Riomouse911
Member
Hey all, a bit of a saga regarding my latest purchase, a Beretta M9.
Back story:
I had a very good friend who was in long-range recon squads while in the Army, and he was issued a Beretta 9mm while in the service. After his hitch ended we worked together for about 12 years at a SoCal police department and he still carried a 92 for duty use. Ultimately I moved on and went to my final agency, and he left for greener pastures with one in LA County. While there; he lost his Mom to cancer, lost a sister to prescription drugs and beat his own fast-forming cancer that sprouted on his rib cage. After remission, his city refused to let him return to duty and forced to medically retire.
He kept his demons well hidden. One day after we spoke on the phone, and he was excited to tell me about his recent enrollment in college to finish his degree. The next day, out of the blue he left a note on the front door for his teenaged daughter to call 911 and committed suicide upstairs. She came home from school, saw the note and dialed 911. This was just before Christmas, 2017.
Todays story:
I have wanted a Beretta M9 to have and shoot as sort of a tribute to my friend. I finally decided to do it a couple of weeks ago, so I drove to a police-oriented store in Orange County, Ca. and bought a brand new one for $620. Add on DOJ fees, tax etc. and it was juuuust over $700 OTD.
The ten day wait here for gun purchases meant I couldn’t take it right home, so I ordered a stainless recoil spring guide rod and spring from Beretta USA (I wasn’t too fired up about the plastic rod.) The wait was up on Saturday, when I had a range day planned, so I drove down to the store in Monday rush traffic and picked it up this morning. Place was understaffed so I had a 90 minute wait to be served, then all was good and the M9 was mine. Felt good to finally do this!
I took it home, took the slide off and wiped it down, lubed it, replaced the guide/spring and reassembled it. I tested the trigger, which was a long and gritty 11 and a half pounds DA and 5 lbs 4 oz SA but it felt heavier. (Avg of 5 pulls each.) No worries, it’ll smooth out (and I’ll probably order a M*CARBO kit to help the trigger anyway).
I then grabbed a couple hundred WWB 124 gr fmj, a target and ran to the indoor range for a quick try-out.
I started at 5 yds, and my first shots showed that the sights were regulated for a center-of-bull hold. The next 5 we’re closer to the middle. (Top L-R) I moved it to 10, and shot the middle L-R. Back to 15 and I shot the center two, tossing one outside the “plate”. (100% on me
)
I then brought it back to 5 and started doing DA/SA two-shot strings on the bottom two.
I had fired a total of 42 shots when the guns trigger stopped engaging in DA. When pulled, it just lightly clicked and limply went all the way back. The trigger would go forward and try to reset, but it wouldn’t. I pulled a few times, then it engaged and operated as expected.
At first I thought I was short-stroking the reset, but even with my finger completely off the trigger it would intermittently fail to reset. Man, to put it nicely I was peeved!
I brought it out to the lobby and told the rangemaster/gunsmith I know who works there. He took it into the range with his ammo and had the exact same issues pop up in DA. He was shaking his head when he brought it out of the firing area and said to send it back pronto.
I guess I paid a bit over $16.00 per shot until it croaked.
To add insult, I was “second in line” when I called Beretta CS, so I sat on hold for 35 minutes. Then they hung up before even answering (it got past 5 EST I guess).
I then called the Beretta’s California warranty service center, who didn’t pick up, but the answering machine message said warranty turn around is roughly a month. So, once I do get a label and repair order, then ship this lemon in for warranty work after Thanksgiving weekend, it’ll probably be after New Years Day before I can even shoot it again.
Sorry about this buddy. I was so happy to finally have this M9, it wasn’t supposed to go this way. I hope you had better luck with your Berettas than I had with this one.
Stay safe.
Back story:
I had a very good friend who was in long-range recon squads while in the Army, and he was issued a Beretta 9mm while in the service. After his hitch ended we worked together for about 12 years at a SoCal police department and he still carried a 92 for duty use. Ultimately I moved on and went to my final agency, and he left for greener pastures with one in LA County. While there; he lost his Mom to cancer, lost a sister to prescription drugs and beat his own fast-forming cancer that sprouted on his rib cage. After remission, his city refused to let him return to duty and forced to medically retire.
He kept his demons well hidden. One day after we spoke on the phone, and he was excited to tell me about his recent enrollment in college to finish his degree. The next day, out of the blue he left a note on the front door for his teenaged daughter to call 911 and committed suicide upstairs. She came home from school, saw the note and dialed 911. This was just before Christmas, 2017.
Todays story:
I have wanted a Beretta M9 to have and shoot as sort of a tribute to my friend. I finally decided to do it a couple of weeks ago, so I drove to a police-oriented store in Orange County, Ca. and bought a brand new one for $620. Add on DOJ fees, tax etc. and it was juuuust over $700 OTD.
The ten day wait here for gun purchases meant I couldn’t take it right home, so I ordered a stainless recoil spring guide rod and spring from Beretta USA (I wasn’t too fired up about the plastic rod.) The wait was up on Saturday, when I had a range day planned, so I drove down to the store in Monday rush traffic and picked it up this morning. Place was understaffed so I had a 90 minute wait to be served, then all was good and the M9 was mine. Felt good to finally do this!
I took it home, took the slide off and wiped it down, lubed it, replaced the guide/spring and reassembled it. I tested the trigger, which was a long and gritty 11 and a half pounds DA and 5 lbs 4 oz SA but it felt heavier. (Avg of 5 pulls each.) No worries, it’ll smooth out (and I’ll probably order a M*CARBO kit to help the trigger anyway).
I then grabbed a couple hundred WWB 124 gr fmj, a target and ran to the indoor range for a quick try-out.
I started at 5 yds, and my first shots showed that the sights were regulated for a center-of-bull hold. The next 5 we’re closer to the middle. (Top L-R) I moved it to 10, and shot the middle L-R. Back to 15 and I shot the center two, tossing one outside the “plate”. (100% on me
)I then brought it back to 5 and started doing DA/SA two-shot strings on the bottom two.
I had fired a total of 42 shots when the guns trigger stopped engaging in DA. When pulled, it just lightly clicked and limply went all the way back. The trigger would go forward and try to reset, but it wouldn’t. I pulled a few times, then it engaged and operated as expected.
At first I thought I was short-stroking the reset, but even with my finger completely off the trigger it would intermittently fail to reset. Man, to put it nicely I was peeved!
I brought it out to the lobby and told the rangemaster/gunsmith I know who works there. He took it into the range with his ammo and had the exact same issues pop up in DA. He was shaking his head when he brought it out of the firing area and said to send it back pronto.
I guess I paid a bit over $16.00 per shot until it croaked.
To add insult, I was “second in line” when I called Beretta CS, so I sat on hold for 35 minutes. Then they hung up before even answering (it got past 5 EST I guess).I then called the Beretta’s California warranty service center, who didn’t pick up, but the answering machine message said warranty turn around is roughly a month. So, once I do get a label and repair order, then ship this lemon in for warranty work after Thanksgiving weekend, it’ll probably be after New Years Day before I can even shoot it again.
Sorry about this buddy. I was so happy to finally have this M9, it wasn’t supposed to go this way. I hope you had better luck with your Berettas than I had with this one.
Stay safe.
I found that ITTS could provide such documented training under LAPD Metro D platoon auspices at "Eagles' Nest range, for a price of course . This was my introduction to ITTS and a decade of training after. I was taught the Beretta 92 under the same person who introduced them to LAPD as a duty weapon ! However Detroit Diesel welshed on me and sent there allready employed pople at half of what I was to be paid plus hiring locals for their security. No matter , my search had me recruited in 2007 for North Korea De Nuking program, and that's another story .
