Beretta 92/96 question

[patriot9879]

I saw a 92 slide for sale in the forum, and it got me wondering. I have a 96 that I like quite a bit and have been wanting a 92. Can I simply buy a complete 92 slide (and mags) and be good to go? Are there any legal ramifications?

--Patriot

 

[skipsan]

I went the other way--have a 92FS and bought a 96 Centurian slide and mags.
No problems. I understand that the frame is common on the 92/96.

Added: the 96 Centurian slide was actually a complete upper--slide and barrel. At the time gunbroker.com had numerous offerings of 92 and 96 uppers. Haven't checked lately.

 

[jduff8505]

Does the complete slide include the barrel? Sounds like an interesting topic.

 

[patriot9879]

I kinda thought it should be a simple swap. I would think the barrel would have to be part of the assembly. Hmm

 

[patriot9879]

Maybe just a barrel and mag swap would work.

 

[9mmepiphany]

It is an easy swap to just put the 92 upper on the 96 frame.

While it may have changed, the 92 and 96 don't share a frame. As a rule the frame/ramp of the 92 isn't cut wide enough to reliably feed the fatter .40 cartridge.

Just swapping the barrel and mag from a 92 onto a 96 isn't a great idea. The firing pin might be off center and the extractor won't be optimally located either... for the smaller rim

 

[IdahoLT1]

There have been a few guys on berretaforum.net that have swapped a 9mm barrel into their 96 slide and some have run into extraction issues. I've done it on mine without issues but only shot a few dozen rounds. My understanding is that you cant put a 96 barrel into a 92 slide because the extractor might break since its meant for the smaller cartridge. Swapping complete uppers into either frame seems to be the best route.

You also can't swap a F model slide onto a FS model frame because of the larger hammer pin on the FS model. It'll work the other way around though.

Here's some other info on conversions.

http://berettaforum.net/read.php?t=35522&highlight=96fs+conversion

 

[CHM]

I have a 92/96 combo. There were 500 made and it included a frame with a 92 and 96 slide, barrels, and magazines. All pieces were fitted into a dark blue molded Beretta case. I am not sure if there are any differences in the slide fit to the frame, and the 9 and 40 mags are interchangeable.

 

[lechiffre]

EDIT: as IdahoLT1 has said--Just don't get a slide that is too old (pre-fs) because it will not fit.


The 92fs slide has a groove on the the bottom of the port side at the stern. The groove is for the enlarged size hammer pin. The "newer" (past 25 years or so) hammer pin is the "s" in "92fs". The hammer pin and groove are there as a safety that keeps the slide from meeting your teeth in the event of the legendary Beretta slide failure.