Beretta 92FS: The Gun I'd Love to Hate....

Slide mounted safety that flips up was reason enough for me to pass on it.

I may be the only person in the world that dislikes almost nothing about the Beretta 92. For me it is a very functional pistol. All the controls are in the right spots (for me) and the grip angle makes it perfect for me to point it without looking down the sights. Yes I agree that it is not that light by modern standards and it is a bit bulky, but it was intended to be a service weapon. Service weapons aren't made to be concealed, and don't have to be super light either.

A 92 fan boy I definitely am not, but I wouldn't shy away from buying one.

I love everything about my 92FS Inox. Excellent gun!

The slide mounted flip up safety is the reason I like the 92. Just goes to show everyone has a different preference.
When I buy another 9mm, the Beretta 92 FS (or possibly even the Taurus PT92 (after all, what's in a name?)) Is pretty high on the list. That I qualified with and carried the M9 has a lot to do with it, too.

I own three, and a .22 clone, and some airsoft versions. It just fits right and is reliable.

My hand is really too small to get a proper and comfortable grip on the Model 92, plus it's a bit of a stretch to reach the trigger. Add in the slide mounted safety and it's just not a good fit for me. The only model that's a bit easier to handle is the Vertec with its flat backstrap.

I only use the safety as a decocker so it isn't that big of a deal. I've owned a couple of 92's over the years. I have a huge amount of respect for the gun. It does the job it was designed for. It is accurate and reliable.

At the end of the day that is all that really matters. If I were in the military, or some other occupation and were issued a Beretta I'd use it with complete confidence. But if I'm buying there are other guns just as accurate and reliable that I like better.

I won't argue with any man who prefers the Beretta.

C0untZer0 said:

Slide mounted safety that flips up was reason enough for me to pass on it.

Click to expand...

I avoided the Beretta 92FS for almost 25 years because of the safety. I embraced other fine 9MM's instead, BHP's, CZ-75's, HK P7, Sigs, even the P-08 Luger. Last year a buddy bought an M9, new for an excellent price. I shot it at our gun club, and was hooked. I went out and found a new 92FS at a great price, and bought it. For me it has been accurate, and 100% reliable.

I only use the safety as a decocker. I see no need for them on a gun with a long DA first pull.

Be sure and add a step to your jam clearing protocol.

It can make for a nasty surprise if you don't.

That's why my 92 is decock-only.

I try not to bash any particular model but since this thread was named "The gun I'd love to hate..." I decided to voice the things I don't like about the Beretta 92

And I was just reminded how much I don't like DA/SA trigger setups.

For me personally I don't get as accurate a first shot on target as I otherwise could with a shorter, smoother, lighter trigger pull.

I've had mine for more than 20 years and it's been everything you mentioned. It's as accurate and reliable as one could hope for in a handgun. And fun-fun-fun to shoot because of it!

That's the first gun my son wanted to shoot out of my collection, and any time we go to the range, it's still the one he wants to shoot over the others. Probably the mystique of a 15 round 9mm handgun, though. But hey...so long as he is having fun and wants to shoot, that's fine by me!

My 92fs was the first handgun purchase I ever made and I have never regretted it. I have fired tens of thousands of rounds through mine. Until I started reloading my own ammo, I did not have a single mis-feed. The couple that I did have were self inflicted.

There seems to be a lot of folks who like to bash the 92 but I will never understand that. Several decades and more than 10 handguns later, my 92fs is still the one I keep in my bedroom and is the gun I would reach for to defend my family if needed.

Be sure and add a step to your jam clearing protocol.

It can make for a nasty surprise if you don't.

That's why my 92 is decock-only.

What would that be?

And I was just reminded how much I don't like DA/SA trigger setups.

For me personally I don't get as accurate a first shot on target as I otherwise could with a shorter, smoother, lighter trigger pull.

Click to expand...

What's stopping you from simply cocking the hammer back before the first shot? I do it all the time with my Sig.

BSA1 said:

Be sure and add a step to your jam clearing protocol.

It can make for a nasty surprise if you don't.

That's why my 92 is decock-only.

What would that be?

Click to expand...

When conducting a tap-rack-bang drill, the slide mounted safety can be activated during the "rack" portion of the drill. The extra step would be to sweep up on the safety to ensure it is not activated.

COuntZerO,

The difference in the DA/SA trigger pulls is the nature of the beast. Of course it's main advantage being the double strike ability on a dud primer. I will admit to finding the striker fired Ruger SR9C very nice and at the top of my want list.

As a (the lights go out, a shot rings in the dark, a woman screams, heavy footsteps runs away, lightening flashes, Frankenstein becomes alive) prepper I was originally motived by the fact is standard sidearm of the military which means parts and magazine availability I have come to appreciate how well designed this gun really is.

Much of the criticism of the Beretta is from the 1911 crowd. Yet the reality is any gun that replaced a legend would be equally hated. Mine also has a Action by T action job and LEO tune-up. True is despite it's large size as SharpsDressedMan says it just shoots and shoots and shoots very accurately and comfortably all day long.

Recently my active duty US Army son and I spent some time on the range while he was home on leave. I let him shoot my Action by T 92FS and he fell in love with it as he was use to qualifying with Army 92's that were not tuned near as nice. In fact he had a lot of fun with his consistent head shots on the terrorists targets.

Concealed carry definitely requires some work.

If pushed into corner I would choose the 92FS as my favorite semi-auto handgun.

When conducting a tap-rack-bang drill, the slide mounted safety can be activated during the "rack" portion of the drill. The extra step would be to sweep up on the safety to ensure it is not activated.

Doesn't the open slide design prevent that type of jam?

Doesn't the open slide design prevent that type of jam?

Click to expand...

It's not a jam they are talking about, and the open slide is not part of the issue. The issue is you could engage the safety during a slide rack. When you go to pull the trigger, nothing will happen because the safety is engaged.

BSA1 said:

When conducting a tap-rack-bang drill, the slide mounted safety can be activated during the "rack" portion of the drill. The extra step would be to sweep up on the safety to ensure it is not activated.

Doesn't the open slide design prevent that type of jam?

Click to expand...

I can't say for certain. I've never had one jam on me (military or civilian), but the one time that I did have to use the drill on it was when I didn't fully seat a a fresh mag in it, and I did happen to engage the safety.

When conducting a tap-rack-bang drill, the slide mounted safety can be activated during the "rack" portion of the drill.

Click to expand...

While this is certainly possible, I would think you would have to almost do this on purpose. I cannot conceive of any method that I use personally to rack the slide that would result in the safety being engaged. Even in Injured dominant hand scenarios, the safety is engaged by pushing down on the lever. There is no reason why the backward motion of racking the slide would result in downward pressure on the safety unless you are trying to forcefully PUSH the slide forward instead of pulling back and releasing it.

If you can't tell, I really like Berettas

Schwing wrote,
There is no reason why the backward motion of racking the slide would result in downward pressure on the safety unless you are trying to forcefully PUSH the slide forward instead of pulling back and releasing it.

Click to expand...

My early auto shooting was with S&W auto's with a slide mounted safety just like the Beretta, so I'm pretty familiar with the design, and think the danger of it happening is often overstated. However, I think it is pretty easy to see how racking the slide could engage the safety. Conversely, I don't see how pushing the slide forward would activate the safety.

We are talking about an overhand rack, right?

I took a 300-round 8-hour defensive handgun course with my 92FS. In dozens and dozens of failure drills, I accidentally engaged the safety 1 time while using the powerstroke method. And I knew I did it as soon as I did it, so it didn't take me by surprise. I just quickly flipped it up and kept going.

However, the slide release lever on a Beretta sticks out like a giant button screaming "PRESS ME!". It was most definitely designed to be the main method of getting the gun back into battery, unlike a 1911 or Glock. I am monumentally faster and more consistent with the slide release on the Beretta than I am with the powerstroke. My Glock 20SF slide "catch" (not release) button is almost impossible to use to release the slide.

For those with a hard time comfortably reaching all the Beretta's controls, I recommend Alumagrips. They are a hair thinner than the stock plastic grips, but also have a more gradually rounded taper on the edges, making them feel much thinner. I wear a size medium glove, and have no problem reaching the DA trigger, mag release, decocker, and slide release all without shifting my shooting grip at all.

I just cannot outshoot my Beretta with any of my other handguns. Is it bulky for a 9mm? Yes, because it is supposed to be. It was designed to be a rugged military sidearm, not a CCW. Is it heavy for a 9mm? Yes, and that helps with fast follow up shots and consistent shot-to-shot accuracy. Does it have a long heavy trigger pull? Yes, but that can be helped with a "D" spring. Does the safety/decocker get in the way of a powerstoke? Maybe, but try that slide release, and you may never go back. Besides, who needs to practice failure drills if your handgun never fails?

Sarcasm, of course - always practice failure drills. But seriously, the Beretta just eats and spits out everything you feed it without any hiccups. I've tried it sideways, upside down, limp wristed, with mags loaded with 3 or 4 different types of ammo - it just won't stop.

We are talking about an overhand rack, right?

Click to expand...

Yes. I just don't see it though. The only way I could see it even pushing forward would be if you were pushing it from the back of the slide with your fingers directly over the safety. Either way, I see this argument occasionally but just have a hard time seeing how people are accidentally engaging the safety this way... It apparently happens but, once again, I just can't see why.

The OP kinda expressed my thoughts on the Beretta ... while I'm a huge 1911 fan, midway through my military career, we switched to the M-9 ... I wanted to hate it, but I just never could.

And when you come to consider the control lever as a decocker only and get the cocked'n'locked mentality cleared from your brain (only while using the Beretta) it becomes easy.

For me, the Beretta fits my paws perfectly. Not a big fan of the DA trigger-stroke, in SA, the 92FS/M9 shoots very, very well for me.

With the superb Mec-Gar 18-round magazines, the size vs. capacity issue is moot.