My friend bought it on my suggestion during the Obama post-reelection panic, when his local gun shops had limited choices. IIRC, there were only a couple of choices in 9mm and the Beretta was the obvious one for several reasons, including price. My friend isn't a regular shooter, and his local shops were all over the map with their suggestions, so I called 3 of them, found out what they had and told my friend what I thought would satisfy his needs. (I know, telling someone else what would be appropriate for them isn't always the best thing, but I taught him to shoot years ago, know his capability, and felt pretty safe in my recommendation.) So he bought it and is happy with it.

but the Walther P88 or P5 are guns I'll probably never get a chance to fire.

You never know what will show up, but both those pistols were limited in sales in the US (except to people named Harvey). All of mine are gone, but maybe if you get down to Georgia, Harvey will let you shoot his P88.

Harvey