I want this even if it does look like a Preggers Large Mouth Bass. LOL
    This would make a great first semi-auto centerfire rifle for me. Want! Badly.

      • Haha
        Think football crappie on the brownlee reservoir.
        Yup. That’s the shape.
        I do like this rifle. Plus, it has the Beretta name.
        What? Oldest gun maker in business?
        I’ll take one.
        Fish On!

  10. Seeing has how this is/will be one of the few choices available here in Maryland then I’m interested in checking out this gun.

  12. With this rifle I think the Morrissey song you’re looking for is:

    “You’re the one for me, fatty. You’re the one I really, really love.”

  13. Still sounds good. The only concerns are: 1.) Will the buttstock hold up better than the Scar’s? 2.) The fact that it uses more plastic than the Teutonic Gods very own G36!

  14. I was totally ignoring and disagreeing with every single thing in this article – until – A Smith’s song was quoted. So, I slapped Black Flag’s ‘Police Story’ on the stereo, shotgunned a black label lite and then screamed ‘God Bless America!’ Until the cops came. I showed them the article and they told me to be a little more quiet. Be careful, though, Morrisey might want royalties for mentioning his name.

  15. Funny how they never give an actual release date is it coming out this month or fall or winter? Have they ever heard of notifying the public( The people who would want to buy such a rifle) of what’s going on over there? Im pretty sure they lost the market edge because so many people just decided to buy other rifles and the market is dying down a bit. My BF want/wanted one of these things and I think it be an awesome rifle to try out but there is never a release date, how do you expect people to save or make a choice to buy your rifle if you give nothing on when they’ll start shipping? Great its suppose to be a nice rifle to bad everyone in the firearm community who has been interested is getting fed up lol.

  18. I realy like modern military rifles. and also baretta is my favourite one.because baretta is one of the oldest gun manufacturer. My grandpa had baretta ar-70 so I used it. ıf I will have a chance I want to use arx100. thanks for sharing and lovely comment.

    • I can say one thing that today’s best tactical semiauto rifle is Arx100 . It takes the concept of a modular rifle to futuristic levels, while maintaining an absolutely simple operation that make it ultra-reliable. With ambidextrous controls, easily-replaceable barrel and virtually endless possibilities for customization and accessorization, the ARX100 is adaptable to any firing scenario and is perfect for today’s most demanding tactical shooter.

  19. This does look like an amazing rifle, Its size and weight is what has me interested the most, as I want something a bit smaller for my wife to be more comfortable with.

  20. Very nice gun.I’m apprehensive why they do not agenda things in such a way that it is accessible withing the day or anniversary of shot, array of/kind of what happens back Apple announces their “next big thing” … it is usually accessible aural weeks of the announcement, not months or bisected a year or a year.

  26. Thank you very much, a very useful and informative article. There are lots kinds gun and rifles, and I am just a beginner exploring this field. I especially like your lyrics song at the end of the article, making me think of image of cowboys wandering for adventure and helping other.

  30. Beretta flat out lied when they advertised this rifle to be multi-caliber, 5 years later no new barrels, nothing. Anyone with a bank account excess looking to take one for the team and sue these liars?

  31. Amazing how the bloggers here on TTAG and over at Firearmblog failed to inquire with Beretta on their hold ups on two firearms that have been delayed since last year.

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