Beretta 1934 takedown lever loose

I have a Beretta 1934 that I lost the takedown lever for because it was loose to the point I could tilt the gun to the side and flick my wrist and it would fly out.

I thought it might be a defect with the lever, so I bought a new one from Numrich. I am experiencing the same "looseness" with the lever in that I can almost do the same as the first lever. I also find that I can pull the lever back to a 3:00 position (as though to catch the slide), but it will fall back to a 6:00 position on its own as though nothing is holding it in place.

My question is: should the lever be more secure in the frame of the pistol? Is there some other mechanism that should prevent the lever from rotating or falling out so easily?

Wear on the lug seems to be minimal, the holes themselves don't seem oversized or ovoid.

Is it possible the recoil spring is too worn? I find that if I put a little more pressure on the recoil spring guide rod, it will hold the lever in place and allow rotation with good firmness. The spring does have a diagonal point to it, though that's not necessarily an indication of manual cutting.

Not sure how to shim a spring, but I think I can shim the space between the guide rod and the lever.

Thanks for the suggestions, I know this one isn't particularly easy (or interesting).

RaceM said:

I'm only going by the pics in the disassembly book I've got.

If the small end of the guide rod bears directly on the lever, and acts as a detent, then the end of the rod is worn and should be replaced.

In the pics I'm looking at there's 4 full turns of spring (plus the finish turn) beyond the end of the guide rod. If yours has less than that I'd suspect the spring being weak or shortened. To shim the spring you'd need to put a spacer in, likely a washer or several, between the spring and the shoulder on the guide rod (if it'll all fit back in the frame). Prolly need to flatten the edge(s) of the spacer to fit under the barrel.

Click to expand...

Looking at it again, my spring only extends to the end of the guide rod, not even past the tip. Knowing this, I'm thinking my spring my have been cut before the gun was gifted to me.

To Numrich we go.

Thanks RaceM and Jim K for the insight, it is greatly appreciated.