I recently obtained a very low-mileage Model 89 Gold Standard for comparison purposes (I assumed that a trigger replacement would take a really long time - which it didn't). The following is based on an 89 vs. an 87 Target, both now with about 1,200 rounds apiece.
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The weight thing is one of many cost-saving things that Beretta did between the Model 89 and the Model 87. Here is a non-exhaustive listing.
1. The Model 89 frame was a cut-down/machined down Cheetah frame. It looks pretty labor-intensive to make. The Model 87 Target frame is a Cheetah frame with only the frontmost part modified.
2. The Model 89 barrel is a true monoblock - it is a huge chunk of steel with a 22 cal barrel drilled through it. This had to be fantastically expensive to make, especially before CAD/CAM became practical. Everything, from the locking lug to the feed ramp to the ribs on top was part of it.
The Model 87 Target's barrel is a simple aluminum shroud over a conventional barrel held by setscrews. This allows more margin for error in reaming barrels. It also makes the gun a lot lighter and necessitates the use of a real barrel weight (the one on the 89 is largely to lock the barrel to the frame). The only real disadvantage is that there is no way to clean this barrel without getting bore cleaner inside the shroud. You can flush with oil, but then you have oil seeping out the front a little bit. Although you could probably take the setscrews out and remove the barrel, this may screw up the barrel alignment.
2a. The Model 89 barrel has a compound throat - chamber, machine-tapered rifling, then main rifling. The 87 has the chamber, a very tight bevel, and then the rifling. I don't have a mike, but the fit of any cleaning rod tip/patch seems tighter in the 89.
2b. The Model 89 has better finishing in the barrel face area - rather than the 87 Target, which simply lets combustion burn the bruniton finish off. Ditto with the bolt face, which is polished (and possibly plated). The 87 bolt face has a circular area where the finish will burn off (I suspect that it is really chrome plated, since it is perfectly concentric with the rim of the cartridge).
2c. Slide/frame tolerances are way tighter on the 89. You don't need a microscope to see this.
2d. The Model 89 seems to be able to dry-fire without contacting the barrel face. Not that you'd want to do that too often. My Model 87 developed a tiny mark after being dry-fired once (during registration with the police - not my fault!). The Model 87 has a really strong hammer hit - enough to snap little red dummy rounds on the first try.
3. The barrel weight on the Model 89 does not involve any friction fit at all. It has two 4mm allen bolts on the bottom (different heads but same threads as the 87) and one on the front. By contrast, the 87 Target's weight really has to be pounded in just so that you can engage the two bottom 3mm hex bolts. Why might the ease of removing/replacing this be an issue on the range? Because if you get a spent shell stuck in the chamber, you risk damaging the crown by sticking a cleaning rod in from the front.
4. Lockup on the 89 is such that you don't need much involvement from the barrel "weight." My sneaking suspicion is that it is mainly for sleek Italian styling. On the 87, regardless of what Mas Ayoob says, it's hard to get a frame lockup without the weight.
5. Despite sharing many of the same trigger-to-hammer parts, the 89 has a much lighter trigger pull, a much lighter hammer spring, and no half-#### notch. Since the replacement springs are largely the same as an 87 Target, it will be interesting to see if changing them changes the pull a lot.
6. The 89 grips don't fit on the 87 Target (a) because the frame of the 89 is smaller and (b) because the slide release is different on the 89.
7. Although the 89 comes with a 3mm front sight (interchangeable with the 87 Target's 2 and 2.5mm sights), the 89 also has a wider rear slot. In addition, the 89's rear sight is made of sheet metal; the 87 Target's looks like a much tougher Elliason-type made of a cast alloy. Firesights, anyone?
8. The trigger. Ah, yes. I had the trigger on my 87 Target replaced with a Model 89 trigger by D&D Gunsmiths in Troy, MI. They did a fantastic job milling the trigger down and rebluing it. Losing the overtravel makes a world of difference. $90 and one week for that and a polish (they informed me it was not safe to screw with the sear spring on this model). By the way, Alex Hamilton had flat out said that in terms of wait time (14 weeks) and cost, it was better to do it locally.
Why didn't Beretta modify Model 89 triggers for use in the 87? Probably because they didn't have enough of them - and wouldn't be making enough 87s to justify a rerun or new tooling for an 87 Target-specific trigger.
So they munged the trigger from the stock Cheetah. My take on this is that if you are going to use a DA trigger and make a "combat" pistol, then give us double action. Beretta is fully aware of the overtravel issue; this is why they make and sell retrofit overtravel-adjustable triggers for the 92s.
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My only real beef with Beretta is in their incorrect (and unabashed) marketing of this gun - it is not in any way a descendant of the Model 89; from the perspective of trigger pull (and maybe grips), it is not a serious target pistol as sold (although it has fantastic accuracy); and it simply does not have adjustable travel (as Beretta's web sites claimed - and probably still do).
Since the trigger transplant, I have really been loving it - it's easy to put five shots into the width of the 9-ring of a 50-foot target. I can live without the "rolling takeup" of the old trigger. The 89 trigger doesn't sit as far back as it does on an 89, but there is very little pre-travel. You have to leave a tiny amount of rear overtravel or the trigger pull gets really heavy. But it is not enough to cause any issues.
A good ammo choice for practice seems to be Federal Champion Target. Cheap, no misfires and accurate as hell (results described above). It is a little dirty, so don't let the gun sit overnight. But at $13 a brick, it's hard to ask for more.
Next week, I am going to try the 87 Target and the 89 with Eley Club Xtra. Let's see if spending 4x on ammo changes anything (it's still a joke compared to the price of 45 ACP ammo!).
At this point, I can recommend the 87 Target - just budget some money for a trigger mod. So it's an $800 gun. It's worth it. Lovely looks, grip similar to a 1911; balance similar too.
